Gaming History Club

This episode we take a partial traditional approach, covering the history of Pokémon and the minds behind the biggest media franchise of all time. But Pokémon's too huge a topic to stay tidy, so we also go on a side quest into the weirder stuff — like a million strangers controlling one Game Boy on Twitch, and Pokémon GO's surprising ties to military surveillance. Sources: History of Pokemon - Bul...

SEGA made awesome consoles, and they were the only manufacturer that gave Nintendo any competition at all. In this episode we discuss SEGA's consoles, the Game Gear, and their departure from console manufacturing. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Interview with Hideki Sato We welcome you to get in touch with u...

SEGA went from distributing slot machines to military bases, to becoming a household name in gaming and creating one of the most iconic characters of all time. How did this happen? Well, listen and find out! Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Sega Retro The Four Americans that built SEGA - Kotaku The Next Genera...

Playing in a shared word online with thousands of other people is wondrous. You'll be surprised to find out that somehow people having been playing MMORPGs before the internet, and before computer graphics! Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory. Clu...

The biggest horror franchise in the world began with a movie tie-in game for the Famicom that really should have been released in the western world, but didn't. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: 1UP Interview with Shinji Mikami Kotaku - The NES Game that inspired Resident Evil Gameinformer - Place of Residing E...

8 years before PONG, Mabel Addis was writing and designing games. As the first video game writer, and first female game designer, she helped invent the strategy and edutainment genres with The Sumerian Game. This episode tells the story of a gaming history hero often overlooked. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources...

Video game magazines were more important than you might think! Before the internet was around they were the gatekeepers to all things video game related. Find out how magazines and gaming journalism got started. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Play Meter #1 December 1974 VIDEO - Arcade Alley 1979 Electronic G...

It's time for our annual recap of just exactly what happened in 2025. Spoiler alert: still no GTA VI. Joining us as usual is our special guest Brad and we discuss some of the most noteworthy things that happened in gaming. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHisto...

Achievements changed why and how we play games. But before Xbox arrived with Gamerscore, players were already being rewarded! just in very different ways. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Activision Iron-on patches Gamerscore Patent We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory. Club Faceb...

Welcome to Gamergate: a scandal that mixed ethics, harassment, conspiracy theories, and online shouting in equal measure. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Britannica – Gamergate Campaign Wired – Inside Gamergate Chat Logs NPR / Rep. Katherine Clark – How Gamergate Became a Template for Malicious Action Online...

Text adventures and interactive fiction might look primitive today, yet they changed gaming forever. Through imagination and clever code, these games laid the groundwork for everything from RPG dialogue trees to open-world exploration. Join us as we celebrate the witty, weird, and world-shaping legacy of interactive fiction. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episod...

Why did Football Manager get banned in China? Why did Pokémon cause a moral panic? And why does a “game” called Ethnic Cleansing even exist? Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Pokemon Ethnic Cleansing Football Manager 2005 Tropico 5 Liyla and The Shadows of War We welcome you to get...

This episode contains a 10-second extract of the song 'Lavender Town' created by Junichi Masuda for the Pokemon Red & Green GameBoy games and is sole property of Nintendo, which is in no way affiliated with Gaming History Club. In this haunting Game Lore special we investigate one of gaming’s darkest legends. Did the chilling theme of this small town in  Pokémon Red and Green  really...

Warning: This episode deals with death and drug references Video Game Addiction, or as the WHO calls it: Gaming Disorder, is a complex issue that has led to tragic deaths. We take a look at what causes video game addiction, the mechanics hacking our brain to dopamine addiction and who is to blame. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second...

What began as a strange little experiment in the late ’90s quickly became one of survival horror’s great pioneers. Team Silent — a ragtag group of outcasts — rewrote the rules with fog-choked streets, monsters born from trauma, and a mood that still lingers decades later. And with Silent Hill F releasing just a day after this episode drops, the question hangs in the fog: can Silent Hill still deli...

We explore how propaganda, ideology, and assumptions sneak their way into games. Sometimes loudly, and sometimes in ways you’d never expect. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Can Video Games be used for Propaganda? Mindkaleidoscope Top 10 Games that deal with political issues We welcome you to get in touch with...

In the world of bootleg games, anything goes. Mario can spin-dash like Sonic, Ryu can throw hadoukens at Gundams, and copyright lawyers everywhere cry themselves to sleep. These strange and broken creations twisted gaming’s icons into something both illegal and unforgettable. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: B...

For some bootleg consoles are nothing but a con, but they broke barriers and spread gaming worldwide. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Bootleg Games Fandom We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory. Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

Remember the first time you spent an hour adjusting cheekbones in a game, only to put a helmet on five minutes later? Same. In this episode, we journey through the history of character customisation Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory. Club Facebook Instag...

We’re cracking open boxes of cereal and dusting off some hidden gems—those weird, wild, and sometimes wonderful games that came free in your morning meal. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Moby Games - Games bundled with cereal boxes How Doom was licensed and reskinned to create Chex Quest We welcome you to get...

In our very first  Gaming History Heroes  spotlight, we honour Jerry Lawson—the brilliant yet long overlooked mind behind the game cartridge revolution. Jerry helped shape how we play, design, and distribute video games. From pioneering the interchangeable cartridge system to laying the groundwork for essential features like the pause button, his innovations transformed home gaming forev...

In our 50th episode we journey back thousands of years to uncover the world’s oldest uncovered games. from Egypt’s mysterious  Senet , to Mesopotamia’s  Royal Game of Ur , China’s still-thriving  Go , and the newly reimagined game of  Shahr-i Sokhta .  Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources:...

We explore how video games have become unlikely allies in the fight for the planet. From early titles like SimEarth in the 1990s that gently raised awareness of ecological systems, to later games that echo the urgency and resistance of modern environmental activism. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Play SimEar...

What began as a game about a bodyguard for a prince evolved into a genre-defining series, steeped in the mythos of the real-life Order of Assassins and inspired by Vladimir Bartol’s novel Alamut. Join us as we explore how Ubisoft’s ambitious leap of faith turned parkour, historical fiction, and stealth into the DNA of a franchise that blurred the lines between fact and fantasy Please like, subscri...

No, we don't mean "Yoo this game is so sick" we are talking about a surprisingly overlooked genre: Medical Video Games! This genre has a lot to offer: from realism to laughs, and we even find some real obscure games that have little to no information online. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Microbe - The Anato...