Putting out a call: Do you know of early crafting systems in video games? We're looking for examples prior to 1993.

Podcasting is now twenty years old. And that means shows that ran for years are now just a bunch of URLs that resolve to nothing. Sometimes, someone uploads a full set of mp3s to archive.org, and that’s great! But you can’t easily listen the same way as your other podcasts. What if you could? 🧵

If you’ve never heard of Herman Brood before or only know this #AT40 song, he’s worth checking out. An absolute engine of rock self-destruction whose life ended when he launched himself off the roof of a hotel at age 54. Here’s one of many:

Sept. 15, 1979 The old Disco is dying, and the New Wave struggles to be born; now is the time of Monsters. And there’s no better place to watch that paradigm shift take place than over an #AT40 at the arcade/roller-rink. This one’s an exquisite mess.

I paid real money dollars to acquire this—the greatest coin-op magazine cover ever published—so @gamingalexandria.bsky.social could scan it in ridiculously hi-res for the world to share and it was worth every penny.

james cameron walks up to whiteboard with TOEJAM and EARL written on it. he erases the "and" and writes Vs.

I paid real money dollars to acquire this—the greatest coin-op magazine cover ever published—so @gamingalexandria.bsky.social could scan it in ridiculously hi-res for the world to share and it was worth every penny.

Bugs and Drugs (1978) released on the PLATO mainframe by Mark Gorback, Dave Tanaka, and Paul Alfille is an early edutainment RPG. Targeted mainly towards medical students, players explore a hospital "dungeon" fighting diseases with fists or with medicine! (a deadly residency thread)

Fumito Ueda entered games through art, not play. Influenced by Flashback and Another World, he created ICO’s hand-holding bonds and Shadow of the Colossus’s haunting battles. His style reshaped design and inspired creators worldwide. ▶ www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgD-...

This is not surprising. They are largely solitary predators and rarely hunt in packs.

It’s 1972—everything’s a mess The Munich massacre headlines the news. The US is about to take its final lumps for the Vietnam War There’s only one (1) commercial video game, and it’s in a really weird cabinet Come to the arcade and listen to the #AT40, and maybe 2025 will seem relatively better

Been seeing a number of posts celebrating today as the 48th anniversary of the #Atari VCS (2600) launch. Offering a bounty to anyone who can provide a source for that date. Seems a little sus to me—September 11, 1977 was a Sunday.

Been seeing a number of posts celebrating today as the 48th anniversary of the #Atari VCS (2600) launch. Offering a bounty to anyone who can provide a source for that date. Seems a little sus to me—September 11, 1977 was a Sunday.

we were somewhere around Tuesday on the edge of the seventh when the drugs began to take hold

Waiting for my daughter to get off the bus like a completely normal, non-embarrassing dad

Exactly 50 years ago: Pres. Gerald Ford just survived the first of two assassination attempts, the next one coming in 17 days. (why's that sound familiar?) We’ve already seen Jaws like three times and instead are headed to the arcade to listen to an #AT40 spewed forth by a tattered music industry

1979 Compute

this is Nintendo's revenge for decades-long antagonism over localizations by the Québécois

they say never meet your heroes

August 29, 1970 It’s Day 2 of the Isle of Wight festival, and hippies are trashing the small UK island. In the US, your ass is still on the hook to be drafted (thanks congress!) We’re headed to the arcade to listen to a very early #AT40 — just the 9th one ever! (They're still going live to tape!)

heading into the weekend like

it's apparently international dog day which means you can just stop talking about all that other stuff for a minute and post dog or appreciate dog

Let's chat about Sega and the importance of multiple perspectives. thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/2025/08/26/s... Thanks to @ftb1979.bsky.social for the thumbnail!

Bubsy is older than Meowth

It’s August 19, 1978. We have perfectly good movie options like Piranha & Debbie Does Dallas, but no—everyone wants to go see Grease again (now held over for an 8th consecutive week). Come to the arcade with us and listen to #AT40. It is the first day of a brand new machine called Space Invaders.

Did anyone else who watched this to the end think they were gonna say they need to sew buttons on your eyes?

Gonna nail this thing to Steven Kent's front door like the 95 theses

Finished this up yesterday but forgot to promote it: Carol Shaw's debut 2600 game 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe not only continued a strategy-minded tradition on the console going back to 1979's Video Chess and Backgammon, but it also proved capable enough to beat a Unix program at the game!

READER’S DIGEST really knew how to assemble a banger issue…

You love them - Tekken, Pac-Man, Mr. Driller - but do you know Namco? www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2025/08/t... The latest in our Origin of Game series, how Namco was founded in Japan 70(!) years ago and became one of the most important video game companies! From Rocking Horses to...

An #AT40 countdown? In this economy?! Gas prices are out of control & Henry Kissinger is busy doing Kissinger things that will net him a Nobel Peace Prize later this year. Yes, it’s 1973: We’re weary of Pong; 4-player pinball is all the rage & there’s something in the countdown to offend everyone.

everything sucks but here's a springer spaniel in a bee suit

Rock ‘n’ Roll Songs Ranked #AT40: 1. Rock & Roll All Nite 2. I Love Rock & Roll 3. Rock & Roll Suicide 4. Rock & Roll 5. Rock & Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution 6. Rock & Roll High School 7. Rock & Roll Lifestyle 8. Rock & Roll Never Forgets 9. Rock & Roll, Hootchie Koo . . . 327. Rock & Roll Music

#AT40

August 1976 #AT40 The doctor says the test result are sadly conclusive—the disco is inoperable & it’s only a matter of time Bicentennial parties are over. Eric Clapton is on stage being all racist. Cocaine residue’s everywhere. Even Casey took the week off We’re headed to play Elton John pinball

i regret to inform you im back on my bullshit

Normally I'm talking about the development of ancient games, but I wanted to talk about a game released yesterday: One I worked on. I do game dev sometimes! For the GMTK Jam this year, I was one of four devs on a little puzzle game called Loop It, Cupid! fatcatmilo.itch.io/gmtk-2025

“I can’t play bass like this,” Jaco Pastorius fretted.

Back in time 51 years less a day Publicly, Richard Nixon is adamant he won’t resign the presidency. Privately, Gerald Ford is advised to ready himself for the role. Death Wish tops the box office. The latest arcade game is Clean Sweep. The #AT40 is a syrupy mess of pop ballads & proto disco. LFG!

a pinball museum! seems to be a lot of dinosaurs here for some reason also i had no idea kung fu panda was in jurassic world

Two failed consoles. A power struggle. The rise of Satoru Iwata. This episode traces Nintendo’s path through internal upheaval and fading relevance on the way to the Wii. 🎧 www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K2U... #Nintendo #Iwata #Yamauchi #Wii #History #VideoGameHistory #TheyCreateWorlds

you may know that my game industry podcast @unboxingpod.bsky.social is back. Did you know we also switched frm Substack to Buttondown? But this hasn't been great for our discoverability, and ppl unsub b/c they prefer ST's format. So sub & share, if you dare: buttondown.com/unboxingpodc...

I pushed out an impromptu Archive Annex video to Patreon the other day about POTSHOT and its status as the original artillery game, which is now public: youtu.be/zaLG1C069Gw

Allright, trying this again: I'm selling a very early prototype build of the Fantastic Four / Fantastic 4 PS2 video game from a few years before its final release, and before it was a movie tie-in title! Link below. Please RT! www.ebay.com/itm/32669925...

It’s July 1977—a bleak time to be a music industry. The #AT40 charts are a heterogeneous mess. Disco lurks in the shadows, yet to conquer the world. Elvis has three weeks to live. All anyone wants is to see Star Wars again—now HELD OVER for its FIFTH week! We’re gonna go play Evel Knievel pinball