The Video Game History Hour

  • 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!

  • Ep. 56: Nintendo in Italy

    Gaming historian and journalist Damiano Gerli shares the details of how exactly Nintendo marketed itself to the Italian consumer in the 80’s and 90’s as laid out in his article Selling Mario to Italians: the untold story of Nintendo in Italy. They really had their work cut out for them as they tried to bring…

    Ep. 56: Nintendo in Italy

  • Ep. 55: Pac-Man

    Author Tim Lapetino joins us to discuss his new book, Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon. After so many years, why are there still stories to tell about Pac-Man? During a time when shooting aliens was the hot gameplay on the scene, we find out why this game, with such a different experience, had mass appeal.…

    Ep. 55: Pac-Man

  • Ep. 54: Kaizo Mario

    GlitchCat7, competitive gamer/ROM hacker/full time streamer/Kaizo Mario historian of record, joins us to discuss his extensive blog post, The Complete History of ‘Kaizo Mario’. GlitchCat7 helps us understand how ‘Kaizo’ was born from exploring glitched levels, wall clipping, and ROM warping. These rearranged, and quite difficult, Mario levels provide a jumping off point for a…

    Ep. 54: Kaizo Mario

  • Ep. 53: X-Rated Atari Games

    Historian and documentarian Kate Willaert returns to the show, this time to discuss her recent article on “adult” games made under the Mystique banner for the Atari 2600: Porno Hustlers Of The Atari Age. Kate guides us through the very troubled history around these titles’ creation and release, including protests, legal suits, and attempted legislation.…

    Ep. 53: X-Rated Atari Games

  • Ep. 52: Star Fox Command

    John Rairdin of Nintendo World Report joins us to discuss his ambitious documentary The History and Development of Star Fox Command (Ft. The Original Developers). He shares the previously undocumented history of this Nintendo DS title, its developers from Q-Games, and its many creators. As a side note: John has some pretty good ideas on…

    Ep. 52: Star Fox Command

  • Ep. 51: U-Force – For Experienced Players Only

    We’re joined, once again, by Norman Caruso to discuss the history of a unique 1990 Nintendo Entertainment System controller, the U-Force. All the rage when it was announced, this hands-free controller uses infrared emitters/detectors to locate your hands in 3-dimensional space for game control input. In his recent video Don’t Touch: The Story of the…

    Ep. 51: U-Force – For Experienced Players Only

  • Ep. 50: Prototypes

    To celebrate the Video Game History Hour’s 50th episode we’ve invited friend of the show, Chris Kohler, to join a thoughtful conversation all about game prototypes. What are they, where do they come from, and what part did they play in forming the Video Game History Foundation? How does the existence of source code affect…

    Ep. 50: Prototypes

  • Ep. 49: LucasArts’ The Dig Dug Its Own Grave

    Jimmy Maher, creator of The Digital Antiquarian, returns to the show to discuss his article on The Dig, a LucasArts point and click adventure. Jimmy takes us through the rich, but troubled, history of this title in a way that helps us understand how this project ever made it to the finish line and why…

    Ep. 49: LucasArts’ The Dig Dug Its Own Grave