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They Create WorldsAuthor: Alex Smith, and Jeffrey Daum
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! Language: en Genres: Games, History, Leisure Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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A Guitar Hero
Episode 252
Saturday, 14 February, 2026
TCW Podcast Episode 252 - A Guitar Hero The rise and fall of the Guitar Hero franchise and the rhythm game craze of the mid to late 2000s. Red Octane got its start making Dance Dance Revolution pads, but a partnership with Harmonix Music Systems, a studio building technology that let people interact with music without learning an instrument, led to the creation of Guitar Hero. Major retailers refused to carry it until Best Buy set up in-store demo units that sent sales skyrocketing, and Red Octane could barely keep up with demand. The franchise's success drew corporate attention: Activision acquired Red Octane, MTV Networks acquired Harmonix, and a lingering dispute between Activision and Viacom over the Star Trek license split the partnership in two, giving Activision Guitar Hero and Harmonix Rock Band. Both landed blockbuster bands from Aerosmith to the Beatles, but an endless flood of sequels and add-ons saturated the market, and what once felt like a cultural phenomenon burned out almost as fast as it arrived. TCW 167 - Activision and Kotick Part 1: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/activision-and-kotick-part-1/ TCW 168 - Activision and Kotick Part 2: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/activision-and-kotick-part-2/ TCW 169 - Activision and Kotick Part 3: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/activision-and-kotick-part-3/ Dance Dance Revolution (PSX): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2IammLWeNE TCW 052 - The Many Faces of Konami: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-many-faces-of-konami/ Guitar Freaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-gDC1VXqqM PaRappa The Rapper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3SI4Grases Tribe on Conan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLrA00pKRHo Bimini Run (Genesis): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e1QdtG3YOE System Shock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e1QdtG3YOE Thief - The Dark Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH_6ER0-voQ Simpsons - I can See the Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyNtUpMeBTE Frequency (PS2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z7n36dozeY Amplitude (PS2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goH4ygJ48_c Karaoke Revolution - Drive - Incubus (PS2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ-yIxE9-hg The NES Hotseat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvws5tOHsEE AntiGrav for EyeToy (PS2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9FheIXFrWc Guitar Hero 1 IGN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQW2MGFY-us Guitar Hero 1 (PS2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slJA7xwDRWk Guitar Hero 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQAUCBDU4Qg Guitar Hero 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elOxCIpg4rI Rock Band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AavdHq3pemQ GH3 - DragonForce - Through the Fire and Flames: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMkjmiVo6jA Rock Band - The Beatles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PGF3uAYCW0 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.comD 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/
