Video Game History Hour

Video Game History Foundation
  • 4.9 (119)
  • VIDEO GAMES
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

Industry expert Frank Cifaldi, Executive Director of the Video Game History Foundation, brings on fellow content creators, game developers, video game historians, and storytellers to teach us a little bit about video game history. Our casual, “chatting over coffee” style interviews let us see the true life of a researcher: bang-your-head-against-a-wall dead-ends, “I can’t believe no one’s told this story before” moments, the thrill of sharing incredible history with the world, and more. Pull up a chair and join us!

  1. 6D AGO

    Episode 146: A Monograph of Todd Howard

    Phil Salvador hosts a discussion with Dr. Wendi Sierra, author of Todd Howard: World Building in Tamriel and Beyond, and Emily Higgs Kopin. Dr. Sierra’s, associate professor of games studies at Texas Christian University, book follows the career history of the Bethesda Game Studios executive producer and his influence on game design throughout the years. Emily Kopin, head of digital collections strategy at the Swarthmore College Libraries, joins us as our guest expert on the Elder Scrolls franchise to make up for Phil’s tragic lack of extended time spent in this expansive universe. Wendi and Emily take Phil through discussions of Howard’s impact on world building through micro narratives, challenges of documenting emergent gameplay, importance of scoping research, and the influence of Howard’s design philosophy on modern gaming. *This episode has a follow-up bonus episode available to our paid tier Patreon members. You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Patreon (one day early at the $5 tier and above), on Spotify, or on our website. See more from Dr. Wendi Sierra: TCU Profile: https://honors.tcu.edu/view/wendi-sierra   Recent Publication: Gaming for the seventh generation: Indigenous Futurisms in games  See more from Emily Higgs Kopin: Bluesky: @ehkopin.bsky.social Latest Published Work: American Archivist Swarthmore Profile: swarthmore.edu  Video Game History Foundation: Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

    1h 1m

  2. NOV 28

    Episode 145: The 40th Anniversary of the NES: A PRGE Panel

    At this year’s Portland Retro Gaming Expo, VGHF director Frank Cifaldi had the pleasure of hosting a panel celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System launch. Frank moderated 3 guests who were at Nintendo of America during this time: Gail Tilden, Marketing; Bruce Lowery, Sales; and Lance Barr, Product Design. This event was particularly special as two of these three guests had never before attended a retro convention. The panel discussion includes many visual elements, including many never shown publicly before, and some pre-recorded messages from additional people of note. If you’re able, you may instead prefer to watch the video on the PRGE YouTube channel, which we highly encourage: We Launched the NES 40 Years Ago Today - Gail Tilden, Lance Barr, Bruce Lowry - PRGE 2025 Portland. Either way, please enjoy this momentous event in our collective gaming history. You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Patreon (one day early at the $5 tier and above), on Spotify, or on our website. Video Game History Foundation: Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

    1h 45m

  3. NOV 13

    Episode 144: Phil Salvador - A Rule-Following Hooligan

    Let’s all learn what makes our Library Director, Phil Salvador, Phil Salvador! Producer Robin Kunimune sat down with Phil to learn all about his life as a youth, an early path to his passions, creating chaos inside the lines, the mental health struggles many face in early adulthood, finding his community, and making his way to VGHF. And, don’t forget the birds! Phil candidly shares his failures, successes, and everything in-between in this week’s episode. Take a listen. You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Patreon (one day early at the $5 tier and above), on Spotify, or on our website. See more from Phil Salvador: Bluesky: @philsalv.bsky.social Video Game History Foundation: Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

    1h 13m

  4. OCT 29

    Episode 143: The Andrew Nelson Collection

    Phil Salvador introduces the new Andrew Nelson papers collection with guest, you guessed it, Andrew Nelson, himself. Guest-host Alex Greenberg joins to chat with Nelson, co-founder and creative director of CyberFlix, known for its 1996 title Titanic: Adventure Out of Time. Andrew discusses his transition from magazine journalism to game development, the creation of CyberFlix, and the development of Titanic, which included extensive research and character development. Nelson also reflects on the impact of the game and his subsequent career, including work at Britannica and National Geographic. You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Patreon (one day early at the $5 tier and above), on Spotify, or on our website. Mentioned in the show: Andrew Nelson Collection: https://archive.gamehistory.org/folder/5dcf7309-5e3f-4609-b264-62f44da8e79f VGHF Blog post: https://gamehistory.org/andrew-nelson-papers/ See more from Andrew Nelson: Book: Here Not There: 100 Unexpected Travel Destinations Instagram: @andrewtyrrellnelson See more from Alex Greenburg: Website: alexgreenberg.net Video Game History Foundation: Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

    1h 3m

  5. OCT 15

    Episode 142: October Update

    It’s another quarterly update! Host Robin Kunimune talks with Frank Cifaldi and Phil Salvador about our recent work. From Chicago travel to launching Computer Entertainer, from our new Booth-in-a-Box to 4,000 magazines archived, from NES’s 40th to building Lego; come find out just how many new collections we've added in the last few months.   You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Patreon (one day early at the $5 tier and above), on Spotify, or on our website. Video Game History Foundation: Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

    1h 31m

  6. OCT 2

    Episode 141: Hidden Advertising of Feminine Games

    Phil Salvador interviews Dr. Stephanie Harkin, lecturer at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) School of Design Games Program in Australia, about her research on femininity in gaming, particularly in girls' lifestyle magazines. Dr. Harkin discusses her journey from media studies to focusing on feminine games. She highlights her findings on the lack of representation of feminine games in traditional gaming magazines and her discovery of Girl Gamer magazine, which promoted Nintendo games in a lifestyle format. We explore the coverage of games in magazines like Total Girl and the broader cultural context of game representation. You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Patreon (one day early at the $5 tier and above), on Spotify, or on our website. Mentioned in the show: Girl Gamer cover: https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/e6beceaa-f36f-46d7-bc2a-f4599773e10e MCV pink issue: https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/39c2181c-d395-44b7-9e64-2f1c8333a922 Pokémon Personality Quiz: https://gamehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Pokemon-personality-quiz-1200x847.jpg Pac-Man Nail Art: https://gamehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Stephanie-Harkin-Pac-man-nail-art.jpg Big Bowser House (mistakenly referred to as "Donkey Kong Big Brother House"): https://gamehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Big-Bowser-House-cropped.jpg K-Zone: https://archive.org/details/K-ZoneJanuary2006  Imagine Magazines: https://archive.gamehistory.org/folder/6187132e-315c-4be5-8498-8c55ac478ebe?sortField=date&sortDir=asc  See more from Dr. Stephanie Harkin: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/saharkin.bsky.social Games Exhibition: https://www.feminineplay.org/  Upcoming book: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/isbn/9783111560939/html Video Game History Foundation: Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

    58 min

  7. SEP 17

    Episode 140: The 49 Ways of Sinistar

    Host Frank Cifaldi is joined by documentarian, historian, hacker, and all around cool guy SynaMax to talk about their documentary Resurrecting Sinistar: A Cyber-Archaeology Documentary. The 1983 top-down space shooter arcade game’s unique 49-way joystick allowed players to pilot their spaceship to prevent a giant skull, Sinistar, from forming. SynaMax interviewed developers, restored cut content, and emulated the game itself to better explore the challenges the development team faced due to limited storage and to highlight the importance of source code preservation. SynaMax recently hosted a panel with said developers at the annual classic arcade game show California Extreme - a panel Frank, sadly, missed!  You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Patreon (one day early at the $5 tier and above), on Spotify, or on our website. See more from SynaMax: YouTube: youtube.com/synamax Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/synamax.bsky.social Patreon: patreon.com/synamax Video Game History Foundation: Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

    1h 3m

  8. SEP 3

    Episode 139: Phoenix: The Rise of Leonard Herman

    We’re joined by pioneer video game historian Leonard Herman, author and publisher of several video game history books including the first comprehensive book chronicling the history of the videogame industry, Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Home Videogames, and its subsequent series. We touch on Leonard’s early career, the challenges of self-publishing, and the evolution of his Phoenix series through various editions, including his most recent Phoenix Five. Leonard also highlights his collaborations with Ralph Baer and his efforts to correct historical misconceptions, particularly those around the co-founders of Atari. You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Patreon (one day early at the $5 tier and above), on Spotify, or on our website. See more from Leonard Herman: Website: thegamescholar.com  Facebook: Leonard Herman Facebook (book): Phoenix 5 - The History of the Videogame Industry  Video Game History Foundation: Email: podcast@gamehistory.org Website: gamehistory.org Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg

    1h 12m
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4.9
out of 5
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About

Industry expert Frank Cifaldi, Executive Director of the Video Game History Foundation, brings on fellow content creators, game developers, video game historians, and storytellers to teach us a little bit about video game history. Our casual, “chatting over coffee” style interviews let us see the true life of a researcher: bang-your-head-against-a-wall dead-ends, “I can’t believe no one’s told this story before” moments, the thrill of sharing incredible history with the world, and more. Pull up a chair and join us!

Information

  • Creator
    Video Game History Foundation
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    154
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Video Game History Foundation
  • Show Website
    Video Game History Hour

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