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

Saturday Nov 15, 2025

The History of Commodore Pt 3

Saturday Nov 15, 2025

TCW Podcast Episode 246 - The History of Commodore Pt 3

After Jack Tramiel left Commodore and founded Tramel Technology, the company pressed on with mixed results. Systems like the SX 64, the C900, the Plus/4, the C16, and the C116 failed to gain traction, which led to the development of the C128. It improved on the C64 in many ways, but because so many games relied on C64 quirks, Commodore included a full C64 mode to preserve compatibility, so software support was poor. During this period Amiga was shopping its advanced chipset and entered a tentative agreement with Atari, but Jack’s impending purchase of Atari from Warner disrupted the arrangement. Commodore stepped in to pay off the outstanding note, which led to Commodore acquiring Amiga outright. This set the stage for the Amiga 1000, its famous bouncing ball demo, and a new chapter in Commodore’s history as the company entered the sixteen bit era

TCW 2025 Livestream: https://youtu.be/BXXAhEVD4Lk

Computer Chronicles Revisited - SMOliva: https://computerchronicles.blog/post/computer-chronicles-revisited-038-atari-520st-commodore-128/

Computer Chronicles Revisited - SMOliva: https://computerchronicles.blog/post/computer-chronicles-revisited-052-amiga-workbench-deluxe-paint-neochrome-vip-professional/

Commodore C900: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbVjNInzrw8

Commodore SX-64: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIGjT-RjNbk

Commodore Plus 4 C16 & C116: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICiZbUypMlQ

XKCD - Workflow: https://xkcd.com/1172/

Star Raiders (Atari 8-bit): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwqMqmo_jho

Joyboard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdFzdz3o1hU

Boing Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlAhRJjOhDg

Amiga 1000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjapiUQOi2s

Launch Event of the Amiga in 1985: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OeQ5uzm-Qs