A Tribute to Retro Gamer Magazine's Nick Thorpe

Second from the left: DCJY founder Tom Charnock, furthest to the right: Nick Thorpe

Everyone here at The Dreamcast Junkyard is extremely sad to learn of the passing of Retro Gamer Magazine’s Feature Editor, Nick Thorpe. Nick’s tragic passing occurred on the 1st December 2025 at the age of 38, and was sadly announced to the retro gaming world in the days that followed. We offer our condolences to Nick’s family and friends at this extremely difficult time.

Some words from The Dreamcast Junkyard founder Tom Charnock:

"I first met Nick at a gaming event of some description back in the mists of time. I knew who he was because I'd read so many of his articles in Retro Gamer over the years, and knew he was a fan of the Dreamcast — anyone with the social media handle "HKT3030'" must know his stuff, right? I had many conversations with Nick over the years, and he often commented on my articles on esoteric Dreamcast-related topics here at the Junkyard — I certainly appreciated that we shared a love of the highly obscure (and dry humour).

The last time I saw him in person was at an open day at The Retro Collective's studio/museum in Gloucestershire where we played some arcade cabinets and discussed Amstrad CPC games at great length (for some reason!) Nick was always affable, incredibly well read, hugely respected, and a genuine joy to speak with. I think everyone who had even a brushing encounter with Nick would have only positive things to say about him; and his catalogue of features for Retro Gamer... well, the sheer quality of the research that went into his oeuvre will be hard to beat. My condolences go out to Nick's family, his colleagues and his friends. Thanks for your time in this crazy world, Nick — you will be missed."

Kev Mason recounts his memories of hosting Nick on the DreamPod:

"The impact that Nick made on us here at the Junkyard is difficult to describe in words at such a sad time, especially for someone like me, whose written word is the weakest of their communication skills. But the evening we got to spend chatting with Nick back in December 2023 for DreamPod episode 126 —where we discussed Nick's career along with the Dreamcast special edition of Retro Gamer (issue 254)— is something that myself and Lewis fondly remember, having been lucky enough to be the co-hosts for that episode.

Nick's enthusiasm and knowledge utterly shone through during that conversation, alongside his warmth and charm, as he discussed his career and favourite games on the Dreamcast, and how he got extra pages added to that special issue of Retro Gamer on the final day of the deadline; all so it could have more Sega Dreamcast content.

Top-tier taste.

During the chat, he told us about how he convinced his mum to buy him a Dreamcast under the guise that it could function as a family computer and could be used for homework by him and his sister due to its online capabilities. He then went on to explain how he coded his first-ever HTML website (a Sonic fan site, no less) using the on-screen keyboard and a Dreamcast controller, as he didn't yet own the Dreamcast keyboard. He would later go on to create and write for his own Dreamcast blog, Dreamcast-Lives, where he covered the later era of Dreamcast releases, before going on to write for Edge, GamesTM, and other magazines and sites during his career.

Whilst the recording itself was shared with fans, myself and Lewis had the pleasure of a near hour-long chat after the show, where he shared a frankly fantastic story about Sega Rally 3 and its secret UK location test that had myself and Lewis cracking up. We also had a lengthy discussion on wrestling and the Dreamcast's various wrestling games, which was another topic he had an incredible amount of passion and enthusiasm for. This inspired some early planning discussions about needing to get him back in the future to record a full-fledged wrestling DreamPod episode."

We thank Nick for all the time and passion he shared with us, and we hope his family and friends can find comfort in knowing the impact he made on us here at the Junkyard, along with so many people in the wider retro gaming community.

- Signed on behalf of all the team here at The Dreamcast Junkyard.