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The Video Game Newsroom Time Machine is a weekly retro gaming podcast in which we travel back in time to see what was making headlines 40, 30, and 20 years ago in the arcade, video game, and computer gaming business and interview industry veterans. 

We try to put those events into historical context to understand how the industry of today came to be. 

It's fun and educational! (in case you need to justify listening to it to a significant other)

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Sep 29, 2022

Magnavox Odyssey goes on sale
VCS games grow up
Atari's 5200 bets on classics

These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM

This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in September 1982.
As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events.

Ethan from the The History of How We Play is our cohost. You can find his other fine retrogaming work here:
https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/
or
https://twitter.com/GameResearch_E

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Send comments on twitter @videogamenewsr2
Or
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Or
videogamenewsroomtimemachine@gmail.com

Links:
7 Minutes in Heaven: Cytron Masters
Video Version: https://www.patreon.com/posts/72623378
https://www.mobygames.com/game/cytron-masters
https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,8515/
Joel Billings - SSI - https://www.patreon.com/posts/36827469

Corrections:
August 1982 Ep - https://www.patreon.com/posts/july-1982-70742832
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_2600_hardware
https://www.bhamwiki.com/w/Aladdin%27s_Castle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial_(video_game)
https://www.mobygames.com/game/atari-2600/communist-mutants-from-space
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_ST
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEM_(desktop_environment)
Leonard Tramiel - Part 2 - Atari - https://www.patreon.com/posts/71643153
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framebuffer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_nut#CornNuts
Mitsubishi Luma Video Phone - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJgBhesWdfg
https://www.technologizer.com/2012/02/12/atari-oddities/9/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Kaplan

1972
Magnavox goes on sale
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94004237/magnavox-odyssey-showing-at-car/
Magnavox's Odyssey 50th Anniversary Special - https://www.patreon.com/posts/72485867

Time Out incorporates
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73836916/time-out-family-amusement-center/
https://arcadeblogger.com/2017/08/18/time-out-arcade-amazing-classic-arcade-pictures/
https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/2021/11/29/why-computer-space-was-a-success/

1982
New penalties for copyright infringement signed into law
Replay Septmeber 1982 pg. 9
Play Meter September 15, 1982 pg. 15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGb7ZbEa0e8
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Myron-Sugerman-ebook/dp/B0773ZWFTJ
https://youtu.be/tvZgqYGEqR0

Restrictions, fee hikes, permits, and bans...
Games People Pay September 4, 11, 18

Distributors aren't accepting trade ins
Play Meter September 15, 1982 pg. 18, 10
https://ubm-twvideo01.s3.amazonaws.com/o1/vault/gdc04/slides/everything_you_need_to.pdf

Atari Coin-Op cuts manpower
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/page/n2/mode/1up

Stern gets out of pinball
Play Meter September 1982 pg. 29
https://www.mobygames.com/company/stern-electronics-inc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern_(game_company)

RePlay adds conversion kits to their annual equipment guide
Replay Septmeber 1982 pg. 3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_conversion
https://www.mobygames.com/game/arcade/mr-do

Zaxxon ad goes national
Play Meter September 1982 pg. 36
https://youtu.be/u3NUO2GFGAI

Sega brings 3D to the arcade
Replay September 1982 pg. 26
https://youtu.be/6Z6PJ6sOmXg
https://www.mobygames.com/game/subroc-3-d
https://www.mobygames.com/game/turbo

Bushnell to return to game making
Games People Pay September 18, 1982 pg. 1
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/page/n3/mode/1up
Roger Hector - Atari, Disney, Sega, Namco, Sente - https://www.patreon.com/posts/72058794
https://www.mobygames.com/company/bally-sente-inc


Pacman screen breaks
https://archive.org/details/video-games-player-volume-1-number-1-fall-1982/page/n8/mode/1up
https://pacman.fandom.com/wiki/Map_256_Glitch

Midway sues Pacman guide book makers
Replay September 1982 pg. 25
https://casetext.com/case/ty-inc-v-publications-international
Games People Pay September 4, 1982 pg. 1

Pacman cartoon debuts
Replay Septmeber 1982 pg. 20
https://youtu.be/t-Ex3Ce1KNU
https://youtu.be/oNyXYPhnUIs
https://youtu.be/Q84HUwBJPxk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Land

Coleco breaks quarterly earnings record
Playthings September 1982 pg. 11
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco

Colecovision gets nearly half a million orders
Toy & Hobby World September 1982
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ColecoVision

Atari bets on classics while Coleco taps into the arcades
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n3/mode/1up
https://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/atari-5200/1982/
https://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/colecovision/1982/

Atari announces 2600 emulator for 5200
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n3/mode/1up
https://web.archive.org/web/20170513013736/http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/5200/cx55.html

Intellivision 2 announced
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/page/n1/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellivision#Intellivision_II

Mattel drops Intellivision Keyboard
Toy & Hobby World September 1982
https://retroconsoles.fandom.com/wiki/Keyboard_Component

Milton Bradley buys GCE
Toy & Hobby World September 1982
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n3/mode/1up

Parker Brothers predicts $200 million in video game sales
Toy & Hobby World September 1982
Tom Dusenberry - Parker Brothers - Hasbro - Atari - https://www.patreon.com/posts/42807419

Games by Apollo expands
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/mode/1up
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/page/n1/mode/1up
https://www.mobygames.com/company/apollo-inc
https://gamehistory.org/wabbit/
https://www.mobygames.com/company/spectravideo-international-ltd

Mattel ships defective carts
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/mode/1up
https://www.mobygames.com/company/mattel-electronics

Porn comes to the VCS
Games People Pay September 4, pg. 2
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/page/n1/mode/1up
https://www.mobygames.com/company/mystique
https://www.mobygames.com/company/jhm-limited
https://kotaku.com/porno-hustlers-of-the-atari-age-1847622176
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troma_Entertainment

Horror comes to the VCS
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/page/n1/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_Video#History
https://www.mobygames.com/company/wizard-video-games

Advertising seen as key to video game sales
Toy & Hobby World September 1982
Michael Katz Part Part 1 - Coleco - Epyx - Mattel - https://www.patreon.com/posts/35169258

Data Age gives away free audio record
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/page/n2/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Huxley
https://www.discogs.com/release/4773502-No-Artist-Mindscape
https://www.mobygames.com/company/data-age-inc
https://youtu.be/un-nOHXKGrk

Bruce Davis named VP of Legal Affairs for Imagic
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/page/n4/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Davis_(video_game_industry)

Atari teams up with McDonald's
https://archive.org/details/Atari_Coin_Connection_Volume_6_Number_7_September-October_1982/page/n1/mode/1up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrsrn-fMHcw

Palmtex gets Game & Watch rights
Toy & Hobby World September 1982
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_%26_Watch

TI rebate hits stocks
Toys Hobbies and Crafts September 1982 pg. 14
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-99/4A

Commodore cuts wholesale prices
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/page/n3/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIC-20
Leonard Tramiel - Part 1 - Commodore - https://www.patreon.com/posts/leonard-tramiel-69195513

Intel introduces the 286
https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1982-09_OCR/page/n61/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_80286

MSDos is the new CPM
https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1982-09_OCR/page/n63/mode/1up
https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1982-09_OCR/page/n496/mode/1up
https://books.google.de/books?id=BzAEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=infoworld+sept+1982&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwitz4i9tKD6AhUL7aQKHQZXDNcQ6AF6BAgKEAI#v=onepage&q=infoworld%20sept%201982&f=false pg. 12
https://classictech.wordpress.com/2021/08/26/vector-graphic-vector-4-dual-processor-system/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_compatible#Non-compatible_MS-DOS_computers:_Workalikes

Tandy expands beyond Radio Shack
https://archive.org/details/1982-09-compute-magazine/page/n7/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Color_Computer

Atari teases new computer
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/62343859/profile-on-atari/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_family
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_family#600XL_and_800XL

Matushita introduces the 3 inch floppy
https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1982-09_OCR/page/n59/mode/1up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk_variants#compact_floppy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_CPC

Creative Software buys Broderbund licenses
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/page/n2/mode/1up
https://www.mobygames.com/company/creative-software-inc
https://www.mobygames.com/company/brderbund-software-inc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epyx_Fast_Load

IBM Charlie Chaplin ads appear
https://archive.org/details/CreativeComputing1982-09/page/n25/mode/2up
https://youtu.be/kQT_YCBb9ao

The Games Network wants your games
https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_2.5/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_2.5/page/n26/mode/1up
http://tgn-inc.com/

First Star Software announced
https://archive.org/details/1982-09-compute-magazine/page/n144/mode/1up
https://www.mobygames.com/company/first-star-software-inc
https://www.mobygames.com/game-group/boulder-dash-series

On-Line Systems changes its name
https://www.mobygames.com/company/sierra-entertainment-inc

Gamestar announces solo Football
https://archive.org/details/arcade_express_v1n4/page/n1/mode/1up
https://www.patreon.com/posts/72097282

Brian Fargo releases the Demon's Forge
https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_2.5/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_2.5/page/n41/mode/1up
https://www.mobygames.com/game/demons-forge
https://www.mobygames.com/game/hunted-the-demons-forge

Invisiclues premiere
https://archive.org/details/softalkv3n01sep1982/page/91/mode/1up
Michael Dornbrook Part 1 - Infocom - https://www.patreon.com/posts/44335732

Milton Bradley takes games analog
Toy & Hobby World September 1982
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4907/pac-man-game
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6598/frogger
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6731/donkey-kong

Video game magazine boom hits
Games People Pay September 4, pg. 5
https://archive.org/details/joystik_magazine
https://archive.org/details/vidiotmagazine_202003/Vidiot%2001%20%28Sep-Oct%201982%29%20Premiere%20Collector%27s%20Issue/
https://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22Videogaming+Illustrated%22
https://twitter.com/GameResearch_E/status/1551241458069504001

D&D movie in the works
Toys Hobbie sand Crafts September 1982
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0063953/?ref_=fn_al_nm_2
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/inside-the-lost-1980s-dungeons-dragons-movie-gary-gygax-loved/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_(film_series)

ET merch anticipation is great
Playthings September 1982 pg. 20
Toy & hobby World September 1982
https://www.ebay.de/itm/252701971251
https://www.mobygames.com/game/donkey-kong/cover-art/gameCoverId,242550/
Toys Hobbies and Crafts September 1982 pg. 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dukes_of_Hazzard#Casting_of_Coy_and_Vance

Recommended Links:
The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/
Gaming Alexandria: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/
They Create Worlds: https://tcwpodcast.podbean.com/
Digital Antiquarian: https://www.filfre.net/
The Arcade Blogger: https://arcadeblogger.com/
Retro Asylum: http://retroasylum.com/category/all-posts/
Retro Game Squad: http://retrogamesquad.libsyn.com/
Playthrough Podcast: https://playthroughpod.com/
Retromags.com: https://www.retromags.com/

Sound Effects by Ethan Johnson of History of How We Play.

Copyright Karl Kuras

Find out on the VGNRTM