VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 20: March 1981

In episode number 20 of Video Wizards, we travel back the furthest yet: all the way to March 1981. With baby Ben keeping his parents awake all night with his lung and vocal chord exercises and Michiel celebrating his 5th birthday, the arcade game scene is typified by innovation and the establishing of brand newContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 20: March 1981”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 19: Winter 1990 / 1991

In the 19th episode of Video Wizards, we again travel back to 3 months in one single episode: December 1990 and January and February in 1991. And we find ourselves in a tumultuous time, with a lot of political twists and turns on the world stage and the arcade industry being on the brink ofContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 19: Winter 1990 / 1991”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 18: Autumn 1986

In the 18th episode of Video Wizards, we again travel back to 3 months in one single episode: September, October and November, all in the year 1986. And do things get more 1980s than this one? Perhaps not when arcade games like Out Run and movies like Top Gun see a release in this timeContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 18: Autumn 1986”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 15: April 1992

In this episode of the Video Wizards Podcast we’re traveling back to April 1992 to an arcade landscape that differs wildly from the one we left in the last episode. In the wake of 1991’s Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, we find the scene reinvigorated, with big budget games and showy machines occupying theContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 15: April 1992”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 13: February 1982

In this episode, the Video Wizards travel back further in time than they ever have, all the way to February 1982. In this month, SEGA make a splash with the visually striking axonometric space shooter Zaxxon while Atari revisits Asteroids in a tethered fashion for Space Duel. Gaming’s first diva appears in the form ofContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 13: February 1982”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 12: January 1997

In this episode of Video Wizards, we travel to January 1997 to witness the sad slow demise of the arcades in Western Europe, with cabinets getting replaced by slot machines in all but the last remaining dedicated gaming halls. But in these bright and colourful sanctuaries, there’s still a lot of video game fun toContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 12: January 1997”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 11: December 1989

In this final Video Wizards Podcast episode of 2020, we travel back 31 years, to the month of December 1989. With the last holiday season of the 1980s upon us, we are visited by Santa Haggar, backed up by Cody and Guy, for Capcom’s genre redefining Final Fight. Konami, meanwhile, set out their own brawlingContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 11: December 1989”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 8: September 1995

The 8th episode of the Video Wizards Podcast is a huge one: we travel to a little bit over the middle of the mid 90s, namely the month of September in the year 1995. This is a real moment of transition, where 3D polygons start eclipsing 2D graphics in popularity, both in the arcades andContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 8: September 1995”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 7: August 1990

In episode number 7 of the Video Wizards Podcast we travel to August in the first year of the 90s. It’s a new decade, filled with the hope to wrestle itself from under the looming nuclear threat of the 1980s, but a war that’s far from cold is about to kick off in the GulfContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 7: August 1990”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 3: April 1986

In the third episode of the Video Wizards Podcast we’re traveling a bit further back again, to April 1986, and enter the Fantasy Zone for some unique shoot ’em up stylings by SEGA. Japanese developers continue making their mark as we also look at a string of Capcom hitters like Trojan, Gun.Smoke and Section ZContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 3: April 1986”