@playhistory.bsky.social
Independent games researcher, Ethan Johnson. Preserving gaming history! Patreon: http://tinyurl.com/pdp5pdrj YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@play_history/videos Blog: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ Editor of Gaming Alexandria
This week on the Video Game History Hour: We're joined by @flori-p.bsky.social, Associate Curator of Science and Technology at the MIT Museum!
Dr. Pierri trained as a natural history curator. So how did they end up working in game preservation? At MIT? The story of their career will surprise you!
A Spook Gun cabinet by Bally Mfg. https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/10__Bally_Mfg__Co__Spook_Gun_Arcade_Shooter__-LOT460613.aspx
Flyer for Bally's Spook Gun from 1958.
An unrestored Spook Gun cabinet. https://www.liveauctioneers.com/price-result/1950s-bally-spook-gun-coin-operated-rifle-gallery/
They say it's the season for scary games. What better time to play Spook Gun by Bally?
A Dale Gun-style game advertised for its "junior" quality, the novelty of sniping the undead has never really gotten old.
This interview comes from Gamer Handbook which I scanned last year! Be sure to check it out, I was quite chuffed to come across it
archive.org/details/Game...
New story up on what happened to Ocean Software's Lobo fighting game, with a bunch of never-before-seen renders made for the game.
03.03.2026 18:34 β π 39 π 20 π¬ 1 π 1
Many of them are webringed to each other, but no I don't think there's a comprehensive list.
I do think there are some which aren't as inciteful as others and therefore don't really serve the purpose of proper context.
Bob Krotts wrote a series of "naughty" games for TRS-80; I had trouble getting number 5 to work, but I have now unveiled the mystery, which involves many deathtraps and a strange application of pants.
bluerenga.blog/2026/03/02/m...
From βDig Dugβ tactics to βXeviousβ secrets and βThe Tower of Druagaβ that helped shape Zelda, Masanobu EndΕ pioneered concepts that still resonate in games today, from hidden secrets to layering story into gameplay. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmKv... #MasanobuEndo #Xevious #TowerOfDruaga
01.03.2026 18:00 β π 14 π 9 π¬ 0 π 0
the monthly update for February. and January. and, uh, December.
hey, at least I got the post up on the last day of the month for once.
savestate.site/stage-clear-...
The @intelligentspeech.bsky.social conference begins imminently!
Thanks to all who have shown support for independent podcasting scene. You can still get a ticket that will allow you to view the VODs at a later date!
Super interesting guy - I've been meaning to write an article about his wild career.
28.02.2026 12:36 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Tomorrow, I'll be giving a talk at Intelligent Speech at 4:20pm about the San Diego arcade rivalry of Sega/Gremlin and Cinematronics!
intelligentspeechonline.com
All based on research for my upcoming book - I hope to see some of y'all there!
Itβs our 9th birthday and our 150th episode all at once; letβs party! In our latest VGHH podcast host and VGHF Director Frank Cifaldi is joined by two founding board members Simon Carless and Steve Lin.: https://gamehistory.org/episode-150-vghf-founding-retrospective/
26.02.2026 00:56 β π 79 π 14 π¬ 0 π 0
Oh yeah - we're live.
www.twitch.tv/play_history
Our never-ending torment peppered with 70s music trivia continues. Oh yeah and that Star Wars thing happens.
Be not afeared - join us.
But don't those run off of Texas Instrument integrated circuits? Why would the Odyssey 100 be classed as analog where Pong and the GI system are digital - if that's your argument?
25.02.2026 17:02 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
You argue that it's analog? Every analysis that I've seen determines that DTL constitutes digital underlying it.
Its labeling as "analog" was initially a legal tactic as a defense in the lawsuits by Magnavox and Sanders.
We're in the final days to get your ticket for @intelligentspeech.bsky.social where I'll be moderating and presenting on Saturday!
intelligentspeechonline.com/speakers/
Check the schedule and get a ticket (promo code: PLAY)! The ticket also gives you access to VODs if you can't make it.
Tomorrow at 7PM CST, @quarterpast.bsky.social and I will be resuming our Arcade Dating - putting all the arcade games of the 1970s and 1980s in chronological order.
www.twitch.tv/play_history
This is the year of the Shoog-A-Loos. If you understand that joke, you are REQUIRED to come.
A Popmaticorn vending machine from 1938. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/corn.htm
1938-07-02 The Billboard pg 74. Two men stand beside a Popcornmatic machine outside of a drug store.
Getyer popcorn here!
Popmatic Mfg Co. was one of the premiere popcorn makers in the 1930s.
This model, Popmaticorn, is a beautiful example of vending machines from whence came the classic Coke dispenser.
We're in the final days to get your ticket for @intelligentspeech.bsky.social where I'll be moderating and presenting on Saturday!
intelligentspeechonline.com/speakers/
Check the schedule and get a ticket (promo code: PLAY)! The ticket also gives you access to VODs if you can't make it.
Colorful characters abound in the field! Having had a chance to speak with many of them, they often as loud as their tailored suits.
23.02.2026 13:39 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Flyer front for Flying Circus, available from Phonographic Ruffler & Walker. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/flycirc.htm
Flying Circus cabinet, manufactured by Alca. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/flycirc.htm
Flyer back of Flying Circus by Alca Electronics. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/flycirc.htm
IT'S MONTY PYTH- Oh, wait... Ahem: Ruffler & Walker's FLYING CIRCUS on the scene.
A curious electro-mechanical model game with a unique acrobatic theme.
This week on The Digital Antiquarian: Gabriel Knight 3 www.filfre.net/2026/02/gabr...
20.02.2026 17:27 β π 12 π 2 π¬ 0 π 1One of the Lemmy documentaries opens with him playing a shmup on Xbox, which I do find pretty endearing.
20.02.2026 14:07 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
A scan from Login's magazine featuring little doodles of 'Professor Horii' and the letter from someone worried about making a game too similar to someone else's or in the same genre, and which leads to the foreshadowing musing about what we think of as the DQ/FF style JRPG.
Dragon Quest's Yuji Horii in 1985 in his regular column in LOGiN magazine. In this issue, he offhandedly mentions that he'd love to play a game that blended Ultima's gameplay, Wizardry's character advancement, Questron's labyrinth, and the drama of an adventure game.
"Why hasn't anyone made one?"
Flyer for Grand Prix by DuKane Corp. https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/dgrndprix.htm
1965-07-17 Billboard pg 51. DuKane Corp's novelty game, Ski 'n Skore which portrayed skiing down a slope.
1966-07-02 Billboard pg 62. Advertisement for the DuKane Corp game Grand Prix, sold by Mike Munves Corp.
Coin-op in the 1960s was a technological frontier; many companies explored its potential.
DuKane Industries was a rather fascinating radio manufacturer that went way back who decided to get involved then.
Check out this podcast for more info on their story:
www.stcmuseum.org/podcast/2023...
For the FIFTH year we have inducted games into our Video Game Notables hall of fame!
Check it out - and check out the new Livestream playlist if you're super cool.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOdS...
Basically a Z or shoulder button!
16.02.2026 19:54 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Brand new footage of the Virtual Boy debut in 1995. It would have been cool to include these non-interactive demos in the Switch release! People love squinting at the Super Mario one!
16.02.2026 15:51 β π 150 π 48 π¬ 3 π 1
4 characters designed for the Ancient version of Streets of Rage 4
At the end of the 90s, Ancient worked with Sega on two projects that would move from one console to another. While Kaiju no Shima was eventually released on GameCube, Streets of Rage 4 was ultimately developed by another team.
vgdensetsu.net/ayanokoshiro7/
Dispo en VF
vgdensetsu.net/ayanokoshiro...