They Create Worlds
213 episodes - English - Latest episode: 14 days ago - ★★★★★ - 50 ratingsLove of the worlds created by video game designers and personalities drives Alex Smith & Jeffrey Daum (history, law, CS degrees) to provide a scholarly yet light-hearted discussion of how arcade, home console, and PC games merged into a Video Game Industry. Emphasis is on the combination of business and creative elements needed for financial success. Interviews of Atari, EA, Activision, & other execs with detailed source evaluations produce the insights you hear in these 140+ hours!
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Episodes
History of Acclaim - "The Fall"
March 01, 2016 02:57 - 1 hour - 48.9 MBTCW Podcast Episode 013 - History of Acclaim - "The Fall" We would like to dedicate this episode to Fergus McGovern, co-founder of Probe Software, who died February 27, 2016 at the age of 50. We go over the changes that led to the fall of Acclaim. How some other publishers were able to survive, and why. We also discuss how it is a unique situation that led to the growth of Acclaim in the late 80s early 90s . We can also see parallels between Acclaim and more recently THQ. Castle...
History of Acclaim - "The Rise"
February 15, 2016 00:00 - 1 hour - 59.6 MBTCW Podcast Episode 012 - History of Acclaim - "The Rise" We go over the rise of Acclaim Entertainment from its inception by two former employees of Activision. We cover Acclaim's rise as they started off as publishers of games from smaller companies, and then branched out into franchising. We discuss the interactions between Acclaim and Nintendo, and how they become one of the first American publishers for Nintendo. Ghostbusters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdZmiyPaKkA Ram...
The Genesis of JRPGs
February 01, 2016 00:00 - 1 hour - 61 MBTCW Podcast Episode 011 - The Genesis of JRPGs We go over the Genesis of JRPGs, and discover that their origin is not where we would have expected them to come from. We go over the influences on developers in Japan that lead to the development of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. We discuss how western RPGs made their way into Japan via the Apple II, and how RPGs eventually engrained themselves into Japanese society. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNnpx...
History of Mediagenic Part II
January 15, 2016 05:39 - 1 hour - 44.2 MBTCW Podcast Episode 010 - History of Mediagenic Part II We go into part two of Activision/Mediagenic. We cover the company under Bruce Davis's leadership onto it becoming Activison again under Bobby Kotick. New episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month! TCW Email: [email protected] Twitter: @tcwpodcast Alex's Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download:http://joshw...
History of Mediagenic Part I
January 01, 2016 00:00 - 40 minutes - 29 MBTCW Podcast Episode 009 - History of Mediagenic Part 1 We go over the history of Activision, from the great crash, right up till Bruce Davis takes it over. We cover Activision's varied acquisitions by Jim Levy, and some of the challenges faced by the company during this time. We go over some of their successes, and misses, in reading the evolution of the industry. Little Computer People https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkTgX1mGmDg Portal - Activision http://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Birth of the Japanese Game Center
December 15, 2015 00:00 - 1 hour - 63.5 MBTCW Podcast Episode 008 - Birth of the Japanese Game Center We cover the beginning of the Japanese game center. How games had to change for Japan due to space limitations. You did not see many horizontal table games. With these changes you saw the evolution of Bagatelle to Pachinko. There is the dissolution of the pachinko parlors starting with the cessation of production in 1937, and the closing of the parlors in 1938. After WWII pachinko started to come back as a gambling device to ge...
History of the Arcade
December 01, 2015 00:00 - 1 hour - 59.2 MBTCW Podcast 007 - History of the Arcade We cover the history of the arcade going over the many versions it has occupied from the late 1800's to present time. The arcade has changed in form and function quite a few times over the last century. Popeye Mutoscope "Customers Wanted" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sch2d0SOJZQ Pink Panther Scale "An Ounce of Pink" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoU1fJAQll4 Coin Target Gun picture (ABT - Challenger) https://www.youtube.com/wat...
The Early History of Electronic Arts
November 15, 2015 00:00 - 1 hour - 64.2 MBTCW Podcast Episode 006 - The Early History of Electronic Arts We discuss the early history of Electronic Arts. The original founders, how it was financed, the origin of the name, and the initial games made. We go over some of the controversies involved with the founding of EA. We also go over the three core tenants of EA. We go over the plethora of people brought in to staff the company. Demo of VisiCalc - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii3PDjJCCQ4 TRS 80 Radio Shack - https://w...
The Untold History of Sega
November 01, 2015 00:00 - 1 hour - 52.8 MBTCW Podcast Episode 005 - The Untold History of Sega We discuss the history of SEGA. We go over how the company came to be, and the myriad of names the company was known by. How SEGA started as a distributor, and evolved into making their own coin op-games. We also go over how the coin-op business evolved in the post WW II era. The rivalry between Nintendo and Sega in the console market. We also go over how Nintendo had a stranglehold on the game market in the USA, and Sega beating them...
A Tale of Cycles
October 15, 2015 00:00 - 1 hour - 47.3 MBWe discuss the cycles in the video game industry, and the numbering of the generations. We also go over how transitions happen. We go over the market, and technology changes that happen. Plastic Overlay with Magnavox Odyssey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2EIsnr_cv4 New episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month! TCW Email: [email protected] Alex's Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by...
What makes an industry?
October 01, 2015 03:00 - 1 hour - 59.7 MBTCW Podcast Episode 003 - What makes an industry? We talk about the three existing industries; arcades, home console, and PC games, and how they merged together to form the "Video Game Industry". How this almost happened in the 80's but was stopped by the video game crash. We also discuss at what point is an industry made, and what has to happen for it to become one. Atari Game Ad: Vanguard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsH4uuRT2w8 Zaxxon Commercial by Sega: https://www.youtu...
You talked to whom?
September 15, 2015 00:00 - 1 hour - 60 MBTCW Podcast Episode 002 - You talked to whom? We discuss Alex's interviewing process. Who has he talked to? How does he find them? How does he prepare, and for that matter why is he interviewing people? New episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month! TCW Email: [email protected] Alex's Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download:http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode Outro ...
All I can do is ask why?
September 01, 2015 03:26 - 51 minutes - 47.6 MBWe introduce ourselves and give an overview of the project. Release schedule 1st and 15th of each month! TCW Podcast Episode 001 - All I can do is ask why? Intro Music - Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download:http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode Outro Music -RolemMusic - Bacterial Love -http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love Copyright: Attribution:http://creativeco...