They Create Worlds

TCW Podcast Episode 068 - Sega VS Nintendo Round 1 Recorded live in front of fans on YouTube Live!  Alex and Jeffrey start the dive into the Sega VS Nintendo rivalry.  We lay the groundwork of how Sega came to enter the console market in Japan.  We see the first clash with Nintendo, and the reasons that Nintendo won the first round cementing their hold on Japan in a way that would not be broken un...

TCW Podcast Episode 067 - The Birth of Japanese Consoles We cover the start of Japanese home consoles beginning with the early dedicated systems and working up to the development of the Famicom and the Sega SC-3000.  Japan differed from the US in that companies had the opportunity to sell consoles that bridged the gap from dedicated consoles to programable consoles with LSI-cartridge-based console...

TCW Podcast Episode 066 - Half of a Life We cover the founding of Valve and the development processes that led to Half-Life 1 & 2.  Originally made using the Quake II engine, Half-Life was an ambitious project that ran into the same kind of hurdles other companies have experienced.  Valve was able to take the needed time to create a truly outstanding product.  This was due in no small measure...

TCW Podcast Episode 065 - The Rise and Fall of Infogrames Part 2 We go into the mass consolidation that sprung Infogrames into an international powerhouse.  It was due to these quick consolidations that led them to have a high value on the stock market.  When the tech bubble burst in the early 2000's the stock value plummeted, and Infrogrames was unable to service the massive debt consolidation ha...

TCW Podcast Episode 064 - Rise and Fall of Infogrames Part 1 The rise and fall of a French company founded by Bruno Bonnell.  We cover the rocky start of the company and the games that helped them gain notoriety.  Through some chance connections through family and fellow employees Infogrames was able to skyrocket onto the international stage with their game Alone in the Dark.   Captain Blood: http...

TCW Podcast Episode 063 - Lawsuits for Nintendo We delve into the legal hurdles that Nintendo faced during its rise to power in the '80s and '90s.  We see how they were able with the guidance of Howard Lincoln to weather the first of many lawsuits, and triumph!  In their long history they have used the court systems in the United States to their advantage; even wining a case almost everyone though...

TCW Podcast Episode 062 - Lawsuits for Everyone! Thanks @MyMac for suggesting this topic!  We delve into some of the landmark court cases that helped shape the video game industry.  Specifically we looked at the sphere of copyright law.  Starting with looking at what constitutes an infringement.  How similar can two works be, and where is the line if you modify the game.  We wrap up looking at the...

TCW Podcast Episode 061 - Where in the Game is Carmen Sandiego?   We go into the development, creation, and surprise smash hit that is the Carmen Sandiego franchise.  Starting off as a video game that flopped at launch; it grew into one of the biggest things of the mid 80's through to the 90's spanning not just video games, but also a game show, a cartoon, and other entertainment media.   Where in...

TCW Podcast Episode 060 - Williams' Crazy Story Pt 2 Part two of our look at Williams' story of how a pinball company grew through a combination of mergers and hit products to become one of the dominate players in the industry during the early to mid-90's.  They had many successes in the arcade utilizing the digitization technology that they helped pioneer.  Not only were they successful in the vi...

TCW Podcast Episode 059 - Williams' Crazy Story Part one of a look at the history of Williams Manufacturing Company.  Starting with Harry Williams' monumental contributions to the pinball industry with the creation of the tilt mechanism and later on adding electromechanical elements to the machines.  We cover the sordid history of the company as it changes hands multiple times, and the pinball/vid...

TCW Podcast Episode 058 - EA Sports: It's in the Game! We revisit EA with a deep dive into EA Sports.  Some information that was in our EA: The Teenage Years episode, but with more detail!  We start off with some of the early ventures into sports, and how EA evolved into the sports juggernaut it is today.  We cover the origins of the EA sports brand, how hats were a deciding factor in getting the...

TCW Podcast Episode 057 - Foundation of the Japanese Video Arcade Game Industry We go over the games, companies, and events that lead to the foundation of the Japanese Video Arcade Game Industry.  We extensively cover breakout, and how the cloning of that game lead to the start of many companies that would come to power during the 90's.  With Space Invaders, we see a full blown encouragement of sm...

TCW Podcast Episode 056 - Revisions and Updates We go over our past episodes and provide updates, if we have any, on each one.  There are a lot of little tidbits, and expansion on a variety of topics.  Some of the big ones are Namco, the Nutting Associates, and James Morgan.  Happy Holidays everyone! Episode 1 "All I can do is ask why?": 0:02:54 Episode 2 "You talked to whom?": 0:07:07 Episode 3 "...

TCW Podcast Episode 055 - Blizzard: Hellfire and The World… of WarCraft  Part two of our look into Blizzard Entertainment.  We start in the late 90's with the finishing of Diablo, and the development of StarCraft.  We see the evolution and cross influences of the Blizzard cinematics department on the course of Diablo.  This is also the same time we learn of how Blizzard is not afraid to kill an es...

TCW Podcast Episode 054 - Blizzard: Vikings and WarCraft Part one of our dive into one of the most influential computer game companies in existence.  We cover the founding of Blizzard, which started as Silicon and Synapse, with their start by being independent contractors for PC and console.  With the company wanting to transition into being full developers, they accepted an offer to be acquired b...

TCW Podcast Episode 053 - The History and Merger of Enix and Square We cover the individual histories of the companies Enix and Square.  Everything from early projects to influences that helped shape them into the companies they would become.  We delve into the dream teams for each company that created their seminal hits, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.  We cover how they each had problems getting...

TCW Podcast Episode 052 - The Many Faces of Konami We go over the whole history of Konami at the macro level.  The origin, founding, and the initial setup that continues to influence the company to the present day.  Though much of the history is shrouded behind a language barrier, or simply lost, there is still plenty of information out there.  We cover the hits they had in the video game arena, a...

TCW Podcast Episode 051 - Sons of Pong Starting off with a discussion of the unique setting of the time leading into Pong's debut, we transition over to the various companies that created clones of Pong, and their reasons for doing so.  We discover that the company that created the most Pong-style games was not Atari, nor one of the big Chicago companies, but a company based in Florida called Alli...

TCW Podcast Episode 050 - Civilizing Sid Meier We go over Sid's transition into the video game industry.  Starting with meeting "Wild Bill" and their break out game HellCat Ace, and the iterations that lead to F-15 Strike Eagle that cemented MicroProse as a company.  We cover the how/why of Sid Meier's name being on the boxes particularly for the simulation and 4X games.  We wrap it all up with th...

TCW Podcast Episode 049 - Old and Elite  We go over a classic from Great Britain!  Elite is unique in the ambition and execution of creating a massive open world space, complete with a 3d perspective, on such  limited hardware.  The game has influenced a variety of others most notably Grand Theft Auto. Demo of Elite on a BBC B: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owz7XExO-Wk Elite Comparison of BBC B...

TCW Podcast Episode 048 - Driving Games and Technology We go over the wild ride of driving games.  These games were used as a vehicle to demonstrate advances in graphics technology.  Starting with electro-mechanical games, and ending up with textured polygons; we cover the whole track of an era where cars were king!  There are a lot of examples in this episode drawn from the arcade, consoles, and...

TCW Podcast Episode 047 - Vestiges of Atari   In our fourth and final episode investigating the rise and fall of the original Atari we delve into the factors that caused the fall of Atari.  We cover the lead up to and tipping point of the variety of factors that lead to the crash.  No one entity can take the blame for it.  The major factors including distribution, overzealous sales forecasts, and ...

 TCW Podcast Episode 046 - Atari, Ray Kassar and Warner   We continue on to part three of our four part look into Atari.  We delve into Atari under the leadership of Ray Kassar.  It becomes apparent that while Ray did make mistakes the leadup to the fall of Atari cannot be entirely placed at his feet.  We also explore the role of Warner in the direction Atari took and the difficult decision on whe...

TCW Podcast Episode 045 - Atari, Ventures and Acquisitions   In our second of four episodes detailing the rise and fall of the core Atari company we go over the rapid expansion of the company, and its ever increasing need for capital.  Atari had to court venture capital, and got the patronage of Don Valentine.  Later on to secure the funding needed for the VCS launch they had to be acquired by a l...

TCW Podcast Episode 044 - Founding, Syzygy to Atari   Part one of our four-part dive into Syzygy/Atari! We cover the personal histories of the founders, and how the company would not really be a company without the efforts of Nolan Bushnell.  We go into the controversy of where he learned of Spacewar.  Then off to the debut hit for Atari of PONG.  We cover the rocky road Atari had after its initia...