Video Game History Hour

Gaming Historian and friend of the show, Norm Caruso, joins us to expand on his recent video The Ultimate Guide to NES Light Guns | Gaming Historian about The Zapper and many other NES light guns. Learn the history of how these types of guns were even invented, how these toys worked (and how to cheat!), and how the late Senator Bob Dole was involved in this story. Enteractive Advertisement mentioned in show: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BpBQmwIIgAA95pT?format=jpg&name=orig See more from Norman Caruso: YouTube: /gaminghistorian Twitter: @gaminghistorian Website: thegaminghistorian.com Patreon: /gaminghistorian Video Game History Foundation Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

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. We touch on how cultural perceptions play an unexpectedly influential role in game creation, especially when a studio is aiming for the global market. You won’t believe the strange and lengthy catalog of titles which were essential in the timeline leading up to the creation of GTA III. See more from Danny O’Dwyer: Twitter: @dannyodwyer YouTube: /noclipvideo Patreon: /noclip Video Game History Foundation Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

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. See more from Andrew Borman: Twitter: @borman18 YouTube: /ptoponline Website: http://museumofplay.org Facebook: /icheg Video Game History Foundation Podcast Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

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, both at the VGHF and in the world of preservation; how much data we currently store; how we pick our guests and topics; what’s the biggest project we’re currently blocked on; and so much more! Video Game History Foundation Twitter: @gamehistoryhour Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Twitter: @GameHistoryOrg Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

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 anyone can contribute. That last one is crucial: you won’t believe how big our backlogs are! See more from Dustin Hubbard: Twitter: @GamingAlexandri Website: www.gamingalexandria.com Discord: https://discord.gg/YHZUVaAXw3 Patreon: /gamingalexandria See more from Rob Reeves: Twitter: @retromags Website: www.retromags.com Facebook: /RetromagsPreservation Subscriptions: patron.retromags.com Retromags 2005-2020 Collection: torrents.retromags.com

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 teach us about the SSB humble beginnings of Ohajiki-style gameplay, goofy 90’s commercials of Mario punching sweet Yoshi, and the brutal process of final character inclusion selection. Has your favorite Nintendo character made it into Super Smash Bros., yet? See more from PushDustIn: Twitter: @PushDustIn Memory Card Podcast: https://www.memorycardshow.com/ Source Gaming:  https://source-gaming.com/

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 article One Name, Two Games: Virtual Magic Kingdom we learn the story of a massive virtual Disney theme park project which was shut down, revived into an MMO, shut down again, then subsequently revived again by fans and kept going to this day. You may also know this project as Disney’s Villains’ Revenge, the retail puzzle action game: this project certainly has a complex history. Salas was the recipient of a writing grant from the Video Game History Foundation for the purpose of researching and documenting this history. See more from Jacob Salas: Pop History – https://pophistory.club Pop history twitter: @js_pophistory Patreon – /pophistory Twitter – @js_jrod YouTube – /czfjrod

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 condensed down the history of this first coin-operated video game in his recent blog post: Worldly Wednesdays: A Timeline Of Computer Space. Always the thorough historian, Alex Smith treats us to an incredibly educational hour of video game history. See more from Alex Smith: Website: theycreateworlds.com Blog: videogamehistorian.wordpress.com Podcast: podcast.theycreateworlds.com Book: https://www.routledge.com/They-Create-Worlds-The-Story-of-the-People-and-Companies-That-Shaped-the/Smith/p/book/9781138389908

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 provide context as to what this ruling means, how it was reached, and how we might approach the next round of exemption proposals to best serve preservation efforts. Further Reading: Cyberlaw Clinic (background material): https://clinic.cyber.harvard.edu/2021/03/12/clinic-spn-and-lca-fight-digital-deterioration-prepare-for-1201-hearings/ Final rule (10 page version): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-10-28/pdf/2021-23311.pdf Register’s recommendation (300 page version): https://cdn.loc.gov/copyright/1201/2021/2021_Section_1201_Registers_Recommendation.pdf See more from Kendra Albert: Twitter: @Kendraserra Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic: https://clinic.cyber.harvard.edu/ Cyberlaw Clinic Twitter: @cyberlawclinic Software Preservation Network: https://www.softwarepreservationnetwork.org/ Software Preservation Network Twitter: @SoftPresNetwork See more from Phil Salvador: Twitter: @itstheshadsy Website: obscuritory.com

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 last decade. As Founder and Director, Rachel combines both an online museum experience with a physical archive of games, electronic toys, and software. We bask in the nostalgia of Barbie Fashion Designer, the Game Boy Sewing Machine, Hello Kitty games, My Little Pony games, Neopets, and so much more! See more from Rachel Weil: Twitter: @FemicomMuseum Website: femicom.org Personal Twitter: @partytimeHXLNT