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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
Friday Aug 15, 2025
Friday Aug 15, 2025
TCW Podcast Episode 240 - Nintendo: Playing with Mii & Wii
From DS touch-and-stylus play to living-room motion, we trace Nintendo's road to Wii. Nintendogs and Brain Age broadened the audience to parents and grandparents. After cold receptions at Microsoft and Sony, inventor Tom Quinn's Gyration motion tech found a home at Nintendo, and internal prototypes were so fun they became Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Fit. The reveal timeline runs from Reggie Fils-Aime's 2004 E3 DS debut and "Revolution" tease, to a controller-free console showing at E3 2005, to the surprise Wii Remote reveal during Iwata's Tokyo Game Show keynote, and the full unveiling at E3 2006. Built on refined GameCube internals, the Wii favored low cost, low noise, and always-on convenience, with Miis inspired by Japanese wooden dolls (Kokeshi) and a channel interface modeled on a TV wall to invite quick, family-friendly play.
Iwata Asks: https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/
Nintendogs (DS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb5j2v10eYs
Nintendogs (DS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb5j2v10eYs
Brain Age (DS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EeU92dl9ME
Donkey Kong Bongos & Donkey Konga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64YSuP6G1Uw
Wii Sports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp9l7J6w9iE
Wii Play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfz-l5GI-v4
Wii Fit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDfXealVJyg
Kokeshi Dolls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2NIA5GNvfo
Nintendo Wii User Interface Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCU1gB3Xdv4
E3 2004 Reggie Fils-Aimé: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89GB6bC9_N4
E3 2004 Satoru Iwata Revolution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33BGyhn_ryw
E3 2005 Nintendo Revolution (Wii): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt8CBYAnMYc
Nintendo - Tokyo Game Show 2005: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdgW4Ox71fw
E3 2006 Sony Ridge Racer!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaBUeINW_3s
E3 2006 Sony Press Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaWptXzfETo
E3 2006 Nintendo Press Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Ldhg7swgA
Wii Console and Accessories (E3 2006): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pOGKxFD1C8
Wii Commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLOccBorPsA
Wii Would Like to Play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBOFhmjTgvY
Link's Crossbow Training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHgyRGeUKxg
New episodes are 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 book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1
Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode
Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love
Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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