They Create Worlds

TCW Podcast Episode 254 - The Elder Scrolls: Arena & Daggerfall

 

Bethesda Softworks, founded in 1985 by Christopher Weaver with sports titles like Gridiron and Wayne Gretzky Hockey along with licenses like The Terminator, pivoted to RPGs. Demo scene legend Julian LeFay hired Vijay Lakshman as designer and buffer to management so LeFay could focus on games. Together they birthed The Elder Scrolls: Arena, a gladiator combat simulator that morphed, nine months into a 13-month development cycle, into a first-person 3D epic inspired by Ultima Underworld. Arena evolved from a combat management game to a full RPG with a procedurally generated world, unique races like Argonians and Khajiit, and a plot to topple the wizard Tharn. With the second game, LeFay, challenged by Sandy Petersen's claim that CRPGs could never match tabletop RPGs, made Daggerfall a massive world the size of Great Britain: 15,000 cities, towns, and dungeons; 44 regions; 100 factions; skill leveling based on what players actually did; and reputation grinds to unlock quests and plot. Ted Peterson, who took over lead design after Lakshman left, wove a complex plot with gray themes, diverse motivations, and moral quandaries into a simulator packed with layered systems rather than pure RPG simplicity. It sold out the initial run, hit 700,000 units, and became Bethesda's best game yet, bringing fresh air to a fallow RPG era!

 

TCW 156 - Madden for Some Football: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW156

Gridiron (Amiga): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0q7sc_T3FU

Wayne Gretzky Hockey (NES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1Apj9IRcpQ

Tell Me Your Name (Russia Heat): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYpcZ2NfMYU

(Explicit) Sodan & Magician 42 - TechTech (Amiga): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB5CujcTN8A

Terminator 2029 (PC/DOS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-PBi-N1hQo

Flesh+Blood (Trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVyLe-k16gw

Jason And The Argonauts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq4requMqvY

Khajit/Khajiit Has Wares: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/khajiit-khajiit-has-wares

Ultima Underworld: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee4PUcpGSn8

The Elder Scrolls: Arena (Box Art): https://bigboxcollection.com/TESArena.3DBox

The Elder Scrolls: Arena: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjEn6ETA7EM

What Do You Do With a B.A. in English? (Avenue Q): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYenQEjvlD0

Walk Across the Entire Map in Dragonfall Unity (Timelapse 512x): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xTvdK88cww

The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpX5y6jiafg

 

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

 

TCW Email: [email protected] 

BlueSky: @theycreateworlds.bsky.social

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Alex's book: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

 

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode 

Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love 

 

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

TCW Podcast Episode 253 - Masanobu Endō

 

Masanobu Endō is one of Japan's most important game designers, yet remains relatively unknown in the West. Starting from an uncertain role at Namco, he first made his mark by turning Dig Dug play notes into an official strategy booklet, then shifted into programming work where he learned from Namco's maze games, including Pac-Man. Assigned as a programmer on Xevious, he stepped into the lead role when the original planner left, pushing for a coherent world where every enemy and structure had a purpose in a larger mythology. The secrets, patterns, and hidden elements he built into Xevious encouraged dedicated players to map routes, chase glitches, and hunt for new techniques in a way that feels very similar to how modern communities approach speedrunning and score optimization today. Endō then expanded these ideas in The Tower of Druaga, fusing Dungeons and Dragons style dungeon crawling with Babylonian and Sumerian myth, cryptic treasure requirements, and a real ending instead of an endless loop. The result helped shape how Japanese designers approached action adventure, including early thinking around what would become "The Legend of Zelda."

 

A Super Basic Summary of Gundam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16tDMkmZKiA

Blockade (Gremlin 1976): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUacA8Dj3BY

Atari Football (Atari Arcade): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_ZOtqMWHoU

Battlezone (Atari Arcade): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdfKy4c7yuc

TCW 029 - 50 Years of Namco: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/50-years-of-namco/

TCW 116 - The Atari Games You Are Looking For: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-atari-games-you-are-looking-for/

Dig Dug (Atari): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ZD7VCiBes

Pole Position (Atari/Namco): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeYZGtwydIA

Learn Assembly in 10 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S5KRJv-7RU

Scramble (Arcade): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p08J-AK-BE

Galga (Stupidly Explained): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pE2SbPgzd0

Space Runaway Ideon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYI251fFCAY

The Nazca Lines (SciShow): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EILw-mKefew
The Nazca Lines Part 1 (Astonishing Legends): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYIUJuFj9h8

The Nazca Lines Part 2 (Astonishing Legends): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F9UMJcSCRg
Xevious (Arcade): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stjrz3CM8R4

Haruomi Hosono - Video Game Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO7qAggk6-I&list=PL4NXUZspQ7Bxi8nsNylZBWBK392FgMlAT
Xevious (Famicom): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_bS_SAzknk

Dungeons & Dragons ET: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hJdhL1Ni_w

Pac Man Ghosts: https://www.reddit.com/r/FanTheories/comments/1136hi/pac_man_post_from_rgaming_i_thought_it_belonged/

Tower of Druaga (Arcade): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCCGIP4SifE

 

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

 

TCW Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @tcwpodcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

 

 

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode 

Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love 

 

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

TCW Podcast Episode 252 - A Guitar Hero

 

The rise and fall of the Guitar Hero franchise and the rhythm game craze of the mid to late 2000s. Red Octane got its start making Dance Dance Revolution pads, but a partnership with Harmonix Music Systems, a studio building technology that let people interact with music without learning an instrument, led to the creation of Guitar Hero. Major retailers refused to carry it until Best Buy set up in-store demo units that sent sales skyrocketing, and Red Octane could barely keep up with demand. The franchise's success drew corporate attention: Activision acquired Red Octane, MTV Networks acquired Harmonix, and a lingering dispute between Activision and Viacom over the Star Trek license split the partnership in two, giving Activision Guitar Hero and Harmonix Rock Band. Both landed blockbuster bands from Aerosmith to the Beatles, but an endless flood of sequels and add-ons saturated the market, and what once felt like a cultural phenomenon burned out almost as fast as it arrived.

 

 

TCW 167 - Activision and Kotick Part 1: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/activision-and-kotick-part-1/

TCW 168 - Activision and Kotick Part 2: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/activision-and-kotick-part-2/

TCW 169 - Activision and Kotick Part 3: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/activision-and-kotick-part-3/

Dance Dance Revolution (PSX): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2IammLWeNE

TCW 052 - The Many Faces of Konami: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-many-faces-of-konami/
Guitar Freaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-gDC1VXqqM

PaRappa The Rapper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3SI4Grases

Tribe on Conan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLrA00pKRHo

Bimini Run (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e1QdtG3YOE

System Shock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e1QdtG3YOE
Thief - The Dark Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH_6ER0-voQ

Simpsons - I can See the Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyNtUpMeBTE

Frequency (PS2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z7n36dozeY

Amplitude (PS2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goH4ygJ48_c

Karaoke Revolution - Drive - Incubus (PS2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ-yIxE9-hg

The NES Hotseat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvws5tOHsEE

AntiGrav for EyeToy (PS2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9FheIXFrWc

Guitar Hero 1 IGN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQW2MGFY-us

Guitar Hero 1 (PS2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slJA7xwDRWk

Guitar Hero 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQAUCBDU4Qg

Guitar Hero 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elOxCIpg4rI

Rock Band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AavdHq3pemQ

GH3 - DragonForce - Through the Fire and Flames: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMkjmiVo6jA

Rock Band - The Beatles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PGF3uAYCW0

 

 

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

 

TCW Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @tcwpodcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.comD

Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

 

 

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode 

Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love 

 

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

TCW Podcast Episode 251 - Virgin Games

 

As a companion piece to our Mastertronic episode, we look at the rise and fall of Virgin Games. Beginning with Richard Branson’s mail-order record business and the success of Virgin Records, the company expanded into games under executive Nick Alexander, whose interest in the industry led to the creation of a Virgin gaming subsidiary. Early successes included the Dan Dare series and computer adaptations of board games. In 1987 Virgin took a stake in Mastertronic, and in 1988 fully acquired the company, gaining both its budget software business and its role in the SEGA Master System launch. From there Virgin Games developed into two distinct arms. In Europe, the company focused on distribution, bringing major publishers and licenses into the region. In the United States, Virgin built on Mastertronic’s development studio, centering on strong talent and overlooked licenses, producing titles such as Spot, Cool Spot, Global Gladiators, and later major Disney games including Aladdin and The Lion King. On PC, the company found success with The 7th Guest and through the acquisition of Westwood Studios, gaining Command and Conquer. Virgin Games also had a hand in publishing Dune and Dune II. In the mid-1990s the Virgin Group began seeking a buyer, leading to Blockbuster’s acquisition of Virgin Interactive, which soon placed the company under Viacom following the Paramount merger. Heavy corporate debt and shifting priorities resulted in the sale of Westwood to Electronic Arts. What remained was largely a European distribution business that later entered an agreement with Interplay and was ultimately acquired by Titus Interactive. After the collapse of the dot-com bubble, mounting debt forced Titus to shutter the company, and in 2005 Virgin Interactive quietly disappeared

 

TCW 105 - The Big Voice of Magnavox: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-big-voice-of-magnavox/

TCW 106 - The Small Voice of Magnavox: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-small-voice-of-magnavox/

TCW 026 - The Magnavox Odyssey: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-magnavox-odyssey/

TCW 027 - The Magnavox Patent Lawsuits: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-magnavox-patent-lawsuits-friday-september-16-2016-1003-am/
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells (Live BBC 1973): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbYQYOM66MA

Dan Dare - Pilot of the Future (ZX Spectrum): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUEDOu5ewIQ

Dan Dare II - Mekons` Revenge (ZX Spectrum): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lheo_ao8K4

Dan Dare III - The Escape (Amiga): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK62NSaE75s

Monopoly - Virgin Games (DOS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un6iagpCwWw

Spot - The Video Game (NES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Ezmf6z3kM

7-Up Spot Commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubNTMHqz6_c

TCW 229 - US Gold: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/us-gold/

TCW 023 - The Complete Tetris Story: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-complete-tetris-story/

Lure of the Temptress (Amiga): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwSS5zA74jQ

Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker (Amiga): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pr3IsnqxGs

Cannon Fodder (Amiga): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFP8WUrBVHc

Previous High Scores C&C Ad: https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolRidiculous/comments/x1k61n/could_you_even_imagine_if_westwood_studios/

Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (NES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_1AGDZiLVY

Robin Hood Men in Tights - English Accent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9tEH7iWOyk

Global Gladiators (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy9_-iEdXAA

Cool Spot (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTROI2ODRM4

Aladin (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngqx0rq7ACg

The Jungle Book (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BivK2swrtqM

Aladin (SNES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9m2gAuWkOY

The Lion King (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-U4RObki-k

TCW 194 - The 7th Guest: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-7th-guest/

The 7th Guest (PC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45Z-Q5KVTyI

The Legend of Kyrandia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO6BE4HOjnM

TCW 208 - Two Dunes the Battle for Arrakis: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/two-dunes-the-battle-for-arrakis/

TCW 082 - An Unlikely Pairing of Siliwood: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/an-unlikely-pairing-of-siliwood/

TCW 064 - The Rise and Fall of Infogrames Part 1: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/rise-and-fall-of-infogrames-part-1/

TCW 065 - The Rise and Fall of Infogrames Part 2: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-rise-and-fall-of-infogrames-part-2/

 

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

 

TCW Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @tcwpodcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

 

 

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode 

Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love 

 

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

TCW Podcast Episode 250 - Mastertronic

 

From budget software publisher to the gateway for SEGA’s entry into Europe, we look at the rise and fall of Mastertronic. Initially shunned by high street retailers, the company found success supplying discount games to chains like Woolworths while importing and reselling titles from other publishers for the European market. A failed attempt to bring budget games to the United States pushed Mastertronic to look toward consoles after seeing the success of the Nintendo Entertainment System, but Nintendo rejected them due to their low-cost reputation. This led to a partnership with SEGA to launch the Master System in the United Kingdom, but a delayed release after Christmas triggered a financial crisis that forced Virgin to buy out the rest of the company. As Virgin Mastertronic, the firm gained a foothold in France and Germany while struggling with limited SEGA supply. The story ends when SEGA acquired the console side of the business and created SEGA Europe, closing the final chapter on Mastertronic.

 

 

TCW 017 - The British 8-bit Computer Market Hardware: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-british-8-bit-computer-market-hardware/

TCW 018 - The British 8-bit Computer Market Software: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-british-8-bit-computer-market-software/

TCW 241 - The First 10 Years of European Consoles: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-first-10-years-of-european-consoles/

 

Vagas Jackpot (VIC-20): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKFzNnx_m-U

BMX Racers (C64): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZenav7tN08

Ghostbusters (ZX Spectrum): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH18r74ZOto

Way of the Exploding Fist (C64): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p51xOL0NdY

Alians (C64): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D7Q2lfBA6g

 

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

 

TCW Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @tcwpodcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

 

 

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode 

Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love 

 

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/