Gaming History Club

GTA VI might just be the biggest entertainment media launch ever. But before becoming one of the best selling gaming franchises of all time, Grand Theft Auto was just a tech demo of an isometric game engine made in Scotland.Sources:Race'n'Chase Game Design DocumentThe Complete History of DMA Design by Mike DaillyMike Dailly copyright strikes by RockstarWe welcome you to get in touch with us!Visit us on: GamingHistory.ClubFacebookInstagramTheme tune created by Tom Docherty

It's been forty years since The Legend of Zelda arrived on the Famicom Disk System, and with the Ocarina of Time remake landing on Switch 2 in November, we're going back to where it started. Miyamoto's childhood caves, the dungeon crawler that grew an overworld, Koji Kondo rewriting the title theme overnight because of a copyright problem, and the phone line Nintendo had to staff because nobody could work out where to go. Plus a small, polite disagreement with the Guinness Book of World Records. Join us, Player One — it's dangerous to go alone.Sources:Was The Legend Of Zelda Actually Named After Its Heroine?Super Cassette Vision / Save CartridgesZelda Williams talks about her love for NintendoAn Intriguing Tale of How The Legend of Zelda's Iconic Opening Song Almost Never HappenedWe welcome you to get in touch with us!Visit us on: GamingHistory.ClubFacebookInstagramTheme tune created by Tom Docherty

1977 is the first time that a normal person might afford a pre-assembled computer that comes with a monitor and keyboard. Find out how, and why!Source:Video Game Console Library - AtariJohn Carmack tried to steal Apple 2 ComputersThe Computer trinityWe welcome you to get in touch with us!Visit us on: GamingHistory.ClubFacebookInstagramTheme tune created by Tom Docherty

Everyone calls the Tamagotchi the first virtual pet. It wasn't. It wasn't the most advanced, either — and the one that beat it to market by twelve days had actual neural networks. So how did a plastic egg with three buttons and twenty pixels flatten all of them, sell over 100 million units, and make Shigeru Miyamoto think Mario 64 had lost? Ahead of its 30th anniversary this November, we find out what the Tamagotchi was actually first at.Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday.Sources:Official Tamagotchi Website HistoryIG Nobel Prize WinnersMuseum of Play - TamagotchiWe welcome you to get in touch with us!Visit us on: GamingHistory.ClubFacebookInstagramTheme tune created by Tom Docherty

This episode we take a partial traditional approach, covering the history of Pokémon and the minds behind the biggest media franchise of all time. But Pokémon's too huge a topic to stay tidy, so we also go on a side quest into the weirder stuff — like a million strangers controlling one Game Boy on Twitch, and Pokémon GO's surprising ties to military surveillance.Sources:History of Pokemon - BulbapediaA Brief History of Pokemon Being Left Out of Games - Video Game Story TimeSpeedrun World Records Pokemon Red/BlueThe Complete History of Twitch Plays Pokemon - Schwam Games70 YEARS OLD GRANDPA USES 45 PHONES TO PLAY POKEMON GO - POKÉMON GOWe welcome you to get in touch with us!Visit us on: GamingHistory.ClubFacebookInstagramTheme tune created by Tom Docherty

SEGA made awesome consoles, and they were the only manufacturer that gave Nintendo any competition at all. In this episode we discuss SEGA's consoles, the Game Gear, and their departure from console manufacturing.Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday.Sources:Interview with Hideki SatoWe welcome you to get in touch with us!Visit us on: GamingHistory.ClubFacebookInstagramTheme tune created by Tom Docherty

SEGA went from distributing slot machines to military bases, to becoming a household name in gaming and creating one of the most iconic characters of all time. How did this happen? Well, listen and find out!Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday.Sources:Sega RetroThe Four Americans that built SEGA - KotakuThe Next Generation issue Dec 1996 - Interview with David RosenWe welcome you to get in touch with us!Visit us on: GamingHistory.ClubFacebookInstagramTheme tune created by Tom Docherty

Playing in a shared word online with thousands of other people is wondrous. You'll be surprised to find out that somehow people having been playing MMORPGs before the internet, and before computer graphics!Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday.Sources:We welcome you to get in touch with us!Visit us on: GamingHistory.ClubFacebookInstagramTheme tune created by Tom Docherty

The biggest horror franchise in the world began with a movie tie-in game for the Famicom that really should have been released in the western world, but didn't.Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday.Sources:1UP Interview with Shinji MikamiKotaku - The NES Game that inspired Resident EvilGameinformer - Place of Residing EvilWe welcome you to get in touch with us!Visit us on: GamingHistory.ClubFacebookInstagramTheme tune created by Tom Docherty

8 years before PONG, Mabel Addis was writing and designing games. As the first video game writer, and first female game designer, she helped invent the strategy and edutainment genres with The Sumerian Game. This episode tells the story of a gaming history hero often overlooked.Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday.Sources:NY Times ArticleGame Developers Conference Awards 2023A Critical Hit! - The Most Important Video Game You've Never Heard OfWe welcome you to get in touch with us!Visit us on: GamingHistory.ClubFacebookInstagramTheme tune created by Tom Docherty