🥳 Welcome to the Public Domain: creative works from 1930 & sound recordings published in 1925! Duke Law's Center for the Study of the Public Domain has highlighted some of the most anticipated works entering the #publicdomain in 2026! More ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai... @dukelaw.bsky.social

A Happy New Year to all! May you find amusement - in all its forms - just around the corner.

S. M. Oliva of Computer Chronicles Revisited has a write-up on the very interesting life of Stewart Cheifet, as well as a small tribute video. computerchronicles.blog/post/stewart... youtu.be/P3tFQw15Ve4

Here is the 15th and final chapter in this series on the life and career of Rieko Kodama. vgdensetsu.net/riekokodama15 Dispo en VF vgdensetsu.net/riekokodamav...

Sad to hear that Stewart Cheifet passed away. Computer Chronicles is an incredible 400 episode time capsule capturing the evolution of the tech/computing industry. Check out @lgr-yt.bsky.social's watch alongs if you need a fun on-ramp to the show obits.goldsteinsfuneral.com/stewart-chei...

I'll be delaying my usual annual obituary post, just to give a bit of breather after the last one. Been doing these for almost a decade! Check out the prior ones here: thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/tag/obituary/

Since 2012, Arthur O'Dwyer has had an updating web page called The Search for LONG0751 about a lost version of Adventure that was playable on Compuserve. It has long been one of the top early "missing" games. It is now found and playable: quuxplusone.github.io/blog/2025/12...

A final post for the year! Did Atari nearly give up their shot at the big time? thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/d... Let's explore one of the most dramatic scenes in video game history, nearly 50 years on.

Benj @benjedwards.com also pointed out the article where Iga mentions Super Metroid as an influence (and Ethan @playhistory.bsky.social found one of the other mentions). Next time someone tries to tell you SOTN contained no Metroid influence, here's a handy little image to refute that, lol.

But once I had Wikipedia quotes being read, it felt weird if I was just reading the journalist quotes myself. I briefly considered casting more GA folks, when I realized "wait, why don't I just ask Jeremy Parish (@jparish.bsky.social), Scott Sharkey (@sharkey.bsky.social), and Christian Nutt?"

Also from the @gamingalexandria.bsky.social Discord: Dylan Mansfield @thatdylanfellow.bsky.social Nathaniel Lockhart @nathaniellockhart.bsky.social Chris Chapman @retrohistories.bsky.social Wild Weasel @wildweasel486.bsky.social

I wish there was an award for best quote reading in a video essay so I could nominate Alex Smith (@theycreateworlds.bsky.social), I think he'd win. It was Alex and Ethan Johnson (@playhistory.bsky.social) who suggested dramatic readings by GA Discord regulars. I was like, are you volunteering?

Who were all those voices in my video? Let's start with Shane of @rerez.net. When I learned how good he is at random impressions, I asked if he could do the SOTN voice, and I love how it came out. Here's the raw render (aided by @foone.bsky.social's Death Generator). www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQiK...

Likely wrapping up the year on Atari Archive blog posts with Steeplechase. This Sears-exclusive is based on an obscure Atari arcade game from 1975, but uses the paddle controllers to make it more interactive and ultimately more interesting: www.atariarchive.org/blog/steeple...

I’ve written/spoken a lot about how massively important Space Invaders is, especially in Japan. If you need context why Hamster made this their 500th game, I suggest my Retronauts on it retronauts.com/article/2374... and my article on the 2600 port: www.atariarchive.org/blog/space-i...

Among my gifts this year was a modern flight stick - specifically obtained for some research on the next book I plan to write. My sister also got me a (very oversized) Diablo II shirt in commemoration of my childhood addiction to the game.

My Christmas gift to you all is the MZ-700 type-in version of the first commercial erotic game: Yakyūken! This 1983 release of Hudson Soft’s forgotten eroge includes colour and some minor revisions, please enjoy! The included pages are also my 1000th scan 💛

Merry Christmas! If you'd like to spend 45 minutes celebrating video game history with me, we're about to debut The Untold Story of the Nintendo Entertainment System. I worked on his ALL YEAR, and I genuinely think it will reshape how we all think about the system. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJvp...

I feel like I no longer need to do posts for 2001 after Ahoy dropped this video, which at least touches on pretty much everything. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwnp... Still, a few more for '76 and '86!

One of the companies that popped up at the dawn of the pinball boom in California was distributor National Amusement Co.

Today's story starts all the way in the 17th c. and winds its way up to the rowdy days of British VIC-20 computing, and ended up being an epic enough tale I've had to split into two parts. (Next part likely Friday!) Includes a history of the first digital calculator! bluerenga.blog/2025/12/23/s...

Our music game series is now done, so let's recap it with original art by @wendyleftmealone.bsky.social.

In the second half of the 1990s, Rieko Kodama had the strange privilege of working on both the last Saturn game to be released in the US—Magic Knight Rayearth—and the last Saturn game to be released in Europe—Deep Fear. vgdensetsu.net/riekokodama13 Dispo en VF vgdensetsu.net/riekokodamav...

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...

I'll be presenting at the Intelligent Speech Online conference again this year! intelligentspeechonline.com Alongside the best collection of history podcasts around, you can hear a preview of my upcoming book. And you can get a discount on a ticket with the coupon code "PLAY"! #ISOnline2026

I'll be presenting at the Intelligent Speech Online conference again this year! intelligentspeechonline.com Alongside the best collection of history podcasts around, you can hear a preview of my upcoming book. And you can get a discount on a ticket with the coupon code "PLAY"! #ISOnline2026

Here's a collection of links, sources, and credits (and an attempt at formatting the video into a text article). The "special thanks" section is sizeable, but I might easily be forgetting a few people. Let me know if I missed you. www.acriticalhit.com/exploring-me...

Going through some older articles on my site to update with new info. I interviewed Jim Huether a couple years ago and so I went back and updated Flag Capture's entry with new details:

Watch this - because it is your duty, and because I make a cameo in it too. bsky.app/profile/kate...

Who coined "Metroidvania"? It wasn't @jparish.bsky.social, and he'll be the first to tell you. Besides, there are far more interesting questions, like: How did it spread? Evolve? And what's it got to do with rickrolling? Watch til the end for a post-credits sting. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8set...

This week on The Digital Antiquarian: "Huge for the Holidays: Epic Interactive Fiction of the Millennial Period" www.filfre.net/2025/12/huge... Happy holidays, everyone!

Sometimes when researching, archiving, and scanning we come across important artifacts of history, nuggets of information that reshape the way we think about the history of games and how they relate to us. And other times, we find pictures of Warren Spector in a sumo wrestler costume.

Reminder that we now have all of the audio assets for Cybermorph on the Atari Jaguar as their highest quality source files. Yes, this includes"Where did you learn to fly?"

Invention is an odd thing. Sometimes, a new idea changes the world in an instant. Other times, you often wonder why it didn't take off at the start. For decades, the coin-op industry was defined by the jukebox. And this is the start of it: The Gabel Automatic Entertainer.

Latest Atari Archive site update features Othello! Programmed by Ed Logg of Atari's coin-op division, this marks Atari's final text-label release and the company's last foray into translating board games to video ones.

www.hardcoregaming101.net/podcasts/top... Those PESKY Invaders! I nominated Space Invaders and Dogpatch! This episode is from September! @kaly.blackskycomra.de @bonuslizard.bsky.social @atariarchive.org @mercurycdx.bsky.social And MEEEE Fran.Kie.Cole.Man A perfect time to listen!

25 Years - 2001 Devil May Cry showcased a new level of cinematic pizzazz in arena-style action games, bringing an unseen level of polish to 3D games in the genre. Capcom's been a bit stingy with specifics in development, aside from its original incarnation as Resident Evil 4.

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:

A longstanding Frogger mystery resolved! For those who don't want to visit twitter: Leader (Director): Takeshi Hara Programmer: Takeshi Hara, Takahide Hoso, Keiichi Miyoshi (part-time) Graphics: Unknown Sound: Takahide Hoso, Hirokazu Fujinaka, Shigeru Fukutake, Masahiro Inoue

Today on All the Adventures, interconnected histories including: Jet Set Willy, excessive parties, police violence, business scandals, and an extremely difficult text adventure by a 14-year old written in BASIC. bluerenga.blog/2025/12/16/o...

40 Years - 1986 Might and Magic refines the 8-bit Wizardry template to its absolute limit, creating what one might call the definitive old-school RPG series. Very recently, the book Heroes of Might & Magic: 30th Anniversary Retrospective by Neal Hallford documented the series.

As part of our project to preserve the history of Sega Channel, we have recovered OVER 100 new Sega Channel ROMs, including the legendary lost game Garfield: Caught in the Act - The Lost Levels. Read more: gamehistory.org/segachannel/

Starting in 10 minutes. We hope you bring lots of spaghetti (we're scared) www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWCU...

In 1993, Rieko Kodama co-directed the final instalment of the original Phantasy Star series and was credited under her real name for the first time. Here is the story of the game's development: vgdensetsu.net/riekokodama12 Dispo en VF vgdensetsu.net/riekokodamav...

Please join us Monday for a special presentation.

Getting coin-op equipment across the country is no easy feat! Here's a traincar full of jukeboxes in Depression era Cincinnati showing the whole enterprise. Check out more 30s goodness in the latest collection from @cpi.pinball.horse : pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2025/12/scan...

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?

My personal scale for "retro" games has always been 20 years past, and that's generally shaped what I focus on for history. However, from here on forward I'm going to be drawing a line of 2005 as my cutoff for "historical research interest" in the projects I undertake.

Happy Friday! We're thrilled to announce the full run of Marukatsu PC Engine is now available to download/view. We believe we have now scanned every Japanese PC Engine focused magazine completely. Enjoy and please spread the word by liking/RT'ing. www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2025/12/m...