The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment presents The MADEcast: a podcast about video game history, preservation, and so much more.
Welcome to the first episode of The MADEcast! Tune in for an overview of who The MADE is and what we do, featuring some special guests: founder Alex Handy, and development extraordinaire Leland Heller. Plus video game world news and a story about the Gizmondo, the video game world's greatest scam.
This week we get a whirlwind tour of early gaming history, from bagatelles and pinball to arcades and Tennis for Two. Then we get into “personal” computers, Spacewar! and the start of the 70s with the Magnavox Odyssey. Some video game news and chat rounds out this week's episode.
This week the podcast gets groovy! We have very special guest Frank Cifaldi of the Video Game History Foundation on to talk about the 1970s and the Magnavox Odyssey. And as always, enjoy some video game news and recommendations from our lovely hosts.
Former MADE volunteer John Demian joins us this week to nerd out about the Atari 2600. Tune in for a discussion about how the culture of home consoles has changed since the 1970s, as well as John and Alex's tips for thrifting vintage electronics. Oh, and an excellent overview of the Mass Effect series.
Enjoying the Atari content? Well there's more where that came from! Today we answer the age old question: why do Atari 2600 games look like that? Along with this deep dive into the Atari 2600's technology, enjoy an introduction to the Fairfield Channel F, a pioneering console from 1976.
On this episode of The MADEcast, we have a fascinating interview with Joe Decuir, who talked to Alex about his involvement in the development of the Atari 2600 and other groundbreaking early consoles. Plus, The Boys talk about the video game awards and the magic of Katamari Damacy.
This episode topic was voted in by our lovely Patreon supporters! Today, we bring you the history of the Adventure genre, elucidated by our local gaming history expert, Alex Handy. This is a story with many twists and turns, from the text-based origins 50 years ago, to the genre's implosion, to the eventual return to glory. One could say this episode is an... adventure.
As a piggyback off of last week's episode on adventure games, this week we bring you a jewel from that genre. Alex is chatting with his wife Veronica (awwwwww) about her love of adventure games, which began in her childhood with the NES, and in particular the 1987 Lucasfilm game Maniac Mansion. This nostalgic segment is bookended by discussion of The Game Awards and Cyberpunk 2077.
This will be the last episode of the year as we take a break for the holidays. We'll see you next year for more episodes of The MADEcast!
After our refreshing holiday break, The MADEcast triumphantly returns to talk about the preservation of the adventure genre. In this episode, Alex talks to Matt Hargett, who got into adventure games in the late '80s and hasn't stopped since, having worked on the FreeSCI and SCUMMVM teams. Oh, also expect quite a few 'bleeps' in this one. Don't say we didn't warn you.
If you're half as dorky as we are, you're gonna love today's episode. In fact, this one is so dorky that Alex needed to call in backup. We've brought on Matt Hargett, who you'll remember from last episode, to talk to Chip Morningstar, programmer extraordinaire. Chip and Matt give us insight into the origins of SCUMM, how to weasel your way into a job at Lucasfilm, and the power of a great name.
