They Create Worlds

By: Alex Smith and Jeffrey Daum
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  • Summary

  • Love of the worlds created by video game designers and personalities drives Alex Smith & Jeffrey Daum (history, law, CS degrees) to provide a scholarly yet light-hearted discussion of how arcade, home console, and PC games merged into a Video Game Industry. Emphasis is on the combination of business and creative elements needed for financial success. Interviews of Atari, EA, Activision, & other execs with detailed source evaluations produce the insights you hear in these 140+ hours!
    Copyright 2015-2019 . All rights reserved.
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Episodes
  • North to Hellgate London

    North to Hellgate London
    Nov 1 2024

    TCW Podcast Episode 221 - North to Hellgate London

    In a pseudo part three of our look at Condor and Blizzard North, we explore the troubles the company faced after a year and a half of crunch. David, Max, and Eric were all burned out along with the rest of the staff. David was going through a divorce and had trouble putting his heart into figuring out what the next game would be. Due to lack of leadership and a proper chain of command, many employees felt frustrated switching games over and over. At the same time, the expansion, Lord of Destruction, was completed after a year of development with no crunch. Through a combination of bad corporate structure, not empowering middle management, factionalism, and troubles with Blizzard's corporate owners being bought and sold amid their own scandals, David, Eric, Max, and Bill Roper from Blizzard South went on to form Flagship Studios and work on Hellgate: London. Unfortunately, the game was not well received due to expectations exceeding the financial and technical hurdles that needed to be overcome. There is a lot more to this story, so prepare yourself as we leave one hell for another!

    Thor - Game Studio Gambles: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NLb9-DPspgA

    Thor - Email Mike: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1ilUpXkGxbo

    Karateka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKqk9kosCs4

    Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034

    Flagship Studios: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagship_Studios

    Fate Longplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGH577lznLk&list=PL112CEBA37FF962EE

    Mythos Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fEsOrRvZ58

    Hellgate London E3 2005 Cinematic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xG9puQZJ1c

    Hellgate London E3 Bill Roper Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh1EQhHQPbQ

    US/China WOW Model Differences: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtI2GcUPEFQ

    Hellgate London Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiKbGoiIHqo

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

    TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com

    Twitter: @tcwpodcast

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds - Sign up through the website not the iOS App!

    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/
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    1 hr and 30 mins
  • Diablo 2

    Diablo 2
    Oct 15 2024

    TCW Podcast Episode 220 - Diablo 2

    We continue exploring the Diablo franchise with Diablo 2 and the journey of the team at Blizzard North. This episode covers the history of the Hellfire expansion for Diablo 1 and how it came to be developed by Sierra Online. A directive was issued for Blizzard North to focus on creating Diablo 2. The team aimed not just to create a bigger dungeon but to expand the game’s overall scope. However, the development of Diablo 2 faced challenges like feature creep, excessive gaming, and the absence of a game design document. These issues led to a year and a half of crunch time to complete the game. Despite these difficulties, Diablo 2 was released to phenomenal success.

    Hellfire Monk Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJlxnFfxRM4

    David Brevik on Diablo Hellfire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4bDFgcuH-I

    Warcraft Adventures - Lord of the Clans (Lets Play): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7JZu__7KTs

    Thor - Overworked % Amazon Game Studios: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IVdaysrIS74

    Thor - Blizzard Working Conditions: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B2mqnuRalYA

    Thor - Blizzard Pay: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/a8aumvAq5gM

    Thor - Value vs Income from a Job: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8s3wa5kL6RY

    TCW 054 - Blizzard - Vikings and WarCraft: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/blizzard-vikings-and-warcraft/

    TCW 055 - Blizzard - Hellfire and The World… of WarCraft: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/blizzard-hellfire-and-the-world%E2%80%A6-of-warcraft/

    Diablo II from 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_MoFDWJees

    Diablo II LOD Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM7gA_xD7vE

    Original StarCraft Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAXDv--grUE

    Diablo II TV Commercial (Its Everywhere): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzBp9ECiodc

    Diablo II TV Commercial (Evil Has Survived): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RvRK5qf6Lc

    TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com

    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/
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Diablo 1

    Diablo 1
    Oct 1 2024
    TCW Podcast Episode 219 - Diablo 1 We explore the monumental game Diablo! Initially a collaborative effort between David Brevik, Erich Schaefer, and Max Schaefer, Diablo brought together elements from games like X-Com, Angband, and surprisingly NHL '94. The trio formed the company Condor, producing NFL games and a Street Fighter clone called Justice League Task Force for the SEGA Genesis. At CES, they discovered another company developing the SNES port of Justice League, Blizzard Entertainment. Through a series of fortuitous events, Condor was acquired by Davidson & Associates and rebranded as Blizzard North. Join us as we explore the wild history of Diablo and its impact on shaping how we play video games today! Play Diabo 1 Web Shareware Version: https://d07riv.github.io/diabloweb/ It was the best of times it was the blurst of times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no_elVGGgW8 Moria (Plato Emulator): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zvqgKKXAFI Angband: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSiX_aoUn5s Stay a While and Listen (2 Book Series): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087JF24VG?binding=kindle_edition Gordo 106 (AGDQ): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwqlNeT9oTE Three Days of the Condor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU8tQTNlPAM Iguana Entertainment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguana_Entertainment MC Chris Kingdom Hearts 2 & Resident Evil 4 (EXPLICIT): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZsDUSxK5Fs NHL '94: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShqgmvGrxfM X-COM UFO Defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZJAFG0rjo0 The Digital Antiquarian - Diablo: https://www.filfre.net/2023/07/diablo/ Diablo 1 Original Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcKmaLP-sQM Justice League Task Force (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hNrLiRxBE4 Justice League Task Force (SNES): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QulgjKAsRaA TCW 054 - Blizzard: Vikings and WarCraft: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/blizzard-vikings-and-warcraft/ TCW 055 - Blizzard: Hellfire and The World… of WarCraft: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/blizzard-hellfire-and-the-world%E2%80%A6-of-warcraft/ David Brevik - Making Diablo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_CXw4x61E Diablo 1 - The Sin War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWXozMHrxrM Diablo 1 All Cutscenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aMkkf8-i-U Kali (Software): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_(software) New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month! TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com 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: RolemMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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    1 hr and 29 mins

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CEO/CIOs, creative/marketing Success & Failure

Alex Smith and Jeffrey Daum get to the heart of the story by speaking with those involved in the creation of the systems and games we have loved and hated. I enjoy the banter as these two communicate who, what, why, and how entertainment systems and game systems succeeded and failed over the decades

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