Video Game Newsroom Time Machine

The history of video game magazines have given us some amazing publications that have helped historians understand the past in ways we otherwise would never be able to. One publication, a newsletter produced by mail-order retailer Video Take-Out, has emerged as probably the most significant source for information about the industry in the 80s, Video Game Update and Computer Entertainer.  Marylou B...

Video Game profits collapse, PC sales boom & The Next Gen battle begins in Japan These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in November 1994.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith of They Create World...

Comdex belongs to IBM Xmas sales outlook dismal Games get protected in Japan These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in November 1984.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith of They Create Worlds is...

For computer gamers in the 1980s and 90s, few companies were more ever-present than Ocean, a powerhouse in publishing, through their massive ad campaigns and amazing film licenses and coin-op conversions. Our guest today, Gary Bracey, was the VP of Development at Ocean and oversaw the production of many a classic, such as Batman, Green Beret and Robocop, to say nothing of being their in-house go-t...

For computer gamers in the 1980s and 90s, few companies were more ever-present than Ocean, a powerhouse in publishing, through their massive ad campaigns and amazing film licenses and coin-op conversions. Our guest today, Gary Bracey, was the VP of Development at Ocean and oversaw the production of many a classic, such as Batman, Green Beret and Robocop, to say nothing of being their in-house go-t...

Phil Adam's career has spanned more than 40 years, from pioneering work marketing titles for Spectrum Holobyte, playing a pivotal role in bringing Tetris to the West, working at Interplay during the RPG renaisance and his current work as head of Amico. Highs and lows in a career that has seen gaming grow up and maybe, find its youthful core once again. Recorded May-July 2025 Video Version: https:/...

Japan goes after arcades, Nintendo's Famicon gets its first licensee & Gamers come together online These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in October 1994.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith of...

Few events in video game history are more legendary than the Console War between Sega and Nintendo.  Our guest today was one of the generals of that war, the head of Sega of America, Tom Kalinske.   Tom's story is not just a story of Sega though, he started out in advertising, helping create the still iconic Flintstone's vitamins, he redefined Barbie's image, helped save Mattel from bankruptcy aft...

Japan goes after arcades, Nintendo's Famicon gets its first licensee & Gamers come together online These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in October 1984.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith of...

After spending almost 2 decades trying to make MUD a viable commercial project, Richard returns to academia after publishing his seminal book, Designing Virtual Worlds, and begins teaching and researching game worlds and player behavior. We delve deep into the study of games, talk about why it's important and the future of virtual worlds, the morality of being a god, both as a designer and a gamer...

While there are many founders of the video game industry writ large, the dawn of multiplayer gaming is a much more select group of luminaries and our guest today, Richard Bartle is most definitely one of them.  He cocreated MUD1, the first Multi User Dungeon game as a college student and has gone on to help shape the academic view of gaming ever since. Recorded: January 2025 Video version:   https...

Mechanical amusements have long been a mainstay of theme parks and travelling fairs.  In the 1980s, this technology entered the realm of the arcade, most notably through Chuck E. Cheese and since then, has merged with the traditional dark ride to become the interactive dark ride, a mixture of animatronics, motion, lightguns and video games.   Our guest today, John Wood is the head of Sally Corpora...

Nintendo owns CES, The future belongs to the internet & EA disses Sega These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in September 1994.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith of They Create Worlds is our...

  From a bedroom coder to Game Developer's Conference OG to the creator of one of the greatest one-on-one action strategy games of the 8 bit era, Jeff Johannigman worked for some of the most legendary companies of the 80s, Epyx, Electronic Arts, and Origin and beyond.   In Part 2, we talk about working on Ultima for the Gameboy, porting Dynamix titles to the Amiga, rediscovering his strategy roots...

From a bedroom coder to Game Developer's Conference OG to the creator of one of the greatest one-on-one action strategy games of the 8 bit era, Jeff Johannigman worked for some of the most legendary companies of the 80s, Epyx, Electronic Arts, and Origin.   In Part 1, we talk about those early days, including the making of games such as G.I. Joe and Savage Empire and working with important figures...

PCs get upgraded, MSX comes to Europe & Coinop goes cartridge These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in August 1984.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith of They Create Worlds is our cohost.  Che...

Few developers have had as long and prolific a career as our guest, Graeme Bayless. From working on mainframes, to selling Kaypros, to playtesting Accolade's launch titles, to producing games for SSI, Sega Technical Institute, Hyperbole Studios, Dynamix, EA, Eidos, and NetherRealm Studios. In Part 5, we talk about Graeme's winding up of Fierce Wombat, looking for a new position and being offered a...

30 years ago: Computer industry booms as consoles slump, Nintendo announces Ultra64 & The internet gets scary These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in August 1994.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex...

Few developers have had as long and prolific a career as our guest, Graeme Bayless. From working on mainframes, to selling Kaypros, to playtesting Accolade's launch titles, to producing games for SSI, Sega Technical Institute, Hyperbole Studios, Dynamix, EA, Eidos, and NetherRealm Studios. In Part 4, we talk about the decade that Graeme spent in the wilderness of the game's industry, during which...

Commodore buys Amiga Jack Tramiel declares war on  competition Nintendo announces US NES launch plans These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in August 1984.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith o...

Few developers have had as long and prolific a career as our guest, Graeme Bayless. From working on mainframes, to selling Kaypros, to playtesting Accolade's launch titles, to producing games for SSI, Sega Technical Institute, Hyperbole Studios, Dynamix, EA, Eidos, and NetherRealm Studios. In Part 3, we talk about job hunting in the games industry at the end of the 90s and his time at EA's Tiburon...

Sega's Saturn premiere flops Nintendo goes for cheap VR Commodore bankruptcy gets messy These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in July 1994.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith of They Create Wo...

Sega's Saturn premiere flops, The Game Industry ditches CES for E3 & Nintendo goes for cheap VR These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in July 1994.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith of They C...

Few developers have had as long and prolific career as our guest, Graeme Bayless. From working on mainframes, to selling Kaypros, to playtesting Accolade's launch titles, to producing games for SSI, Sega Technical Institute, Hyperbole Studios, Dynamix, EA, Eidos, and NetherRealm Studios. In Part 2, we talk about his time at Dynamix, a Sierra subsidiary. We find out how he met his wife in the early...

Jack buys Atari Imagine goes belly up Nintendo's Famicom gets Zapped These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in July 1984.  As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events. Alex Smith of They Create Worlds is our cohost....