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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.
Episodes
Wednesday May 15, 2024
Wednesday May 15, 2024
TCW Podcast Episode 210 - Accolade Part 2
In our second look at Accolade, we cover the company’s gradual decline in the 90's leading to its acquisition by Infogrames. The desire to expand into console games grew too strong, and Accolade decided to save money on production costs by clean-room engineering the lockout mechanism on the SEGA Genesis. Meanwhile, SEGA was working on an internal revision that would tie their trademarked logo into the startup handshake. This would give them the leverage they needed to sue anyone who reverse-engineered the system. Accolade managed to get the injunction on their games dissolved, but SEGA still retained the option to sue them. Ultimately, Accolade was forced to settle with SEGA to release their games, which left them with ongoing debt that would continue to haunt them. Accolade continued to struggle to grow their franchises. They had the disastrous release of Bubsy 3D, coinciding with the launch of classics like Mario 64, Tomb Raider, and Crash Bandicoot. In the end, Infogrames acquired Accolade, largely due to its distribution network. However, this acquisition was soon overshadowed by Infogrames’ later purchase of GT Interactive. What little was left of Accolade was merged into Infogrames Inc.
Jack Nicklaus Golf (Konami - NES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOitBakgLKo
Star Control (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFHzXAuB1tE
Hardball! (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkeCqRXihJE
Mega Turrican (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H-qskYLiAE
Onslaught (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-C_CcoE6d4
Mike Ditka Power Football (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xJwyug0_xI
Secrets of the Nintendo Gameboy Logo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1cUIGHZLGA
Les Manley in - Lost in LA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpTnB_nIgcU
Altered Destiney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMqmjiGrkq0
Star Control II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnV8yQ-OQ0c
Outrun (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EJdB3Hw8xE
Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSkSqtgmBrM
Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (SNES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVngvbQfkk4
Bubsy Pilot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HRZV5AXBy8
Bubsy II (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyQ9yuGOylQ
Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales (Atari Jaguar): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R1Irhk1haU
FAO Schwarz Private Family Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmdHfzkE3-8
TCW 128 - Nintendo in 1985: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/nintendo-in-1985/
Big - Piano Scene (1988): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF7-rz9nIn4
Test Drive 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKqfnnSFDPg&list=PLPQkf2wwvE4Ln1CY2F2Vrw4ZY1OGXkZwV
Test Drive Off Road: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kJxqImIfOU
Deadlock - Planetary Conquest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BTFq25WWhs
Star Control III: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmPwJKcMGKY&list=PLi8KI0sgXnc43fDeUJh7injkgM69bZ7Rp
Jack Ncklaus 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zjju2_hesw
Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge: https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Lee_Carvallo%27s_Putting_Challenge
Bubsy 3D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ2A36p9D8o
Jumping Flash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAONnDAYJOE
Super Mario 64: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT3AaQ77ges
Crash Bandicoot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK-h4M4Aetg
Tomb Raider: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byJ5to20C6I
TCW 064 - The Rise and Fall of Infogrames Part 1: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/rise-and-fall-of-infogrames-part-1/
TCW 065 - The Rise and Fall of Infogrames Part 2: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-rise-and-fall-of-infogrames-part-2/
Test Drive 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1PXuzZjRsI
Test Drive Off Road 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWwtC_fwAoQ
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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