The Life & Times of Video Games

It began as an impromptu April Fools' Day gag, but Pimps at Sea was the joke that kept on giving. This is the story of how a chance encounter on the streets of Chicago led to a semi-annual tradition, an industry/fan-favourite insider joke, and a cult classic multiplayer game.As you'll hear in the episode, Pimps at Sea went through many iterations and received several "development" updates. You can find the original website archived on the Wayback Machine at https://web.archive.org/web/20011107122402/http://www.bungie.com/products/pimps/pimpsatsea.htm and see a few highlights from the years that followed at the episode page on The Life and Times of Video Games website.Thanks as always to my supporters on Patreon — especially my $10+ backers Vivek Mohan, Simon Moss, Wade Tregaskis, Eric Zocher, and Seth Robinson. If you'd like to become a supporter, for as little as $1 a month, head to my Patreon page and sign up. Or for one-off donations you can use paypal.me/mossrc.Please remember to tell other people about the show, and to leave a review by following the links at ratethispodcast.com/ltvg. For more episodes on humorous moments in gaming history, check out Wololo, Bug Salad, and Hogs of War.My book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as online from the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info.And if you'd like to commission me to do some games history or consulting work for you, in whatever form, and for this show or for your own thing, don't hesitate to email me on richard@lifeandtimes.games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How 2006 PS2 hit Bully (aka Canis Canem Edit) showed an alternate future for Rockstar and the open-world genre, with its compromised-yet-brilliant schoolyard satire — here I dive deep into the game, not for its overblown controversies but rather for its struggles against technological limitations and its triumphs in world-building, satire, and focused, more intimate and structured open-world game design. And I wonder why, nearly 15 years on, open-world games continue to strive for bigger and bigger playgrounds filled with more and more trivial collectibles rather than building on the legacy of Bully's deliberate, glorious smallness.Thanks as always to my supporters on Patreon — especially my $10+ backers Vivek Mohan, Simon Moss, Wade Tregaskis, Eric Zocher, and Seth Robinson. If you'd like to become a supporter, for as little as $1 a month, head to my Patreon page and sign up. Or for one-off donations you can use paypal.me/mossrc.Please remember to tell other people about the show, and to leave a review by following the links at ratethispodcast.com/ltvg.My book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as online from the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I speak to the creator of Shmuplations.com, a large repository of translated interviews with Japanese game developers, about his approach to doing the translations, his insights on the Japanese games industry, and the highs and lows (and struggles) of running a time-intensive side hustle.This is the second entry in a new series of interviews I'm running alongside the main show — every month(ish) I'll talk to a different person who's exploring games history, in one way or another, to learn about the many ways people are preserving the games industry's past as well as to further our understanding of how this wonderful medium (and the industry that's built around it) has come to be the way it is now. Links:Castlevania – Developer CommentaryKazuko Shibuya - Square Developer InterviewMega Man - 2011 Developer InterviewWomen and the Famicom – 1991 Special InterviewWomen of Game Design - 1990 Developer Interview — Yuki Ikeda; Hisako Takizawa; Reiko Oshida; Yuko Tataka; Sanae Nito; Kanae Saeda; Kaori Ikeda; Meiko Wada; Capcom Sound TeamWhat is Game Design? Three Perspectives — Hideo Kojima; Kouichi Nakamura; Satoshi TajiriSuper Mario Kart - 1992 Developer InterviewRez - 2001 Developer InterviewShmuplations PatreonMy book: https://secrethistoryofmacgaming.com/ Life & Times of Games on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lifeandtimesofvideogames Twitter: @LifeandTimesVG Instagram: @lifeandtimesvgPodcast website: https://lifeandtimes.games  Please remember to tell other people about the show, and to leave a review by following the links at ratethispodcast.com/ltvg.Thank you to all of my wonderful supporters on Patreon for making this possible, but especially to my $10+ backers Wade Tregaskis, Simon Moss, Vivek Mohan, and Seth Robinson. You can help, too — a contribution as little as $1 a month makes a big difference towards ensuring this show has a bright future ahead of it. (And as a Patron you'll get to skip those pesky cross-promotions from other shows on my network, among various other bonuses like transcripts and extra content.)

In war, no information is complete. No intelligence absolute. No view of the enemy unobstructed. There’s no such thing as perfect knowledge. It is a realm of uncertainty, where decisions are made on flawed and often outdated data — as though looking through a fog.Hence the term, the fog of war, a military phrase with origins in the musings of a 19th century Prussian general called Carl von Clausewitz. A phrase that’s since found its way into video game lexicon, and video game design, as we explore here. (Featuring interview clips with former Blizzard lead programmer Patrick Wyatt about the fog of war in Warcraft II and StarCraft.)***Thanks as always to my supporters on Patreon — especially my $10+ backers Vivek Mohan, Simon Moss, Wade Tregaskis, Eric Zocher, and Seth Robinson. If you'd like to become a supporter, for as little as $1 a month, head to my Patreon page and sign up. Or for one-off donations you can use paypal.me/mossrc.I've also recently added a third way that you can donate to the show — a premium, ad-free feed on Breaker, where you'll get all the bonus audio that goes to Patreon (but none of the non-audio Patreon perks) for a monthly subscription of US$2.99. Head to https://www.breaker.audio/the-life-and-times-of-video-games-premium for more info.Please remember to tell other people about the show, and to leave a review by following the links at ratethispodcast.com/ltvg.The Life & Times of Video Games on the Web and social media Website: lifeandtimes.games Twitter: @LifeandTimesVG Instagram: @lifeandtimesvg YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCov7SwnAUcAUHFV8XxQW8HA My book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as online from the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here's some great game design wisdom from one of the legends of the business.This interview excerpt is plucked from my set of Age of Empires history interviews that I did while putting together an oral history on the AoE series for Ars Technica a while back.Bruce Shelley has been in the industry for some 30-odd years, with credits including co-creator of Sid Meier's Civilization, Railroad Tycoon, and Age of Empires, as well as key roles in Halo Wars and F-19 Stealth Fighter, among other games.If you enjoy the Life and Times of Video Games, please remember to rate/review it and to share it with other people — the more listeners I get, the more I'll be able to improve the show and release more great content. You can also support the show financially — and get some bonus, ad-free content as a reward — with monthly donations on Patreon or Breaker, or either one-off or monthly donations on PayPal. Head to lifeandtimes.games/donate for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The sound designers from Age of Empires I and II, brothers Chris and Stephen Rippy, tell the story behind the iconic "wololo" priest chant — for converting enemy units to your side — that's since become a popular meme, as I delve into its strange legacy.All sound effects in this episode come from Age of Empires or Age of Empires II, except when otherwise noted. Music is a mix of my own stuff and a few tracks from the Age of Empires soundtrack, plus snippets from Babes Wodomu's Wololo, R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion, Microsoft's Age of Empires: Definitive Edition launch date trailer, and a random fan-made wololo song I found.Most of those t-shirts I mentioned are available at https://www.redbubble.com/shop/wololo+t-shirts, though you can also find some at various other print-on-demand-type clothing stores.Thanks as always to my supporters on Patreon — especially my $10+ backers Vivek Mohan, Simon Moss, Wade Tregaskis, Eric Zocher, and Seth Robinson. If you'd like to become a supporter, for as little as $1 a month, head to my Patreon page and sign up.I've also just added a third way that you can donate to the show — a premium, ad-free feed on Breaker, where you'll get all the bonus audio that goes to Patreon (but none of the non-audio Patreon perks) for a monthly subscription of US$2.99. Head to https://www.breaker.audio/the-life-and-times-of-video-games-premium for more info.For more information about the show or how you can donate, as well as where to listen links, a web player, and partial transcripts to the episodes, head to my website at lifeandtimes.games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While I'm away on my honeymoon, here's my complete talk from PAX Australia 2019, on the rise and fall of legendary shareware publisher Ambrosia Software — the most underrated of the '90s indie publishing giants.You can find accompanying slides at https://tinyurl.com/paxausambrosiatalk as well as my full script on the accompanying blog post at lifeandtimes.games. So please, enjoy, and I'll see you in a couple of weeks.The synopsis:For Mac gamers in the 90s, the people of Ambrosia Software were rockstars. Heroes. And with brilliant games like Maelstrom, Escape Velocity, Harry the Handsome Executive, Apeiron, and more, plus a company newsletter that spoke directly to the fans, they could do no wrong. In light of Ambrosia's recent closure (finally!), Secret History of Mac Gaming author Richard Moss recounts the studio's high and lowpoints and tells the stories behind its best games.***Thanks as always to my supporters on Patreon — especially my $10+ backers Vivek Mohan, Simon Moss, Wade Tregaskis, Eric Zocher, and Seth Robinson. And a very big thank you (and warm welcome!) to my five new patrons this month. If you'd like to become a supporter, for as little as $1 a month, head to my Patreon page and sign up.

It’s strange to think of a time before jumping was a standard video game action, to be expected whenever and wherever you have control over an individual character. A time before you could hop onto enemies’ heads and not die, or swing on ropes, or move back and forth across a vast level — many times wider than the screen.But these ideas were rare, and just beginning to find their way into video game lexicon, when David Crane came along and with one single game turned them into tropes. With just one game that had begun as a simple tech demo of a running man. One game that would go on to define a console generation, amid 64 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard bestsellers chart and a whopping four million lifetime sales on a gaming system that itself sold 30 million units. That one game is Pitfall!, or Jungle Runner, as it was called during development, an Indiana Jones-like adventure distilled into the (home console) video game technology of the era.This is the story of Pitfall!'s creation and its phenomenal legacy, pieced together from myriad sources — interviews, reviews, history articles, promo videos, book chapters, retrospectives, and a 2011 postmortem delivered at the Game Developers' Conference by none other than David Crane himself.Relevant links: David Crane's 2011 GDC Classic Game Postmortem on Pitfall!  Pitfall Harry in Raiders of the Lost Shark is part of this Saturday Supercade episode  Pitfall TV commercials (I only ended up using two of these): https://archive.org/details/Pitfall_1982_Activision https://archive.org/details/Pitfall_1982_Activision_US.mp4 https://archive.org/details/Pitfall_-_Atari_2600_-_Australian_Commercial_1983 https://archive.org/details/Pitfall_1982_Activision_US_a.mp4 X-Play: Know Your Roots with David Crane  All music is my own work, except for the clips from Pitfall II and Jungle Hunt. Sound effects come from Atari 2600 versions of Pitfall I + II, Adventure, Superman, Dragster, Pong, Combat, Jungle Hunt, and Grand Prix, and from Utopia for the Intellivision. (Plus some stock tennis sound.)Thanks as always to my supporters on Patreon — especially my $10+ backers Vivek Mohan, Simon Moss, Wade Tregaskis, Eric Zocher, and Seth Robinson. And a very big thank you (and warm welcome!) to my four new patrons this week. If you'd like to become a supporter, for as little as $1 a month, head to my Patreon page and sign up.I've also just added a third way that you can donate to the show — a premium, ad-free feed on Breaker, where you'll get all the bonus audio that goes to Patreon (but none of the non-audio Patreon perks) for a monthly subscription of US$2.99. Head to https://www.breaker.audio/the-life-and-times-of-video-games-premium for more info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How a quest to put sound in a couple of games in the mid-1980s led to a revolution in computer game audio design and production.***These are, in a sense, the sounds of a revolution in video game history, the sounds of a change so profound that it opened the door to entirely new genres. They’re digitised audio samples, a recorded analogue waveform converted into a digital signal — and then back into analogue audio through your headphones, in this case, via a couple of Macintosh games from 1985 and 86. We take this capability for granted nowadays, as we use our voice calling apps and record videos with our smartphones. But you only have to roll back the clock 35 years to get to a time when this sort of technology was beyond the reach of the masses — when digital audio was something only used by specialist researchers and archivists and cutting-edge or experimental sound engineers. And when the thought of using it on an off-the-shelf personal computer was almost unheard of. But then the Apple Macintosh came out in January 1984. And Apple's so-called "computer for the rest of us" had a secret capability that would unlock this door to digital audio for the masses. Featuring interviews with tech entrepreneur Charlie Jackson (Silicon Beach Software founder and Airborne designer) as well as former Silicon Beach Software VP of R&D Eric Zocher (who later worked as an executive at the likes of Adobe and Microsoft).Adapted from a chapter on Silicon Beach Software in my book The Secret History of Mac Gaming.You can find more of Dick Noel's music via Discogs and the Internet Archive. And about his life in a brief obituary at The Hollywood Reporter.A partial transcript of this episode is available at https://lifeandtimes.games/episodes/files/20, along with all of the show notes and past episodes.Music and Sound Effects credits: A Dreamer's Holiday by Dick Noel with Ray Anthony and His Orchestra Explosion Crowd noise Continental Airlines ad from 1969 Game audio clips taken from: Airborne (Mac, 1985) Dark Castle (Mac, 1986) The Three Stooges in Brides is Brides (arcade, 1984) Galaga (arcade, 1981) Donkey Kong (arcade, 1980) Ground Zero (Mac, 1984) Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (DOS, 1992) Dragon's Lair (arcade, 1983) PowerMonger (Amiga, 1990) Phrase Craze Plus (Mac, 1986) Spaceship Warlock (Mac, 1991) Spike (Vectrex, 1982) Sinistar (arcade, 1983) Shufflepuck Café (Mac, 1988) Elite (BBC Micro, 1984) Alley Cat (Atari 8-bit, 1983) Choplifter (Apple II, 1982) Ant Attack (ZX Spectrum, 1983) King's Quest (PCjr, 1984) The Black Cauldron (DOS, 1986) Manic Miner (ZX Spectrum, 1983) The Manhole (Mac, 1988) At the Carnival (Mac, 1989) Air Ace 2 (Amiga, 1989) Uncharted 2 (PS3, 2009) Mercenaries 2 (PS3/Xbox 360, 2008) Everything else is my own work Thanks as always to my supporters on Patreon — especially my $10+ backers Vivek Mohan, Simon Moss, Wade Tregaskis, and Seth Robinson. You guys keep me going, and we never would have gotten close to this point without your help and encouragement. If you'd like...

On the rise and fall of the Premier Manager series of soccer management games — a former PC gaming juggernaut that lost its way amidst a shuffle of developers and publishers — and the part it played in the broader consolidation/homogenisation of sports games (of all kinds) over the past 20 years or so.All music and sound effects in this episode were composed and performed by me, except for the bits that came from the Premier Manager games (the football commentary clips and a couple of songs). And the clip from Highlander.If you'd like to try one of the Premier Manager games, the easiest option is to use the in-browser emulators on Archive.org — which has the DOS, Amiga, and Sega Mega Drive versions of the earlier titles all playable. The early Championship Manager games — which eventually evolved into today's monster Football Manager series — are also playable on there, in DOS and Amiga formats.Remember to share this episode on social media and to leave a review of the show on Apple Podcasts or whatever podcasting app you prefer.If you enjoyed this episode, you might like to also listen to the previous entry this season, Hogs of War, or one of the many other game design/development-focused stories I've done — consider, for instance, the episodes on Lode Runner, Midwinter, FIFA 3DO, the grid-based level editor of the original Tomb Raider games, or the graphical innovations of pixel artist Mark Ferrari. Or for a change of pace, perhaps you'd like to learn about the origins of the "boss button" or of the App Store's race to the bottom in game pricing?There are "soundbites", too — short clips from interviews I've conducted over the years, like with Tetris Company co-founder Henk Rogers, former Microsoft executive Jon Kimmich, and legendary puzzle designer Scott Kim.***The Life & Times of Video Games on the Web and social media:Website: lifeandtimes.gamesTwitter: @LifeandTimesVGInstagram: @lifeandtimesvgYouTube: lifeandtimes.games/youtubeYou can make a donation to help cover running costs and allow me to rely less on freelance income viaPatreon: lifeandtimes.games/patreonor PayPal: paypal.me/mossrcMy book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as online from the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Far from a mere "Worms in 3D", Hogs of War was its own breed of madness. Hear the story of how it evolved from a concept of "Command and Conquer with pigs", what made it such a well-designed satire, and how this underrated PlayStation game saw the funny side of serious global conflict.All music and sound effects in this episode were composed and performed by me, except for the bits that I lifted out of Hogs of War.Hogs of War is available for Playstation 3/Vita/PSP via PSN, and its PC port (slightly better graphics but solo campaign AI is broken and lots of glitches) is on GOG. If you'd like to play it, I suggest either grabbing the PSN release or tracking down a copy of the PS1 original.Remember to share this episode on social media and to leave a review of the show on Apple Podcasts or whatever podcasting app you prefer.If you enjoyed this episode, you might like to consider listening to the previous entry this season, Super Mario Kart, or one of the many other game design/development-focused stories I've done — consider, for instance, the episodes on Lode Runner, Midwinter, FIFA 3DO, the grid-based level editor of the original Tomb Raider games, or the graphical innovations of pixel artist Mark Ferrari. Or for a change of pace, perhaps you'd like to learn about the origins of the "boss button" or of the App Store's race to the bottom in game pricing?There are "soundbites", too — short clips from interviews I've conducted over the years, like with Tetris Company co-founder Henk Rogers, former Microsoft executive Jon Kimmich, and legendary puzzle designer Scott Kim.***The Life & Times of Video Games on the Web and social media:Website: lifeandtimes.gamesTwitter: @LifeandTimesVGInstagram: @lifeandtimesvgYouTube: lifeandtimes.games/youtubeYou can make a donation to help cover running costs and allow me to rely less on freelance income viaPatreon: lifeandtimes.games/patreonor PayPal: paypal.me/mossrcMy book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as online from the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How Nintendo and its mascot created a genre, and a combat-racing franchise heavyweight, and in the process gave us a masterclass in game balance, with the best-selling 1992 Super Nintendo game Super Mario Kart.All music and sound effects in this episode were composed and performed by me, except for the bits that I lifted out of Super Mario Kart.If you enjoyed this episode, you might like to consider listening to the previous entry this season, on Sega Rally Championship. Or for other development-focused stories I've done, consider the episodes on Lode Runner, the Tomb Raider grid (and part 2), Midwinter, Dogz, FIFA 3DO, colour cycling/palette shifting, and Airfight — some of which feature interviews with the creators.The Life & Times of Video Games on the Web and social mediaWebsite: lifeandtimes.gamesTwitter: @LifeandTimesVGInstagram: @lifeandtimesvgYouTube: lifeandtimes.games/youtubeYou can make a donation to help cover running costs and allow me to rely less on freelance income viaPatreon: lifeandtimes.games/patreonor PayPal: paypal.me/mossrcMy book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as online from the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info.Can't afford to give me money? Consider listening via the RadioPublic app for Android or iOS. It's free. And if you enable analytics then I get paid a couple of cents each time you listen to my show. Head to RadioPublic.com for more info.Support The Life & Times of Video Games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sega Rally Championship changed everything for the racing genre, and the 1995 off-road arcade hit was an incredible game too. This is the story of its development, critical reception, and long-term legacy.If you're keen to grab one of the Sega Rally games on Amazon, please use my affiliate link so that I get a small portion of the sale price.The Life & Times of Video Games on the Web and social mediaWebsite: lifeandtimes.gamesTwitter: @LifeandTimesVGInstagram: @lifeandtimesvgYouTube: lifeandtimes.games/youtubeYou can make a donation to help cover running costs and allow me to rely less on freelance income viaPatreon: lifeandtimes.games/patreonor PayPal: paypal.me/mossrcMy book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as online from the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info.Can't afford to give me money? Consider listening via the RadioPublic app for Android or iOS. It's free. And if you enable analytics then I get paid a couple of cents each time you listen to my show. Head to RadioPublic.com for more info.Support The Life & Times of Video GamesLinks:Amazon.com: sega rally Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the 35th anniversary of Tetris' original Russian version, I pulled out this clip from my interview with Henk Rogers — co-founder of The Tetris Company and the dude who got Tetris handheld and console publishing rights back in the 1980s (and also creator of what was arguably the first JRPG, The Black Onyx). Listen for Henk's memories about the strategy inherent in the game's scoring system and the story of how they fixed a bias in the Game Boy version's random number generator.The interview was originally conducted for my Polygon feature on the Game Boy's (and Pokémon's) introduction in the West.(Also, Game Boy Tetris turns 30 next week, so happy birthday to that version too!)The Life & Times of Video Games on the Web and social mediaWebsite: lifeandtimes.gamesTwitter: @LifeandTimesVGInstagram: @lifeandtimesvgYouTube: lifeandtimes.games/youtubeYou can make a donation to help cover running costs and allow me to rely less on freelance income viaPatreon: lifeandtimes.games/patreonor PayPal: paypal.me/mossrcMy book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as online from the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info.Can't afford to give me money? Consider listening via the RadioPublic app for Android or iOS. It's free. And if you enable analytics then I get paid a couple of cents each time you listen to my show. Head to RadioPublic.com for more info.Support The Life & Times of Video Games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before computers had proper multitasking support and quick shortcuts for changing apps, playing games when you're not supposed to be could be super risky. But if there's one thing that's been a constant in technology, it's that wherever there are computers, there are also games. And for a while, in the 1980s and 90s, many game developers actually put in a special key command that would bring up a fake productivity screen. This is the story of the rise and fall of the boss button.If you buy Steven Levy's Hackers on Amazon via this link, I get a small percentage of the sale price. (I highly recommend reading the book, if you haven't already — it's a fascinating look into the early computer industry through the eyes of free-thinking and idealistic programmers, with a good bit of backstory as well on the beginnings of Sierra Online.)The Life & Times of Video Games on the Web and social mediaWebsite: lifeandtimes.gamesTwitter: @LifeandTimesVGInstagram: @lifeandtimesvgYouTube: lifeandtimes.games/youtubeYou can make a donation to help cover running costs and allow me to rely less on freelance income viaPatreon: lifeandtimes.games/patreonor PayPal: paypal.me/mossrcMy book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as online from the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info.Can't afford to give me money? Consider listening via the RadioPublic app for Android or iOS. It's free. And if you enable analytics then I get paid a couple of cents each time you listen to my show. Head to RadioPublic.com for more info.Support The Life & Times of Video GamesLinks:Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution: Steven Levy: 9781449388393: Amazon.com: Gateway — This 25th anniversary edition of Steven Levy's classic book traces the exploits of the computer revolution's original hackers -- those brilliant and eccentric nerds from the late 1950s through the early '80s who took risks, bent the rules, and pushed the world in a radical new direction. With updated material from noteworthy hackers such as Bill Gates, Mark Zukerberg, Richard Stallman, and Steve Wozniak, Hackers is a fascinating story that begins in early computer research labs and leads to the first home computers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The story of how a terrible description of the Donkey Kong arcade game led to the creation of Lode Runner, one of the greatest games of all time and one of the earliest games with a built-in level editor.Lode Runner Legacy is available for Windows and Nintendo Switch. An official remake of the original game is also available on Android and iOS.The Life & Times of Video Games on the Web and social media Website: lifeandtimes.games Twitter: @LifeandTimesVG Instagram: @lifeandtimesvg YouTube: lifeandtimes.games/youtube You can make a donation to help cover running costs and allow me to rely less on freelance income via Patreon: lifeandtimes.games/patreon or PayPal: paypal.me/mossrc My book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as online from the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info.Links:‎Lode Runner Classic on the App Store — DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON FOOL’S GOLD Play the authentic Lode Runner… this is the real deal! AWARD WINNING GAMEPLAY Lode Runner Classic combines the game play and all 150 levels of the award-winning Apple II original Lode Runner with graphics and features engineered for today's advanced smartphones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the 90s girl games movement, and its assault on the status quo of the video game market, featuring Girl Games Inc founder and former filmmaker Laura Groppe.Support comes from my Patreon and PayPal backers, with special credit going to Wade Tregaskis, Simon Moss, and Vivek Mohan. Thanks fellas!Original scoring and sound design by me.These days Laura Groppe runs the Girls Intelligence Agency, which does research and consulting on the female youth market.Find out more about my new book project, Shareware Heroes: Independent Games at the Dawn of the Internet, at Unbound.The Life & Times of Video Games on the Web and social mediaWebsite: lifeandtimes.gamesTwitter: @LifeandTimesVGInstagram: @lifeandtimesvgYouTube: lifeandtimes.games/youtubeYou can make a donation to help cover running costs and allow me to rely less on freelance income viaPatreon: lifeandtimes.games/patreonor PayPal: paypal.me/mossrcMy book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as on the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info.Can't afford to give me money? Consider listening via the RadioPublic app for Android or iOS. It's free. And if you enable analytics then I get paid a couple of cents each time you listen to my show. Head to RadioPublic.com for more info.Support The Life & Times of Video Games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before something like the Xbox could ever hope to exist, Microsoft first needed to learn how to be a successful games publisher on the PC. This is the story — or part of it — of how Microsoft got games, featuring input from four key Microsoft Game Studios people — Ed Fries, Stuart Moulder, Ed Ventura, Jon Kimmich — and Age of Empires co-creator Rick Goodman.Support comes from my Patreon and PayPal backers, with special credit going to Wade Tregaskis, Simon Moss, and Vivek Mohan. Thanks fellas!Original scoring and sound design by me.While I fully intend on covering more of the Microsoft games story in future, if you'd like to learn more there are a couple of books by veteran games and tech journalist Rusel DeMaria. Game of X volume 1 delves into the Xbox, while volume 2 looks at the backstory before Xbox.Find out more about my new book project, Shareware Heroes: Independent Games at the Dawn of the Internet, at Unbound.The Life & Times of Video Games on the Web and social mediaWebsite: lifeandtimes.gamesTwitter: @LifeandTimesVGInstagram: @lifeandtimesvgYouTube: lifeandtimes.games/youtubeYou can make a donation to help cover running costs and allow me to rely less on freelance income viaPatreon: lifeandtimes.games/patreonor PayPal: paypal.me/mossrcMy book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as on the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info.Can't afford to give me money? Consider listening via the RadioPublic app for Android or iOS. It's free. And if you enable analytics then I get paid a couple of cents each time you listen to my show. Head to RadioPublic.com for more info.Support The Life & Times of Video Games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I've been having some trouble finishing the script for episode 12, on Microsoft's pre-Xbox games efforts, so while you wait I thought I'd release some bonus material. First up, here's a new soundbite. This is from my interview with Jon Kimmich, who worked as a "product planner" and "program manager" in Microsoft's games group in the late 1990s and then in Microsoft Game Studios until 2004. He's since continued to work in bizdev roles in the games industry and has lots of fascinating insights (I posted a different quote on Twitter during the week). Here's his LinkedIn profile, in case you're curious: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-kimmich-7094501/ Here he tells us about knowing when a game has that "magic" that means it's going to be a hit, with Halo and Age of Empires as examples.Support The Life & Times of Video Games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On June 11th, 2018, character designer and artist Shoji Mizuno passed away. He was a key figure back in the 1990s at the now-defunct Hudson Soft, a renowned Japanese games publisher — having directed art or design, or sometimes both, on more than a dozen games in the popular Bomberman franchise as well as providing original character designs for the Beyblade anime series.Since this year is also the 35th anniversary of the release of the first Bomberman game on the MSX, I thought now would be a good time to look back on how the explosive puzzle franchise made its way into the world — and into the hearts of millions.Support comes from my Patreon and PayPal backers, with special credit going to Wade Tregaskis, Simon Moss, and Vivek Mohan. Thanks fellas!Music and SFX credits:The Take That Dyna Blaster segment from GamesMaster season 2, episode 5 (1992)All music is my own workSources:The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers Volume 2 by John SzczepaniakEdge Magazine issue 6, March 1994Edge Magazine issue 17, February 1995Game Players magazine issue 22, April 1991Game Developers Magazine issue 1,RETRO magazine issue 6The One magazine issue 81, July 1995Edge Magazine issue 67, January 1999multiple pages from Ragey's Totally Bombastic Bomberman Shrine PlaceThe Complete History of Bomberman - Tired Old HackGames Nobody Talks About Anymore: Eric and the Floaters - Den of GeekRetro Gamer Magazine issues 66 and 67 (they have a two-part history of Hudson Soft)Computer & Video Games Magazine issue 34, August 1984CRASH Magazine, July 1984Sinclair User, July 1984The Life & Times of Video Games on the Web and social mediaWebsite: lifeandtimes.gamesTwitter: @LifeandTimesVGInstagram: @lifeandtimesvgYouTube: lifeandtimes.games/youtubeYou can make a donation to help cover running costs and allow me to rely less on freelance income viaPatreon: lifeandtimes.games/patreonor PayPal: paypal.me/mossrcMy book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, is available in bookstores in the UK and Australia, as well as on the likes of Book Depository and Amazon. See the official website for more info.Can't afford to give me money? Consider listening via the RadioPublic app for Android or iOS. It's free. And if you enable analytics then I get paid a couple of cents each time you listen to my show. Head to RadioPublic.com for more info.Support The Life & Times of Video Games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices