The Video Game History Foundation has launched a brand new podcast that will cover Video Game History and the stories of the historians behind their discovery.
Announced on November 2nd on the Video Game History website, the Video Game History Hour is a brand new podcast that will discuss not only different parts of video game history, but also the process that would lead experts in uncovering it. The goal of the podcast, according to producer Kelsey Lewin, is to bring in prominent guests - from historians to journalists to experts in the field - to discuss an interesting piece of gaming history for the podcast.
The discussions will focus more on the research and development of the content, which includes cross-referencing individuals and timelines, researching records or recordings, and even tracking down individuals for interviews, all of these stories piecing together an article or video that dives deeper into the history of video games. Lewin and the Video Game History Foundation co-founder Frank Cifaldi will be serving as the hosts for each podcast.
The first four episodes of the podcast are already posted, going into a mix of popular titles such as Mario Paint and Street Fighter, to something more obscure like Barbie as Rapunzel by Mattel.
The stories themselves are also interesting looks into the process of historical research. Norman Caruso, best known as the Video Game Historian on Youtube, was on the inaugural episode speaking about Mario Paint. He originally wanted it to be an in-depth history of the game's development, but with so few details really available, he instead talks about how he began focusing on the social history of Mario Paint and its importance for game developers and designers, as well as the pseudo-sequels for the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive, Mario Artist.
Another episode sees Elijah Lee of the website The Icon discuss his search to answer a single question; who was the first black female game designer? His search leads him to French game developer Muriel Tramis, who was born in Martinique and worked on several adventure-style games including her directorial debut game Freedom, which was about organizing a slave revolt on a sugar cane plantation.
All of the episodes of the podcast can be downloaded on Spotify, Google, Apple, and more. New episodes will be released every Wednesday, and listeners can follow the @gamehistoryhour Twitter account, or contact the podcast via email at podcast@gamehistory.org.
