Codex History of Video Games with Mike Coletta and Tyler Ostby

Mike and Tyler have a mailbag episode! They discuss their Mount Rushmore of video games, who would be the crew of their fictional starship, and more! The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike discuss the history of Activision. In the final installment they go through all the actiquisitions. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler discuss the history of Pokémon Snap for the N64. They talk about how the game holds up today and it's strange development history. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler continue their series on Activision. They discuss the companies short time as Mediagenic and the acquisition by Bobby Kotick. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler finish their series on Nintendo before video games by talking about, well, video games. They discuss the early home consoles Nintendo released in the late 1970s/early 1980s as well as the first arcade games released by Nintendo. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler read listener mail on the show! Once again they get into artificial intelligence in games and try to remember games they already covered on the show. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike start a deep dive into Activision. They go into the early days of their founding and the industry issues that created them. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler make their own list to include some of the video game protagonists they felt were forgotten last week. Mike also causes a rift in their friendship. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler start their teir list of video game protagonists. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike is getting married! Enjoy this rerelease of episode 19. Tyler and Mike start to talk about the 16-bit console war between Sega and Nintendo. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler are together in person to continue their history of Nintendo before video games. They discuss the Nintendo Laser Clay Shooting system and other mechanical games of the 1970s. Their source is The History of Nintendo: 1889-1980, from playing cards to Game & Watch, Volume 1 by Florent Gorges. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike start to talk about the 16-bit console war between Sega and Nintendo. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike talk about the release of the Super Famicom (SNES) and personnel changes at Sega. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler have a mailbag episode. They spend a lot of time on AI in gaming and list their top 5 their favorite games of all life (list subject to change). The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler are on their summer sabbatical. Enjoy episode 17 where they talk about about all the hardware that showed up in 1989. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler create a tier list of the Legend of Zelda games. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler are joined by the author of the Boss Fight Books Super Mario Bros. 3 and GoldenEye 007 Alyse Knorr! They discuss the secrets, history, and development of Super Mario Bros 3 from Alyse's book. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler continue their history of Nintendo before video games. They discuss the hiring of Gunpei Yokoi, Iroshi Imanishi, Masayuki Uemura, and the impact that had on Nintendo in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Their source is The History of Nintendo: 1889-1980, from playing cards to Game & Watch, Volume 1 by Florent Gorges. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler discuss their favorite minigames. They also chat about, in their opinion, what makes a good minigame? The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler discuss three of the first fishing video games ranging from 1977-1985. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike talk about the big video games, they personally, just couldn't get into. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler continue their history of Nintendo before video games. They discuss the beginnings of the Hiroshi Yamauchi era from 1927 to the mid 1960s. Their source is The History of Nintendo: 1889-1980, from playing cards to Game & Watch, Volume 1 by Florent Gorges. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike read listener emails! They do some revisions and new submissions to their aesthetics tier list, discuss narrative games, and Mortal Kombat Jr. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler are joined by author Michael Greenhut. They discuss his new book, A Selective History of 'Bad' Video Games. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler teaches Mike the history of Kingdom Hearts. They start with the origins of the series and Kingdom Hearts 1. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler go through the history of Nintendo before video games. They start with the rise of playing cards in Japan in the 1500s all the way up until the birth of Hiroshi Yamauchi in 1927. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler now rate handhelds solely on their looks! This time they focus on handhelds in their lifetime. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler rate consoles solely on their looks! They focus only on consoles they know. Handhelds and controllers will be a separate list. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler have had a busy couple weeks. Therefore they have one more Codex Remastered Episode for you. This episode Tyler and Mike talk about the various legal battles that shaped modern video games. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike talk about third party games for the NES (i.e. Mega Man) and Nintendo Power Magazine! The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler read listener emails and play a thrilling game of twenty questions. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler are joined by author Michael Hart to discuss his new book Secrets of Video Game Consoles. They discuss Michael's process of writing the book as well as consoles like the Bally Astrocade. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler are joined by freelance journalist Matthew S. Smith! Matthew has written for numerous publications including The Verge, Wired, Kotaku and IGN. He also produces the YouTube channel Computer Gaming Yesterday. They discuss Multi User Dungeons (MUDs) and early western MMORPGs such as Ultima Online, Everquest, and Dark Age of Camelot. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler talk about a forgotten game by Arkane Studios, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. They discuss it's slapstick ragdoll physics approach to combat and how you should definitely NOT play the game on Xbox 360. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike talk about the good old days when handheld counterparts of console games were different. They discuss Super Mario Land, Sonic the Hedgehog 8-bit, and Donkey Kong Land. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler read listener emails. Mike also challenges Tyler to a game of twenty questions. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler played Duke Nukem Forever! They go through the timeline according to the retail edition of the game and talk about all the gossip, gameplay, and plot shenanigans. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike talk about the explosion of the NES including the man who helped start the hype train, Howard Phillips. The source for this episode is The Ultimate History of Video Games Volume 1 by Steven L. Kent. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler make a tier list of mainline Mario characters (and Kirby for some reason). The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler discuss two games that were made by companies as advertising. They specifically discuss Cool Spot for the Sega Genesis and Chex Quest for PC. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler kick off the new year with a good old fashioned mailbag episode! The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike dive into the origins of Sega. This includes the state of the coin-op entertainment at the time. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler talk about a series near and dear to their hearts, Perfect Dark. They discuss the history and gameplay of both Perfect Dark for N64 and Perfect Dark Zero for the Xbox 360. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler continue their tier list of first person shooter franchises. Since they're all good (hence why they're franchises) they rate off of which has the most consistently good games, and which they want to see rise again. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler make a tier list out of first person shooter franchises. Since they're all good (hence why they're franchises) they rate off of which is the most consistent, and which they want to see rise again. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike finish their book club of Console Wars by Blake J. Harris. They discuss the release of the Saturn in the US, success of the PlayStation, Nintendo gaining the most valuable commodity, and all the people that resigned or were fired in between. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike talk chapters 57 through 60 in their book club of Console Wars by Blake J. Harris. They discuss SoA and SoJ tensions surrounding two future projects, Nintendo going on the offensive, and a little game called Donkey Kong Country. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler talk chapters 52 through 56 in their book club of Console Wars by Blake J. Harris. They discuss the Senator Joseph Lieberman going after video games, but mostly Sega. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Mike and Tyler talk chapters 44 through 51 in their book club of Console Wars by Blake J. Harris. They discuss the big changes happening at Sega, Nintendo, and Sony as they move into the 32-bit generation of consoles. The theme music is by RoccoW. The logo was created by Dani Dodge.

Tyler and Mike talk about the moment the Nintendo Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System) broke into the United States. Our primary source is the book "The Ultimate History of Video Games" by Steven L. Kent. The theme song is by RoccoW. Our logo was designed by Dani Dodge.