They Create Worlds

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The games we love reveal something true about who we are, and about the world that made them. They Create Worlds is a podcast about the people, technology, and forces that built the video game industry.

Through video game history, the show looks at how culture, business, and technology shaped what we play, tracing the choices and circumstances that led to the games so many people around the world enjoy.

Each episode digs into where games came from, who made them, and why they were made the way they were. Business decisions, technological shifts, and creative choices all shaped what ended up on screen, and the show covers all of it together, not just one piece in isolation.

Hosted by Alex Smith and Jeffrey Daum, They Create Worlds grew out of long conversations about the strange corners of the industry and the patterns that only show up when you look across companies, platforms, and decades. That conversational feel remains, built on careful research, clear structure and editing that makes even the deepest topics easy to listen to.

History turns out to be less settled than it looks. New documents surface, memories conflict, and the clean stories about why things happened the way they did rarely survive contact with the evidence. The show digs into all of that, following the creative and business forces that pushed and pulled on each other, and uncovering the human stories that lie beneath the games so many people around the world enjoy.

New episodes are released twice a month.

Episodes

Jul 15, 2026

Vectrex

Jul 15, 2026

1hr 33 min

TCW Podcast Episode 262 - Vectrex

The Vectrex came with its own screen, plastic color overlays, and roots in the aerospace industry. GCE brought Smith Engineering in to design and develop digital watch games, then calculator games, before the two companies set their sights on a full home console. That console had to include its own display because home televisions could not support vector graphics. The idea took shape when engineer John Ross came across a one-inch CRT designed for aircraft instruments, and that sparked the push toward a vector-based home console. GCE knew they were too small to compete in a saturated market on their own, so they sought out a larger company with the manufacturing and marketing muscle to give the Vectrex a real shot. Milton Bradley acquired GCE in September 1982. The Vectrex launched at $199 that holiday season, right into the Video Game Crash, and cost Milton Bradley $31.6 million before Hasbro bought what was left in 1984.

TCW 199 - The History of Handheld Games Part 2: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW199-the-history-of-handheld-games-part-2

Major Matt Mason: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sNoiDT0BMw

Creepy Crawlers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJOd3pPUcEo

TCW 025 - Matel Electronics?: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW025-mattel-electronics

TCW 177 - The Intellivision Part 1: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW177-the-intellivision-part-1

TCW 178 - The Intellivision Part 2: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW178-the-intellivision-part-2

GCE Game Time Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bf1ShRP0sU

GCE Arcade Time Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sgPMbbyfyw

GCE Sports Time Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9K0Ty5MVr0

GCE Chase N Counter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeXaPOwrPq4

GCE Space N Counter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXaBH2hVnZ4

TCW 009 - The History of Mediagenic Part 1: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW009-history-of-mediagenic-part-1