Did you know? Last year I recorded a Christmas song about the continued layoffs. bsky.app/profile/pool...

NEW EPISODE! Atari Party 2025 was last month and I got to chat with a bunch of amazing people! Have you played Atari today? @rectapete.bsky.social @atarispot.bsky.social @atariarchive.org @nathaniellockhart.bsky.social @fergojisan.bsky.social Listen here! ⬇️⬇️ stillloading.libsyn.com/still-loadin...

How often should one plug their Patreon? I still don't know the answer. I know times are tough, and I've lost a lot of patrons b/c of it. So supporting my research would really help me out if you are in a position to do so. www.patreon.com/acriticalhit

December 19, 1970: Tell yourself it’s the 70s if you need to. Two days from now, Elvis will visit Richard Nixon in the White House. Commercial video games don’t exist yet, but we’re still headed to the arcade to listen to the #AT40 and play whatever add-a-ball pin tables are there.

Confession: I've stolen this joke irl and if you time it properly you can make someone spit their drink out their nose

This one's a masterpiece

Behold—a thread that dares explore the formative years, when the recording industry was indistinguishable from the coin-op business! (and some really high-quality pics too) 👇🧵

not interested in wading too much into the politics here, but as someone who's spent a decent amount of time studying the history of the FCC, today was truly one for the books

The newest Atari Archive looks at the history of one of Atari's most influential and critically acclaimed games, its VCS port, and also Submarine Commander is here:

I've been considering a ton of projects for the future...but for now, here's a report of my first visit to Pinball Hall of Fame (aka Pinball Museum) in Las Vegas, Nevada. I've known about this place for a while, but I finally got to visit and bask in all of the coin-op history. (1) #coinophistory

Super Miser Bros.

December 10, 1977: Saturday Night Fever will hit theaters later this week, but the soundtrack has been on sale for about a month. We’re headed to the arcade to play Super Bug and listen to the #AT40. Spoilers: This countdown features the most memory-holed #1 song of the decade in its top spot.

The greatest coin-op magazine cover ever published has finally found its forever home

Look at this weird old magazine ad I found, has anyone heard of this?

Live it up!

An officer tells us it showed up unbidden on the computer today. For lack of anything better to do they tried it, asking when the latest NDS was. It replied with a history of Nintendo.

On this day in 1982, Warner Communications announced it had adjusted its guidance regarding its earnings for the year - primarily due to the issues faced by its Atari Inc. subsidiary. Tech stocks plummeted the next day, signalling the Market's start of the Video Game Crash.

Plan your party now

🎂🍪

December 4, 1971 Tonight’s the night: Some stupid with a flare gun will fire a pyro wad into the ceiling of the Montreux Casino, burning it to the ground and torching the entirety of Frank Zappa’s gear and equipment. We’re headed to the arcade to listen to the #AT40 and play 4-person pinball.

All the Adventures goes back to 1982 for a staggeringly obscure Apple II game that isn't on Mobygames, but is co-authored by a designer who worked for Origin and even has a credit on Ultima V. Includes some history of Origin and their non-Ultima games. bluerenga.blog/2025/12/05/p...

It's Giving Tuesday at the VGHF! We've had an incredible 2025, but we need your help to make sure we can continue doing our charitable work in 2026 and beyond. We just launched our annual Winter Fundraiser campaign, please give if you're able (and share this post!). http://gamehistory.org/donate

Nov. 27, 1976 Just weeks removed from Carter winning the presidential election and exactly one (1) day after the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the UK” released—we’re headed to the arcade to listen to #AT40. Doctors say our case of disco is terminal. There is only one game that everyone wants to play.

If you're a Williams/Bally/Midway pinball or video game buff, I highly recommend Ken's book. I wasn't privy to all of the history that went on in that shop, but his accounts are accurate and fair. It tells the story very well, including the bad times. www.amazon.com/Pinballs-Pix...

Real Genius 2

look the reality is we’ll probably never figure out who dug this hole

ME: WHY’S IT CALLED BOWLING AND NOT PINBALL SKYDIVING INSTRUCTOR: *strapped to my back* WE DON’T HAVE TO TALK

November 17, 1973 You can stay here, wallowing in sticky sex stories clogging up the timeline, or join us at the arcade over an #AT40 with an eclectic mix of soul, folk and country. We’ll grow bored of the new Atari games Gotcha and Space Race within a half hour Later tonight, this quote happens:

This starts in an hour. Will I be late? Will I even be coherent? Will I pick a fight about Niccolo Paganini being the first heavy metal shredder on the fretboard? All good questions to which we won't know the answers until then.

The War comes and goes. Digital computer technology enters the world - first through relays, then solid-state circuits. EMI moves into music - or something. Spotlight Golf is forgotten; the few surviving units traded around Britain in auctions and classifieds.

Got a new post! Going through some of the evidence for the earliest CRPGs to see how it all fits together. thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/s...

Anyway, in honor of International Men's Day here's a J turn compilation from The Rockford FIles www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X7X...

Gonna create an add-on for Spotify that fades out halfway through every fourth song and then starts back up again mid song to emulate the cherished medium of 8-tracks

I'm willing to reinvent my whole personality to justify this purchase

Nov. 11, 1978 Dems keep control of congress under Carter, the “401(k)” is born and we’re headed to the arcade to listen to the #AT40 and play video-game bowling. This one’s a weird mix of pop, rock and disco that somehow doesn’t involve the Bee Gees but does feature the world’s worst song at #1.

Big Daddy, Williams 1963

Spotlight Golf contained very state-of-the-art technology for its time, which enabled it to create a unique gameplay experience. According to the Australasian Golf Museum, this tech qualifies it as the "first computer game" and maybe the first electronic computer. Let's investigate this.

count them

been buried in that landfill in 1983

Me: mom, can I have 26 thousand tons of iron ore? Mom: to conclude some terms with a couple of steel firms? Me: yeeeesss *actually goes in the face of a hurricane west wind like a boss* gitchee gumee time

Hard to believe it's already been ten years that Gaming Alexandria has been around. Here's a (late) article about our history, as well as special thanks and small blurbs from others of what Gaming Alexandria has meant to them. Here's to another ten years! www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2025/11/g...

BUSHNEL1.BMF

November 4, 1972 Just 3 days til the US Presidential Election There’s only one video game in the arcade and everyone agrees: it looks freaky (complimentary) but also plays freaky (derogatory) The record industry continues to flail without any Beatles, as attested by this #AT40

The release of the original Grand Theft Auto will be closer to the release of Hamurabi than GTA VI when it's scheduled to come out

sure this seems like equivalent entertainment to watching paint dry, but after a few hours I get loopy and do things like call Zort on long-since disconnected phone numbers here's a sneak peak at the kind of trouble I could get in tonight trying to make the pamphlet robot cry fun starts in an hour

he knows what he has to do

6 years to the day since I released this video about gaming 'firsts' and the bias of history. Probably the most atypical video I ever made, both visually and as a call to action on something I deeply believe. Never got much traction, but it's probably my favourite work. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoj

He said it couldn't be done, but @quarterpast.bsky.social is back with entertainment of the sort you've never seen before. We'll be live on Twitch tomorrow, circa 7PM CST, dating all the arcade games that we care to.