Smith Alexander - They create worlds: the story of the people and companies that shaped the video game industry Volume 1, 1971-1982

The Story of the People and Companies that Shaped the Video Game Industry

Volume I: 1971-1982

Alexander Smith

CRC Press

Taylor & Francis Group

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2020 by Alexander Smith

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Searching for Bobby Fischer

Shall We Play a (War) Game?

The Priesthood at Play

One, Two, Three, Four I Declare a Space War

The Stars Are Right

Pinball Wizards

Rising Sun

A Nutty Idea

1TL200: A Video Game Odyssey

Ping-Pong Diplomacy

The Day of the Jackal

These Violent Delights

Homeward Bound

Back to BASICs

These Are the Voyages

Micro Machines

Solid State of Mind

Breaking Out in Japan

Chasing the Silver Ball

Putting the F in Fun

Hey Stella

Meet Me at the Faire

Micronauts

Critical Role

Adventure Time

Power in the Palm of Your Hand

The King is Dead, Long Live the King!

Japanese Invaders

Deep Impact

Home Invasion

Intelligent Television

Active Television

Guardians of the Galaxy

Pac-Man Fever

Blue Skies

Seeing this book in print is the culmination of over a decade of research and writing during which countless people helped along the way. My thanks to Sean Connelly, Jessica Vega, and the crew at CRC Press for giving this project a home and being patient as I wrangled a final draft together. A special thanks also to Simon Careless, who helped arrange first contact with the publisher. I would also like to express my gratitude to Jon-Paul Dyson, Jeremy Saucier, Beth Lathrop, Julia Novakovic, and everyone else at the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives at the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York, for making me feel welcome during two research trips to take deep dives into their collections (and for the cup full of arcade tokens to use in the museum!).

There are a wonderful array of independent scholars working to preserve video game history today, and they have been an invaluable resource while putting this book together both in terms of helping track down obscure materials and being excellent partners with which to bounce around ideas. So shout-outs to Leonard Herman of Phoenix fame; Marty Goldberg from the Atari Museum and many other endeavors; Ken Horowitz of Sega-16; Devin Monnens, Frank Cifaldi, and the good folks at the Video Game History Foundation; and Dustin Hubbards colorful international crew over at Gaming Alexandria. And a special shout-out to Keith Smith of the Golden Age Arcade Historian blog, who not only shared his impressive collection of old trade publications, but also graced me with an advance copy of his wonderful All in Color for A Quarter tome, an exhaustive look at the early coin-operated video game industry. At least a quarter (har!) of the material in this book would not be possible without him. My thanks as well to coin-op historians Nic Costa and Freddy Bailey and the collectors at pennymachines.co.uk, who provided some important perspective on pre-video coin-operated game developments.

Of all the people striving to preserve the history of this great industry, few match the passion of Ethan Johnson, who has made it his mission to connect as many independent scholars and professional enthusiasts together as he possibly can and pool their resources for the betterment of all our work. I have spent many an hour on the Internet marveling over new discoveries and venting frustrations with Ethan, and he has also been generous in sharing his materials, including rare Japanese monographs and audio recordings of interviews with some fascinating industry figures that have otherwise had no outlet to tell their stories. This book would not be the same without his input.

Until recently, it had been nearly impossible to discover much information on the Japanese industry without knowing Japanese, but Alex Hightower of Shmuplations has changed that by creating professional translations of interviews with Japanese developers and executives. My thanks for these translations as well as several I commissioned from him myself.

Special thanks as well to Jeff Daum, my best friend nearly as long as I have been alive and my co-host on the They Create Worlds podcast for putting up with my incessant rambling about video game history and then kindly suggesting that we buy some sound equipment and share these stories with the rest of the world. Thanks as well to our listeners and subscribers who make it all worthwhile.

In the course of this project, I have interviewed over 100 industry figures, of which roughly 50 contributed recollections and insights pertinent to this first volume. Everyone has been exceptionally generous with their time and candid in their answers, which has enriched this book immeasurably. A full list of subjects that contributed to this volume may be found before the References and Bibliography