Video Game History Hour

David Haywood, AKA Haze, discusses the MAME software preservation project: a collaborative, encyclopedic haven and emulator for all those ‘forgotten’ games of our past. In December 2020, while most of us were cowering under a table feebly awaiting the fresh start of the new year, David took a look back at the community’s accomplishments within the project over the last seven years and what still needs attention in his article Looking Back at a List. He joins the Video Game History Hour to discuss the inner workings of recovering old code (including risky chemistry, dangerous plastic-melting acids, and literally reading 1’s and 0’s with a microscope), the value of Plug and Plays, and what can be learned from poorly designed games. See more from David Haywood: Twitter: @mamehaze YouTube: /mamehaze Twitch: /mamehaze Website: mamedev.emulab.it/haze/ The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Much the way we all set our status to not show when we’re in a game, the Game and Watch was originally created to allow Japanese sallarymen to play games at work while their boss was none the wiser. This week we’re joined by Matt Alt as he discusses his article, “How Gunpei Yokoi Reinvented Nintendo,” which is pulled from a chapter in his new book Pure Invention. See more from Matt Alt: Twitter: @matt_alt Instagram: @altmattalt Website: mattalt.com The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In his documentary, Insert Coin, Josh Tsui explored the good, the bad, and the ugly of Midway Games' Studio from varying management styles and their resulting culture to the magic formula for sequel games. Listen in with the guy who knows where all the skeletons are buried and learn how the NBA may owe much of its current popularity to NBA Jam. See more from Josh Tsui: Twitter: @insertcoindoc Instagram: @insertcoindoc Website: insertcoindoc.com A full transcript of this episode is available on our website: https://gamehistory.org/ep-9-midway-games-as-seen-by-josh-tsui/ The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this turn-based interview, Sid Meier takes us from zero to 255 and brings the show nuclear! Well, at least that’s the rumor. Sid opens up his lifelong dev notes to discuss how he got started in games, why he decided to write his recent book, Sid Meier’s Memoir!, and how he’s better at Red Baron than an actual fighter pilot. On a personal note, we can officially say Sid agrees: dinosaurs are the coolest thing, ever! (We see you, Argentavis). See more from Sid Meier: Website: sidmeiersmemoir.com A full transcript of this episode is available on our website: https://gamehistory.org/ep-8-sid-meiers-episode-of-the-video-game-history-hour/ The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Garry Kitchen joins the podcast to discuss his lifelong career in gaming and how spending his summer of 1982 porting Nintendo’s Donkey Kong over to the Atari 2600 was tedious, but worth it. He’d also like you to know he’s a hell of a good ROM hacker, Mario’s eye is just a void, and you’re darn right he slanted those ramps. See more from Garry Kitchen: Twitter: @kitchengarry Medium: https://garrykitchen.medium.com/ Website: garrykitchen.com A full transcript of this episode is available on our website: https://gamehistory.org/ep-7-donkey-kong-came-to-the-atari-2600-thanks-to-garry-kitchen/ The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Spoiler Alert: It’s a monkey wrench! You find a banana to put on the metronome to hypnotize the monkey to put in your pocket to take to the waterfall to use on the valve as a “monkey wrench.” *puff, puff* Oh, you don’t have monkey wrenches in your country? Mm okay, that may throw a spanner into the works… Pete Armour and Frank get pretty far into the weeds of The Making of Monkey Island (30th Anniversary Documentary). See more from Pete Armour YouTube: /onaretrotip Twitter: /onaretrotip A full transcript of this episode is available on our website: https://gamehistory.org/ep-6-pete-armour-and-the-scumm-of-monkey-island/ The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Putting aside his ‘imposter syndrome’ feelings, video game journalist Elijah Lee asked, “Who was the first female video game designer” in his A First Lady of Gaming microdocumentary. Lee takes us through a bit of Muriel Tramis’ progressive and lightning-in-a-bottle career, laments the heartbreaking loss of history to the maw of time, and aims to support activism for young women. Find more content from Elijah Lee: YouTube: /theiconstream Twitter: @theiconstream Twitter: @elijahsbrain Website: www.theicon.com A full transcript of this episode is available on our website: https://gamehistory.org/ep-4-elijah-lee-finds-the-first-black-female-game-designer/ The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

We sit down with Ally McLean to discuss her recent article The Incredible Story Behind The Barbie As Rapunzel Video Game to learn some behind-the-scenes stories of how Barbie as Rapunzel came to be. From being heckled at GDC, to stalking MC Hammer’s press tour, all the way to how this game even inspired Ms. McLean’s own career. In this interview, Ally takes us through her very personal journey into uncovering the whole story surrounding this not-so-strictly for girls title. Hear more from Ally McLean: Twitter: @allymcleangames A full transcript of this episode is available on our website: https://gamehistory.org/episode-3-ally-mcleans-barbie-as-rapunzel-journey/ The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Matt Leone, features editor of Polygon, recently published the second in a series of articles delving into the history of the Street Fighter franchise: Street Fighter 1: An oral history. Matt helps us understand the market conditions that made this game unique for its time and how it served as a foundation to a wildly successful giant in fighting game history. Hear more from Matt Leone: Twitter: @LattMeone A full transcript of this episode is available on our website: https://gamehistory.org/episode-2-matt-leone-and-the-making-of-street-fighter-1/ The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Video Game History Hour kicks off its inaugural episode with Mr. Gaming Historian himself, Norman Caruso, who recently published a nearly 45-minute long YouTube documentary about the 1992 Super Nintendo title, Mario Paint. By providing the context of history, Norm ‘paints’ us a full picture of how and why this classic title came to be, who it was made for, and what this program inspired to come after. Find more content from Norman Caruso: YouTube: /gaminghistorian Twitter: @gaminghistorian A full transcript of this show is available on our website: https://gamehistory.org/ep-1-norman-caruso-and-the-story-of-mario-paint/ The Video Game History Hour music is Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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

With co-host Kelsey Lewin leaving the Video Game History Foundation, we will be putting the show on pause for the rest of the year. We want to thank Kelsey for everything she’s given to this show, to VGHF, and to our team and we all wish her great success in her future endeavors. As for the Video Game History Hour, we’ve decided to take the rest of the year to refresh, rethink, and redefine what this show looks like. You might still hear from us occasionally throughout the rest of 2023, but we will be taking a break from the regularly scheduled content. When we return in early 2024, we’re confident the format of the show will still be every bit as wonderful as what you’ve all come to know and love if not even better. In the meantime, if you’re planning to attend Portland Retro Gaming Expo this weekend, please stop by our museum and say hello! Video Game History Foundation: Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

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 father’s love of his son, the lost leopard: found, and bringing a game back to life. See more from Jordan Mechner: Website: jordanmechner.com  Facebook: /jmechner Twitter: @jmechner Instagram: @jmechner Mastodon: @jmechner YouTube: /JordanMechner  See more from Chris Kohler: Twitter: @kobunheat Website: www.chriskohler.biz Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Kohler/e/B001IOFJPI%3F Video Game History Foundation: Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Documentarian Danny O’Dwyer of Noclip has been sifting through thousands of videotapes in a recent mass-acquisition of video game (and adjacent) recordings. In this episode: Burger King and Kellogg’s games, Danny can fix your VCR, conferences in 1080p, shop talk on uploading footage, BBC Domesday Project methodology, slow Sonic, is that Frank?, it’s lonely work, and (not) preserving live service games. Project: youtube.com/@NoclipArchive See more from Danny O’Dwyer: Twitter: @dannyodwyer YouTube: /noclipvideo Patreon: /noclip Video Game History Foundation: Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Historian Racheil Weil returns to the show to discuss the Nintendo Knitting Machine, a never released knitting machine toy powered by the NES. In this episode: Sega Master System smack talk; flier breakdown; just…why?; dissociating like a TV doctor; analyzing the evidence: what’s real, how it might work, peripheral material, screen capture; and bless the Wayback Machine. Flier from Howard Phillips:  Facebook post Image only See more from Rachel Weil: Twitter: @FemicomMuseum Website: femicom.org Personal Twitter: @partytimeHXLNT Personal Website: nobadmemories.com Video Game History Foundation: Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

VGHF librarian Phil Salvador chats with longtime contributor to video game archaeology Misty De Méo, author of CD-ROM Journal: a blog exploring multimedia games and software. We discuss her recent article A Chronology of First CD-ROM Games answering the question: What was the first CD-ROM game? In this episode: the first adventure, the magical dinosaur tour, trivia vs. genuine artistic relevance, getting into game history research, and to ROM or not to ROM. See more from Misty De Méo: Website: cdrom.ca Mastodon: digipres.club/@misty Twitter: @mistydemeo Screenshot Blog: https://cohost.org/compactdiscinteractive  Video Game History Foundation: Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

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 Game History Foundation: Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

We share the details of our recent field trip to The Strong Museum of Play to celebrate their newest video game focused expansion. In this travel log episode: travel woes; Wegmans toilet paper; Transformers’ shrieks at a cocktail event; a giant, playable Donkey Kong cabinet; video games ARE real; Level Up and High Score; touring the labs, vaults, and library; and finally what inspired us. Video Game History Foundation: Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Brandon Butler, Director of Information Policy at the University of Virginia Library and Law and Policy Advisor at the Software Preservation Network, joins us to talk about a major new study published jointly by the Video Game History Foundation and the SPN which shows 87% of classic games released in the United States are now out of print. In this episode we find out how these games have become critically endangered and why it matters. Blog post: https://gamehistory.org/87percent/  The Study: https://zenodo.org/record/8161056 The Study explained: https://gamehistory.org/study-explainer/  See more from Brandon Butler: Website: softwarepreservationnetwork.org  Law Firm: usefairuse.com Twitter: @bc_butler Video Game History Foundation: Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

Author and historian Kevin Bunch returns to the familiar guest chair to educate us all on a somewhat obscure 1970’s consolputer from his recent video, The History of the Bally (and Astrocade) Professional Arcade: Archive Annex Episode 4. In this episode, tears are shed, wrapping these things in useless metal, accidental historical revisionism, what’s in a name?, the toy industry was too small for undercutting, Dog Patch: shotgun volleyball, ironic corporate rewards for good behavior, and making friends over this hardware. See more from Kevin Bunch: Twitter: @ubersaurus YouTube: /atariarchive Website: atariarchive.org Patreon: /atariarchive Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@yuberus Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/ ubersaurus Book: Atari Archive Vol. 1 https://limitedrungames.com/collections/atari-archive-vol-1 Video Game History Foundation: Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg