“Did You Know?”
Podcast hosts love to ask this simple question before diving headfirst into some unexpected nugget of history. If you love these sorts of microhistories, then you should definitely pull up a chair for the new podcast from the Video Game History Foundation.
The Video Game History Hour is hosted by the nonprofit’s Directors, Frank Cifaldi and Kelsey Lewin, and each week they’ll peer into gaming’s weird and wacky corners alongside a rotating band of “content creators, game developers, video game historians, and storytellers.”
Best of all, they’ve already produced four episodes, and you can find them after the break.
From short films to podcasts to full-length features, Documenting the Past tunes in to the history of video games through a documentarian’s lens.
First up, they chatted with Norman “The Gaming Historian” Caruso about Mario Paint:
Norman Caruso and The Story of Mario Paint
The Video Game History Hour kicks off its inaugural episode with Mr. Gaming Historian himself, Norman Caruso, who recently published a nearly 45-minute long YouTube documentary about the 1992 Super Nintendo title, Mario Paint. By providing the context of history, Norm ‘paints’ us a full picture of how and why this classic title came to be, who it was made for, and what this program inspired to come after.
Next, they sat down with Polygon’s Matt Leone to learn a little bit about the mostly-forgotten Street Fighter and its contributions to the fighting genre:
Matt Leone and Street Fighter 1: An oral history
Matt Leone, features editor of Polygon, recently published the second in a series of articles delving into the history of the Street Fighter franchise: Street Fighter 1: An oral history. Matt helps us understand the market conditions that made this game unique for its time and how it served as a foundation to a wildly successful giant in fighting game history.
Then, Ally McLean called in from Australia to discuss her article, “The Incredible Story Behind the Barbie As Rapunzel Video Game”:
Ally McLean’s “Barbie As Rapunzel” Journey
We sit down with Ally McLean to discuss her recent article The Incredible Story Behind The Barbie As Rapunzel Video Game to learn some behind-the-scenes stories of how Barbie as Repunzel came to be. From being heckled at GDC, to stalking MC Hammer’s press tour, all the way to how this game even inspired Ms. McLean’s own career. In this interview, Ally takes us through her very personal journey into uncovering the whole story surrounding this not-so-strictly for girls title.
And finally, Elijah Lee joined Cifaldi and Lewin to talk about the life and career of Muriel Tramis, the first Black female game designer:
Elijah Lee Finds the First Black Female Game Designer
Putting aside his ‘imposter syndrome’ feelings, video game journalist Elijah Lee asked, “Who was the first female video game designer” in his A First Lady of Gaming microdocumentary. Lee takes us through a bit of Muriel Tramis’ progressive and lightning-in-a-bottle career, laments the heartbreaking loss of history to the maw of time, and aims to support activism for young women.
Starting next week, new episodes of the Video Game History Podcast will be posted every Wednesday.