Plastic guitars and living‑room stages: how a DDR third‑party peripheral maker teamed with Harmonix, won over Best Buy, and turned Guitar Hero into a fad that collapsed under its own weight. Watch the full story: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU-5... #GuitarHero #VideoGameHistory #RhythmGames

Recently I took part in the @valoisburgundy.bsky.social podcast, reading a bawdy medieval tale! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s... Also a good time to remind everybody that @intelligentspeech.bsky.social is at the end of the month; I'll be presenting! intelligentspeechonline.com

I did not intend to get this done on Valentine's Day, but I never migrated 177 to my own site. I remain exceptionally proud of it and would love if more folks read it (if they're comfortable, content warnings at the top): thestacks.ca/posts/2026-0...

We say goodbye to another Sega legend gone all too soon. You can see him in this photo, circa 1979-early 1980s, as one of the Japanese Sega liaisons learning programming from the staff at Gremlin Industries.

Have you ever read or seen a discussion about the "first videogame"? It turns out the picture you likely saw as part of it is wrong. #history bluerenga.blog/2026/02/13/t...

1973 was the first true Year of Video Games, so let's finally round it up! youtu.be/UO8XekOhpBU Learn about the innovations, expansions, and struggles of arcade and computer games on the latest episode of Play History!

1973 was the first true Year of Video Games, so let's finally round it up! youtu.be/UO8XekOhpBU Learn about the innovations, expansions, and struggles of arcade and computer games on the latest episode of Play History!

For many companies, the transition to 32-bit consoles meant a shift from 2D to 3D, and Ancient was no exception, although it did not stop making 2D games. This chapter discusses the Saturn version of Shenmue, Thor 2, Vatlva... vgdensetsu.net/ayanokoshiro6/ Dispo en VF vgdensetsu.net/ayanokoshiro...

Although part of the puzzle is figuring out what each item does, I decided to include a feature at the bottom of the text version that spells it out for you (in part because even the existing guides seem a little bit confused). www.acriticalhit.com/metroidmania...

Reviews really help boost my books' visibility and are greatly appreciated! Please take a few minutes to leave one if you can.

Our journey into platform adventures before Metroid continues. Can I get my fellow Americans to care about UK computer game history? (If you stick with it, you’ll be rewarded with some Japanese computer games soon.) youtu.be/orrewVQYqzc

And for our Notable Individual, we tip the hat to Trip Hawkins! He helped professionalize the world of video games and disrupted the market in so many ways. The industry as it exists owes him a huge debt!

Finally, the one you've been waiting for... John Madden Football on the Genesis! A hell of a sports game that set up the yearly franchise formula - for better or worse. Still a game worth celebrating!

Prince of Persia is our fifth pick, largely the work of the magnificent @jmechner.bsky.social! A technical marvel and an artistic statement. No matter how you play it, you won't forget it!

Then comes Portopia Serial Murder Case on the Famicom! A defining adventure game for Japan which influenced a generation of game designers. A key moment in video game development!

This year we've also nominated a Gaming Ecosystem to the line-up. Newgrounds is the inaugural pick! Tom Fulp's classic Flash-driven site defined a huge era of internet culture. Kudos!

Now we have Gauntlet by Atari Games! Ever played drop-in drop-out co-op? You have this to thank. Ever played a Diablo-like? Gauntlet's the source of that loop. A classic and a triumph of game design!

Next on the list is the British 8-bit classic, Manic Miner! Matthew Smith's creation defined the tenor of game software in Britain and basically invented the Collectathon. Well worthy of praise!

The first game proclaimed Notable for the night is Mystery House by Ken and Roberta Williams! A triumph of tech and a trend-setter in computer games. Gaze upon it and despair!

The stream for the @gamingalexandria.bsky.social Video Game Notables starts NOW! www.twitch.tv/play_history We're running a video of all the nominees up until we get rolling at 7PM CST. I'll see you there! I'll also be posting the winners as they are announced!

Reminder! We'll be rolling this evening for the Video Game Notables 2026! We'll have wonderful guests like @quarterpast.bsky.social, @theycreateworlds.bsky.social, @ftb1979.bsky.social, and more! Don't miss out.

in which All the Adventures returns to England with Epic Hero #1: Ocean Hunt containing a bloodthirsty merchant an extremely bad pun leading to an existential crisis a brief history of the Colour Genie and a mostly unknown yet prolific author, Marc Leduc bluerenga.blog/2026/02/09/e...

Sega had a huge lineup for the 1990 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Moonwalker, Phantasy Star II, and Golden Axe were some of the gems on display. Images: Beep! MD.

Girl’s Garden is mostly known for being the debut work of Sega legends Yuji Naka and Hiroshi Kawaguchi, but it’s also a decent game that works well on the SG-1000. The gameplay and presentation are solid enough for everyone to have fun with it, regardless of age. www.sega-16.com/2026/02/girl...

32 // Maniac Mansion was one of the wilder games from the late 80s/early 90s. But how did it come to be? A LucasArts staffer actually told the story to Wired all the way back in 1993. videogameresearchlibrary.com/the-untold-s...

The most exciting event of the year is coming up... The reveal of the Video Game Notables 2026! www.twitch.tv/play_history I'll be streaming at 7PM PST on Tuesday, February 10th with a cast of wonderful @gamingalexandria.bsky.social people! Join us if you can!

While you prepare for your Super Bowl party you could be learning about the hail mary Sega and Electronic Arts threw to get Joe Montana Football to market back in 1991! #Sega #GenesisDoes #Generation16 #JoeMontana #Superbowl

After some linking around the internet this week, I was informed that my blog has received 100K views over its lifetime. It's never been my main focus but I really appreciate having the blog as an outlet. Writing pithy posts helps me work through a lot of bigger ideas.

All the Adventures dips back to 1982 for a space sim-adventure game hybrid from Japan. I give the history of how a music company switched to games and the workings behind the space-combat section: bluerenga.blog/2026/02/06/c...

We finally have a photo of the previously unseen Zelda 1 art on display at the Nintendo Museum. The cartouche in the top right, subtitled "THE MAP OF HYRULE," depicts 3 fairy/goddess figures unfolding a cloth (making the world?). Miyamoto's signature is on the bottom right.

This week on The Digital Antiquarian: Ultima IX www.filfre.net/2026/02/ulti...

Fallout has gone from a small side project to a worldwide phenomenon. We spoke with many of the people behind the various eras of the franchise to tell the story of the series in their own words. This is Game Informer's oral history of Fallout: gameinformer.com/FalloutOralH...

An absolutely gorgeous set of pages advertising Rock-Ola's 1937 equipment - including two of their latter-30s hit games. Part of the wonderful scans being done by @cpi.pinball.horse archive.org/details/coin...

I've got a preview of my next episode! The full video will be out in a few days. www.patreon.com/posts/play-h...

A beautiful game from just before the U.S. involvement in WWII - Sky Fighter by International Mutoscope. While less iconic than Keeney's machine gun, its self-contained design would presage the likes of the Dale Gun and Periscope in years to come.

At any rate, today marks the 75th anniversary of that document and an important data point on the timeline of one of the world’s earliest video games.

So while it’s unlikely Aberth personally created Bouncing Ball on his own, his fingerprint on the first-known primary source document is still historically important. But absence of evidence is not evidence of absence — which is what we will follow up in subsequent posts.

Aberth was a student at MIT who began working with the Analysis Group in February of 1951. His bouncing ball program was the first he wrote for the computer, and went on to create some other test applications before disappearing from the computer division personnel records.

But this document has led to some confusion. While it is the first-known primary source documenting a bouncing ball, many other sources attribute its creation to other senior members of the Whirlwind team.

However, today marks the 75th anniversary of the earliest-known primary source document for the program — a description of a student, Oliver Aberth, cutting his teeth on programming the computer for the first time.

The story behind that evolution from demo to game still isn’t fully understood, occluded by 75 years of time passed. This year, we’ll be posting some of our research to shed some light on the development of the game and the challenges of attributing its author.

And somewhere along the line, that program was manipulated in a way that allowed a user to modify the speed of the ball, which would determine if the ball would bounce into the hole or just past it. Users would take turns seeing who could drop the ball into the hole with the fewest bounces.

While the details are a little clouded, at some point that demo would be modified to include a hole in the floor through which the ball could drop.

So the legend goes, Bouncing Ball began as a demo program showcasing one of the computer’s breakthrough developments — a television (CRT) real-time display. Whirlwind was the first computer fast enough to calculate the three differential equations needed to plot the animation of a bouncing ball.

Bouncing Ball was created on the Whirlwind I, a behemoth of a machine and the one of the world’s first digital, electronic computers. Weighing in at 200-tons and powered by thousands of vacuum tubes, it filled the entire second floor of the Barta Building in the MIT Servomechanics Department.

Time to kick off a (year-long) commemoration of one of THE OLDEST video games known to history! 🎊 It’s “Bouncing Ball” — a candidate for the first-ever video game — celebrating its (75th) Diamond Anniversary this year! 🧵👇

How did Virgin go from music to games like Command and Conquer, The 7th Guest, Aladdin, and The Lion King? We explore the rise and fall of Virgin Games, from early development and European distribution to major licenses and corporate collapse. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEM3...

Another set done! With this addition, we now have every physical issue from the main run of Official Xbox Magazine. This was much harder to complete than we expected. We've got a story for you... 🧵

We're going to be back with the Video Game Notables for 2026 with a livestream on Tuesday, February 10th! Check out the previous years: www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2025/02/v... This year I'm also preparing special, extra video.

This is a huge acquisition for The Strong! I've known about it for a while and I am 100% making a trip there this year to check it out.