Best David Kassin and Robert Kassin Podcasts (2024)

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Ep.204 – Sega's Blockbuster 54:02

4h ago54:02

54:02

We're heading back to the late-80s to look at creation of SEGA's After Burner, originally released in arcades in 1987. As part of its history, we'll also look at the childhood, and early career of its creator, Yu Suzuki. His story is very much the history of motion simulator cabinets in arcades, which has us also looking at games such as Hang-on, S…

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Ep.203 – Nintendo Saves The World 1:03:01

5h ago1:03:01

1:03:01

We're heading back to the mid-80s to look at a pivotal moment in gaming history. Our story today looks at the creation of the Nintendo Famicom (1983) and the Nintendo Entertainment System (1985). As part of its story, we'll look at back at the early history of its designer, Masayuki Uemura. We'll also talk about the influence that the Famicom has h…

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Ep.202 – The Great Destruction 50:29

18d ago50:29

50:29

Today, we look back at the creation of the Armored Core series, which began with Armored Core, released for the Sony PlayStation in July 1997. As part of its story, we'll also learn about the early history of its development studio, FromSoftware. We'll look at how a business software company turned into one of the premiere developers for mech-based…

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Ep.201 – Let's Get Lucky 1:05:04

25d ago1:05:04

1:05:04

Today, we go back to the beginning of the Leisure Suit Larry series by looking at the development of Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. As part of its story, we look at the career of its creator, Al Lowe. We also revisit some of the early catalog of Sierra Entertainment, including the text adventure game that inspired Leisure Sui…

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Ep.200 – 64-Bit Stars with Ryan Shepherd 1:17:18

1M ago1:17:18

1:17:18

We celebrate 200 episodes by looking at one of the most iconic games of all time, Super Mario 64. We'll talk about the development of the game, looking back at some old interviews to understand the process. Our conversation will continue as we talk about the legacy of this game alongside our own personal experiences with it. Finally, we take some t…

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Ep.199 – What It Means To Be Human 54:08

1M ago54:08

54:08

Today, we're going to learn all about the RoboCop franchise, staring with the conception of the original Robocop movie in 1987. As part of its story, we'll learn all about how the first Robocop movie was adapted into a video game. After that, we'll look through the movie sequels and the video game adaptions of each movie. Finally, we'll continue by…

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Ep.198 – Life Goes On 1:01:31

2M ago1:01:31

1:01:31

Today, we'll learn the story of The Last of Us, released for the PlayStation 3 in 2013. As part of its story, we'll learn all about its creator, Neil Druckmann, and briefly run through the early history of its development studio, Naughty Dog. Our discussion focuses on how the narrative of the game came together, and we talk at length about what all…

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Ep.197 – The Golden Age 57:51

2M ago57:51

57:51

Today, we're celebrating the history of Space Invaders, which was released in arcades in the Summer of 1978. As we learn about the game, we'll also talk about the career of its creator, Tomohiro Nishikado. While looking at his early career, we'll look at many firsts in the video game industry, including the first human on human combat title. Help u…

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Ep.196 – Dark Seed 58:14

2M ago58:14

58:14

Today, we're looking at Dark Seed, a 1992 adventure game inspired by the artwork of H.R. Giger. As part of its story, we'll learn all about the career of the Swiss artist, and explore his contributes to video games and cinema. We'll also learn about Cyberdreams, the game's development studio, and explore their limited library. Prepare to have a hor…

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Ep.195 – SegaSonic The Hedgehog 59:28

2M ago59:28

59:28

Today, we're look back at SegaSonic the Hedgehog, an arcade cabinet released by Sega in May of 1993. As part of its story, we'll look at where the SegaSonic name came from. We'll also talk about the 1st game in which Sonic was voiced, a popcorn vending machine starring Sonic and Tails, and a Sonic game in which you run on a treadmill. There is much…

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Ep.194 – Cycle of Violence 1:04:59

2M ago1:04:59

1:04:59

Today, we look back at the development history of Red Dead Redemption, originally released by Rockstar Studios in May 2010. As part of its story, we'll revisit the history of its development studio Rockstar San Diego. We'll also talk about how the studio gave life to the Western Frontier. After that, we'll talk about the Rockstar Wives debacle and …

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Ep.193 – The Arcade Machine 1:02:13

3M ago1:02:13

1:02:13

Today, we're looking at the early history of Game Creation Systems. We'll start by discussing modern examples to help you understand the genre as it stands today. Then, we'll look back at the creation of the genre with the Pinball Construction Set, and the Arcade Machine. Our discussion will continue by looking at further examples of innovative sof…

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Ep.192 – No. 1 Sandbox 1:13:15

3M ago1:13:15

1:13:15

Today, we're diving into the origins of the best selling video game of all time, Minecraft. As part of its story, we'll look at the life and career of its creator, Markus Persson. We'll take time to look at the actual internet forum post in which the first version of Minecraft was released to the world. After talking about our own experiences with …

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Ep.191 – Not A Kirby Vacuum 54:56

3M ago54:56

54:56

Today, we look at the origins of Kirby by looking at the development of Kirby's Dream Land, which was released for the Nintendo Gameboy in 1992. As part of its story, we'll revisit the early history of its studio, HAL Laboratories. We'll also look at the game that almost bankrupted the studio, and talk about how it led to Kirby becoming a Nintendo …

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Ep.190 – Our Emblem is Fire 1:21:17

3M ago1:21:17

1:21:17

We're going back to the beginning of the Fire Emblem series by looking at Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (1990). As part of its story, we'll look back at the beginning of its development studio, Intelligent Systems, and talk about how Fire Emblem was conceived. Our guests, David Seley and Keefer Maresh share thier experiences wit…

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Ep.189 – Who Am I? 51:50

4M ago51:50

51:50

Today, we look at Thomas Disch's Amnesia, the 1986 text adventure that accurately modeled Manhattan in its time. As part of its story, we'll look at the career of science-fiction writer, Thomas M. Disch. Then, we'll talk about how he ended up in video game development. Finally, we'll talk about the development and significance of Amnesia itself, th…

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Ep.188 – Capcom's Breathing Fire 55:22

4M ago55:22

55:22

Today, we're looking back at the original Breath of Fire, Capcom's first attempt in the role-playing genre. As part of its history, we'll talk about why Capcom decided to create a RPG, and who they asked to step up to the task. We'll then look at further sequels in the Breath of Fire series, through the most recent game in the main series. At lengt…

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Ep.187 – Read the Scrolls 56:28

4M ago56:28

56:28

Today, we're going to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Elder Scrolls series by looking at the development of its first title, Elder Scrolls: Arena. As part of its story, we'll look back at the history of its development studio, Bethesda Softworks. We'll talk about their early library, and talk about the risk they took by developing this game. …

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Super Samus 1:02:14

4M ago1:02:14

1:02:14

Today, we dive into the atmospheric world of "Super Metroid," a landmark SNES title from 1994. Our story begins with a recap of the origins of the Metroid series, itself, and we work our way through its history leading up to Super Metroid, itself. We talk at length about the development of the game, address our experiences with the game, talk about…

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Join the Atarian Federation 58:10

5M ago58:10

58:10

Strap in for a stellar voyage on this episode as we rocket through the history of Star Raiders, the 1980 Atari classic that redefined space combat simulations. We'll navigate the journey of its creator, Doug Neubauer, an engineer whose vision and programming prowess brought us this intergalactic adventure, setting a new course for future games in t…

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Get A Little Squirrely 56:26

5M ago56:26

56:26

We take a look back at Conker's Bad Fur Day, originally released for the Microsoft Xbox in 2001. As part of its story, we'll briefly recap the history of its development studio, Rare. Our discussion on the game itself will focus on how the game evolved from a cute 3D platformer into the Mature-rated game we know today. Join us as we go nuts on yet …

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Ep.183 – Based on a Book 58:47

5M ago58:47

58:47

Today, we're going to look at the Telarium Corporation, a software publishing company that develop interactive fiction in collaboration with well-establish authors in the 80s. As part of its story, we'll look at the publishing history of its parent company, Spinnaker Software. We'll also look at Telarium's libarary of games, which includes collabor…

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Ep.182 – The Legend Begins 1:02:27

5M ago1:02:27

1:02:27

We're going back to the beginning of the Zelda series by taking a look at The Legend of Zelda, and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. We'll talk at length about the development of both titles, looking at the ideas that formed the creation of the games themselves. This includes a discussion on how Zelda was created to be as different as Mario as possi…

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Ep.181 – The Ages Beyond Myst 53:51

5M ago53:51

53:51

Join us for an adventure as we look at the development cycle of Myst Online: Uru Live, originally released on GameTap in 2007. As part of its story, we'll revisit this point in the history of its development studio, Cyan Worlds. Our story will continue as we discuss the complicated history of brining Myst Online to completion. We'll look at detail …

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Ep.180 – It's A Riot 1:03:14

6M ago1:03:14

1:03:14

Get ready for a deep dive into the intriguing tale behind Vagrant Story, a game that has etched its mark in gaming history. We'll unravel the development history of Vagrant Story and shed light on the creative genius behind it, Yasumi Matsuno. From his first game, through the development of Vagrant Story, we'll explore the evolution of Matsuno's ga…

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Ep.179 – Here Comes An Avalanche with Ryan Shepherd 1:15:12

6M ago1:15:12

1:15:12

In this episode, we embark on a captivating journey through the history of Final Fantasy VII, one of gaming's most iconic titles. Join us as we trace its evolution from a concept envisioned for the SNES to its groundbreaking release on the PlayStation. We'll explore the game's humble beginnings, revisit the pivotal Final Fantasy VI demo that set 3D…

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Ep.178 – Williams Reigns Supreme 53:57

6M ago53:57

53:57

Today, we're going to tell you the history of Defender, the side-scrolling shoot em' up released in 1981. We'll cover its history as part of the career of Eugene Jarvis, its creator. Along the way, we'll look at some of his early work on pinball machines at both Williams and Atari. Finally, we'll talk about what the impact that Defender had on gami…

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Ep.177 – The Great Underground Empire 59:03

6M ago59:03

59:03

We're looking at the history of Infocom, and its most successful title, Zork. Our story begins with the development of Zork, and talks about how the gaming community contributed to its development. It continues with the formation of Infocom, talks about its acquisition by Activision, and looks at how the relationship between the two evolved. We'll …

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Ep.176 – With Great Power... 59:12

7M ago59:12

59:12

We're looking back at the history of Spider-Man, the 1st Spider-Man game, and a few interesting games since for today's discussion. As part of our story, we'll look at how Spider-Man was created. We'll also talk about the creation of the very first Spider-Man video game. Afterwards, we'll look at some of our choices for interesting Spider-Man games…

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Ep.175 – Snakes and Patterns 54:07

7M ago54:07

54:07

Today, we're going to tell you the history of the video game genre, Snake. Our story begins with the history of the Nokia Corporation, and then works its way through the history of snake-type video games. We'll then explore how Nokia and Snake came together to create an important point in gaming history. Let's slither like a snake on today's trip d…

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Ep.174 – 2023 - Year in Review 30:54

7M ago30:54

30:54

Today, we take a look back at our podcast episodes in 2023 by remembering some of the stories we've covered and talking about some of the great things we've learned this year. We also take a look forward and give you a sneak peak at the upcoming year of video game history lessons. Join us for a short episode - a short trip down Memory Card Lane.…

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Ep.173 – Custom Car-Makers 1:05:02

7M ago1:05:02

1:05:02

Today, we're going to take a look at the history of Gran Turismo and its development studio, Polyphony Digital. As part of its history, we'll discuss the early history of Polyphony, and look at the games it developed before the Gran Turismo series. We'll continue by talking about how the team at Polys Entertainment overcame the rejection of its Gra…

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Ep.172 – Poached Eggs 57:07

8M ago57:07

57:07

Today, we'll all learn about Angry Birds, originally released for iOS and Maemo in December 2009. As part of its story, we'll explore the digital subculture known as the demoscene. We'll continue by talking about the creation of its development studio, Rovio, and we'll look at the creation of Angry Birds, in itself. Finally, we'll look at the Angry…

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Ep.171 – The Great Betrayal 1:04:16

8M ago1:04:16

1:04:16

Today, we're going to tell you the story of the Sony PlayStation. We'll start by looking at the early history of Sony. The story continues with the career of Ken Kutaragi, leading up to the SNES-CD project. We'll explore how that joint venture between Sony and Nintendo eventually became the Sony PlayStation. Let's explore some business shenanigans …

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Ep.170 – Educational Games of the 90s 55:37

8M ago55:37

55:37

Today, we'll all learn about Captain Novolin, Rex Ronan: Experimental Surgeon, Packy and Marlon, and Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus, all released for the SNES in the mid 90s. As part of their story, we'll talk about the historical context in which they were created, discussing the 90s and the creation of the ESRB. We'll also briefly talk about how vide…

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Ep.169 – Best Game on the Citadel 1:01:53

8M ago1:01:53

1:01:53

Today, we'll all learn about Mass Effect, originally released for the Xbox 360 In November 2007. As part of its history, we'll tell you about the early history of its development studio, BioWare. Our look at their early titles includes Baldur's Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, all of which have all paved the way for the…

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Ep.168 – An Evolution of Combat 1:17:48

9M ago1:17:48

1:17:48

Embark on a journey into the history of Halo: Combat Evolved with guest, Eric Ball. Explore the early days of Bungie, tracing its formation and early game library, featuring the Marathon Trilogy. Cap off the journey with our own personal experiences with the original Halo. Don't miss out—join us today for a nostalgic trip down Memory Card Lane.…

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Ep.167 – Can You Drive? 1:14:29

9M ago1:14:29

1:14:29

Learn about Twisted Metal, the iconic game series that debuted on the Sony PlayStation in November 1995. Explore how a technology company that revolutionized computer simulations ventured into the video game industry. Discover the game's initial concept and its evolution into a cultural phenomenon. Join us for a chaotic ride on today's trip down Me…

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Ep.166 – The Midnight Dungeon Crawl 1:03:40

9M ago1:03:40

1:03:40

Today, we'll all learn about Gauntlet, originally released as an arcade cabinet in October 1985. As part of its story, we'll learn all about the career of its creator Ed Logg. As we follow Ed Logg's career, we'll also learn about the creation of his other well-known games, including Asteroids and Centipede. Finally, we'll learn all about Dandy, the…

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Ep.165 – Action Archaeology 56:25

9M ago56:25

56:25

Today, we're going to learn about the history of Tomb Raider, originally released for the Sega Saturn on October 24, 1996. As part of its history, we'll look back at the early days of its development studio, Core Design. We'll also talk at length about the development process, itself, and how the game evolved throughout it. Finally, we'll take a lo…

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Ep.164 – A Colossal Landscape 1:06:22

9M ago1:06:22

1:06:22

Today, we'll all learn about Shadow of the Colossus, originally released for the Sony PlayStation 2 on October 18th, 2005. As part of its history, we'll learn all about formation of its development studio, Team Ico, and the early career of its creator, Fumito Ueda. We'll continue the conversation by talking about the development process of Shadow o…

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Ep.163 – This Was A Triumph 1:00:01

10M ago1:00:01

1:00:01

Today, we'll all learn the history of Portal, originally released as part of the Orange Box for Windows and the Xbox 360 on October 10, 2007. As part of its story, we'll learn all about the student project that led to the development team of Portal being created at the Valve Corporation. We'll continue by talking about the development process of Po…

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Ep.162 – What A SCUMM 1:03:56

10M ago1:03:56

1:03:56

Today, we'll all learn about Maniac Mansion, originally released for the Apple II and Commodore 64 in October of 1987. As part of its story, we'll learn all about the early career of its creator, Ron Gilbert. We'll continue by talking about the creation of the SCUMM game engine, upon which the game was built. Finally, we'll talk about our own exper…

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Ep.161 – You Look Like Tony Hawk 58:11

10M ago58:11

58:11

Today, we're going to tell you the story of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, originally released for the Sony PlayStation in September 1999. As part of its story, we'll tell you the history of its development studio, Neversoft. We'll also talk about how Tony Hawk's involvement in the game. Finally, we'll look at the how the Tony Hawk series has progressed t…

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Ep.160 – The Mysterious Island 57:55

10M ago57:55

57:55

Today, we'll all learn about Myst, the graphic adventure game originally released for the Macintosh in September of 1993. As part of its story, we'll learn all about the history of its production studio, now known as Cyan Worlds. We'll also teach you about the careers of Cyan World's founders, brothers Rand and Robyn Miller. Finally, we'll talk abo…

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Ep.159 – Our Princess is in Another Castle 1:03:02

11M ago1:03:02

1:03:02

Today, we'll tell you the story of Super Mario Bros., originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in September of 1985. As part of its story, we'll revisit the careers of two of its creators, Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. While visiting their careers, we'll introduce you to their earlier games that all contributed to the succes…

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Ep.158 – What's In The Box? 1:16:44

11M ago1:16:44

1:16:44

Today, we're going to learn the history of Metal Gear Solid, originally released for the PlayStation in August of 1998. As part of its story, we'll revisit the history of its creator, Hideo Kojima, and talk about the games leading up to his work on Metal Gear Solid. We'll talk about our own experiences with the game, and spend time on the importanc…

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Ep.157 – The Stillwater Gang 53:55

11M ago53:55

53:55

Today, we'll going to learn about Saints Row, the open world game released in August 2006. As part of its story, we'll learn about the history of its development studio, Volition. This includes the career's of Volition's founders, Matt Toschlog and Mike Kulas. We'll also talk about our own experiences with the Saints Row series. Stick around and jo…

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Ep.156 – Would You Kindly with Daniel Rhodabeck 1:11:38

11M ago1:11:38

1:11:38

Today, we're going to learn about the story of Bioshock, the first-person shooter released in August 2007. As part of its story, we'll also look at the career of its lead designer, Ken Levine. Throughout the discussion, we'll learn about all the changes that happened during BioShock's development cycle. We'll also spend some time talking about our …

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Ep.155 – A Microcomputing Adventure 59:02

12M ago59:02

59:02

Today, we'll all learn about Adventure International, a company that developed and published video games from 1979 to 1986. As part of its story, we'll learn all about its creator, Scott Adams and the very 1st adventure game ever written for a personal computer. We'll continue by talking about the entire catalog of games released by Adventure Inter…

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