Play Value(2007)
DocumentaryComedy
First Air Date: 2007-07-30
Average Runtime: 8m
Rating: 0.0
Votes: 0
Seasons: 1
Episodes: 22
This series traces the sweeping history of video games—from the golden age of arcades to the home‑console revolution that reshaped the industry. Through fast‑paced commentary and archival insight, it explores how hits like Space Invaders, Pac‑Man, and Donkey Kong fueled an arcade boom, why the market collapsed in the early 1980s, and how Nintendo revived gaming with the NES. The story expands into the fierce rivalry between Atari and Nintendo, the global battle for Tetris rights, and the constant cycle of innovation that defined consoles from the 1970s through the 2000s. Blending humor with industry analysis, the episode shows how creativity, competition, and a few spectacular missteps shaped modern gaming.
Top Cast
Seasons & Episodes
Season 1
Episodes: 22E01
You Can Keep Your Quarters: The Death of Arcades
Air Date: 2007-07-30
Back in the day, people left their homes to play video games! Hosts discuss the rise of arcades and all the old schoo...
E02
Up from the Ashes: The Rise of Nintendo
Air Date: 2007-07-30
Nintendo's long trek from playing cards to gaming monopoly. While most Americans thought video games were a fad, Nint...
E03
Ashes to Ashes: The Fall of Atari
Air Date: 2007-08-16
The stunning rise and steep decline of Atari. Atari started the home video game, quickly becoming the fastest growing...
E04
Splitting the Iron Curtain: A Brief History of Tetris
Air Date: 2007-08-23
You won't believe the drama behind one of the best loved games of all-time. Tetris is not only one of the most univer...
E05
Atari-gate!: The Theft of Nintendo's Code
Air Date: 2007-08-30
The history of the bitter feud between Atari and Nintendo. In the high-stakes world of early console gaming, Nintendo...
E06
The Dirty Dozen: 12 Failed Consoles — Part One
Air Date: 2007-09-13
The trashcans of the past are stuffed with consoles that didn't catch on. From the Atari 5200 and the ill fated Ninte...
E07
The Dirty Dozen: 12 Failed Consoles — Part Two
Air Date: 2007-09-28
More video game consoles that failed to attract fans. The continuing saga of consoles that couldn't cut the mustard. ...
E08
The Fight of the Century: Sega vs. Nintendo
Air Date: 2007-10-25
Remember when Sonic and Mario went head to head? Video game rivalries are no joke, especially considering the billion...
E09
I am Outraged!: Controversy in Gaming
Air Date: 2007-11-15
Sex and violence in video games is a potent issue and has been for quite some time. It may surprise you to know that ...
E10
Two Gorillas and a Leather Company: ColecoVision
Air Date: 2007-11-29
The story of an upstart leather company that took on a corporate titan. ColecoVision could've been the next big thing...
E11
You Don't Know Jack: Introducing the Commodore 64
Air Date: 2008-02-12
This little computer rocked the gaming world. Back in the day, the Commodore 64 came screaming out of the gates into ...
E12
From Score to Story and Back: Return of the Arcade!
Air Date: 2008-02-25
The arcade is back! You might not have noticed, but it returned to the gaming scene. After the advent of home gaming ...
E13
We Have Awakened a Sleeping Giant!: Nintendo Angers Sony
Air Date: 2008-03-10
This rivalry tells us an important story about electronics in the 20th century. Based on the information that Sony ac...
E14
Shigeru Miyamoto: The Father of Modern Video Games
Air Date: 2008-04-17
Game designer Shigeru Miyamoto has set the gold standard for gaming. If you play a fair amount of home video games, o...
E15
Gaming Mascots: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Air Date: 2008-04-17
Follow the various video game mascots during the late '80s to the late '90s. Video game mascots used to be all the ra...
E16
30 Years in the Making: Women in Gaming
Air Date: 2008-05-15
Did you know that almost half of the world's gamers are women? Since the beginning, gaming has most often been associ...
E17
From Dust to Doom: The Two Johns
Air Date: 2008-05-22
Meet the two most famous American game designers. While video game designers aren't rock stars, there were two who go...
E18
Nolan & Ralph: The Founding Fathers
Air Date: 2008-06-05
The Founding Fathers—the men who started it all. The video game industry is thought of as having started in the early...
E19
The Unsung Heroes: Game Controllers
Air Date: 2008-06-25
A history of gaming's unsung hero: the controller. While good hardware and creative software are both key, the contro...
E20
We Hardly Knew Ye: R.I.P. Sega Dreamcast
Air Date: 2008-07-08
The Sega Dreamcast was one of the greatest game consoles ever released. Usually, the history of video game failures i...
E21
Mine!: Gaming and Copyright
Air Date: 2008-09-29
Landmark lawsuits exploded as the video game industry struggled to define itself. In video games' early days, the law...
E22
College Dreams: The Story of General Computer
Air Date: 2008-11-11
Two students, without money or contacts, found their own way into the game business. In 1981, A couple of MIT student...
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