Video Game History Hour

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 a...

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...

(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 th...

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 epi...

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 oursel...

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 w...

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...

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 Rosla...

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...

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...

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;...

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...

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 f...

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 Email: podcast@gamehisto...

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:...

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:...

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. S...

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 appearan...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 We...

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 cultu...

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...