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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.
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

Wednesday May 15, 2019
Lion and Bally Manufacturing
Wednesday May 15, 2019
Wednesday May 15, 2019
TCW Podcast Episode 090 - Lion and Bally Manufacturing
What will they do in '32? Ballyhoo! We examine the origins of the Bally Manufacturing Company, makers of pinball and slot machines and operators of fitness centers. While Bally rarely ever created video games under its own name, the company was a domineering force in the coin-operated amusement and gambling spaces and through its subsidiaries nurtured a diverse array of talent that introduced many video game innovations. In this first part, we chart the early years of the company from its start as a printing company subsidiary to the formation of a new Bally out of the ashes of the original in the 1960s by Bill O'Donnell.
TCW 59 - Williams' Crazy Story Part 1: http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/williams-crazy-story-pt-1/
TCW 60 - Williams' Crazy Story Part 2 : http://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/williams-crazy-story-pt-2/
Punch Board example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvaCjRM_oJE&t=117s
Gottlieb Baffle Ball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1jETFi-f_c
Ballyhoo Pinball: https://youtu.be/eGAw4oF5bWA?t=84
Goofy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZY8OLp5OLA
Airway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1s1Gr-Nh8o
Rocket: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPmGtEcjV9M
Simpson's Keep Gaming: https://youtu.be/TvXUkE_Xoe4?t=94
1960's Bally Roller Derby Bingo Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB7RZyfO1J0
More Bally Roller Derby Bingo and History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfuF4jb-Cqc
Bally Malibu Beach Bingo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwaS16HxGJw
Money Honey Slot Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvcTmmCdSi4
New episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month!
TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com
Twitter: @tcwpodcast
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds
Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com
Alex's forthcoming book will be released through CRC Press!
Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download:http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode
Outro Music: RolemMusic - Bacterial Love - http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love
Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Wednesday May 01, 2019
The Dawn of Computers and Gaming
Wednesday May 01, 2019
Wednesday May 01, 2019
TCW Podcast Episode 089 - The Dawn of Computers and Gaming
We look at the dawn of computers. Not just people; but analog, electronic, and digital computers! We look at how the early games on the computer were not so much games as demonstration programs or simple AI to play games like tic-tac-toe, NIM, checkers, and, of course, chess. We look at how the work done during WWII around RADAR played a role in how both computers and computer games developed. Next we look at some of the fear in the popular psyche of computers and AI as depicted in movies. We finish looking at what is considered the first video games.
Hidden Figures Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wfrDhgUMGI
Analog VS Digital Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxJKXGugfh8
The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I5ZMmrOfnA
How RADAR Works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3uIXt1V7YY
RADAR Introductory Video (Military?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rIHdcwlvlk
History of RADAR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeGBXQLu8pQ
An Electromechanical Clock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1it3kjIgocc
Last working analog graphics machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wxc3mKqKTk
Colossus: The Forbin Project Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyOEwiQhzMI
Colossus: The Forbin Project Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus:_The_Forbin_Project
War Games "Shall we play a game?": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1F7vaNP9w0
The Turing Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wLqsRLvV-c
Demo of Turochamp Code: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvanV9B6EBs
Carnegie Mellon University Management Game: https://www.cmu.edu/tepper/programs/mba/curriculum/capstones/management-game.html
Tennis for Two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PG2mdU_i8k
New episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month!
TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com
Twitter: @tcwpodcast
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds
Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com
Alex's forthcoming book will be released through CRC Press!
Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download:http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode
Outro Music: RolemMusic - Bacterial Love - http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love
Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
