Hi-Lo! Where does it go?

A first-wave #pinball from 1932 with the theme of poker - though you couldn't actually make any hands with it.

The beauty of well-painted, varnished wood is in full force.

This week on The Digital Antiquarian: Alpha Centauri https://www.filfre.net/2025/06/alpha-centauri/

Also as good a time as any to direct people to the Tim Skelly short doc I did over a year ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe4nGqhe7AE

You'll see infographics all the time about the LARGEST game worlds, but what about the SMALLEST?

Yesterday the smart folks at @gamingalexandria immediately put forward two classic arcade examples at the atomic and subatomic level: Reactor and Quantum.

Not just an accent - it's Hoss Shoes by Global Industries!

Something of an early take on the air hockey or bumper pool layout, you can play something a bit less dangerous than darts!

These are likely (unless someone can point otherwise) the earliest screenshots of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, magazine cover date November 1995.

Don't know if they got these from a Japanese publication or not. Anybody familiar with the game spot any differences? #videogamehistory

September 1994:
Nintendo owns CES,
The future belongs to the internet &
EA disses Sega

These stories and many more on the latest VGNRTM!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/september-1994-131691264

#PSX #N64 #SNES #Genesis #Jaguar #Atari #3DO #CDi #Commodore #Konix #Blizzard #ESRB #MortalKombat #PowerPC #Apple #Windows #Xband

@humanhorseshoes We're asking "first"! Gotta cover all contingencies.

Asking for some responses to this poll on the First Personal Computer!

https://forms.gle/iLNUrMcsSjC3KRVa8

We're going to be recording a roundtable on the subject soon and I'm curious about people's opinions.

Getting some data would be a great plus! #retrocomputing

Every time I see someone call Space Invaders "an Atari classic" I want to go on a pedantic rant.

However, the Atari version is very important. It's a shame that the creator of that version, Rich Maurer, has been MIA for two decades. #videogamehistory

Secret post!

Well, I was taking the month off, but I got engrossed with the Japanese game Mystery House 2, a game I'd already beaten for MSX. I made some progress on the NEC PC-6001 version. The game is radically different. I delve into why.

https://bluerenga.blog/2025/06/14/mystery-house-ii-alternate-realities/

#retrogaming #adventuregame #videogames #textadventure #interactivefiction #history #japan #japanese

Computer Chronicles Revisited is back! Go immerse yourself in 1989 tech.

https://www.smoliva.blog/post/computer-chronicles-revisited-125-macworld-1989-san-francisco/

Two years since my collaboration with Norm on the Channel F video - it's topped 800,000 views!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Nio3hYAx_Tc

Thanks again to everyone who's watched it. I'll be putting together a commentary on writing this episode soon!

And, as I have noted before, the Noval was the main development system for #Sega developers in Japan from 1979-1983.

Finding more software material would help teach us about Sega's development work on both sides of the Pacific.

The original version of Noval for schools - Telemath - has a good case for featuring the first ever EDUTAINMENT games (in the sense they had typical game elements, not just instruction).

The system was in use for about 7 years: 1976-1982.

One source for totally lost games is the desk-sized Noval computer by Gremlin Industries.

I just finished going over that portion in my book and it bums me out that none of the software is preserved. There were really advanced arcade and educational games on it.

The second to last readthrough is now up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvnDWng-2sU&list=PLS_zYOuVPp2nwI_X6jNagNdpwbZyWaLet&index=29

We get into some good stuff in this one. Really bad writing, BIG #videogamehistory misconceptions, and some of our best references.

CONGRESS TAKES ACTION!

... AGAINST VIDEO GAMES!

www.twitch.tv/play_history

It's the second to last reading of this epic journey! Come by to see Senators and video game businessmen alike flail in the face of a video game Night Trap and see an industry be formed. #videogamehistory #livestream

The beautiful, trippy, and hugely successful Turbo by #Sega

Though Pole Position stole its limelight, it's still one of the megahits of the 1980s #arcade

Tomorrow (7pm CST) we resume our dramatic book reading and tackle the 1993 Video Game Senate Hearings - and the fallout thereafter.

If you want a full commentated breakdown, check out the one we did on Video Game Newsroom Time Machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dWCFp_hmNU