They Create Worlds

TCW Podcast Episode 108- Adventuring with LucasArts Part 1   We look at LucasFilm games, AKA LucasArts.  Not the company as a whole, but their influence on adventure games.  Not only were they instrumental in advancing adventure games, they were able to affect the industry as a whole.  We look briefly at the formation of the company, and get into some of their early projects.  A young contractor, Ron Gilbert, joined the team by helping to convert some early games to the Commodore 64.  Gilbert was later the driving force in creating an adventure game that was not full of deaths, saves, and no-win states.   Commodore 64 Ballblazer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPk6sAHFGXg Atari XL/XE Rescue on Fractalus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kNxy6UIX_k Labyrinth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Aje3ceClA Grumpy Gamer: https://grumpygamer.com/teenage_lobot Ways to die in King's Quest I Remake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Oo9IJGXGA King's Quest III Redux: http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/kq3/dow

TCW Podcast Episode 107 - Storytime with a Book   We read from chapter 18 of "They Create Worlds: The People and Companies that Shaped the Video Game Industry Vol. 1," which discusses the impact of Breakout on Japan.  There are some tangents, other story times, and we bring a lot of things discussed over the years into a more complete perspective.  We also learn about the mysteries of magnets.   Steve Wozniak's Blue Box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHZnvN_JCas Breakout & Super Breakout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5xo-IzERu0 TCW 029 - 50 Years of Namco: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/50-years-of-namco/ TCW 005 - The Untold History of Sega: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-untold-history-of-sega/ TCW 033 - The Saga of Sega: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-saga-of-sega/ Sega The Fonz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osmPZZkCVKM Degaussing a CRT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEaZ1GGl9I   New episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month!   TCW Email: feedbac

TCW Podcast Episode 106 - The Small Voice of Magnavox   Magnavox continues to strive for survival as an axillary of Philips.  While people close to the video game division continue to be optimistic about their offerings; management at Philips was not so.  The company continued to be plagued with production shortfalls with new chips, FCC approval problems, and new competition.  They were able to make a few games of note developing some interesting ideas on where to take home consoles.  Ultimately Magnavox faded into just a brand name for Philips after the video game crash.   Magnavox Odyssey 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEEhwCIUDhE Magnavox Odyssey 3000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW0vW3D91ew TCW 016 - Early Computer Game Platforms: The Trinity, and The Disciples:http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/early-computer-game-platforms-the-trinity-and-the-disciples/ Magnavox Odyssey 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z4amwfcO9k Invaders from Hyperspace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hryPZIca

TCW Podcast Episode 105 - The Big Voice of Magnavox   We look at the company of Magnavox.  Started around the turn of the century getting into electronics with voice amplification, and eventually radios.  Magnavox continued with home  electronics in televisions and stereo systems.  Unfortunately their visionary leader died unexpectedly, and with the rise of non-American television manufacturers put a lot of pressure on the company.  With all this pressure Magnavox is bought by Philips in 1974 to expand the Dutch company's holdings in the United States.  The video game division continued  to fight for survival and relevance as the decade wound to a close.   Retro Tech - The Wire Recorder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ihiTwJPCc TCW 026 -The Magnavox Odyssey: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-magnavox-odyssey/ Magnavox Console Demo (Ft. "Come Fly With Me"): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxtWWof3P7s Magnavox Odyssey Ski: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NAqFUhXX48 Magnavox Odyssey Commercia

TCW Podcast Episode 104- A Holistic View of ET   The game that has become so shrouded in myth and legend is brought to light in this holiday episode!  We look at how E.T. was thrust upon Atari by Warner in a bid to bring Stephen Spielberg in to makes movies for Warner.  With a massive royalty overhead, a short five week production time, and a massive brain drain at Atari Howard Scott Warshaw stepped up to the challenge.  He took the ambitious task of programing E.T. for Atari, having done Raiders of the Lost Arc previously.  Despite the time crunch he decided do an adventure like game which, in combination with a lack of mentorship,  lead to some poor design choices.   Though lauded as being 'the worst game ever' E.T. is just an unfortunate game that hit Atari at an inopportune time.     Original E.T. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7-2PB4jj2o Adventure 2600 Walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzCrb8y5NCU Yar's Revenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrHUJrhZMJI Raiders of the lost

TCW Podcast Episode 103 - Elite Systems   We look at one of the British software companies Elite Systems.  The company was originally named Richard Wilcox software, and was founded as a collaboration between two brothers with the encouragement of their father.   Owing to Richard still being a teenager, had schooling, and could not make programing a full-time career at the time the decision was made to rebrand the company.  Steve renamed the company to Elite Systems in 1984, and hired bedroom coders to produce software for the company.  The company continued to be one of the industry leaders when it came to where the market was going.  They went to licenses, in studio development, consoles, independent developer, and now mobile gaming.  We finish up looking briefly at the controversy around the company's Kick-Starter campaign for the ZX Spectrum Bluetooth keyboard for retro games.    Blue Thunder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9nESwphljA Kokotoni wilf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cnq4SdcYzs Airwo

TCW Podcast Episode 102 - Stern Electronics   We look at the short history of Stern Electronics.  A company that has influenced and been influenced by multiple other companies through its people.  We cover the paths of many of these people including the founder Gary Stern.  During the transition to video games in the late 70's and early 80's Stern was the American arm for Konami bringing over many of their games.  With financial difficulties from having to buy out one of the major investors, once they became mired in legal trouble, and the collapse of the video game industry, Stern ceased to be.  A quick flash for an interesting company.   TCW 059 - Williams’ Crazy Story Pt 1: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/williams-crazy-story-pt-1/ TCW 060 - Williams’ Crazy Story Pt 2: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/williams-crazy-story-pt-2/ TCW 090 - Lion and Bally Manufacturing: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/lion-and-bally-manufacturing/ TCW 091 - Bally: The Road to Fitness: http://podcast.th

TCW Podcast Episode 101 - Infocom We look at the short life of Infocom.  A company that fell into the videogame sphere.  Best known for their text adventure games, including the renowned game Zork.  They started off as a company to keep creative minds together from MIT, and brought forth unique developments including using virtualization for video games.  Due to lack of innovation, combined with its acquisition by Activision, the failure of their database Cornerstone, and  saturating the market with a niche product; the company was closed down in the late 1980's.  With a dedicated fan base in text adventures, Infocom's influence has been felt in some circles to the present day! TCW084 - Time Shared: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/time-shared/ Colosal cave advcenture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3etkSoHrR8 Zork on a PDP-11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYng1yypNCA Zork Example Play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNN4VPlRBJ8 Quick Explanation of Virtualization: https://www.youtube.com/wa

TCW Podcast Episode 100 - The 100 Most Influential Games Part 3   And at long last, TCW Episode 100!  To celebrate our 100th episode, we finish our countdown of the 100 most influential video games of all time.  This time, we look at only 20 games, but these are the games we have deemed the absolutely most essential for shaping the video game industry as it exists today.  We present these final twenty games in chronological order by original release date.  Now that we have made all our picks, what do you think?  Let us know on Twitter!   Games: Spacewar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EWQYAfuMYw Pong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut6Rh-rmGAo Colossal Cave Adventure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhFrWH0na0A Space Invaders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uSzmzZP1s8 MUD (Core MUD): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-yhk0chxyk Donkey Kong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp2aMs38ERY Super Mario Bros.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87ViRBWz4-E Elite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJvdZWhNL

TCW Podcast Episode 099 -  The 100 Most  Influential Games Part 2   And now, forty more games drawn from our list of the 100 most influential games of all time! Presented in no particular order, this list of hits and obscurities provides an overview of video game history through some of the most important milestone titles.  This batch of forty games tend to be of more recent vintage, with RPGs, MMOs, Real-Time strategy, and shooters dominating the list.     Games Rescue Raiders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8_XsRYTO-0 Herzog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU2FDnKzt5I Dune 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOscXf0Fpmk StarCraft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j3X3EuCf98 Seven Cities of Gold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57qE1arvo3U Dynasty Warriors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2SARDWdZIM Fire Emblem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp2NqY3M6fI DikuMUD: https://dikumud.com/ Neverwinter Nights:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwFv_LerIAg World of Warcraft: https://www.youtube.com/w

TCW Podcast Episode 098 - The 100 Most Influential Games Part 1   In a completely arbitrary order we look at what we feel are the 100 most influential games.  Starting off with the first 40 games!  These are 100 games that we consider influential or important to the development of the modern industry. Some are popular, some are obscure, some you will wonder why we were crazy enough to pick them, but here they are.  This episode covers largely early video games on time-sharing systems, in the arcade, and on early consoles.  They are presented in no particular order.   Games: Pot Shot (Scorched Earth DOS video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDw_mpjKlpg Star Trek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6f9_9kzuzk Star Raiders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_VDM8nC9sM Empire (Plato): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qodf2AjrEQo The Dungeon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm53IKtL9zw Computer Space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3BQsCCwo8w Gran Trak 10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYEcDpBLDpc Sp

TCW Podcast Episode 097 - Revisions and Updates 2   The podcast is four years old!  We celebrate by looking back at past episodes, and revising subjects that Alex has found new information on!  There is, of course, more and new information in regards to Atari.  We also do some speculation into the origin of Scramble, some commentary on what has been going on at Blizzard Entertainment, and some new information in relation to the origins of Galaxian.  We make a note of the earliest known commercial ester egg, some new information on the first Japanese original game creation for the arcade, and wrap up with some more book updates.  We look forward to the countdown to episode 100!   TCW 43 - Personal Gaming Histories: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/personal-gaming-histories/ Dragon Warrior Commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qL5_3EhqK8 Dragon Quest I Android: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmQqcf0ziSI Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tyuIh12_HU TC

TCW Podcast Episode 096 - Hello Big Blue   We look at Big Blue and their continuing development of computers in both business, and the home.  We see how IBM had to deal with the eye of the government still looking at them for monopolistic practices.  Eventually IBM found out they needed to enter the micro-computer market.  They spun off a group that had a mandate to get a computer together in a year.  However because of this it led to the rise of the PC clones.  Compaq, for instance,  computers started off with a laptop computer clone of the IBM PC.  Later on IBM would try to dominate the market with new standards, that ultimately led to IBM leaving the personal computer field.   IBM 360 Promotional Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4kyTg9Cw8g IBM 360 Control Program Overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=378S5Owi-BI Compaq 110 Laptop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em-oE8BCu-0 Compaq Computer Laptop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YO-BCqPqs4 PC JR Overview and Review: https://www.youtube.c

TCW Podcast Episode 095 - Hello Little Blue   A sorted history involving scams, monopolies, and acts of petty revenge predate the company the world would see dominate the computer industry in the 70's and 80's.  What started as an umbrella company became, under Tom Watson St's leadership, a tabulating company that grew to prominence in the great depression.  Later on his son Tom Watson Jr would lead the company forward in the transition from punch card tabulation machines into computers that IBM would become famous for!   Herman Hollerith Punch Card Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoUK2_vXqQk Conductor Punching Tickets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euxu97ZM5XM IBM Once Upon a Punch Card: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlUWg2nxCz0 History of Looms and Punch Cards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itd-4lMoXgI Harvard Mark I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ObouwCHk8w Harvard Mark I Original Video and Pictures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN7AdQmd8So IBM 650 Promo: https://www.youtube.

TCW Podcast Episode 094 - Epyx not Epic   This is an epic story about Epyx.  But don't confuse it with Epic!  We look at the computer game company, and the many bits of software that had influences at the dawn of home computing.  Everything from the first RPGs to action games that are remembered fondly, especially in Europe.   Not to mention the worldwide appeal of the Games series featuring Olympic events.  Sadly the company lost sight of its goals with management changes, and was gone by the early 90's.  However employees of Epyx continued to influence the video game industry for many years to come.   Starfleet Orion Manual: https://archive.org/details/Starfleet_Orion_1979_Automated_Simulations Invasion Orion Manual: https://archive.org/details/Invasion_Orion_1979_Automated_Simulations DunDraCon Website: https://www.dundracon.com/ Temple of Apshai TRS 80: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiMtY5BxdM0 The Datestones of Ryn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BxkFETqcEA Crush Crumble and Chomp: https://w

TCW Podcast Episode 093 - Books-B-Ware   We look at what was largely a footnote in video game history.  However it is notable as an early attempt at the integration of traditional media and the computer revolution.  There are parallels between bookware and the Siliwood era that came after.  Many of the games were stifled by the limitations in hardware at the time.  Still there are some notable collaborations between programmers and writers that provide an interesting take on what was to come.   The Digital Antiquarian - Bookware: https://www.filfre.net/2013/09/bookware/ The Hobbit Text Adventure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WJW-xB4mwg HGTTG Babel fish Puzzle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf_2faXuxEo Ford puts Babel fish in Arthur's ear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuumnjJWFO4 HGTTG Text Adventure Game 30th Anniversary: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1g84m0sXpnNCv84GpN2PLZG/the-game-30th-anniversary-edition HGTTG Walkthroughs: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/564459-the-hitchhik

TCW Podcast Episode 092 - Citing Apologies   A filler episode, with some updates on upcoming podcast items, and Alex's first book.  Due to Alex trying to meet a deadline for the book we were unable to record until a few days before release.  Nothing really historical covered, however a few interesting tidbits in this short episode!   Simpsons "Brownest of the brown liquors": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n39897a9hNk Nokia Snake Game from the 90's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9Rk4JQwtL4 Overview of Chicago Style formatting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvgtbrg-qRo Overview of Chicago Citing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NdT4Y620nE   New episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month!   TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com  Twitter: @tcwpodcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com Alex's forthcoming book will be released through CRC Press!   Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "

TCW Podcast Episode 091 - Bally: The Road to Fitness   In our continuing look at Bally we see the shifting landscape ad they evolve and develop gambling machines.  This is not to mean that pinball was neglected.  Bally, with an eye to innovation and technology, introduced some of the first sold state pinball machines!  They were also, through some luck, brought in with licensing deals with The Who, and Elton John.  This led to some of the most popular pinball machines in the post WWII era.   We did have to see the departure of Bill O'Donnell from Bally because his ties to organized crime were deemed too great to allow Bally to get a gambling license in Atlantic City.  With Bally under new management it then started diversifying, buy buying up various venues.  These included, Six Flags, a fitness center, and others.  However with a lot of properties not turning a profit, and being tricked into  buying more as a defensive we move against a ploy employed by Donald Trump, Bally was stretched too thin to really

TCW Podcast Episode 090 - Lion and Bally Manufacturing   What will they do in '32? Ballyhoo! We examine the origins of the Bally Manufacturing Company, makers of pinball and slot machines and operators of fitness centers. While Bally rarely ever created video games under its own name, the company was a domineering force in the coin-operated amusement and gambling spaces and through its subsidiaries nurtured a diverse array of talent that introduced many video game innovations. In this first part, we chart the early years of the company from its start as a printing company subsidiary to the formation of a new Bally out of the ashes of the original in the 1960s by Bill O'Donnell.   TCW 59 - Williams' Crazy Story Part 1: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/williams-crazy-story-pt-1/ TCW 60 - Williams' Crazy Story Part 2 : http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/williams-crazy-story-pt-2/ Punch Board example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvaCjRM_oJE&t=117s Gottlieb Baffle Ball: https://www.youtube.c

TCW Podcast Episode 089 - The Dawn of Computers and Gaming   We look at the dawn of computers.  Not just people; but analog, electronic, and digital computers!  We look at how the early games on the computer were not so much games as demonstration programs or simple AI to play games like tic-tac-toe, NIM, checkers, and, of course, chess.  We look at how the work done during WWII around RADAR played a role in how both computers and computer games developed.  Next we look at some of the fear in the popular psyche of computers and AI as depicted in movies.  We finish looking at what is considered the first video games.    Hidden Figures Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wfrDhgUMGI Analog VS Digital Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxJKXGugfh8 The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I5ZMmrOfnA How RADAR Works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3uIXt1V7YY RADAR Introductory Video (Military?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rIHdcwlvlk History of RADAR: https:/