Episode 547: 1983, the Summer That Changed Everything (Patreon)

Jeremy: Back when Retronauts relaunched (a startling 10 years ago this month), we led with an episode looking back three decades to the advent of the Nintendo Famicom and Sega SG-1000 on the same day: July 15, 1983. Now, we revisit that topic, but now with the maturity and extra insight that the past decade has brought to us podcasters. In the time since that long-ago episode, I've spent a lot more time exploring this period of video game history, including having played the first two and a half years of Famicom releases, the entire SG-1000 library, and games by competitors like Epoch as well, which means I have a much better sense of what the heck I'm talking about this time around. On top of that, I'm joined by historians with a specific interest in that period, Kevin Bunch and Rob Russo, who can speak to those events with authority—not just the Nintendo and Sega part, but the context of what was happening elsewhere in the world and the competition that existed in the Japanese market at the time. Although we do touch on some of the same material that we explored in episode 1 of the podcast, this episode is completely different in tone and scope than the previous conversation. Viva la difference!

Edits: Greg Leahy; art: John Pading

• 04:16 - Theme from The A-Team
• 14:38 - WarGames OST: Video Fever
• 29:54 - The Beach Boys: "Little Honda"
• 38:15 - Risky Business OST: No Future (Get off the Babysitter)
• 46:14 - Yellow Magic Orchestra: "Kimi ni, mune kyun"
• 57:12 - Yellow Magic Orchestra: "Kai-Koh"
• 1:08:31 - Styx: "Mr. Roboto"
• 1:17:14 - Eurythmics: "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
• 1:24:21 - Madonna: "Borderline" | Borderline (SG-1000): Main Theme
• 1:32:43 - Donkey Kong Jr. Math: Exercises
• 1:45:24 - Star Jacker (SG-1000): Title Theme
• 1:55:26 - The Police: "Every Breath You Take"
• Closing - Yellow Magic Orchestra: "Wild Ambitions"