Video Game History Hour

Writer, journalist, and ‘several’ time returning guest Jack Yarwood shares his research on two video game logos with stylized R’s, which were subsequently made to be physical objects, as recently published in his articles "It Became Almost Like A Cult" - The Untold Story Behind Rockstar's Iconic Logo and The Origin Of Rare's Iconic "Golden Toilet Roll" Logo.

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

May 24, 202301:04:46

Ep. 109: Video Game Logos

Mentioned in the show: https://gamehistory.org/dma-design-art/

See more from Jack Yarwood:

Twitter: @JackGYarwood

Website: timeextension.com

Twitter: @TimeExtension64

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

May 10, 202350:03

Bonus Episode: Game Preservation is a House of Cards

Kelsey and Frank hit record on a Friday afternoon for an impromptu, off-the-cuff discussion about a scary recent development in the world of video game preservation regarding the preservation organization Forest of Illusion. Total bummer topics include how much we rely on individual people to work for free, how many fragile points of failure there are for keeping information alive, and how there aren't any great solutions yet. But don't worry! Things get positive again toward the end.

Video Game History Foundation:

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

May 03, 202341:31

Ep. 108: Preserving the Nintendo eShop

Jirard Khalil, aka "That One Video Gamer", aka “The Completionist,” aka “Dragonrider,” joins us to talk about his recent video I bought EVERY Nintendo Wii U & 3DS game before the Nintendo eShop closes. In this episode: what happens when an E-Shop closes and why it shuts down, preserving games for toddlers, libraries collecting like this would be absurd, unheard stories of the chaos of buying thousands of dollars in Link gift cards, is piracy a possible solution or the only option?, wishful legal solutions, the true costs of this endeavor.

See more from Jirard Khalil:

YouTube: /ThatOneVideoGamer

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Completionist

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/TheCompletionist

Instagram: @thecompletionist

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Apr 26, 202301:08:16

Ep. 107: Planning for Death

(Content Warning: this episode deals with the topic of death)

Collector, preservationist, and founding board member Steve Lin joins us to illuminate the realities of dealing with a collection after the collector has passed away. In this episode: balancing preserving history and helping a family left behind, what you can implement immediately, what is a trust and how does it work?, collecting in the 90’s and 00’s, your Why? of collecting, the passion for collecting may not live beyond you.

See more from Steve Lin:

Twitter: @stevenplin

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Apr 07, 202359:60

Ep. 106: Budcat Creations

Journalist and researcher Nick Yanes brings us a piece of history not only from his own local area, but also from his own past in his recent article The birth and death of Budcat Creations, Iowa's first (and only) Triple-A game studio. We take a peek inside the life of a development studio during a tumultuous time in the game industry and learn some valuable lessons along the way. In this episode: the Guitar Hero empire, annual Halloween playlist, the business model of a dev studio, life as a game developer, what happened in Nebraska?, what Bubcat could have been, and lessons from not being recession-proof.

See more from Nicholas Yanes:

Twitter: @NicholasYanes

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-yanes-51884aa/

Post News: https://post.news/@/nicholasyanes

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Mar 22, 202351:01

Ep. 105: The D.I.C.E. Summit

Frank and guest Chris Kohler recap their recent attendance of the 2023 D.I.C.E. Summit, a Las Vegas convention for executives and other high-level creatives in the interactive entertainment space. In this episode: a little history of the show’s atmospheric evolution, the D.I.C.E. Awards, ‘speed date’ networking, the best games shopping in Vegas, Frank apologizes to his Mom, and we do allow ourselves to reminisce about the good ol’ days with some behind the scenes journalists’ stories.

See more from Chris Kohler:

Twitter: @kobunheat

Website: www.chriskohler.biz

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Kohler/e/B001IOFJPI%3F

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Mar 08, 202301:08:42

Ep. 104: Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego?

Frank Cifaldi takes the guest seat for this episode and shares the story of the most obscure caper in Carmen Sandiego’s criminal history, a story we shared in a blog post a few years ago. In this episode: we plan a TV series, deep fried steak with a Teddy Roosevelt impersonator, Broderbund’s involvement in the game, attending an unaccredited auctioneering school, this game’s legacy in a parallel world, and Frank’s favorite part of this episode.

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Feb 23, 202356:35

Ep. 103: The Legend of Zelda Cartoon

Polygon Senior Reporter Nicole Carpenter joins us to chat about the 1989 Legend of Zelda cartoon, the subject of her recent oral history piece: ‘Excuuuuse me, Princess!’: An oral history of The Legend of Zelda cartoon. In this episode: Zeldathon; this cartoon is basically Shakespeare; The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!; the wild west of the Duoforce; a dinky startup named Nintendo of America; my sword doesn’t hit things, it shoots lasers; and poor Will Smith.

Referenced in the show: https://gameranx.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/3-720x821.jpg

See more from Nicole Carpenter:

Twitter: @sweetpotatoes

Email: nicole (at) polygon (dot) com

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Feb 08, 202346:47

Ep. 102: Preservation: How Do I Start?

Jonas Rosland, executive director of Hit Save!, shares their newest Guide to Start Video Game Preservation as an individual not necessarily affiliated with an organization. In this episode we look at the first steps to take, knowing what’s already been done, where to get more material, and we ask some philosophical and big-picture questions around video game preservation.

See more from Jonas Rosland:

Website: hitsave.org

Patreon: /hitsave

Twitter: @hitsaveorg

GitHub: github.com/hitsave

Personal twitter: @jonasrosland

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Jan 25, 202301:02:28

Ep. 101: Super Mario Kart

Norm Caruso returns to discuss Super Mario Kart’s somewhat humble beginnings as laid out in his recent video essay The Story of Super Mario Kart | Gaming Historian. In this episode: looking for the SMK team photo, an invaluable go kart outing, Mario by any other name, the mechanics of drifting, Norm had to “git gud,” file dates: a crucial tool in digital archaeology, and Lost Media: $25,000 for a lost song.

See more from Norm Caruso:

YouTube: /gaminghistorian

Twitter: @gaminghistorian

Patreon: /gaminghistorian

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

https://sketchfab.com/models/8e862790426d492793f74c60e671320f

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Jan 11, 202301:08:38

Ep. 100: CELEBRATE!

As we celebrate this milestone episode, we invite our editor, Michael Carrell, and producer, Robin Kunimune, to take a look back with us at some of our and our listener's favorite memories from the last 100 'hours'. In this episode: how this podcast came to be, why we dedicate our time to this project, favorite guests, embarrassing moments, and so much more!

Mentioned in the show:

Derek’s 3D Scan - 8M Memory Pack box:

See more from Michael Carrell:

Twitter: @ProducerMike975

Instagram: @ProducerMike975

Podcast: Comicast via Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Dec 29, 202201:51:48

Ep. 99: 9/9/99 - Launching the Dreamcast (Again)

Dreamcast Junkyard veterans Tom Charnock and Brian Vines join us to share their knowledge and experiences of the Dreamcast’s launch in both the European and US markets, respectively, and even a little on the Japanese market’s launch. In this episode: bonding over our strict video game upbringing rules; doing our darnedest to NOT derail into a Geist Force investigation; why the packaging differed; a deep dive into swirls; various lawsuit threats toward Sega; and many of the similarities and differences between these two market launches.

See more from Tom Charnock:

Website: thedreamcastjunkyard.co.uk

Twitter: @TheDCJunkyard

Podcast: The Dreamcast Junkyard DreamPod on all podcast services

YouTube: /TheDreamcastJunkyard

Discord: The Dreamcast Junkyard

Facebook (et al.): /TheDreamcastJunkyard

See more from Brian Vines:

Twitter: @VirtuaSchlub

Blog: thevirtuaplanet.com

Saturn Junkyard's TitanCast: thesaturnjunkyard.buzzsprout.com

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Dec 21, 202201:06:13

Ep. 98: The Sacred Pools

Dylan Mansfield, gaming historian and archivist, joins the show to share an odd piece of Sega history from his recent article Saving Sacred Pools: Sega’s Million Dollar Adult Game. This mid 90’s FMV game with adult themes was, until recently, considered lost. In this episode: we want to know why crappy games are crappy; once again, we get sucked into doing research live on the air; Frank doesn’t have much time left to do his work; Kelsey likes to “...well, actually…”; and a bit of smack talk.

See more from Dylan Mansfield:

Twitter: @thatdylanfellow

Website: www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/

Additional work on DidYouKnowGaming?: LOST Nintendo DS Game FOUND After 15 Years (by us)

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Dec 14, 202246:55

Ep. 97: Club Penguin

Chris Gliddon, archivist and producer at RocketSnail Games, takes a look back at the inception and evolution of Club Penguin, an MMO virtual world filled with games and activities from 2005. In this episode: Chris and Kelsey can barely contain their excitement, no one wants war - everybody just wants to chat and walk around, preserving a living game: it’s clean (but it’s a mess), business cases for archiving, and if you don’t have Leeroy Jenkins you don’t have World of Warcraft.

See more from Chris Gliddon:

Twitter: @redkeytar

Website: redkeytar.com

Twitter - Successor to CP: @PlayPartyParrot

Website: partyparrotworld.com

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Nov 30, 202201:12:28

We Need Your Memories!

As the end of the year approaches, so does our 100th episode and we can't wait to celebrate by hearing about your favorite memories from the last 99 shows. Please send your stories, questions, and comments to podcast@gamehistory.org or by submitting through our google form: https://forms.gle/62tKAsQW6VRKUNUN6

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Nov 21, 202203:14

Ep. 96: Margot Comstock - “The Glue” of the Early Apple II Era

Computer and video game historian, NYU assistant professor, and all-around rad friend of the show Laine Nooney discusses their recent article One of the most important women in Apple’s history never worked for Apple. In this episode: Bitcoin, ham radios, VR, and the Apple II - it’s all related; Softalk magazine; the 1977 Trinity; and ideation on the purpose of history.

See more from Laine Nooney:

Twitter: @Sierra_OffLine

Podcast: Unboxing: https://anchor.fm/unboxingplayandprofit/

Book: The Apple II Age: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-apple-ii-age-laine-nooney/1142333554

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Nov 16, 202201:08:26

Ep. 95: PRGE 2022 Post-Mortem (Don’t worry, it’s very alive!)

Chris Kohler returns to the show, this time to chat with Frank Cifaldi about the Portland Retro Gaming Expo held annually in Portland, Oregon. In this episode: a creepy merry-go-round, PRGE museum iterations, a drive-by pre-announcement, the current collector atmosphere, and the preservation ecosystem.

See more from Chris Kohler:

Twitter: @kobunheat

Website: www.chriskohler.biz

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Kohler/e/B001IOFJPI%3F

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Website: theycreateworlds.com

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Nov 02, 202201:02:02

Ep. 94: Magnavox: The Great Voice

Alex Smith hijacks the show from co-hosts Kelsey and “the other Kelsey” to dive deep into the history of Magnavox, manufacturer of the first commercial home video game console: Odyssey. In this episode: a ‘loudspeaker’ really is a person who speaks loudly, Futurama, Star Trek, the government creates a monopoly, we’re going to need a lot of wire to go wireless, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra.

See more from Alex Smith:

Book: https://www.routledge.com/They-Create-Worlds-The-Story-of-the-People-and-Companies-That-Shaped-the/Smith/p/book/9781138389908

Podcast: podcast.theycreateworlds.com

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Oct 19, 202201:46:55

Ep. 93: Street Fighter II: What’s in a Name?

Drew Mackie, author and owner of gaming blog Thrilling Tales of Old Video Games, joins the show this week to share the history of some of Street Fighter II’s character names. We start off with a recent article of his, If His Name Is Blanka, Why Is He Green?, taking a look at the biggest theories surrounding this odd naming choice. Ryu, Ken, Guile, Chun-Li, M. Bison, and Vega all make an appearance. Don’t worry, everyone communicates using their words, not fists, on this show.

See more from Drew Mackie:

Website: thrillingtalesofoldvideogames.com

Twitter: @drewgmackie

Instagram: @kidicarus222

Production Company: tablecakes.com

Podcast: gayestepisodeever.com - LGBTQ+ analysis of episodes of classic sitcoms

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Oct 05, 202243:21

Ep. 92: SharkWire Online

Ernie Smith, editor of website and newsletter Tedium and chum of the show, hooked our attention with his recent article Surf Like A Shark highlighting the SharkWire Online, a totally unlicensed device which brought internet connectivity to the Nintendo 64. In this episode: edgy 7-years-olds are a marketing demographic, Fisher-Price “My First Internet,” Dad is on the computer and we’re not fancy enough people, and Dan keeps the game cheats legacy alive (thanks Dan!).

See more from Ernie Smith:

Website: tedium.co

Twitter: @ShortFormErnie

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

https://www.codejunkies.com/Products/SD-Media-Launcher__EF000580V.aspx

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Sep 21, 202243:44

Ep. 91: Life Before Final Fantasy VII

Journalist and critic Kim justice recently released a video, The Story of JRPG's in the UK BEFORE FFVII: Super Play Magazine | Kim Justice, challenging the traditional narrative about how JRPGs were introduced in the UK, perhaps paralleling how it happened in the US. In this episode we shop for hardware live on-air, underserved import culture, Donkey Kong Country takes a back seat, spoilers gonna spoil, and it takes gumption to tell people what’s really cool.

Mentioned in the show:

outofprintarchive.com

See more from Kim Justice:

YouTube: /kimblejustice

Twitch: /kim_justice

Patreon: /kimblejustice

Twitter: @kimxxxjustice

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @thecolossalcave

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Sep 07, 202243:24

Ep. 90: Colossal Cave Adventure with Roberta Williams

Designer and Sierra On-Line co-founder Roberta Williams shares how Adventure inspired her own career in creating/designing the King's Quest and Phantasmagoria series as well as her newest work: Colossal Cave 3D Adventure, a reimagined version of the original title.In this episode we’re joined by a very vocal special guest, avid readers become avid storytellers, we’re all acutely aware of our own age, and looking under the hood bears greater appreciation for design.

See more from Roberta Williams:

Website: colossalcave3d.com

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Aug 24, 202201:06:24

Ep. 89: Why Toonstruck Struck Out

Jimmy Maher, author of The Digital Antiquarian, returns once more to share his recent article Toonstruck (or, A Case Study in the Death of Adventure Games). We examine this 1996 point-and-click adventure as an illustration of the mainstream decline of its entire genre. In this episode: “Siliwood” interactive movies are the next big thing, the curse of a blank check strikes again, no one ever got off Myst’s first island, do peanut butter and salmon really go together?, how simple economics shaped game design, Frank drops a major bomb making us question if we even know him anymore, and Barney is a real dinosaur who wrote his own song lyrics.

See more from Jimmy Maher:

The Digital Antiquarian: filfre.net

Patreon: /DigitalAntiquarian

Twitter: @DigiAntiquarian

The Analog Antiquarian: https://analog-antiquarian.net/

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Aug 10, 202201:06:50

Ep. 88: Intellivision Launch

Kevin Bunch returns to the show to share a new episode from Atari Archive: The Launch Lineup: Intellivision Archive Episode 1. In this episode we learn the history of the Intellivision launch and many of the innovative, if not long-lasting, ideas that came with it. Get ready for some Backgammon with a shifty-eyed poker man.

See more from Kevin Bunch:

Twitter: @ubersaurus

YouTube: /atariarchive

Website: atariarchive.org

Patreon: /atariarchive

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Jul 27, 202250:51

Ep. 87: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A: Text-Based Resistance

We’re joined by Aaron Reed, creator of a special blog post turned book called 50 Years of Text Games, a project documenting one stand-out text adventure game from every year going all the way back to 1971 (Oregon Trail!). In this episode we look into the 1988 entry, P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A., a political protest game from Czechoslovakia. Aaron helps paint a striking picture of the political and cultural climate at the time which helped forge this, and other, resistive titles. Find out how this game created IRL consequences, both intended and unintended.

See more from Aaron Reed:

Twitter: @aaronareed

Book Pre-Order Kickstarter: 50 Years of Text Games: From Oregon Trail to A.I. Dungeon

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Jul 13, 202235:02

Ep. 86: Super Mario World

Gaming Historian Norm Caruso returns to share The Story of Super Mario World | Gaming Historian: his newest YouTube documentary. In this episode we get to see behind the curtain, so to speak, and witness industry strategies for psyching out your competitors; hear the swan song(s) of 8-bit cartridge games from Nintendo; see some ‘fishy’ early sprites; claim plausible deniability; get excited about dated files; and have our minds blown with new information on our beloved Yoshi.

See more from Norm Caruso:

YouTube: /gaminghistorian

Twitter: @gaminghistorian

Patreon: /gaminghistorian

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Jun 29, 202201:01:29

Ep. 85: Video Game Libraries

Henry E. Lowood, Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections in the Stanford University Libraries and Co-Editor of ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories, gets deep into the weeds of library science around video games with VGHF Library Director Phil Salvador comparing and contrasting our two organizations. In this episode: we plan to be around in 100 years, Henry gives us a homework assignment, battleships and destroyers both play important roles in Library Land, spreadsheet enthusiasts get a shout out, and only the most hardcore historians will know about this special collection at Stanford.

See more from Henry E. Lowood:

Twitter: @Liebenwalde

Website: https://lowood.people.stanford.edu/about

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Jun 15, 202201:08:42

Ep. 84: The Zeebo

Derek Alexander and Cassidy recently collaborated on Zeebo: Brazil's Bizarre Delisted Console | Past Mortem [SSFF], a mini documentary on possibly the most ill-conceived video game console, ever. In this cutest episode of the VGHH, we meet the Zeebo Gringo, a beautiful mutant system is born, we claim diplomatic immunity, and Uncle Zeebo and Kelsey both overstay their welcome.

See more from Derek Alexander:

Twitter: @stopskeletons

YouTube: /StopSkeletonsFromFighting

Twitch: /stop skeletons from fighting

Patreon: /StopSkeletonsFromFighting

See more from Cassidy:

Twitter: @BadGameHOF

Website: badgamehalloffame.com

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Jun 01, 202201:01:24

Ep. 83: Mario Artist Paint Studio

Returning guest Jack Yarwood recently wrote about this Mario Paint sequel in his article How a British Developer Made a Japan-Exclusive Sequel to Mario Paint: the Super Nintendo utility to create art, animation, music, etc. Published in 1999, Mario Artist Paint Studio was a direct sequel in everything but name. Being exclusive to Japan and exclusive to the N64 floppy disk add-on 64DD is just the beginning of this odd tale.

See more from Jack Yarwood :

Twitter: @JackGYarwood

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Email: podcast@gamehistory.org

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

May 18, 202241:51

Fewer, Better, Super, Stronger

We have a quick announcement about the podcast this week - Frank explains: we're changing our publishing frequency, why, and what it means moving forward. We'll be back at it next week; see you then!

May 13, 202202:03

Ep. 82: MOTHER 3 for Nintendo 64

Jonathan piqued the interest of our co-hosts with his recent video EarthBound 64/MOTHER 3 N64 Spaceworld ‘99 breakdown/analysis, a detailed account of everything we know about the Spaceworld demo of MOTHER 3, a game well documented as our ‘holy grail’ in preservation. In this episode Kelsey and Jonathan must defend Cabbage, Frank pleads with you, a time traveler saves our life, Frank is haunted by what could have been, and Jonathan puts out a call for two missing magazines.

See more from Jonathan:

Twitter: @DaEgg123

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBPo8kqM51sBD0USOjouTrQ/featured

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

May 04, 202201:03:28

Ep. 81: Ghosts ‘N Goblins… ’N Ghouls… ’N Demons

Chris Baines shares his recently published documentary, The History of Ghosts 'n Goblins (and Makaimura 魔界村) - Full Series Retrospective | ChrisB Crisps, covering the extensive (if confusingly titled) franchise and its creator Tokuro Fujiwara. In this episode: cringing from ‘go,’ clout is expensive, women are hard to find, we visit Kelsey’s WonderSwan Corner, and Frank ruins Chris’ video. Oh, and a “Woooooow” moment from a beautiful evolution line through history.

See more from Chris Baines:

Twitter: @ChrisBCrisps

YouTube: /ChrisBCrisps

Instagram: @ChrisBCrisps

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Apr 27, 202201:02:27

Ep. 80: The Strong National Museum of Play

Jon-Paul Dyson, the Director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong, where he is also the VP of exhibits, shares all about the museum and its 2022 World Video Game Hall of Fame finalists. In this episode Disneyland is one of the best level designs ever made, collectors make a whole greater than the sum of their parts, potted palms and vending machines bring a new perspective, and Moon Patrol gets left out in the cold.

See more from Jon-Paul Dyson:

Twitter: @jpdysonplay

See more from The Strong National Museum of Play:

Twitter: @museumofplay

Instagram: @museumofplayroc

Facebook: /TheStrongMuseum

YouTube: /MuseumofPlay

International Center for the History of Electronic Games Facebook: /ICHEG

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Apr 20, 202201:06:12

Ep. 79: Nintendo’s Page Boy

Gaming historian Liam Robertson returns as almost a sequel to Ep. 16 to share how Nintendo’s Page Boy was almost a sequel to their unreleased Work Boy, as shown in his recent video Page Boy: Nintendo's LOST Game Boy Add-on | Game History Secrets. Man, that’s a lot of boys! We stack add-ons to get an operating system, find the origin of the selfie, assign Nintendo employees a scavenger hunt item, and Liam brings Kelsey a new secret - all at 400 characters a minute.

See more from Liam Robertson:

Twitter: @Doctor_Cupcakes

Game History Secrets series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO9mxFELVbbHM1dR6VumpP60zBENfQr0b

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Apr 13, 202244:03

Ep. 78: Fan Culture Through Final Fantasy V

Author Chris Kohler explores the evolution of niche fan culture from analog to digital through stories from his book Final Fantasy V (Boss Fight Books Book 18). “Young Chris” learns uploading to America Online makes it live forever, all the cool games stay in Japan, you can use Mario Paint as a Rosetta Stone for Japanese, and searching the internet for information about Final Fantasy has no results. “Now Chris” manifests Frank into existence with his thoughts and will always have his back.

See more from Chris Kohler:

Twitter: @kobunheat

Website: www.chriskohler.biz

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Kohler/e/B001IOFJPI%3F

Video Game History Foundation:

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Apr 06, 202201:17:44

Ep. 77: A Life of Game Design: Noah Falstein

Veteran game designer Noah Falstein looks back on his 42 year long, and counting, career and reflects on the evolution of both the role and industry over these four decades. We find Noah’s cassette tape, Simon is in Silicon Valley, $30 brings utter horror, Noah has to rein in the fun or else you’ll get hurt, and we put out a call for your tattoos.

See more from Noah Falstein:

Twitter: @nfalstein

Website: theinspiracy.com

Video Game History Foundation

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

https://oldcomputers.net/

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Mar 30, 202201:21:40

$Ep. 76: C:\>QBASIC /run GORILLA.BAS$

Ep. 76: C:\>QBASIC /run GORILLA.BAS

Benj Edwards - journalist, tech historian, and recovering retro computer hoarder - teaches us a little about MS-DOS and QBasic through their How-To Geek article: GORILLA.BAS: How to Play the Secret MS-DOS Game From Your Childhood. Frank and Benj reminisce back to day zero, Snacks 'n Jaxson gets swatted, we hack a powerful secret instead of learning our lesson, and Frank sings the theme song for history.

Mentioned in the show:

Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California - https://computerhistory.org/

https://www.vintagecomputing.com/

See more from Benj Edwards:

Twitter: @benjedwards

Website: http://vintagecomputing.com/

How-To Geek: https://www.howtogeek.com/author/benjedwards/

Video Game History Foundation

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Mar 23, 202249:39

Ep. 75: Nintendo Power Reunion

A couple months ago we hosted a ticketed event as a fundraiser we called Nintendo Power Reunion - Stories from the Original Nintendo Power Staff. Nintendo Power was one of the most popular and iconic video game magazines in the US, and its original staff have gathered together for the first time to talk about it! Our panelists are Gail Tilden, Howard Philips, Leslie Swan, and Jeff Bafus. Please enjoy the audio from an incredible afternoon of stories and behind-the-scenes making of the classic Nintendo magazine.

Our Panelists:

Gail Tilden - Nintendo of America’s first VP of Brand Management, creator and first Editor-in-Chief of Nintendo Power.

Howard Phillips - Nintendo of America’s Game Master, co-star of the Howard & Nester comics in Nintendo Power.

Leslie Swan - Second Editor-in-Chief of Nintendo Power, and first Localization Director at Nintendo of America.

Jeff Bafus - Former Sales and Marketing manager at Nintendo of America, writer/editor for Nintendo Power and Nintendo Power Strategy Guide.

Video Game History Foundation

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Mar 16, 202202:25:36

Ep. 74: Pokémon’s Translator: Nob Ogasawara

Translator, localizer, and writer Nob Ogasawara shares highlights of his career working with the Pokémon franchise and at EGM. He shares his birthday with two funny coincidences, gets called a “god,” inadvertently creates a fashion legend, and laments a lost Brittney Spearow.

See more from Nob Ogasawara:

Twitter: @DougDinsdale

Video Game History Foundation

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Mar 09, 202201:13:29

Ep. 73: What is Source Code?

Dimitris Giannakis, well-known for creating excellent videos on the technical aspect of video game preservation, explains. Luckily, he wears a T-shirt as a perfect example, we ponder at what point the code becomes Michael Jordan, and a boy dancing with a baguette solves a problem.

See more from Dimitris Giannakis:

Twitter: @ModernVintageG

YouTube: /ModernVintageGamer

Patreon: /ModernVintageGamer

Video Game History Foundation

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Mar 02, 202201:10:22

Ep. 72: Happy 5th Birthday!

Join us in our celebration of the Video Game History Foundation’s 5th birthday! Let’s take a ride through history as we retrace the long road to how the VGHF came together, what we’ve been up to for these last 5 years, and where we’re going next. Thank you to everyone that has contributed to our dream; we hope we have made, and will continue to make, you proud. Everything we’ve done has only been possible because we’ve had the support of those around us, near and far, and we’re eternally grateful. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

Video Game History Foundation

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Feb 23, 202201:16:29

Ep. 71: Meet Our New Library Director!

Phil Salvador - video game historian and librarian - has not only joined the Video Game History Foundation as its new Library Director, he’s also joined the show this week to tell us all about what he’ll be doing in this new role. Phil has quite the endeavor ahead of him getting our collection organized, cataloged (what we have, who it came from, why it’s significant, etc.), and eventually digitized. We talk about what makes up our collection, our hopes for its accessibility, and both the short and long-term goals on our roadmap.

See more from Phil Salvador:

Twitter: @itstheshadsy

Website: obscuritory.com

Video Game History Foundation

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Feb 16, 202201:17:18

Ep. 70: Perfect Dark: Spiritual Sequel to GoldenEye 007

Our guest this week, Yahel Velazquez from the Patreon funded YouTube channel Wrestling With Gaming, caught our eye with his recent video How Perfect Dark Surpassed Goldeneye On N64 - The Making Of The Nintendo 64 Classic. Yahel shares the story of the making of Perfect Dark - the Nintendo 64 game made by Rare as the follow up to its smash hit Goldeneye - as well as people who made it happen.

See more from Yahel Velazquez:

YouTube: /WrestlingWithGaming

Twitter: @WrestlesGaming

Patreon: /WrestlingWithGaming

Podcast: Obscurity Now!

Obscurity Now! YouTube: /ReptilianMedia

Video Game History Foundation

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Comic: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/barnum-elwood/barnum-and-elwood-issues-1-and-2/description

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Feb 09, 202201:05:35

Ep. 69: The Simpsons: Road Rage

Author and oral historian Brian VanHooker recently caught our attention with his very appropriately titled article, An Oral History of ‘The Simpsons: Road Rage’. Briefly putting aside his obsession with Ninja Turtles, Brian talks to us about The Simpsons: Road Rage, which many consider the first breakthrough game from the franchise since the Konami Arcade debut, as well as the people who made it.

See more from Brian VanHooker:

Twitter: @bvanhooker

Website: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/author/brian-vanhooker

Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/turtletrackspodcast

Video Game History Foundation

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Feb 02, 202250:44

Ep. 68: Fairchild Channel F

Video game historian and documentarian Kevin Bunch is here to talk about the Fairchild Channel F: the greatest game console ever made by Fairchild. Creator of the Atari Archive series of gaming documentaries about the Atari 2600’s library, Kevin tells us the story of this “alternate universe Atari” console in his latest video The Fairchild Channel F Story - Archive Annex Episode 3. The channel F was the first ever programmable game console for the home; the first game system that you could program a game for and then sell said game on a cartridge, as opposed to everything already built into one unit.

Mentioned in the show: https://archive.org/details/olney-fairchild-documents/

See more from Kevin Bunch:

Twitter: @ubersaurus

YouTube: /atariarchive

Website: atariarchive.org

Patreon: /atariarchive

Video Game History Foundation

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Jan 26, 202201:09:09

Ep. 67: NES Light Guns

Gaming Historian and friend of the show, Norm Caruso, joins us to expand on his recent video The Ultimate Guide to NES Light Guns | Gaming Historian about The Zapper and many other NES light guns. Learn the history of how these types of guns were even invented, how these toys worked (and how to cheat!), and how the late Senator Bob Dole was involved in this story.

Enteractive Advertisement mentioned in show: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BpBQmwIIgAA95pT?format=jpg&name=orig

See more from Norman Caruso:

YouTube: /gaminghistorian

Twitter: @gaminghistorian

Patreon: /gaminghistorian

Video Game History Foundation

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Jan 19, 202201:17:30

Ep. 66: The Grand Theft Auto Evolution

Danny O’Dwyer of Noclip is here to talk about the latest episode in their Greatest Hits series, The History of Grand Theft Auto, Lemmings & DMA Design. Now ‘the’ Grand Theft Auto expert, Danny explains the European version of iconic American stereotypes present in this game compared to differing regional stereotypes found in other titles. We touch on how cultural perceptions play an unexpectedly influential role in game creation, especially when a studio is aiming for the global market. You won’t believe the strange and lengthy catalog of titles which were essential in the timeline leading up to the creation of GTA III.

See more from Danny O’Dwyer:

Twitter: @dannyodwyer

YouTube: /noclipvideo

Patreon: /noclip

Video Game History Foundation

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Jan 12, 202201:27:46

Ep. 65: Preservation: Institutional vs. Non

Andrew Borman, Digital Games Curator at The Strong National Museum of Play, joins us to discuss the roles, benefits, limitations, and approaches of institutional versus individual video game preservation. At the end of the day, the entire ecosystem is required: collectors, academia, fans, institutions, and non-institutions all play a necessary part in completing the picture.

See more from Andrew Borman:

Twitter: @borman18

YouTube: /ptoponline

Website: http://museumofplay.org

Facebook: /icheg

Video Game History Foundation

Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @gamehistoryhour

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Jan 05, 202201:16:40

Ep. 64: Q&A and Closing Out 2021

It’s time, once again, to answer your burning questions! But first, a big thank you to all our listeners, supporters, and cheerleaders! And, thank you to all the wonderful guests who joined the show and the deluge of information they shared with us this year. We discuss the most important things which happened in 2021, both at the VGHF and in the world of preservation; how much data we currently store; how we pick our guests and topics; what’s the biggest project we’re currently blocked on; and so much more!

Video Game History Foundation

Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Dec 29, 202101:07:31

Ep. 63: Magazine Preservation

Dustin Hubbard (Hubz), founder of Gaming Alexandria, and Robert Reeves (Phillyman), founder of Retromags, join hosts Frank and Kelsey in a panel discussion on preserving video game magazines, especially those published pre-internet. We discuss why creating a library of old magazines is particularly important to overall preservation efforts, how we all got started, and how anyone can contribute. That last one is crucial: you won’t believe how big our backlogs are!

See more from Dustin Hubbard:

Twitter: @GamingAlexandri

Website: www.gamingalexandria.com

Discord: https://discord.gg/YHZUVaAXw3

Patreon: /gamingalexandria

See more from Rob Reeves:

Twitter: @retromags

Website: www.retromags.com

Facebook: /RetromagsPreservation

Subscriptions: patron.retromags.com

Retromags 2005-2020 Collection: torrents.retromags.com

Dec 22, 202101:23:35

Ep. 62: Super Smash Bros.

PushDustIn, aka Will, takes us on a journey through the past of Super Smash Bros. (read: Brothers). Sparing us only a small break from his rather busy work as a content creator, Japanese Translator, Community Manager, PR professional, Co-host of the Memory Card podcast, and creator of the Source Gaming website, Push is here to teach us about the SSB humble beginnings of Ohajiki-style gameplay, goofy 90’s commercials of Mario punching sweet Yoshi, and the brutal process of final character inclusion selection. Has your favorite Nintendo character made it into Super Smash Bros., yet?

See more from PushDustIn:

Twitter: @PushDustIn

Memory Card Podcast: https://www.memorycardshow.com/

Source Gaming: https://source-gaming.com/

Dec 15, 202101:10:19

Ep. 61: Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom

Jacob Salas, of the website Pop History, joins the show to tell us about an ambitious attempt at a Virtual Magic Kingdom CD ROM that, in a lot of ways, is also the story of Hollywood's odd attempts in the 90’s to try to get into the video game market more seriously. In his feature article One Name, Two Games: Virtual Magic Kingdom we learn the story of a massive virtual Disney theme park project which was shut down, revived into an MMO, shut down again, then subsequently revived again by fans and kept going to this day. You may also know this project as Disney’s Villains’ Revenge, the retail puzzle action game: this project certainly has a complex history.

Salas was the recipient of a writing grant from the Video Game History Foundation for the purpose of researching and documenting this history.

See more from Jacob Salas:

Pop History – https://pophistory.club

Pop history twitter: @js_pophistory

Patreon – /pophistory

Twitter – @js_jrod

YouTube – /czfjrod

Dec 08, 202101:03:20

Ep. 60: Computer Space

Alex Smith returns to the show, this time to talk about Computer Space: a 1971 arcade game often considered the beginning of the commercial video game industry. Continuing the annotation series of his book, “They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry, Vol. I”, Alex Smith has condensed down the history of this first coin-operated video game in his recent blog post: Worldly Wednesdays: A Timeline Of Computer Space. Always the thorough historian, Alex Smith treats us to an incredibly educational hour of video game history.

See more from Alex Smith:

Website: theycreateworlds.com

Book: https://www.routledge.com/They-Create-Worlds-The-Story-of-the-People-and-Companies-That-Shaped-the/Smith/p/book/9781138389908

Podcast: podcast.theycreateworlds.com

Dec 01, 202101:44:17

Ep. 59: DMCA Exemption Ruling

Cyberlaw Clinic tech lawyer Kendra Albert and librarian and video game historian Phil Salvador join the show to give us their professional insight into the U.S. Copyright Office's October 2021 ruling which affects how libraries are able to provide access to video games and other software. As we discuss this current event, we hope to provide context as to what this ruling means, how it was reached, and how we might approach the next round of exemption proposals to best serve preservation efforts.

Ep. 58: FEMICOM Museum

Rachel Weil started the FEMICOM Museum to catalogue, celebrate, and remix the history of girl games, girly games, and femme games. She joins us to provide insight into how this massive category of video games has been shut out of history preservation (hint: follow the money) and how she’s been countering this trend for the last decade. As Founder and Director, Rachel combines both an online museum experience with a physical archive of games, electronic toys, and software. We bask in the nostalgia of Barbie Fashion Designer, the Game Boy Sewing Machine, Hello Kitty games, My Little Pony games, Neopets, and so much more!

See more from Rachel Weil:

Twitter: @FemicomMuseum

Website: femicom.org

Personal Twitter: @partytimeHXLNT

Nov 17, 202158:12

Ep. 57: Hit Save!

Executive Director of Hit Save!, Jonas Rosland, joins us to showcase some of the amazing work this fellow 501(c)(3) non-profit does in preserving video game history, especially through community-driven projects. Hit Save! has brought together amazing resources in both their Scanning.Guide! and Dumping.Guide! to aid our community in digitizing existing materials as well as a program facilitating interviews with game developers to preserve that history which may not yet have been documented. Rosland also gives us a peek into many other current projects and we learn how any of us can get involved.

Mentioned in the show:

Scanning.Guide! (https://scanning.guide/)

Dumping.Guide! (https://dumping.guide/)

See more from Jonas Rosland:

Website: hitsave.org

Patreon: /hitsave

Twitter: @hitsaveorg

GitHub: github.com/hitsave

Personal twitter: @jonasrosland

Nov 10, 202101:02:58

Ep. 56: Nintendo in Italy

Gaming historian and journalist Damiano Gerli shares the details of how exactly Nintendo marketed itself to the Italian consumer in the 80’s and 90’s as laid out in his article Selling Mario to Italians: the untold story of Nintendo in Italy. They really had their work cut out for them as they tried to bring their console into an environment already heavily favoring PC gaming as well as free of software copyright laws. How did they make it work and what byproducts still survive today as a result?

See more from Damiano Gerli:

Twitter: @damgentemp

Genesis Temple blog - dedicated to obscure gaming history and analyzing interesting elements of game design: https://genesistemple.com/

Patreon: /thegenesistemple

Facebook: /TheGenesisTemple

Nov 03, 202101:04:03

Ep. 55: Pac-Man

Author Tim Lapetino joins us to discuss his new book, Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon. After so many years, why are there still stories to tell about Pac-Man? During a time when shooting aliens was the hot gameplay on the scene, we find out why this game, with such a different experience, had mass appeal. Tim takes us down the rabbit hole of what is just so fascinating about this iconic character, the legendary franchise, and its creator.

See more from Tim Lapetino:

Twitter: @lapetino

Website: timlapetino.com

Instagram: @timlapetino

Book: Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon: Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon

Recommended Book: Art Of Atari

Oct 27, 202101:04:32

Ep. 54: Kaizo Mario

GlitchCat7, competitive gamer/ROM hacker/full time streamer/Kaizo Mario historian of record, joins us to discuss his extensive blog post, The Complete History of ‘Kaizo Mario’. GlitchCat7 helps us understand how ‘Kaizo’ was born from exploring glitched levels, wall clipping, and ROM warping. These rearranged, and quite difficult, Mario levels provide a jumping off point for a philosophical journey through what it means to go beyond the horizon of what’s explorable in a game and play out of bounds.

Mentioned in the show:

https://www.smwcentral.net//

See more from GlitchCat7:

Website: https://www.glitchcat7.com

Twitch: /glitchcat7

Twitter: @GlitchCat7

TikTok: @GlitchCat7

Instagram: @GlitchCat7

Patreon: @GlitchCat7

Mallow’s Instagram: @mallowspiraltail

Oct 20, 202101:11:13

Ep. 53: X-Rated Atari Games

Historian and documentarian Kate Willaert returns to the show, this time to discuss her recent article on “adult” games made under the Mystique banner for the Atari 2600: Porno Hustlers Of The Atari Age. Kate guides us through the very troubled history around these titles’ creation and release, including protests, legal suits, and attempted legislation. She also unravels the complicated company structures behind these games to figure out who was really involved in this story.

See more from Kate Willaert:

Twitter: @katewillaert

YouTube: /a critical hit

Website: acriticalhit.com

Patreon: /acriticalhit

Newsletter: criticalkate.substack.com

Oct 13, 202101:05:16

Ep. 52: Star Fox Command

John Rairdin of Nintendo World Report joins us to discuss his ambitious documentary The History and Development of Star Fox Command (Ft. The Original Developers). He shares the previously undocumented history of this Nintendo DS title, its developers from Q-Games, and its many creators. As a side note: John has some pretty good ideas on how to make a game about space rodents, who may or may not have robotic legs, flying around saving the universe into a pretty fun racing game. Let’s get on this, Nintendo!

See more from John Rairdin:

Twitter: @jtsknight92

Website: NintendoWorldReport.com

YouTube: /NinWRTV

Patreon: /NWR

Oct 06, 202101:03:60

Ep. 51: U-Force - For Experienced Players Only

We’re joined, once again, by Norman Caruso to discuss the history of a unique 1990 Nintendo Entertainment System controller, the U-Force. All the rage when it was announced, this hands-free controller uses infrared emitters/detectors to locate your hands in 3-dimensional space for game control input. In his recent video Don't Touch: The Story of the U-Force | Gaming Historian we learn how this device came about and why, sadly, it didn’t perform very well, both physically and in the retail market.

Find more content from Norman Caruso:

YouTube: /gaminghistorian

Twitter: @gaminghistorian

Patreon: /gaminghistorian

Sep 29, 202101:04:60

Ep. 50: Prototypes

To celebrate the Video Game History Hour’s 50th episode we’ve invited friend of the show, Chris Kohler, to join a thoughtful conversation all about game prototypes. What are they, where do they come from, and what part did they play in forming the Video Game History Foundation? How does the existence of source code affect our feelings about prototypes? We share stories of cool prototypes we’ve come across in our past and what prototypes we’d loved to find someday.

Mentioned in the show:

https://hiddenpalace.org/Project_Deluge

See more from Chris Kohler:

Twitter: @kobunheat

Website: www.chriskohler.biz

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Kohler/e/B001IOFJPI%3F

Sep 22, 202101:23:04

Ep. 49: LucasArts’ The Dig Dug Its Own Grave

Jimmy Maher, creator of The Digital Antiquarian, returns to the show to discuss his article on The Dig, a LucasArts point and click adventure. Jimmy takes us through the rich, but troubled, history of this title in a way that helps us understand how this project ever made it to the finish line and why it wasn’t more popular. Grab your shovel and get ready to solve some alien space puzzles!

See more from Jimmy Maher:

The Digital Antiquarian: filfre.net

Patreon: /DigitalAntiquarian

Twitter: @DigiAntiquarian

The Analog Antiquarian: https://analog-antiquarian.net/

Sep 15, 202101:06:20

Ep. 48: 3, 2, 1...Dreamcast Launch!

Tomorrow marks the 22 year anniversary of the Dreamcast’s North American launch back on 9/9/99. To celebrate, we’re joined by Chase, one of the PR professionals charged with creating its memorable launch for Sega and who worked on the release of every single first party game for the console. We get a different perspective on this moment in history and hear stories of the memorable and wacky stunts Chase helped to put together to create media buzz. You can see some of his saved memorabilia and swag from these events in his Twitch stream, Highlight: Dreamcast Anniversary Stream.

See more from Chase:

Twitter: @chasejustchase

Twitch: /chase

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sep 08, 202101:05:38

Ep. 47: Final Break and David L. Craddock

In our final week of our three week hiatus, we’re going back to a conversation we had with David L. Craddock back in episode 33. We covered the Resident Evil demo that had come out and other upcoming games, how our gaming styles have changed as we’ve gotten older, and what styles of game reviews we find useful. We hope you enjoy!

See more from David L. Craddock:

Website: shacknews.com

Twitter: @davidlcraddock

Book: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/monsters-in-the-dark-the-making-of-x-com#/

Website: davidlcraddock.com

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sep 01, 202126:17

Ep. 46: Continued Break and Alex Smith

We’re continuing our brief hiatus, but this week we’re sharing a little after-show chat we had with Alex Smith talking further about the Smithsonian’s oral history project: Video Game Pioneers Archive.

See more from Alex Smith:

Book: https://www.routledge.com/They-Create-Worlds-The-Story-of-the-People-and-Companies-That-Shaped-the/Smith/p/book/9781138389908

Video Game Pioneers Archive: https://invention.si.edu/node/20723/p/489-videogame-pioneers-archive

Project Transcripts: https://sova.si.edu/details/NMAH.AC.1498?s=0&n=10&t=C&q=&i=0

Podcast: podcast.theycreateworlds.com

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sep 01, 202119:02

Ep. 45: Short Break & Bonus Content with Ben Hanson

The podcast is going to take a brief hiatus for a few weeks in order to better focus on projects at the foundation. But, don't worry; we're not leaving you with nothing! Back in episode 30 we hung out with Ben Hanson after the show and discussed the process of being an interviewer and the challenges that includes. We hope you enjoy this more into-the-weeds convo and look forward to coming back very soon.

See more from Ben Hanson:

Twitter: @yozetty

Website: www.Minnmax.com

YouTube: /minnmax

Patreon: /minnmax

Podcast: The MinnMax Show

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Aug 18, 202124:02

Ep. 44: LGR on Unreal Tournament

Greetings and welcome to some quality time with Clint Basinger of Lazy Game Reviews, his YouTube channel dedicated to computer history and software. We originally were inspired to bring Clint on the show to discuss his recent video, Unreal Tournament 22 Years Later: An LGR Retrospective, but we just couldn’t help but expand to the broader topic of 1990’s computer tech, his expertise. From Morrowind to Need for Speed, from Windows ‘95 to Direct3D, Clint joins us to share his passion and we couldn’t be more excited.

See more from Clint Basinger:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Lazygamereviews

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Aug 11, 202101:00:57

Ep. 43: Preservation Efforts

A behind the scenes look at one of our recent home preservation efforts. Sometimes we get the call from someone with a house full of items in need of preservation and we just can’t turn down the opportunity. This time, we traveled to the Chicago area for a couple different collections. We can’t wait to tell you some of the cool things we came across!

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Aug 04, 202101:30:18

Ep. 42: Neo Geo, Worth Its Weight in Gold

Martin Robinson of Eurogamer brings us the history of the Neo Geo, an interesting console of its time owned by an interesting type of person. Referring to his recent article, When the arcade came home: a short oral history of the Neo Geo, Robinson lays out what it was like at SNK making games for this outlier of a console, longs for the freedom some of these developers had in their creative processes, and blows our minds with a revelation about Metal Slug.

See more from Martin Robinson:

Profile: https://www.eurogamer.net/authors/748

Website: https://www.eurogamer.net/

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jul 28, 202152:47

Ep. 41: Exploring Stellar Track (Star Trek)

Once again, we’re joined by Kevin Bunch of Atari Archive, this time to talk about his 50th episode of said series: Stellar Track (Star Trek): Atari Archive Episode 50. We learn the history of this very early, very influential game, its many iterations, and its different names along the way.

See more from Kevin Bunch:

Twitter: @ubersaurus

YouTube: /atariarchive

Website: atariarchive.org

Patreon: /atariarchive

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Video Game History Hour:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gamehistoryhour

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gamehistoryhour

Video Game History Foundation:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GameHistoryOrg

Website: https://gamehistory.org/

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gamehistoryorg

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jul 21, 202158:10

Ep. 40: That’s 2021 Halfway, So Now It’s Time for Q&A

We open up the mailbag and answer some of our listeners' burning questions! We cover emulation preservation, the definition of a gaming historian, growing pains of the organization, best dinosaur games ever made, plans for our personal collections, and so much more!

Quick note: this is episode 40, but we refer to it as episode 41 in the recording; sorry for the mix up. The producer will have her head on correctly again next week!

Video Game History Hour

Email: podcast@gamehistory.org

Video Game History Foundation

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GameHistoryOrg

Website: https://gamehistory.org/

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gamehistoryorg

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com/) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jul 14, 202101:17:04

Ep. 39: Tex Murphy, P.I. Solves the Case of the Missing Production Tapes

Fan turned archivist Mat Van Rhoon of Big Finish Games tells the story of the lost Tex Murphy series production tapes in a recent article, Tex Murphy and the Raiders of the Lost Tapes. We hear about the sheer elation, joy, and maddening frustration these adventures in preservation led to, as well as the odd places from which some of these tapes were excavated. From discovery to digitization, Mat really put a tick in the ‘Win’ column for game history preservation!

See more from Mat Van Rhoon:

Twitter: @MatVanRhoon

LinkedIn: /matvanrhoon

See more from Big Finish Games:

Twitter: @BigFinishGames

Website: bigfinishgames.com

Facebook: /bigfinishgames

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jul 07, 202101:02:11

Ep. 38: The Sega Mega Modem Saga

Norman Caruso is here to share the history of the Sega Mega Modem from his most recent video SEGA Mega Modem: Ahead of Its Time | Gaming Historian. Despite many of its drawbacks and pitfalls, this device pointed to a brighter future that wasn’t able to come to fruition until almost a decade after its lackluster release. Was online, social gaming an inevitability or did the Mega Modem pave the way?

See more from Norman Caruso:

YouTube: /gaminghistorian

Twitter: @gaminghistorian

Book: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/monsters-in-the-dark-the-making-of-x-com#/

Patreon: /gaminghistorian

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jun 30, 202158:05

Ep. 37: Nokia's Disengaged N-Gage

Grace Kramer and Derek Alexander are this week’s guests discussing the Nokia N-Gage from their recent documentary, N-Gage: Cell Phone Gaming's First Big Flop | Past Mortem [SSFF]. While there is some debate on the pronunciation of Nokia depending where you live, there is little doubt to the N-Gage’s major DOA status. Find out what exactly happened, both inside Nokia and out in the marketplace, to put this side-talking cell phone in the Bummer Books of gaming history.

See more from Grace Kramer & Derek Alexander:

Twitter: @stopskeletons

YouTube: /StopSkeletonsFromFighting

Twitch: /stop skeletons from fighting

Patreon: /StopSkeletonsFromFighting

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jun 23, 202101:04:54

Ep. 36: Jurassic Park: Trespasser - A Triceriflop

Game historian, journalist, and content creator Kim Justice joins us to talk about the commercial and critical disappointment, though surprisingly influential, Jurassic Park: Trespasser. In her recent documentary Jurassic Park: Trespasser - A Failure That Stood The Test Of Time | Kim Justice we’re taken through her six part story of its development, its failings, and its lessons learned. While some of those lessons learned include how to hide your non-existent legs with massive breasts, they also include how counting out bullets can be valuable to the player and using one’s entire body to press a button is only accurate physics on paper. Through video game archeology we now have the ability to experience Trespasser for what it was truly meant to be, which in itself is essentially what Jurassic Park is all about.

See more from Kim Justice:

YouTube: /kimblejustice

Twitch: /kim_justice

Patreon: /kimblejustice

Twitter: @kimxxxjustice

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jun 16, 202151:10

Ep. 35: The Dreaded Age Rating

We sit down with Jimmy Maher, author of The Digital Antiquarian, to examine his recent four part series: The Ratings Game. This series takes a look at how games came to have age ratings, why it was inevitable and necessary, and the fascinating butterfly effects that came because of it. Maher draws a very clear throughline from a United States Senate hearing controversy over violence in video games in 1993 directly through the inaugural E3 show in 1995. And, spurred by the curiosity of his wife, he even wades through fistfuls of scientific studies on the effects of violence in video games. Do they cause harm to our children?

See more from Jimmy Maher:

The Digital Antiquarian: filfre.net

Patreon: /DigitalAntiquarian

Twitter: @DigiAntiquarian

The Analog Antiquarian:https://analog-antiquarian.net/

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jun 09, 202101:23:52

Ep. 34: The CRPG Book

Felipe Pepe takes us through his collaborative, non-profit project to create a historical guide to computer role playing games: The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games. What CRPG’s around the world are cool, interesting, historically important, popular, meaningful, and why are they so? Each entry highlights a game’s eccentricities, context of the time to better understand it, and the straightforward reasons why you should play it (though, there are plenty of games they recommend you don’t play). What started as a six month, 72 item project quickly became a four year, 400 item effort, but only due to overwhelming participation from the community. While the PDF version is completely free for download, all profits from hardcover sales benefit an educational charity in Brazil.

See more from Felipe Pepe:

Hardcover Book: https://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/products/the-crpg-book-a-guide-to-computer-role-playing-games

Free PDF Book: https://crpgbook.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/crpg_book_2.0-1.pdf

Twitter: @Felipepepe

Website: crpgbook.wordpress.com

Contact: crpgbook@gmail.com

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Jun 02, 202101:10:25

Ep. 33: Microsoft Game Studios: The Xbox Prequel

Diving into the history of the Xbox in his recent long read, Bet on Black: How Microsoft and Xbox Changed Pop Culture, Part 1, David L. Craddock goes back to the time of JezzBall, Age of Empires, and trusty ‘ol Minesweeper: the games that kept us entertained while someone else in the house was using the phone. We discuss the import of porting Doom to show off DirectX, the PC Magazine two level Diablo demo disc, and the PR disaster of The Lion King for Windows 95. Craddock, no stranger to suddenly massively expanding the scope of his research, takes us down this rabbit hole with tales of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, Dwayne the Rock Johnson, and Halo’s Blood Gulch map.

See more from David L. Craddock:

Website: shacknews.com

Twitter: @davidlcraddock

Website: davidlcraddock.com

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

May 26, 202157:26

Ep. 32: Darkwatch with Eric Switzer

Eric Switzer joins us to share the development and downfall of Darkwatch in his article The Untold Story Of Darkwatch. A vampiric haunted western, Darkwatch could have, in another universe, been a major franchise. But, through a series of acquisitions and mandated pivots, its storyline deadended after only one title. Will this long silent universe ever see its rebirth? Switzer gives us his exciting take on what may come down the line.

See more from Eric Switzer:

Twitter: @EpicSwitzer

Website: thegamer.com

The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

May 19, 202153:32

Ep. 31: Spacewar!: Dual to the Death

Our podcasting duo takes us back to the dawning of real-time computer games: Spacewar! Alex Smith joins us for round two, being our second second-time guest, to pairaphrase the history of this 2-player game of binary ships thrusting around a gravity-well star, who (reluctantly) wrote it, who modded it, who played it, and who created the first couple of video game controllers ever made. If necessity is the mother of invention, can we agree ‘fun’ is at least a cool aunt? The second generation of computer engineers doubled down on these machines simply being fun toys and spawned an entire industry which now generates more than twice the revenue of both the music and film/TV industries combined!

Play Spacewar!: Masswerk.at

See more from Alex Smith: