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The games we love reveal something true about who we are, and about the world that made them. They Create Worlds is a podcast about the people, technology, and forces that built the video game industry.
Through video game history, the show looks at how culture, business, and technology shaped what we play, tracing the choices and circumstances that led to the games so many people around the world enjoy.
Each episode digs into where games came from, who made them, and why they were made the way they were. Business decisions, technological shifts, and creative choices all shaped what ended up on screen, and the show covers all of it together, not just one piece in isolation.
Hosted by Alex Smith and Jeffrey Daum, They Create Worlds grew out of long conversations about the strange corners of the industry and the patterns that only show up when you look across companies, platforms, and decades. That conversational feel remains, built on careful research, clear structure and editing that makes even the deepest topics easy to listen to.
History turns out to be less settled than it looks. New documents surface, memories conflict, and the clean stories about why things happened the way they did rarely survive contact with the evidence. The show digs into all of that, following the creative and business forces that pushed and pulled on each other, and uncovering the human stories that lie beneath the games so many people around the world enjoy.
New episodes are released twice a month.
The games we love reveal something true about who we are, and about the world that made them. They Create Worlds is a podcast about the people, technology, and forces that built the video game industry.
Through video game history, the show looks at how culture, business, and technology shaped what we play, tracing the choices and circumstances that led to the games so many people around the world enjoy.
Each episode digs into where games came from, who made them, and why they were made the way they were. Business decisions, technological shifts, and creative choices all shaped what ended up on screen, and the show covers all of it together, not just one piece in isolation.
Hosted by Alex Smith and Jeffrey Daum, They Create Worlds grew out of long conversations about the strange corners of the industry and the patterns that only show up when you look across companies, platforms, and decades. That conversational feel remains, built on careful research, clear structure and editing that makes even the deepest topics easy to listen to.
History turns out to be less settled than it looks. New documents surface, memories conflict, and the clean stories about why things happened the way they did rarely survive contact with the evidence. The show digs into all of that, following the creative and business forces that pushed and pulled on each other, and uncovering the human stories that lie beneath the games so many people around the world enjoy.
New episodes are released twice a month.
Episodes

Saturday Apr 01, 2023
A Working Model of Vending
Saturday Apr 01, 2023
Saturday Apr 01, 2023
TCW Podcast Episode 183 - A Working Model of Vending
The arcade industry had many influences. From traveling fairs, clockmakers, and more. Eventually, with the invention of putting a coin-activated door on tobacco boxes in bars, the idea inspired others to make coin-operated vending machines and cast iron banks that were marked as toys but were used for gambling in bars. This is a deep dive into where the coin-op industry came from and we can see some of these influences that carried on to the modern day.
Penny-in-the-Slot Automata and the Working Model: https://www.amazon.com/Penny-Slot-Automata-Working-Model/dp/0709074085
Glockenspiel in Munich: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsfxTyhCzr8
Cuckoo Clocks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6lCQvEUf-U
Lost art of Automatons alive again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7oSFNKIlaM
HUGO Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG9rvNhdOX8
Revolutions S3: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/484J9T0QdvFdlaq5M5tUcs
Exposition des Produits de I'industrie Française: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_des_produits_de_l%27industrie_fran%C3%A7aise
Virtual Tour of the Great Exhibition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSlP6jQLPwI
The Surprising History of Vending Machines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6lxjx4ZzBM
10 Church Bell Cover Songs: https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/culture/music/10-incredible-church-bell-cover-songs
The Penny Arcade - The Working Model: https://penny-arcade.info/working-models
Penny Cast Iron Bear and Indian Bank: https://www.pbs.org/video/antiques-roadshow-appraisal-cast-iron-penny-bank-ca-1900/
Horse Race Mechanical Bank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLSN3MTEDP0
TCW 007 - History of the Arcade: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/history-of-the-arcade/
New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!
TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com
Twitter: @tcwpodcast
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds
Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com
Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1
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://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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