They Create Worlds

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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

Thursday Jul 01, 2021

The Console Market of the 70's and 80's Part 2

Thursday Jul 01, 2021

TCW Podcast Episode 141 - The Console Market of the 70's and 80's Part 2

In our second part we look at the emergence of the programable consoles. We see how many companies kept falling into the same trap of FCC regulations, heat issues, and chip shortages. By the time most of these issues were sorted out, with the notable exception of the Apple II being classified as an "industrial computer", the industry was in the midst of a console transition led by the ColecoVision. However the video game crash caused it all to be reset, and many promising paths of development were never really explored. Stay tuned to the end for info on Alex's guest appearances, the topic of our live stream recording this year, and getting stickers!

TCW 076 - A Fairchild Story: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/a-fairchild-story/

Media Regulation Crash Course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6LKl4RKIew

History of Radio and the FCC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob_db-kxEQw

Vintage 1963 FCC Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzPIOfpKkRM

How Radio Works 1937: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEDzmbsvBPw

The Vacuum Tube Radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UKCUMghTrc&t=32s

Applying the inverse square law to EM waves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1yy-zhVM0Y

How to understand the inverse square law in lighting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO-J42VM448

Cats and Dogs living together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA1SxZoFmOU

Sport Utility Robot: https://futurama.fandom.com/wiki/Sport-Utility_Robot

Atari Archive - RCA, FRED, and the Studio II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o35y6W9hI-o

Bally Home Computer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QCkUk8ZA6w