Gaming Historian

Season 2023

The Gaming Historian is a documentary series all about the history of video games.

Batter Up: Play Super Nintendo With a Baseball Bat
E1
Batter Up: Play Super Nintendo With a Baseball Bat12 years before the Nintendo Wii took over living rooms, Sports Sciences released Batter-Up, a motion-controlled baseball bat for the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, and personal computers. The company claimed it was the first "virtual reality baseball bat." Was it a swing-and-a-miss or a home run? Learn how Batter Up works and the history of Sports Sciences.
The Forgotten Portable NES
E2
The Forgotten Portable NESIn 1990, the hot new trend in the video game industry was handheld systems. The Nintendo Game Boy and Atari Lynx battled for the market, while NEC and Sega had consoles on the way. But there was another handheld coming you may not have heard of: The Express. It was from a small company called BDL Enterprises, and the idea was impressive: A portable version of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)! Why did this console never see the light of day?
The Story of the First Video Game Cartridge
E3
The Story of the First Video Game CartridgeThe humble cartridge is an icon in video game history. But where did it come from? Learn the story behind the first programmable home console - the Fairchild Channel F - and the team behind it. Why couldn't Fairchild capitalize on this revolutionary idea and why did the Channel F console fade into obscurity?