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It's been forty years since The Legend of Zelda arrived on the Famicom Disk System, and with the Ocarina of Time remake landing on Switch 2 in November, we're going back to where it started. Miyamoto's childhood caves, the dungeon crawler that grew an overworld, Koji Kondo rewriting the title theme overnight because of a copyright problem, and the phone line Nintendo had to staff because nobody could work out where to go. Plus a small, polite disagreement with the Guinness Book of World Records. Join us, Player One — it's dangerous to go alone. Sources: Was The Legend Of Zelda Actually Named After Its Heroine? Super Cassette Vision / Save Cartridges Zelda Williams talks about her love for Nintendo An Intriguing Tale of How The Legend of Zelda's Iconic Opening Song Almost Never Happened We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

1977 is the first time that a normal person might afford a pre-assembled computer that comes with a monitor and keyboard. Find out how, and why! Source: Video Game Console Library - Atari John Carmack tried to steal Apple 2 Computers The Computer trinity We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

Everyone calls the Tamagotchi the first virtual pet. It wasn't. It wasn't the most advanced, either — and the one that beat it to market by twelve days had actual neural networks. So how did a plastic egg with three buttons and twenty pixels flatten all of them, sell over 100 million units, and make Shigeru Miyamoto think Mario 64 had lost? Ahead of its 30th anniversary this November, we find out what the Tamagotchi was actually first at. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Official Tamagotchi Website History IG Nobel Prize Winners Museum of Play - Tamagotchi We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

This episode we take a partial traditional approach, covering the history of Pokémon and the minds behind the biggest media franchise of all time. But Pokémon's too huge a topic to stay tidy, so we also go on a side quest into the weirder stuff — like a million strangers controlling one Game Boy on Twitch, and Pokémon GO's surprising ties to military surveillance. Sources: History of Pokemon - Bulbapedia A Brief History of Pokemon Being Left Out of Games - Video Game Story Time Speedrun World Records Pokemon Red/Blue The Complete History of Twitch Plays Pokemon - Schwam Games 70 YEARS OLD GRANDPA USES 45 PHONES TO PLAY POKEMON GO - POKÉMON GO We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

SEGA made awesome consoles, and they were the only manufacturer that gave Nintendo any competition at all. In this episode we discuss SEGA's consoles, the Game Gear, and their departure from console manufacturing. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Interview with Hideki Sato We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

SEGA went from distributing slot machines to military bases, to becoming a household name in gaming and creating one of the most iconic characters of all time. How did this happen? Well, listen and find out! Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Sega Retro The Four Americans that built SEGA - Kotaku The Next Generation issue Dec 1996 - Interview with David Rosen We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

Playing in a shared word online with thousands of other people is wondrous. You'll be surprised to find out that somehow people having been playing MMORPGs before the internet, and before computer graphics! Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

The biggest horror franchise in the world began with a movie tie-in game for the Famicom that really should have been released in the western world, but didn't. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: 1UP Interview with Shinji Mikami Kotaku - The NES Game that inspired Resident Evil Gameinformer - Place of Residing Evil We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

8 years before PONG, Mabel Addis was writing and designing games. As the first video game writer, and first female game designer, she helped invent the strategy and edutainment genres with The Sumerian Game. This episode tells the story of a gaming history hero often overlooked. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: NY Times Article Game Developers Conference Awards 2023 A Critical Hit! - The Most Important Video Game You've Never Heard Of We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

Video game magazines were more important than you might think! Before the internet was around they were the gatekeepers to all things video game related. Find out how magazines and gaming journalism got started. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Play Meter #1 December 1974 VIDEO - Arcade Alley 1979 Electronic Games #1 Winter 1981 Interview with Bill Kunkel Interview with Arnie Katz We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

It's time for our annual recap of just exactly what happened in 2025. Spoiler alert: still no GTA VI. Joining us as usual is our special guest Brad and we discuss some of the most noteworthy things that happened in gaming. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

Achievements changed why and how we play games. But before Xbox arrived with Gamerscore, players were already being rewarded! just in very different ways. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Activision Iron-on patches Gamerscore Patent We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

Welcome to Gamergate: a scandal that mixed ethics, harassment, conspiracy theories, and online shouting in equal measure. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Britannica – Gamergate Campaign Wired – Inside Gamergate Chat Logs NPR / Rep. Katherine Clark – How Gamergate Became a Template for Malicious Action Online Factually – Gamergate Controversy Explained Data & Society – Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online Digital Studies Journal – Doxxing as an Online Tactic LawPop – From Unknown Subculture to Political Mainstream arXiv – Tactical Reframing of Online Disinformation Campaigns Against the Istanbul Convention Washington Post – Disinformation campaign targeting Roy Moore’s Senate bid may have violated law Northeastern University – How Gaming Culture Played a Role in Jan 6 and QAnon Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) – Total remigration: Anti-migrant narratives targeting the UK Kotaku – Alyssa Mercante, Sweet Baby Inc. Doesn’t Do What Some Gamers Think It Does IGN – Developers Speak Out Against Harassment of Sweet Baby Inc. GameDeveloper.com – Sweet Baby Inc. Harassment Campaign Echoes Gamergate Data & Society – Weaponised Participation: From Gamergate to the Alt-Right We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

Text adventures and interactive fiction might look primitive today, yet they changed gaming forever. Through imagination and clever code, these games laid the groundwork for everything from RPG dialogue trees to open-world exploration. Join us as we celebrate the witty, weird, and world-shaping legacy of interactive fiction. Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Consider the Consequences! ELIZA Colossal Cave Adventure Get Lamp: The Text Adventure Documentary We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty

Why did Football Manager get banned in China? Why did Pokémon cause a moral panic? And why does a “game” called Ethnic Cleansing even exist? Please like, subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you when new episodes are released every second Wednesday. Sources: Pokemon Ethnic Cleansing Football Manager 2005 Tropico 5 Liyla and The Shadows of War We welcome you to get in touch with us! Visit us on: GamingHistory.Club Facebook Instagram Theme tune created by Tom Docherty