← Who Smarted? - Educational Podcast for Kids
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- [00:01]
A
Hey, smarty pants. It's me, the trusty narrator. Winter break is almost here and so is our ocean adventure. Who Smarted sea camp. On December 29th and 30th, you can join me for three different one hour live video adventures where we explore amazing sea creatures, underwater volcanoes, and the deepest part of the ocean, the mysterious Mariana Trench. And even do hands on experiments. Play games and design your own control panel to steer the SS Smarty Sub. Now, right now, your family can get a flex pass for just $45. Good for any show at any time. Pick the sessions that work for you, or come to them all. And here's the even cooler part. I'll be there to chat with you live during the adventure. That's right. I can't wait. But keep this in mind. All discounts end December 22nd and the price will go up to $59. So if your family wants to join the adventure, now is the best time to grab your pass and save to WhoSmarted.com and click Sea Camp to get your $45 Flex Pass today. That's WhoSmarted.com and click Se Camp. I can't wait to see you and chat with you live in the sea. And now it's time for who Smarted? Hey, smarty pants, quick question. Have any of you played a video game recently? Oh, cool. What'd you play? Roblox? Minecraft? Fortnite Brawl Stars? Or did you play a Sonic Legend of Zelda or Mario Brothers game? Excellent. Now let me ask you this. To play these video games, did you have to go anywhere? I'm guessing no. These days, almost anyone can play their favorite games right at home. But imagine if you couldn't. Imagine if you had to leave your home and go out. Um, actually, this sounds way too pleasant. Sound guy, can you make it a little more dramatic, please?
- [02:07]
B
You got it. Cue the typhoon.
- [02:10]
A
There you go. Imagine if you had to leave your home in the pouring rain and trudge uphill in the cold just to play your favorite video game. Oh, and you run very fast because your pockets are filled with tons of quarters and it's dark out and the streets are filling with huge puddles. And then a car drives through one and splashes dirty street water all over you. Sounds terrible, right? Well, that was once a reality for kids everywhere who just wanted to play some video games. That's right, smarty pants. Playing your favorite game wasn't as easy as grabbing a smartphone or a controller to your gaming console. Smarty pants. Do you know the name of the place you had to visit to play video games. Is it A, the library.
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B
Shh.
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A
B, the deli.
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B
Okay, trusty, here's your meat. Enjoy.
- [03:03]
A
Or C, the arcade. If you said c, the arcade, you are right. Back in the day, you had to go to an arcade to find video games, and each game would cost you at least one quarter. Now, you may have heard our who smarted? Episodes on video games and arcades. But what about the devices that brought video games for from the arcades into your home? Do you know what they're called? If you said gaming consoles, nice job. But what were the earliest gaming consoles like? What are some of the best? What's coming up in the future? And what event almost ruined home video games forever? It's time for another whiff of history, science, and pixelated fun on who smarted.
- [03:53]
B
Who'S smarted? Who's smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science or history? Listen up, everyone. We make smarting lots of fun. But who's smarted?
- [04:15]
A
Okay, smarty pants, we all know video games are super popular, but about how many people play them? Is it A, 500 million? B, 3.3 billion, or C, 7.2 billion? The answer is B, at least 3.3 billion. And that number is growing Compared to most board games, sports games, birthday party games, and arcade games like pinball. Video games are relatively new. Smarty pants, when did people start playing video games in arcades? Was it the 1950s, the 1960s, or the 1970s? The answer is the 1970s, over 50 years ago. But how about video games at home? When did people start playing those? Was it during the 1990s, the 1980s, or the 1970s? The answer, once again, is the 1970s. The 70s. That's right. In the 1970s, people no longer had to brave the wind, rain, and cold in order to go to the arcade to play video games. Why, they could play video games right from the comfort of their groovy pad, Complete with shag carpet and beaded curtains. And those games sounded just like this. Yep, that's it. Just some blips, some dots, and some lines. You can just imagine their reaction.
- [05:42]
B
Whoa. This is so cool.
- [05:46]
A
That's right. Even though console games back then were pretty basic, Being able to play video games at home was new and exciting. Smartypants, do you know the name of the first commercial home video game console? Was it A, the magnavox odyssey, B, the Atari 2600, or C, the Xbox 360? If you said C, you're a little ahead of the game. And if you said B. Sorry, that's not right either. After scientists created the first computer games and research labs and universities during the 1950s and 60s, engineer Ralph Baer and his team of programmers developed the first console to play multiple games with multiple players. It had a basic controller with dials and could be used on most televisions. The games were very simple, without music or color. The name of Bear's device was simple too. The brown Box. It was first sold commercially in 1972 as a the Magnavox Odyssey. Now I know what you're thinking, smarty pants. The Odyssey. Who plays that? The answer is nobody. The Odyssey was a total flop. But other programmers had seen it in action, including Atari founders Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. And they created the first hugely successful arcade game that looked a lot like the Odyssey's tennis game. So much so that Atari was accused of copying it. Smartypants, do you know what this game was called? Was it A Blip, B, Ping, or C Pong.
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B
It's Pong.
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A
Yep. Pong was a massive hit at the arcades. And soon Atari created a home version for its new joystick controlled, multi colored gaming console. Later called the 2600. Pong was just one of many games that made Atari the video game champion of the 70s and early 80s. Other hits include Space Invaders, Missile Command, Pitfall, and Asteroids.
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B
Woo hoo. The fun doesn't stop.
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A
Ah, but it did. These at home. Games, while better than Pong, were still basic compared to arcade games because the home gaming console did not have the computer power that the bigger arcade games had. Atari also let numerous companies develop games for its devices, and soon there were too many. Some games became classics, but a lot were bad, including one based on the legendary Steven Spielberg movie. ET no, no, no. That's from the movie, which is amazing. The game is more like this. It was just terrible. It's so bad. It's often called the worst game ever created. And it helped doom Atari. By 1983, gamers abandoned their consoles for computers like the Commodore 64 or the One named after a fruit. During the video game crash of 1983, several Atari game makers went out of business and it looked like game over for the entire console industry. That is until 1985, when a small playing card company in Japan entered the market. And smarty pants, you know this company.
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B
Nintendo.
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A
That's right, the Nintendo Entertainment System brought gaming back in a big way. As you may know from our who smarted episode on Nintendo, the NES ruled the late 80s with its catchy music storytelling adventures and improved Graphics.
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B
It's so cool. Way better than Pong.
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A
The quality still wasn't as good as arcade games, but it was vastly superior to what came before it. Gamers were back playing at home with instant classics like Super Mario Brothers, Metroid, the Legend of Zelda and Tetris. Then Nintendo rocked the world again in 1989 with another console. Any ideas what that was called, smarty pants? Was it A gamecube, B Game Boy, or C Lynx? The answer is B Game Boy, which became the world's most popular portable video game console.
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B
Woohoo. I can play video games outside now. Check it out. I'm gaming and touching grass.
- [10:12]
A
Nintendo really had no equal until 1991. That's when the Sega Corporation introduced a new blue fast moving character for its breakthrough game console, the Genesis. Smarty pants. Do you know the name of this character? Is it A, Dory the Fish, B, Bob the Builder, or C Sonic the Hedgehog? If you said C Sonic, you're right. The popularity of Sonic and the Sega Genesis led to the first console war.
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B
Oh man, I don't know which one to get. Should I go with Sega Genesis or Nintendo? I mean Genesis is 16 bit, which looks way better than the NES. But Nintendo just came out with a Super Nintendo which is also 16 bit. What do I do? Hi, maybe I can help. I'm an Atari and I have. Whoa, sit down Atari. I don't care about you anymore.
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A
As Atari lost out to Nintendo and Sega in the 1990s, there was a lot of talk about bits. Smartypants, what do you think bits referred to? Was it A, the number of colors, B, the processing or thinking power, or C, the number of games a system can store at a time? While back then consoles didn't store any games. Each game was a single cartridge that you'd pop into the console to play. Bits referred to be the processing or thinking power. The 16 bit systems like the Genesis and Super Nintendo had a lot more processing power than the 8 bit NES. So they had better colors, gameplay and music. Whoa. Each new generation of gaming consoles would increase the number of bits until the Nintendo 64 in 1996. At that point, the processing power became so strong there's been no need to go any higher. And that's why you don't hear much about bits today. What you do still hear about is another gaming console that knocked Nintendo off its throne. And we'll find out what it is right after this quick break and a word from our sponsors. Now back to who smarted. By the year 2000. The blips of Pong were a distant memory, as were Atari and Sega. However, a new player emerged, threatening to sink Nintendo. It was originally designed for Nintendo until their agreement fell apart. It's a gaming console that took advantage of new 3D technology, allowing you to explore a game in any direction. And it made hits from titles like Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Gran Turismo, and Metal Gear Solid. Later versions had games like Grand Theft Auto, Marvel's Spider man, and the Last of Us.
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B
I don't even know what to say.
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A
This is so awesome, Smarty pants. Do you know the name of this gaming console? Is it a Dreamcast, B Xbox, or C PlayStation? The answer, of course, is C. Sony's PlayStation. The year 2000 gave us the PlayStation 2, which became the best selling game console of all time.
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B
Whoa, look at those graphics. I'm never gonna leave my house again. Although I gotta say, the Xbox is pretty cool too. Maybe I'll just get both. That should do it, right?
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A
Yes and no. Nintendo's answer to Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox was a console that set itself apart by offering games controlled by movement.
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B
Whoa, look, I'm making it move by moving my arms.
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A
Smarty pants. Do you know what that console was called? Was it the Wii, The Neo Geo, or the Redbox? If you said the Wii, you're right. Throughout the 2000 and tens versions of the Wii, PlayStation and Xbox ruled the gaming community. But in the second half of the decade, Nintendo would merge its motion technology with its portable gaming system to create something else unique. The Switch.
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B
Oh, wow. It couldn't possibly get any cooler or more realistic than this. Whoa. What's all this VR stuff about?
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A
Yep, the future of gaming seems to be moving toward virtual reality, with Sony, Meta, Apple and others developing VR consoles. But with so many online games available on your smartphone or tablet, the future of gaming might already be in your hands. So now, instead of going to an arcade to play the best video games, you can take them with you anywhere. But you still need to check the weather. Should have brought my umbrella. A big shout out to our super smarty fan, Moby from Chicago, Illinois, who loves who smarted because he gets to learn about interesting things he never would have heard about otherwise. Plus, it helps keep him entertained while he has to do boring things like chores. Way to go, Moby. Thanks for smarting and subscribing to WhoSmarted this episode. Video game consoles was written by Dave Bowser Beaudry and voice by Adam Tetris Davis and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction and sound design by Josh the Hedgehog Han. Our associate producer is Max Ratchet and Clank Kamasky. The theme song is by Brian Life is Strange Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis. Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colber. This has been an Atomic Audio production.
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B
Who Smarted.