September 1981

Video Game Newsroom Time Machine

Donkey Kong comes to Nintendo's rescue Software retailing is coming to a mall near you Computer Chronicles brings tech to TV

These stories and many more on this episode of the Video Game Newsroom Time Machine

This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in August of 1981. As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events.

Peter is on vacation so we have the pleasure of Mads from the Retro Asylum to join us. http://retroasylum.com and https://playthroughpod.com/

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Time Codes: 7 Minutes in Heaven: 09:38 Corrections: 19:11 Time Jump: 36:20

Links: 7 Minutes in Heaven: Video version - https://www.patreon.com/posts/56209208 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Wolfenstein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berzerk_(video_game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfenstein_3D Ed Zaron Interview - https://www.patreon.com/posts/30697517 Longplay with sound samples - https://youtu.be/8fgok9eHqO8 Champion of the Raj - 7 Minutes in Heaven - https://www.patreon.com/posts/54250971 Corrections: August 1981 Ep - https://www.patreon.com/posts/55291660 https://mario.fandom.com/de/wiki/Pauline https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system) https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=639 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atanasoff%E2%80%93Berry_computer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Pac-Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_VIC-20 https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/laine-nooney Ed Zaron Interview - https://www.patreon.com/posts/30697517 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epyx November 1978 Jump - https://videogamenewsroomtimemachine.libsyn.com/video-game-newsroom-time-machine-0

1971: UK computer industry on the fritz https://www.nytimes.com/1971/09/05/archives/british-computer-chief-calm-in-crisis-market-shrinking-imports.html?searchResultPosition=3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Computers_Limited https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatcherism#Economic_positions

1981: Frogger goes head-to-head with Donkey Kong Vending Times, Sept. 1981, pg. 68 https://www.mobygames.com/game/arcade/frogger https://www.mobygames.com/game/arcade/donkey-kong https://www.mobygames.com/game/gameboy-color/frogger

Casual gamers may be outnumbering the hardcore Play Meter, Sept. 15, 1981, pg. 17 AMOA 1980 Special Ep - https://www.patreon.com/posts/42756585 https://www.mobygames.com/game/arcade/pac-man https://www.mobygames.com/game/arcade/asteroids_ https://www.mobygames.com/game/arcade/defender Marcos bans video games https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/20/world/marcos-bans-video-games.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_games_in_the_Philippines#1981_ban_on_video_games UK's Century Electronics announces interchangeable arcade system Play Meter, Sept. 15, 1981, pg. 25 http://www.macros-arcade.com/cvs.htm https://www.gamesdatabase.org/game/arcade/dark-warrior https://www.mobygames.com/game-group/hunchback-series Jim Trucano Interview - https://www.patreon.com/posts/48912975 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_video_game#Technology

Mattel Electronics becomes independent unit Toy & Hobby World Sept. 1981 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellivision Don Daglow Interview Part 1 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/38445119 Atari 2nd quarter revenue rises 86% Playthings Sept. 1981, pg. 13 Playthings Sept. 1981, pg. 22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari Revenue records for Toys R Us, Coleco Toy & Hobby World Sept. 1981 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toys_%22R%22_Us https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco They Create Worlds - The Visions of Coleco Part 1 https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-hmuip-ef4480 Michael Katz Interview Part 1 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/35169258

Apple sales triple https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1981-09_OCR/page/n357/mode/1up July 1979 Jump - https://www.patreon.com/posts/28794108 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_III https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VisiCalc

Exidy exits the home computer market Replay Sept. 1981, pg. 20 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exidy_Sorcerer NY Times profiles pervasiveness of computer tech in Japan https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/05/business/computer-technology-pervades-lif-e-in-japan.html

The dedicated software retailer is born https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1981-09_OCR/page/n357/mode/1up https://www.inc.com/magazine/19820101/9347.html https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/04/14/Fascinating-gadget-lures-singer-from-operatic-career-to-business/1069356072400/ https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/04/14/Fascinating-gadget-lures-singer-from-operatic-career-to-business/1069356072400/ https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/21/business/they-want-to-sell-software-like-hamburgers.html http://www.bitsavers.org/magazines/Datamation/198105.pdf pg. 79 Ken Williams Interview - https://www.patreon.com/posts/42700706 Ed Zaron Interview - https://www.patreon.com/posts/30697517

Sesame Street is coming to the Apple ii https://archive.org/details/1981-09-compute-magazine/page/n147/mode/1up https://www.mobygames.com/game/ernies-quiz https://www.mobygames.com/game/mix-and-match https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame_Street June 1979 Jump - https://www.patreon.com/posts/27819027

Softporn ad appears in Softalk https://archive.org/details/softalkv2n01sep1981/page/68/mode/1up https://www.mobygames.com/game/softporn-adventure Softline magazine debuts https://archive.org/details/Softline_Magazine_Issue_1.1/page/n15/mode/2up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softalk https://archive.org/details/softline_magazine

The Computer Chronicles premieres https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_computerFatte25a0701_4350842/mode/2up?q=silicon+gulch+gazette+1981 https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/9821-computer-chronicles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Cheifet http://www.cheifet.com/ Computer Chronicles on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerChroniclesYT Computer Chronicles Amiga and Atari ST Episode - https://youtu.be/kX5N8lWpqLM Computer Chronicles Jack Tramiel - https://youtu.be/eaKukgUrxuA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Kildall Time magazine profiles The People's Court http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,924829,00.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People%27s_Court Rain Man - People's Court clip - https://youtu.be/Bp9AClR8qCY

Recommended Links: The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ Gaming Alexandria: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/ They Create Worlds: https://tcwpodcast.podbean.com/ Digital Antiquarian: https://www.filfre.net/ The Arcade Blogger: https://arcadeblogger.com/ Retro Asylum: http://retroasylum.com/category/all-posts/ Retro Game Squad: http://retrogamesquad.libsyn.com/ Playthrough Podcast: https://playthroughpod.com/

Sound Effects by Ethan Johnson of History of How We Play and Enzo Maida.