The MADEcast

Today we continue with the classic MADEcast format, and what a treat we have for you! Alex talked to the legendary Lucasfilm Games alum Tim Schafer about his commitment to designing intuitive, beautiful adventure games, whether or not they were profitable. Plus, Red tried to come up with a new jingle for the podcast which... well, you'll just have to listen to it to see how it goes.

For episode 2 of Made in Progress, Leland is talking to Christian Scandariato about how his childhood love of wordy, grindy games turned into his super unique attitude towards designing games for younger audiences. Plus, his take on going to school for game design and learning video game history. You can find Christian and all of his ongoing work on his twitte r. And make sure to check out Floppy...

Introducing a brand new miniseries called Made in Progress! We're interviewing up-and-coming & aspiring game devs about the games that influenced them. For our inaugural episode, Leland talks to Cara Hillstock, a twitch streamer and narrative designer about her love of visual novels, the stigma of 'girl games,' and the ways video games can help our future relationships. Check out Cara's twitte...

On this week's MADEcast episode Alex has a chat with the amazing Ron Gilbert! Inventor of SCUMM, as well as being one of the Lucasfilm Games legends. If that isn't enough, He is also one of the brilliant minds behind Maniac Mansion as well as a fierce champion of adventure games. Seriously, he’s amazing!

On today's MADEcast episode, Alex is talking to another former Lucasfilm games legend, David Fox, about his work on adventure games, as well as the Marin Computer Center, a magical place which directly inspired The MADE! Plus, he answers the age-old question: can you microwave the hamster in Maniac Mansion?

This week for the MADEcast, Alex meets with Noah Falstein as he discusses his role as a project leader for Sinistar, the early days of Lucasfilm games, and his current work as a pioneer in the games for the medical realm. Yes, you read that correctly. Games as Medicine.

A long time ago, when the internet was still an twinkle in our collective eyes, there was a dream. A dream of a game where real people could connect online. In today's episode, Alex talks to Randy Farmer, who made that dream a reality with the 1985 Commodore 64 game Habitat. The world's first MMORPG had a wonderfully winding road filled with lots of experiments along the way, and Randy is here to...

If you're half as dorky as we are, you're gonna love today's episode. In fact, this one is so dorky that Alex needed to call in backup. We've brought on Matt Hargett, who you'll remember from last episode, to talk to Chip Morningstar, programmer extraordinaire. Chip and Matt give us insight into the origins of SCUMM, how to weasel your way into a job at Lucasfilm, and the power of a great name.

After our refreshing holiday break, The MADEcast triumphantly returns to talk about the preservation of the adventure genre. In this episode, Alex talks to Matt Hargett, who got into adventure games in the late '80s and hasn't stopped since, having worked on the FreeSCI and SCUMMVM teams. Oh, also expect quite a few 'bleeps' in this one. Don't say we didn't warn you.

As a piggyback off of last week's episode on adventure games, this week we bring you a jewel from that genre. Alex is chatting with his wife Veronica (awwwwww) about her love of adventure games, which began in her childhood with the NES, and in particular the 1987 Lucasfilm game Maniac Mansion. This nostalgic segment is bookended by discussion of The Game Awards and Cyberpunk 2077. This will be th...

This episode topic was voted in by our lovely Patreon supporters! Today, we bring you the history of the Adventure genre, elucidated by our local gaming history expert, Alex Handy. This is a story with many twists and turns, from the text-based origins 50 years ago, to the genre's implosion, to the eventual return to glory. One could say this episode is an... adventure.

On this episode of The MADEcast, we have a fascinating interview with Joe Decuir, who talked to Alex about his involvement in the development of the Atari 2600 and other groundbreaking early consoles. Plus, The Boys talk about the video game awards and the magic of Katamari Damacy.

Enjoying the Atari content? Well there's more where that came from! Today we answer the age old question: why do Atari 2600 games look like that? Along with this deep dive into the Atari 2600's technology, enjoy an introduction to the Fairfield Channel F, a pioneering console from 1976.

Former MADE volunteer John Demian joins us this week to nerd out about the Atari 2600. Tune in for a discussion about how the culture of home consoles has changed since the 1970s, as well as John and Alex's tips for thrifting vintage electronics. Oh, and an excellent overview of the Mass Effect series.

This week the podcast gets groovy! We have very special guest Frank Cifaldi of the Video Game History Foundation on to talk about the 1970s and the Magnavox Odyssey. And as always, enjoy some video game news and recommendations from our lovely hosts.

This week we get a whirlwind tour of early gaming history, from bagatelles and pinball to arcades and Tennis for Two. Then we get into “personal” computers, Spacewar! and the start of the 70s with the Magnavox Odyssey. Some video game news and chat rounds out this week's episode.

Welcome to the first episode of The MADEcast! Tune in for an overview of who The MADE is and what we do, featuring some special guests: founder Alex Handy, and development extraordinaire Leland Heller. Plus video game world news and a story about the Gizmondo, the video game world's greatest scam.