523.9K
Downloads
257
Episodes
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 Jun 15, 2024
Saturday Jun 15, 2024
TCW Podcast Episode 212 - The Exidy of the 70's
Following our examination of Ramtek, we now turn to Exidy, founded by Pete Kauffman and Samuel Hawes. Exidy began by producing Pong variants during the Pong boom. John Metzler joined in 1975, creating Destruction Darby, later licensed to Chicago Coin as Demolition Derby. After Metzler left, Howell Ivy revamped the game into the notorious Death Race '98, the first nationwide controversial video game for violence. Exidy's first microprocessor-based game, Car Polo, wasn't a major hit but was ahead of its time, foreshadowing Rocket League's concept of cars pushing a ball into a goal. They continued innovating with popular games like Circus, a precursor to Breakout. We finish our look at Exidy in the 70s with their venture into the computer market with the Exidy Sorcerer, which showed promise but was overshadowed by VisiCalc's release for the Apple II.
TCW 211 - Ramtek: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/ramtek/
Art Bell Interview Malachi Martin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O8-t9M7xDc
Larry King Coaches Conan On His Interview Technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I02Y8hRzpqE
Soft Questions? Larry King Explains His Interview Style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YqNyfeIyNc
Sean Evans Reveals His Secret Interviewing Technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq5CWKTUNCQ
'Hot Ones' Guest Impressed by Sean Evans' Questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnhnYABROAg
Hockey Tennis Exidy (Picture Needed): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/hockey-tennis
TV Pinball Case: https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/tv-pinball
TV Pinball Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_1kAlO8G6c
TV Pin Game: https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/tv-pin-game
Exidy Destruction Derby (Cabinet & Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLMmz1gdTVs
Chicago Coin Demolition Derby (Cabinet): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AodIwNpqYQk
Chicago Coin Demolition Derby (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kRQ2OEJkNY
Death Race 2000 (1975 Trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp5FUoa4K7c
Death Race cabinet pictures and flyer: https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/death-race
Death Race Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fg-QN6tJPc
Death Race Gameplay (MAME): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBBtt72aJLA
The Media VS Death Race (VGHF Article): https://gamehistory.org/media-vs-death-race/
Score Newspaper Article, Flyer, and Cabinet Pictures: https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/mrnrug/exidys_score_lost_arcade_game_1977_the_first/
Exidy Car Polo Cabinet Picture: https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/car-polo
Car Polo Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmZKvLRFpiI
An Introduction to Rocket League: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os7TTRtF-HI
Robot Bowl (Pictures and Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/robot-bowl
Robot Bowl (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRLdN6dCLu0
Meadows Lanes (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Fj136NZQ8
Meadows Lanes (Pictures and Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/meadows-lanes
Robot Bowl Ball Return Cabinet Picture: https://www.gamesdatabase.org/media/arcade/artwork-cabinet/robot-bowl
Circus (Gameplay Original Hardware): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTxNk1NqTFc
Circus (Cabinet Pictures and Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/circus
TCW 202 - Advanced Balls and Paddles Part 2: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/advanced-balls-and-paddles-part-2/
The Exidy Sorcerer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWseXQDrhJY
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/
No comments yet. Be the first to say something!