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Play History

@playhistory.bsky.social

3.3K followers 41 following 1.5K posts

Independent games researcher, Ethan Johnson. Preserving gaming history! Patreon: http://tinyurl.com/pdp5pdrj YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@play_history/videos Blog: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ Editor of Gaming Alexandria

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · Oct 17

Hi!

Here's my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@play_history

Here's my blog: thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com

I help @gamingalexandria.bsky.social www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/

I have a book on classic 80s arcade companies coming out in the near future!

That's my starter kit.

Play History

Play History is all about the history of video games. From their origins, to how they influence the world today, together we explore the phenomenon that's captured the world. Video game design, art, a...

www.youtube.com

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 15h

Not yet. Still waiting for information.

Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 17h

"Cut Book Content" is partially stuff that was cut, partially stuff that is expanding on my book's coverage of certain subjects.

The articles about Sega's Paramount office, the inspirations behind Pac-Man, and P.J. Pizzazz are mostly complete and just waiting for the book publishing to move forward

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 17h

I did a recent reorganization of my projects and determined the articles I am actively working on.

These are in various stages of completion and are continuing as long-term projects.

Which ones particularly interest you?

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Jason Dyer @jdyer.bsky.social · 20h

In which All the Adventures hits upon Leopard Lord, a ZX Spectrum game which feels like it came out of some teenager's D&D campaign even though the ad copy on the tape claims it was specially commissioned from a science fiction author.

bluerenga.blog/2025/10/12/l...

Leopard Lord (1983)

Bedrooms all over the country were becoming overwhelmed by battered boxes of early computer equipment, bought under the dubious auspices of “helping with our homework” before being turned over full…

bluerenga.blog

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 23h

Do you have that full list? Should post it on your site!

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ourlostarcade.bsky.social @ourlostarcade.bsky.social · 1d

I wrote up a more formal version of this examination of the slot machine myth on Reddit, in case anybody needs some proper citations.

www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...

Charles Fey stands in the wreckage of Chas. Fey & Co. after the 1906 earthquake.

https://web.archive.org/web/20210416030644/https://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/images/charles-fey-surveys-the-damage-at-chas-fey-amp-co-after-the-earthquake-and-fire-of-1906/

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Nicole Express @nicole.express · 1d

Also, in case you missed it as I forgot to post about it, I had a midweek bonus post looking at a CV-1000 multigame PCB. nicole.express/2025/get-out...

The CV-1000 returns, but at what cost?

One thing that always amazes me about the arcade industry is the ingenuity of the, shall we say, post-market. Certainly there are simple things like the 60-i...

nicole.express

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Nicole Express @nicole.express · 1d

New blog post! A look at the region converter hidden in some early NES games, an analysis of an NES epoxy blob cart, and an attempt to repair a broken Famicom cartridge. A bit disconnected but I hope you enjoy! nicole.express/2025/not-jus...

Cartridge Chaos: The Official Nintendo Region Converter and More!

This post is a combination of looks at several oddities among my pile of NES and Famicom cartridges. Why, for example, do I have a copy of Gyromite when I do...

nicole.express

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 1d

Gremlin Girl, Sabrina Osment! Three girls traveled the country to compete and sell Gremlin's 1977 video game line-up.

I did talk with Sabrina, who did get legitimately good - though the sex appeal was obviously a large factor. It'll be in the book!

Quarter Past @quarterpast.bsky.social · 1d

By next week, Bing Crosby will drop dead on a golf course. The following week, half of Lynyrd Skynyrd will die in a plane crash.

We’re headed to the arcade to listen to this week’s #AT40 countdown.

Keep your eye out for this individual, who will kick your ass at the new game, Hustle.

This is Sabrina Osment, a young blonde woman with a smirk on her face, wearing a t-shirt that reads “HUSTLE”. Video-game producer Gremlin enlisted her to promote their new game “Hustle”. Osment would tour with another woman, Lynn Reid, around various arcades, probably enduring a thick misogynist welcome, before they’d challenge newcomers to play the arcade game and summarily kick their asses at it. Their record against opponents after a 12-city tour was reportedly 1233 wins, 7 losses.

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Damiano Gerli @damiano.bsky.social · 3d

The first console to appear in Italian cinema was (probably) the Seleco-Zanussi Gun-o-tronic, showing up in 1976 Il Signor Robinson (Mr. Robinson).
The Gun-o-tronic was the official gun accessory for the Ping-o-tronic, an early Italian Odyssey clone released around early 1975.

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 2d

Words from Taito founder Michael Kogan, long passed, about the importance of history.

If only he'd actually written anything down...

Source: In the Beginning, There was Pong. Michael Kogan at the 1978 AMOA show displaying Space Invaders.

1974-06-30 Marketplace pg 31. Quote from Michael Kogan of Taito about the coin-op industry preserving its own history.

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ourlostarcade.bsky.social @ourlostarcade.bsky.social · 3d

Wartime could be scoretime if you played your cards right.

With no care for the veneer of treaties, Bally unleashed several combat-themed light gun games in the few years before the war to capitalize on public sentiment.

Flyer of Rapid-Fire by Bally MFg.

https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/brapfir.htm

Advertisement for Bally's Sky Battle gun game.

https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/skybatt.htm

A look inside the mechanism of Rapid-Fire by Bally, with a U-boat target.

https://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/brapfir.htm

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Frank Cifaldi @frankcifaldi.bsky.social · 3d

Hey! Did you get an NES Classic mini console but you don't care about the manual/poster it came with? Put it to use supporting @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social! I'm seeking these out for fundraiser autograph opportunities, but need them ASAP. Let me know! Can pay!

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 3d

I actually double checked with a bunch of email interviews I'd done and never put on the list.

I've actually reached 161 people with 13 deceased. The work of a historian never ends!

Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 6d

I updated my personal interview list - chiefly to account for deaths that I've missed.

thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/2016/09/29/f...

Out of the 142 people I've formally interviewed, at least ten have passed away since I started. If you ever need a motivation to reach out - let it be that!

Full Game History Interview List

How many people can one man interview? Take a look and find out.

thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 3d

Another interview! This time with Rich Moore of Atari, Capcom, and EA.

Plenty of interesting thoughts about what it was like to manage Atari programmers and the transition from Atari Inc. to Atari Games. Still got more to go!

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Frank Cifaldi @frankcifaldi.bsky.social · 3d

Collectors! Store owners! Hoarders! Help us out! @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social is looking to source copies of this 1985 NES pack-in poster for fundraising reasons, and we need them asap. We already cleaned out eBay. Note that they need to be the ones that say copyright 1985, as pictured! Can pay!

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Brian Clark (bclarkomp) @onemillionpower.com · 4d

This is the story of Sega's R360: The legendary arcade cabinet that spun players around and left arcade floors far too early. Exclusive interviews, developer quotes, and more!
I'd appreciate not only everyone watching, but also sharing this post and the video!
youtu.be/I-LnKFILB5I

Sega R360: Spinning Dreams in the Arcade

YouTube video by One Million Power

youtu.be

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Kevin Bunch (ubersaurus) @atariarchive.org · 4d

We conclude the articles on Activision's four initial games with a history of Dragster, David Crane's other game from the lot and, reportedly, one of the company's biggest early successes... as well as a game infamous for a speedrunning scandal. www.atariarchive.org/blog/dragste...

Dragster – August 1980, Atari Archive

While David Crane's other August release, Fishing Derby, was a unique experience in the gaming space, the same can’t exactly be said for his other...

www.atariarchive.org

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 4d

Today's interview was with game programmer/designer Vic Tolomei of Exidy.

Super in depth technical and business analysis of the coin-op industry. He had some particularly great stories about the WILD Exidy vector game Vertigo/Top Gunner (which led him to be hired by Sun Microsystems).

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Kevin Bunch (ubersaurus) @atariarchive.org · 5d

The blog continues its updates, as Bob Whitehead's Boxing gets its time in the spotlight. Unassuming but a blast to play, particularly if you're using the original joysticks and want to experience actual exhaustion in your boxing match. www.atariarchive.org/blog/boxing-...

Boxing – August 1980, Atari Archive

After exiting Atari upon the completion of Video Chess and participating in the risky venture of starting up the novel idea of a third-party video game...

www.atariarchive.org

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 5d

From my reading, I don't think those are useful histories. They're incited broad overviews of reception and maybe a few anecdotes of development you'd be better off finding in a written article that can be verified.

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 5d

Boss Fight Books are difficult because sometimes they're just high-level essays on experience and sometimes in-depth making ofs and it's hard to tell which is which when.

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 5d

I've neglected updating the Video Game History Booklist for a while.

thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/2020/08/27/t...

Anybody remember some of what came out this year or is forthcoming? Not review or reminiscence books - history (any language).

The Video Game History Booklist

The Video Game History Book List is a chronological list of books in physical, digital, and webpage format which aspiring game researchers can use to find reading material related to the developmen…

thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com

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Play History @playhistory.bsky.social · 5d

This may not be the one but there's a paragraph in this King's Quest VI article covering that subject.

archive.org/details/Inte...

InterAction Magazine - Vol. V Number 3 - Fall 1992 (1992)(Sierra On-Line)(US) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

InterAction Magazine - Vol. V Number 3 - Fall 1992 (1992)(Sierra On-Line)(US)

archive.org

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ourlostarcade.bsky.social @ourlostarcade.bsky.social · 5d

One of the earliest "themed" games, the trade stimulator Dewey by Mills Novelty venerated the recent war hero of Manila Bay, George Dewey.

These stylish and grand machines were of the early generation of gambling, before the tabletop games.

The front facing display of a Mills Dewey trade stimulator.

https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/leonard-auction/mills-dewey-5c-slot-machine-with-music-box-4294387

Full view of the Dewey machine by Mills Novelty.

https://hansonslive.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk/lot-details/index/catalog/507/lot/229738/Mills-Novelty-Company-Dewey-1898-Floor-Roulette-Machine-The-oldest-example-of-any-machine-within-the-auction-the-Mills-Dewey-was

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