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 Jul 01, 2023

The Simulations of Will Wright

Saturday Jul 01, 2023

TCW Podcast Episode 189 - The Simulations of Will Wright

In part two we look at the Sim craze with the release of Sim Earth, Sim Ant, and others. It was Sim Ant in combination with the loss of Will Wright's home in the Oakland firestorm of 1991 that laid the groundwork for what would become The Sims. The game went through many iterations, and would not see fruition until the acquisition of Maxis by Electronic Arts. The game became a phenomenal success and was as big a hit, if not bigger, than Sim City. Will Wright continued with the creation of the game Spore which, while heavily hyped, was a very shallow amalgamation of five different games. Will Wright is still trying to make games based on systems, but as of yet none have reached the impact of Sim City or The Sims.

Gaia Hypothesis - James Lovelock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIFRg2skuDI

Sim Earth (SNES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t_foiU3fHo

Sim Earth (PC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOtbazBWijw

SimAnt Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTgrr1PSBaE

E.O. Wilson The Ant "Super Organism": https://ninepbs.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/eow-clip-04/the-ant-super-organism-e-o-wilson-of-ants-and-men/

Oakland Firestorm 1991: https://localwiki.org/oakland/Oakland_Firestorm_1991

Raw Video Oakland Firestorm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NseOhUqZAh0

Oakland Hills Fire Decades Later: https://abc7news.com/oakland-hills-fire-east-bay-1991-department/11141174/

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Kahn Academy): https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/behavior/theories-personality/v/maslow-hierarchy-of-needs

Christopher Alexander - Life in Buildings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKO3vYjZbcs

The Basic principles of Feng Shui: https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-feng-shui-1275060

1998 Preview of the Sims: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC52jE60KjY