Greetings!
My name is Ethan Johnson, this blog is a collection of research that I’ve been doing studying interactive games for the past six years. I’ve been building a steady collection of knowledge through materials acquisition, interviews, and connection with great people doing independent research on games. This blog represents an amateur collection of theses, summaries, and research findings that I hope will help elevate the craft of video game history.
For those new to the blog, I recommend checking out my post A Breakout Story for a good insight about my style of research and storytelling on this blog. Other popular posts include How Do You Make A Game?, the Thief: The Dark Project oral history, and Who Created Periscope?. These will give you some great insight as to my mission statement as well as how I enjoy using storytelling to talk about history. I consider myself first and foremost a writer and over time my style and communication has developed immensely.
I’m located in Chicago, Illinois in the United States where I’ve had great opportunities to meet fellow researchers and partake in preservation projects. I hold to role of editor on the website Gaming Alexandria where we release prototypes of games and scan gaming material for study and enjoyment. I’ve been published by several reputable sites such as the Video Game History Foundation, Old School Gamer Magazine, and the online publishing platform Storybundle. Several Youtubers have come to me for research help such as The Gaming Historian, Wrestling with Gaming, and Historic Nerd. I’ve been on several different podcasts like Super Mega Crash Brothers Turbo, the Memory Machine, and the Video Game Newsroom Time Machine. For a fuller list of my work outside the blog, you can go to my Ko-Fi page where you can also consider donating to me if you like what I do.
If you’d like to reach out to me, you can find me on Twitter (@GameResearch_E) or via the Contact page. My main goal during my introduction to this community has been helping to bring together all sorts of different experiences and resources, so if you need help or want to contribute, never feel afraid to reach out. We are all looking to create a better gaming history and I look forward to seeing you there.
Finally, some essential links to discover others involved with video game history:
They Create Worlds (Alex Smith and Jeffery Daum)
The Digital Antiquarian (Jimmy Maher)
All in Color for a Quarter (Keith Smith)
A Critical Hit! (Kate Willaert)
Atari Archive (Kevin Bunch)
Episodic Content (David Craddock)
Ahoy (Stuart Brown)
Hit Save! (Non-profit Organization)
All the best!
Ethan Johnson
The History of How We Play 