Video Game History Hour

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 29: Chronological + Nintendo = Chrontendo Apr 28, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sparkle, the creator of Chrontendo, takes us through his more than decade long project to analyze every commercially released game for the NES and Famicom in chronological order while simultaneously spinning off this already massive show into two more: Chronsega and Chronturbo. If you’re ever looking for something to do with your free time, this guy might have some ideas for you. But, you may just be committing years and years of your life to a ‘bad’ (read: admirable) idea.

See more from Dr. Sparkle:

YouTube: /Chrontendo

Twitter: @Chrontendo

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/

Ep. 28: Get in, Loser. We’re talking Mean Girls with Raven Simone Apr 21, 2021

Show notes

Raven Simone takes us down the research rabbit hole she fell into while making her video The Girl Games Of Lost Media - Documentary. With few clues to follow, she started researching the Mean Girls game, but soon found herself chasing down info on Clueless and Pretty in Pink as well, discovering that research can often take you in unexpected directions. Frank, Kelsey, and Raven bond over how satisfying and thrilling it feels hunting down the treasures of lost media, the anguish of knowing how much data we’ve already lost due to a lack of preservation, and how you always seem to get new information as soon as you ‘close the book’ on your project.

See more from Raven Simone:

YouTube: /RayMona

Twitter: @TheRayMona

Instagram: @theraymona

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/

Ep. 27: The Lost (at Sea) Monkey Island Movie with Jack Yarwood Apr 14, 2021

Show notes

Should Monkey Island be made into a movie? Could it be? Jack Yarwood lays out the history of how this project almost came to be as well as why it gave up the ghost, instead. He, Frank, and Kelsey cross swords over if this could have been a glorious triumph*, like Super Mario Bros.: The Movie, or a *mumble mumble mumble*, like The Watchmen. Either way, the beloved Monkey Island franchise could still find its way to the silver screen as you never know what lies just beyond the horizon. Find Jack’s more in-depth history in his recent Polygon article Spilling the secrets of the canceled Curse of Monkey Island movie.

*Producer’s Note: As the producer of this podcast and the writer of these episode descriptions, it is my prerogative to infuse my very personal, and very correct, opinion of Super Mario Bros.: The Movie into the official, and now forever historically archived, VGHF stance on said movie. “The VGHF” loved this movie when she was growing up and thinks people should give it more of a chance.

See more from Jack Yarwood :

Twitter: @JackGYarwood

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/

Ep. 26: MAME: The Eternally Unfinished Research Project with David Haywood Apr 07, 2021

Show notes

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/

Ep. 25: Dueling in Wild Gunman ‘74 with Kate Willaert Mar 31, 2021

Show notes

Author, documentarian, artist, guest VGHF blogger, and wild west gunslinger Kate Willaert claims the title of First FMV Game for this fast draw pistol duelling simulator in her recent article Wild Gunman ‘74: The Forgotten First FMV Game and video by the same name. She’s a straight shooter as we hit topics of the effect of the oil crisis on this game and bowling alley laser clay equipment. But, don’t holster your earbuds too quickly at the end! Kate also discusses her 50 part video series Video Dames: The History Of Playable Female Protagonists.

See more from Kate Willaert:

Twitter: @katewillaert

YouTube: /acriticalhit

Website: acriticalhit.com

Patreon: /acriticalhit

Newsletter: criticalkate.substack.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/

Ep. 24: Reliving Nintendo Soundtracks with The Brickster Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

Musical Archeologist and Demo Stylist (professions we made up just now), The Brickster, explains how he and his colleagues collaborate to recreate music from some of our favorite retro games in a richer, uncompressed, true-to-each-instrument style. The recently viral music from Super Mario World Restored - Fortress brought this unique form of historical research, along with its potential for legal entanglements, to light. Look up what samples we know of, so far, in your favorite games in their living spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JJBlHHDc65fhZmKUGLrDTLCm6rfUU83-kbuD8Y0zU0o/edit#gid=1570468977.

See more from The Brickster:

YouTube: /thebricksterr

Twitter: @lebrickster

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/

Ep. 22: Remembering Atari with Howard Scott Warshaw Mar 10, 2021

Show notes

Discussing his new book, Once Upon Atari: How I Made History by Killing an Industry, Howard Scott Warshaw takes us on a trip through his career starting with how he got to Atari (and how he almost didn’t), what he did there (including the Game That Shall Not be Named), and the amazing things he’s accomplished since. From learning that sometimes, in order to get better, you just need lots of people telling you what you made sucked all the way to realizing everything you touch is an expression of who you are and is perfect as is, we get our therapy session on with The Silicon Valley Therapist. Lie on the sofa and take a listen!

See more from Howard Scott Warshaw:

Twitter: @hswarshaw

Therapy practice: http://hswarshaw.com/wordpress/

All things Once Upon Atari: http://onceuponatari.hswarshaw.com/

Ep. 21: Mother to Earth Documentary with Bones Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

Documentarian Bones joins us to discuss their directorial debut Mother to Earth. We dive into the mysteries of Earth Bound, the unreleased North American version of Nintendo's JRPG Mother. Now, this is not to be confused with the Super Nintendo game, Earthbound, which is actually the sequel; we know, it's complicated. Set to release in America in the early 90’s, Earth Bound didn’t come to the US until 25 years later. You may think you know the story...

See more from Bones:

Trailer: http://vimeo.com/ondemand/mothertoearth

Website: MothertoEarth.com

Twitter: @MotherToEarthMV

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/

Ep. 20: Text Adventure Gemstone III with Liz Landau Feb 24, 2021

Show notes

Journalist Liz Landau reminisces about the old days of text-based adventuring through MUDs (Multi User Dungeons) and how they’re the stepping stones to all current-day MMO’s and social media platforms from her Wired article, “How Old-School Text Adventures Inspired Our Virtual Spaces.” Though some thought the internet was just a passing fad, others dove head first into this game, Gemstone III, they saw on the AOL home page. Imagine: that text wedding cake tasting you held for your in-game wedding for your role playing character is the reason you can now claim Instagram Model as a career.

See more from Liz Landau:

Website: lizlandau.com

Twitter: @lizlandau

YouTube: /lizlandau

Podcast: Pod Paper Scissors - podpaperscissors.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/

Ep. 19: Game Preservation Society's Geimu Documentary Series Feb 17, 2021

Show notes

Damian Rogers from Japan’s Game Preservation Society joins us this week to talk about their new documentary series: Geimu. Born out of necessity during the pandemic to replace their annual in-person summer event, Geimu episodes highlight well-deserving Japanese game developers who might not normally get as much media attention. Episode one, 芸夢 [gei·mɯ] File #1 - Yūichi TOYAMA〈外山雄一〉～Pioneer of Modern Real-Time Strategy Games～, puts a spotlight on Mr. Toyama, a pioneer in the RTS genre.

See more from the Game Preservation Society:

YouTube: /GamePreservationSociety

Twitter: @gamepresintl

Website: gamepres.org/en

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/

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