Gaming has become a popular topic for podcasts, including everything from discussions of new releases in The Besties to actual-play podcasts like Critical Role or The Adventure Zone.

A new podcast, Video Game History Hour, presents the history of video games, including how they were developed and the impact they've had on the industry and culture in general. This unique and interesting content makes Video Game History Hour a must-listen for fans of the genre.

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The Video Game History Hour podcast features Frank Cifaldi and Kelsey Lewin in conversation with experts and celebrities who are researching the history of video games. The podcast has a conversational feel, giving the guests the opportunity to dive deep into their research areas and show off their expertise. Cifaldi and Lewin are experts in their own right, however, and have a lot to offer in terms of additional information (and knowing exactly the right questions to ask).

The first episode explores Mario Paint, a video game famous for starting a number of illustrators, musicians and even game developers on their career path despite having almost no discernible win conditions. More recent episodes have profiled the best-selling Oregon Trail and The Secret of Monkey Island, providing interesting and unusual information about these beloved games -- like the fact that Oregon Trail pre-dates Pong.

Cifaldi and Lewin are not only podcast hosts but also co-directors of the Video Game History Foundation. The nonprofit is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the history of video games through efforts to archive, recover and restore old media. The organization has actively recovered games once thought lost by going through source code back-ups, and is compiling a research library of historical material related to video games, including magazines and art books.

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Video Game History Foundation

A podcast that showcases the efforts of the Video Game History Foundation was the next logical step toward its educational goal. Translating the inherently visual material of video games to audio content poses some difficulty, however, especially if a talking point is the distinction between VGA and EGA color palettes. Video Game History Hour still manages to bring these retro games to life by focusing on the story surrounding these differences, discussing visual material in a way that is still digestible.

Though the podcast is new, Video Game History Hour provides a fresh voice in video game media. The focus on the sometimes obscure histories of fan-favorite games makes these episodes compelling, and the easy-going discussion format makes them approachable for all audiences.

For those looking to learn more about old school games or imbibe their video game content in podcast form, Video Game History Hour is the place to start.

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