Video Game History Hour
Video Game History Hour is a podcast from the Video Game History Foundation, hosted by Executive Director Frank Cifaldi. In each episode, Cifaldi chats with game developers, historians, and storytellers about video game history in a casual coffee-shop style. The conversations reveal the realities of archival research—frustrating dead ends and exciting discoveries. It's a relaxed but insightful look at the untold stories behind video games.
Episodes
Episode 155: What’s Your Deal, Lindsey Kurano?
In this episode, Phil Salvador sits down with Lindsey Kurano, the Curator of Electronic Games at The Strong Museum of Play, to explore the intricate world of video game preservation. Lindsay shares her unconventional journey from a high school exchange student in Japan to a specialist in film preservation, and ultimately, a lead steward of gaming history.We delve into the behind-the-scenes of muse
Episode 154: Sega in the 90’s: An Economic Post-Mortem
Historian Alex Smith (author and host of They Create Worlds) joins us to challenge the prevailing "Genesis does what Nintendon't" narrative. While Sega’s bravado captured the American imagination, the reality behind the ledger was far more precarious. We dissect how aggressive price wars and a strengthening Japanese yen turned market-share victories into hollow financial gains, creat
Episode 153: Sega Channel
Well before Xbox Game Pass or Steam, we had Sega Channel: a visionary service that delivered video games directly into homes via cable TV lines. This week, host Phil Salvador is joined by some of the team that made the "impossible" happen: Michael Shorrock, Ray McFadden, and Willard Stanback.In this mini Sega Channel reunion, the team discusses the technical hurdles of digital data distr
Episode 152: Japanese Mobile Game Preservation
In this episode, host Phil Salvador is joined by two digital preservationists, Ellen Cooper and Max Solensky, to explore the world of Japanese mobile game preservation. Before app stores existed, Japan was living in the future thanks to i-mode: a 1999 revolution that put the internet (and Capcom and Sega) right in your pocket.Today, these games are disappearing, and quickly. From brutal encryption
Episode 151: Games Preservation at MIT Museum
From vacuum tubes to virtual worlds, Dr. Flori Pierri, Associate Curator of Science and Technology at the MIT Museum, joins us to explore their unexpected journey into the world of video game preservation. Dr. Pierri oversees diverse collections from science photography to physics homework, and, of course, video games. MIT Museum has had a recent focus on computer games and a focus on play, start
Episode 150: VGHF Founding Retrospective
It’s our 9th birthday and our 150th episode all at once; let’s party! Host and VGHF Director Frank Cifaldi is joined by two founding board members Simon Carless and Steve Lin. This casual retrospective meanders through the foundation's origins, its mission to preserve and interpret video game history, and its growth over the years. Our three hosts highlight the foundation's journey from a
Episode 149: Jeremy Parish Works
Frank is joined by Guest Host Kate Willaert, author, historian, and YouTuber, to interview Jeremy Parish, media curator at Limited Run Games, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. Jeremy has a series of “Works” books and videos as part of a massive project to chronologize the 8-bit era. Jeremy’s work covers various consoles, including Game Boy, NES, SG-1000, and Famicom, highlighting the significance o
Episode 148: Wrapping Up 2025
Our podcast Producer Robin Kunimune sits down with Director Frank Cifaldi and Library Director Phil Salvador to wrap up the final quarter of 2025. Listen to some of our behind-the-scenes thoughts on the NES panel we put together for the Portland Retro Gaming Expo; the many facets of this year’s Winter Fundraiser, including a new old game release, updated VHS recovery technology, and our $30k goal
Episode 147: H.E.R.O.
Atari game developer John Van Ryzin and Digital Eclipse Technical Director Kevin Wilson both join host Frank Cifaldi to reminisce about the Atari 2600 title, and Frank’s favorite game, H.E.R.O.. We also explore John’s early career, his entry into game development, programming limitations of the 2600 (RAM, timing issues, etc.), the spiritual sequel to H.E.R.O. and John’s most recent title Alien Abd
Episode 146: A Monograph of Todd Howard
Phil Salvador hosts a discussion with Dr. Wendi Sierra, author of Todd Howard: World Building in Tamriel and Beyond, and Emily Higgs Kopin. Dr. Sierra’s, associate professor of games studies at Texas Christian University, book follows the career history of the Bethesda Game Studios executive producer and his influence on game design throughout the years. Emily Kopin, head of digital collections st
Episode 145: The 40th Anniversary of the NES: A PRGE Panel
At this year’s Portland Retro Gaming Expo, VGHF director Frank Cifaldi had the pleasure of hosting a panel celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System launch. Frank moderated 3 guests who were at Nintendo of America during this time: Gail Tilden, Marketing; Bruce Lowery, Sales; and Lance Barr, Product Design. This event was particularly special as two of these three guest
Episode 144: Phil Salvador - A Rule-Following Hooligan
Let’s all learn what makes our Library Director, Phil Salvador, Phil Salvador! Producer Robin Kunimune sat down with Phil to learn all about his life as a youth, an early path to his passions, creating chaos inside the lines, the mental health struggles many face in early adulthood, finding his community, and making his way to VGHF. And, don’t forget the birds! Phil candidly shares his failures, s
Episode 143: The Andrew Nelson Collection
Phil Salvador introduces the new Andrew Nelson papers collection with guest, you guessed it, Andrew Nelson, himself. Guest-host Alex Greenberg joins to chat with Nelson, co-founder and creative director of CyberFlix, known for its 1996 title Titanic: Adventure Out of Time. Andrew discusses his transition from magazine journalism to game development, the creation of CyberFlix, and the development o
Episode 142: October Update
It’s another quarterly update! Host Robin Kunimune talks with Frank Cifaldi and Phil Salvador about our recent work. From Chicago travel to launching Computer Entertainer, from our new Booth-in-a-Box to 4,000 magazines archived, from NES’s 40th to building Lego; come find out just how many new collections we've added in the last few months. You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every
Episode 141: Hidden Advertising of Feminine Games
Phil Salvador interviews Dr. Stephanie Harkin, lecturer at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) School of Design Games Program in Australia, about her research on femininity in gaming, particularly in girls' lifestyle magazines. Dr. Harkin discusses her journey from media studies to focusing on feminine games. She highlights her findings on the lack of representation of feminine
Episode 140: The 49 Ways of Sinistar
Host Frank Cifaldi is joined by documentarian, historian, hacker, and all around cool guy SynaMax to talk about their documentary Resurrecting Sinistar: A Cyber-Archaeology Documentary. The 1983 top-down space shooter arcade game’s unique 49-way joystick allowed players to pilot their spaceship to prevent a giant skull, Sinistar, from forming. SynaMax interviewed developers, restored cut content,
Episode 139: Phoenix: The Rise of Leonard Herman
We’re joined by pioneer video game historian Leonard Herman, author and publisher of several video game history books including the first comprehensive book chronicling the history of the videogame industry, Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Home Videogames, and its subsequent series. We touch on Leonard’s early career, the challenges of self-publishing, and the evolution of his Phoenix series throu
Episode 138: Playing Faceball 2000 With 15 of Your Closest Friends
Host Phil Salvador is joined by Derek Alexander, of the YouTube channel Stop Skeletons From Fighting, and Zarithya, of the YouTube channel Zarithya, to talk about the fan-restored 16-player mode for the 1991 Game Boy game Faceball 2000 as laid out in My 2 Year Journey to Solve the 30-Year Myth of Faceball 2000 | SSFF. In this bit of video game archeology, Derek and Zari take us through the collabo
Episode 136: Halfway Through 2025: A Mid-Year Update
It’s time for a little review of what we’ve been up to, so far, this year. With the official launch of our digital library archive, livestreams of game magazine unboxing and EPROM dumping, the newest collections of Craig Stitt and Kirk Henderson, a Trade Magazine Week special event, and teasing some special new acquisitions we have SO much to catch you up on!You can listen to the Video Game Histor
Episode 135: Baldur’s Gate 3’s Lawrence Schick and His Decades of Work in Game Development
Veteran game designer and author Lawrence Schick shares stories from his early 80's work with the ColecoVision, Atari 2600, and Intellivision. With over four decades of experience in the industry, Schick details how he helped pioneer a multi-discipline, team-based approach to game development designing games like Smurf: Rescue and Tarzan while pulling from a wealth of experience in pen-and-pap
Episode 134: Preservation Work Inside the University of Michigan Library Computer and Video Game Archive
Host Phil Salvador and guest host Colleen Barrett, Rare Books Librarian at UK Libraries, chat with David Carter, Video Game Archivist and Comic Librarian at University of Michigan Library Computer and Video Game Archive, about the work he does in archiving video game material within such a large and academic institutions. We discuss what tools are available, what problems typically arise, the pros
Episode 133: Spyro the Dragon artist Craig Stitt talks Sega and Insomniac
On this special video episode of the Video Game History Hour, we sat down with Craig Stitt, retired game artist and designer. Craig worked on games including Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Kid Chameleon, Ratchet & Clank, and Spyro the Dragon. He gave us a tour of his portfolio and talked about working at Sega in America, creating Spyro, dealing with burnout, and what it means for fans to connect with h
Episode 132: Croc Remaster
Frank Cifaldi and Phil Salvador host a discussion with Jez San, Jason Smith, and Mike Arkin from Argonaut Games about the development and remastering of the 1997 game Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. We touch on what went into the original game - incorporating 3D technology and character design influences from traditional animation - as well as enhancements for the remaster, improved controls and a vir
Episode 130: Spycraft
Phil Salvador hosts Polygon’s Clayton Ashley and Simone de Rochefort to discuss a documentary they produced last year called The Great Game: The Making of Spycraft | Full Polygon Documentary about the 1996 FMV CD-ROM game, Spycraft. You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Patreon (one day early at the $5 tier and above), on Spotify, or on our website.A full transcrip
Episode 129: Powerhouse Chloe Appleby
Phil Salvador and Robin Kunimune chat with Chloe Appleby, games curator at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia, who shares how she turned her passion for games into a dream role blending community, culture, and quirky preservation. From Sydney’s post-COVID game scene revival to tracking down lost media and organizing a free indie games festival, Chloe shows how playful curiosity can power s
Episode 128: DMCA 2024 Copyright Ruling
Phil Salvador and Kendra Albert, a partner at Albert Sellars LLP, digest, discuss, and dissect the 2024 DMCA exemption petition to make it easier for libraries and archives to preserve video games and the subsequent ruling by the US Copyright Office. Join us for an insightful look at the recent ruling, legal implications, and what it all means for the future of video game copyright and digital acc
Episode 127: Sarge’s Heroes
In this episode of Video Game History Hour, Michael Mendheim joins host Frank Cifaldi and guest-host John Rairdin to reflect on his career, from early work on Fester’s Quest to cult favorites like Mutant League Football and Sarge’s Heroes. Mendheim shares stories about creative risks, industry shakeups, and the challenges of keeping games alive — with Rairdin diving deep into his personal love for
Episode 126: A Fireside Chat with Gail Tilden
Gail Tilden, Nintendo of America’s marketing mastermind, takes Frank Cifaldi on a trip down memory lane in a panel at the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, reminiscing about everything from the early days of NES branding to the explosive rise of Pokémon. She shares behind-the-scenes stories about marketing mishaps (hello, Zelda Rap), strategic pivots like the iconic "Nintendo Seal of Quality,&qu
Episode 125: ROMchip, What’s Next?
Laine Nooney, an associate professor at NYU and managing editor of ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories, joins Phil Salvador on The Video Game History Hour to chat about the journal’s mission to make game history more than just timelines. ROMchip is an open-access, independent journal that brings together academics, enthusiasts, and industry pros, supported by community fundraising instead of trad
Episode 124: Digital Library Launch
It’s finally arrived: our digital library archive is now open in early access! Our library team: library director Phil Salvador, director of technology Travis Brown, and artist and engineer Amanda Cifaldi all join foundation director Frank Cifaldi and show producer Robin Kunimune to celebrate and discuss the years-long project sampling just a portion of our physical collection. We highlight the li
Episode 123: GamePro Magazine Collection
Guests Katrin Auch & Dan Amrich, formerly of GamePro magazine, discuss their time at the publication as well as the archival collection now housed by the VGHF. Kat and Dan recount their experience of transitioning from film to digital layouts, unintentional blunders, working under tight budgets and deadlines, and the creative process of creating content.You can listen to the Video Game History
Episode 121: Exploring the Cyan Vault
In this field report from Mead, Washington, Cyan co-founder Rand Miller takes VGHF library director Phil Salvador on an exclusive tour of the "Cyan Vault." Together, they uncover rare game artifacts, prototypes, and cool behind-the-scenes treasures while diving into Cyan's rich history. Listen in to discover how thoughtful, meticulous preservation can not only tell a story but also b
Episode 120: Nintendo's Virtual Boy
In our very first episode of season two, university professor José Zagal and video game historian Benj Edwards, co-authors of Seeing Red: Nintendo's Virtual Boy, join host Frank Cifaldi to educate us all on Nintendo’s Virtual Boy. Mentioned in the show:Benj’s original article on VB:https://www.fastcompany.com/3050016/unraveling-the-enigma-of-nintendos-virtual-boy-20-years-later José’s origina
Season Two Announcement
We're thrilled to announce season two of the Video Game History Hour is finally here! We've been toiling away behind the scenes putting together a fun and interesting new line-up of guests and we can't wait to share them all with you. Keep an eye on your feed for our re-launch episode coming up next.You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Spotify or one day early o
Holiday Update & Winter Fundraiser
It’s been awhile so, let’s catch up. Plus, we’re right in the middle of our 2023 Winter Fundraiser and we can’t wait to tell you all about how it’s going.
Video Game History Foundation:
Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour
Email: podcast@gamehistory.org
Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg
Website: gamehistory.org
Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg
Ep. 119: Karateka
Game designer and creator of Karateka Jordan Mechner, joined by Chris Kohler of Digital Eclipse, shares a new interactive documentary The Making of Karateka exploring this 1984 karate classic title. In this episode: Jordan’s earliest work, perfect paper preservationist, Prince of Persia source code, hitting it rich in video games vs. going to class, celebrating old games, an inspiration train, a f
Ep. 115 - Travis Brown
Travis Brown, our very own director of technology, gets technical as we talk about his role with VGHF and how he got started in preservation. In this episode: The Varsity vs The Vortex, scanning 14k pieces of optical media, scaling with Nimbies, Power-Up Baseball restoration and MAME, writing our API glue, and Frank forgets just how many projects Travis has been a part of over the years.
Video Ga
Ep. 112: Getting Personal with Frank Cifaldi
Frank gets a bit reflective and shares how he got where he is today; not just the video game stuff, but the life stuff, too. In this episode: a youth in Las Vegas, underage drinking and overage smoking, dropping out of school, the Wild West of game cataloging, Frank can do it better, how to get sh*t done, thanking your inspiring figures, being a kinder person, dreaming big(ger), trying to find bor
Ep. 111: The World of Nintendo Book
Historian and game developer Andy Cunningham shares his fantastic new book The World of Nintendo Book, Volume One: A World of Wonders, a visual history of Nintendo merchandising. This first in a series goes deep into the creation of Nintendo of America's merchandising team of the late 80's and early 90's, something often overlooked in videogame history. In this episode: merchandising:
Ep. 110: Minesweeper
Kyle Orland, author of the new Boss Fight Books’ Minesweeper, joins the show to talk about one of the most prolific 90’s games by the same name. In this episode: the Minesweeper generation, how Bill Gates got addicted to it, the ultimate time waster, it was a mouse tutorial, Microsoft’s internal conflicts, the moral panic around games like Minesweeper, and the clock is ticking.
See more from Kyle
Bonus Episode: Game Preservation is a House of Cards
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
Ep. 108: Preserving the Nintendo eShop
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 o
Ep. 107: Planning for Death
(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
Ep. 106: Budcat Creations
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 epis
Ep. 105: The D.I.C.E. Summit
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 ourselv
Ep. 104: Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego?
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
Ep. 103: The Legend of Zelda Cartoon
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 sw
Ep. 102: Preservation: How Do I Start?
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
Ep. 101: Super Mario Kart
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
Ep. 100: CELEBRATE!
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
Ep. 99: 9/9/99 - Launching the Dreamcast (Again)
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;
Ep. 98: The Sacred Pools
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 h
Ep. 97: Club Penguin
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 fo
We Need Your Memories!
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
Ep. 96: Margot Comstock - “The Glue” of the Early Apple II Era
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:
Ep. 95: PRGE 2022 Post-Mortem (Don’t worry, it’s very alive!)
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:
Ep. 94: Magnavox: The Great Voice
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.
See
Ep. 93: Street Fighter II: What’s in a Name?
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 appearance
Ep. 92: SharkWire Online
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 en
Ep. 91: Life Before Final Fantasy VII
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
Ep. 90: Colossal Cave Adventure with Roberta Williams
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 a
Ep. 89: Why Toonstruck Struck Out
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 o
Ep. 88: Intellivision Launch
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
Web
Ep. 87: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A: Text-Based Resistance
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 cultural
Ep. 86: Super Mario World
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
Ep. 85: Video Game Libraries
Henry E. Lowood, Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections in the Stanford University Libraries and Co-Editor of ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories, gets deep into the weeds of library science around video games with VGHF Library Director Phil Salvador comparing and contrasting our two organizations. In this episode: we plan to be around in 100 years, Henry gives us a homework
Ep. 84: The Zeebo
Derek Alexander and Cassidy recently collaborated on Zeebo: Brazil's Bizarre Delisted Console | Past Mortem [SSFF], a mini documentary on possibly the most ill-conceived video game console, ever. In this cutest episode of the VGHH, we meet the Zeebo Gringo, a beautiful mutant system is born, we claim diplomatic immunity, and Uncle Zeebo and Kelsey both overstay their welcome.
See more from Derek A
Ep. 83: Mario Artist Paint Studio
Returning guest Jack Yarwood recently wrote about this Mario Paint sequel in his article How a British Developer Made a Japan-Exclusive Sequel to Mario Paint: the Super Nintendo utility to create art, animation, music, etc. Published in 1999, Mario Artist Paint Studio was a direct sequel in everything but name. Being exclusive to Japan and exclusive to the N64 floppy disk add-on 64DD is just the b
Fewer, Better, Super, Stronger
We have a quick announcement about the podcast this week - Frank explains: we're changing our publishing frequency, why, and what it means moving forward. We'll be back at it next week; see you then!
Ep. 82: MOTHER 3 for Nintendo 64
Jonathan piqued the interest of our co-hosts with his recent video EarthBound 64/MOTHER 3 N64 Spaceworld ‘99 breakdown/analysis, a detailed account of everything we know about the Spaceworld demo of MOTHER 3, a game well documented as our ‘holy grail’ in preservation. In this episode Kelsey and Jonathan must defend Cabbage, Frank pleads with you, a time traveler saves our life, Frank is haunted by
Ep. 81: Ghosts ‘N Goblins… ’N Ghouls… ’N Demons
Chris Baines shares his recently published documentary, The History of Ghosts 'n Goblins (and Makaimura 魔界村) - Full Series Retrospective | ChrisB Crisps, covering the extensive (if confusingly titled) franchise and its creator Tokuro Fujiwara. In this episode: cringing from ‘go,’ clout is expensive, women are hard to find, we visit Kelsey’s WonderSwan Corner, and Frank ruins Chris’ video. Oh, and
Ep. 80: The Strong National Museum of Play
Jon-Paul Dyson, the Director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong, where he is also the VP of exhibits, shares all about the museum and its 2022 World Video Game Hall of Fame finalists. In this episode Disneyland is one of the best level designs ever made, collectors make a whole greater than the sum of their parts, potted palms and vending machines bring a
Ep. 79: Nintendo’s Page Boy
Gaming historian Liam Robertson returns as almost a sequel to Ep. 16 to share how Nintendo’s Page Boy was almost a sequel to their unreleased Work Boy, as shown in his recent video Page Boy: Nintendo's LOST Game Boy Add-on | Game History Secrets. Man, that’s a lot of boys! We stack add-ons to get an operating system, find the origin of the selfie, assign Nintendo employees a scavenger hunt item, a
Ep. 78: Fan Culture Through Final Fantasy V
Author Chris Kohler explores the evolution of niche fan culture from analog to digital through stories from his book Final Fantasy V (Boss Fight Books Book 18). “Young Chris” learns uploading to America Online makes it live forever, all the cool games stay in Japan, you can use Mario Paint as a Rosetta Stone for Japanese, and searching the internet for information about Final Fantasy has no result
Ep. 77: A Life of Game Design: Noah Falstein
Veteran game designer Noah Falstein looks back on his 42 year long, and counting, career and reflects on the evolution of both the role and industry over these four decades. We find Noah’s cassette tape, Simon is in Silicon Valley, $30 brings utter horror, Noah has to rein in the fun or else you’ll get hurt, and we put out a call for your tattoos.
See more from Noah Falstein:
Twitter: @nfalstein
W
Ep. 76: C:\>QBASIC /run GORILLA.BAS
Benj Edwards - journalist, tech historian, and recovering retro computer hoarder - teaches us a little about MS-DOS and QBasic through their How-To Geek article: GORILLA.BAS: How to Play the Secret MS-DOS Game From Your Childhood. Frank and Benj reminisce back to day zero, Snacks 'n Jaxson gets swatted, we hack a powerful secret instead of learning our lesson, and Frank sings the theme song for hi
Ep. 75: Nintendo Power Reunion
A couple months ago we hosted a ticketed event as a fundraiser we called Nintendo Power Reunion - Stories from the Original Nintendo Power Staff. Nintendo Power was one of the most popular and iconic video game magazines in the US, and its original staff have gathered together for the first time to talk about it! Our panelists are Gail Tilden, Howard Philips, Leslie Swan, and Jeff Bafus. Please en
Ep. 74: Pokémon’s Translator: Nob Ogasawara
Translator, localizer, and writer Nob Ogasawara shares highlights of his career working with the Pokémon franchise and at EGM. He shares his birthday with two funny coincidences, gets called a “god,” inadvertently creates a fashion legend, and laments a lost Brittney Spearow.
See more from Nob Ogasawara:
Twitter: @DougDinsdale
Video Game History Foundation
Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour
Email:
Ep. 73: What is Source Code?
Dimitris Giannakis, well-known for creating excellent videos on the technical aspect of video game preservation, explains. Luckily, he wears a T-shirt as a perfect example, we ponder at what point the code becomes Michael Jordan, and a boy dancing with a baguette solves a problem.
See more from Dimitris Giannakis:
Twitter: @ModernVintageG
YouTube: /ModernVintageGamer
Patreon: /ModernVintageGamer
V
Ep. 72: Happy 5th Birthday!
Join us in our celebration of the Video Game History Foundation’s 5th birthday! Let’s take a ride through history as we retrace the long road to how the VGHF came together, what we’ve been up to for these last 5 years, and where we’re going next. Thank you to everyone that has contributed to our dream; we hope we have made, and will continue to make, you proud. Everything we’ve done has only been
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