The Video Game History Hour

  • Ep. 66: The Grand Theft Auto Evolution

    Danny O’Dwyer of Noclip is here to talk about the latest episode in their Greatest Hits series, The History of Grand Theft Auto, Lemmings & DMA Design. Now ‘the’ Grand Theft Auto expert, Danny explains the European version of iconic American stereotypes present in this game compared to differing regional stereotypes found in other titles.…

    Ep. 66: The Grand Theft Auto Evolution

  • Ep. 65: Preservation: Institutional vs. Non

    Andrew Borman, Digital Games Curator at The Strong National Museum of Play, joins us to discuss the roles, benefits, limitations, and approaches of institutional versus individual video game preservation. At the end of the day, the entire ecosystem is required: collectors, academia, fans, institutions, and non-institutions all play a necessary part in completing the picture.…

    Ep. 65: Preservation: Institutional vs. Non

  • Ep. 64: Q&A and Closing Out 2021

    It’s time, once again, to answer your burning questions! But first, a big thank you to all our listeners, supporters, and cheerleaders! And, thank you to all the wonderful guests who joined the show and the deluge of information they shared with us this year. We discuss the most important things which happened in 2021,…

    Ep. 64: Q&A and Closing Out 2021

  • Ep. 63: Magazine Preservation

    Dustin Hubbard (Hubz), founder of Gaming Alexandria, and Robert Reeves (Phillyman), founder of Retromags, join hosts Frank and Kelsey in a panel discussion on preserving video game magazines, especially those published pre-internet. We discuss why creating a library of old magazines is particularly important to overall preservation efforts, how we all got started, and how…

    Ep. 63: Magazine Preservation

  • Ep. 62: Super Smash Bros.

    PushDustIn, aka Will, takes us on a journey through the past of Super Smash Bros. (read: Brothers). Sparing us only a small break from his rather busy work as a content creator, Japanese Translator, Community Manager, PR professional, Co-host of the Memory Card Podcast, and creator of the Source Gaming website, Push is here to…

    Ep. 62: Super Smash Bros.

  • Ep. 61: Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom

    Jacob Salas, of the website Pop History, joins the show to tell us about an ambitious attempt at a Virtual Magic Kingdom CD ROM that, in a lot of ways, is also the story of Hollywood’s odd attempts in the 90’s to try to get into the video game market more seriously. In his feature…

    Ep. 61: Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom

  • Ep. 60: Computer Space

    Alex Smith returns to the show, this time to talk about Computer Space: a 1971 arcade game often considered the beginning of the commercial video game industry. Continuing the annotation series of his book, “They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry, Vol. I”, Alex Smith has…

    Ep. 60: Computer Space

  • Ep. 59: DMCA Exemption Ruling

    Cyberlaw Clinic tech lawyer Kendra Albert and librarian and video game historian Phil Salvador join the show to give us their professional insight into the U.S. Copyright Office’s October 2021 ruling which affects how libraries are able to provide access to video games and other software. As we discuss this current event, we hope to…

    Ep. 59: DMCA Exemption Ruling

  • Ep. 58: FEMICOM Museum

    Rachel Weil started the FEMICOM Museum to catalogue, celebrate, and remix the history of girl games, girly games, and femme games. She joins us to provide insight into how this massive category of video games has been shut out of history preservation (hint: follow the money) and how she’s been countering this trend for the…

    Ep. 58: FEMICOM Museum

  • Ep. 57: Hit Save!

    Executive Director of Hit Save!, Jonas Rosland, joins us to showcase some of the amazing work this fellow 501(c)(3) non-profit does in preserving video game history, especially through community-driven projects. Hit Save! has brought together amazing resources in both their Scanning.Guide! and Dumping.Guide! to aid our community in digitizing existing materials as well as a…

    Ep. 57: Hit Save!