Jump

Jump has a lot of meanings. There is of course the physical action, it can be used as a type of syntax in coding like machine language, or can be used as a synonym for taking a risk. All of these can be rolled into discussion about games, though of course the first definition carries…

Who Created Periscope?

Periscope (ペリスコープ) was an electro-mechanical game released in multiple international markets in the mid-60’s. In the game, a player is tasked with aligning their viewport – stylized as a submarine Periscope – with ship targets on the other side of a plexiglass sea. When a player pushes a button attached to the Periscope, a mortar…

A Tribute to Masaya Nakamura

For my money, Namco was one of the most important companies in the entire history of the games industry. Through most of their success they were led by co-founder of he company, Masaya Nakamura, one of the most persistent and successful businessmen to ever turn his eye towards video games. By all accounts he was…

2016: The Losses

With 2016 at a close, I find it important to go back and honor the pioneers of the computer and video game industry that have passed this year. I’ll be touching only on the most important that I know of, you can find more complete lists on places like Gamasutra. It’s a testament to how…

My Favorite New Facts from 2016

This year has been the point where I have really started to take my process in documenting video game history seriously, starting in about April. I have learned so much about how to locate information and how to disseminate information in a way that allows me to properly pursue the stuff which isn’t as well…

Selects #1: Recreation and Shocks

Part of my credo of getting into research in a big way is starting to dig up materials that nobody has yet researched. I just got a big lump of new stuff from Alex Smith who runs They Create Worlds and I thought it’d be a good idea to share some of the stuff I’ve…

Ampex Videofile for Videophiles

I was a bit confused when I first read about Ampex Videofile in Atari Inc. Business is Fun. I thought because of Ampex’s military ties that the project was rather secretive, but there was a lot of writing about Videofile going all the way back to its inception. There’s even a nice rundown in the…