About This Episode A fake sick day, a borrowed Ferrari, a principal on the warpath, and one unforgettable parade through downtown Chicago. In this Backtrack, we’re revisiting Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, John Hughes’ classic 1986 comedy about skipping school, seizing the moment, and somehow making it all look effortless. Forty years later, we’ll talk about […]

Before consoles, before cartridges, before anyone had a joystick in their living room, there was Pong. In 1972, a young Atari engineer named Allan Alcorn was handed what he thought was a simple training exercise by co-founder Nolan Bushnell, build a basic ping-pong game to learn the hardware. Instead, he created the game that launched the video game industry. In this video, we dig into the origin story of Pong, from its predecessors to its home console release through Sears in 1975 — and why this ridiculously simple game became the spark that put a controller in the hands of an entire generation. If you grew up chasing that little white square across the screen, this one's for you. #videogamehistory #atari #pong #atari-pong #arcadehistory #arcadegames - SHOP http://genxgrownup.com/amazon http://GenXGrownUp.com/merch - PODCAST http://GenXGrownUp.com/pod - SUPPORT US https://patreon.com/genxgrownup - WEB & SOCIAL http://GenXGrownUp.com/discord https://twitch.tv/genxgrownup http://fb.me/GenXGrownUp https://bsky.app/profile/genxgrownup.com https://www.tiktok.com/@genxgrownup https://www.instagram.com/genxgrownup/ http://GenXGrownUp.com - SPONSORS Fightbox » https://genxgrownup.com/fightbox King of Nerds » http://kingofnerds.tv Order of Cosmic Champions » http://www.orderofcosmicchampions.com - CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:35 - Willie Higinbotham 01:43 - Ralph E Baer 02:19 - Magnavox Odyssey 03:49 - Atari 06:10 - Lawsuits 06:58 - Closing

About This Episode We check in on the high profile sporting event that brought the world to the U.S., test drive a self-hosted application to make downloading YouTube videos a snap, and play a retro-inspired first-person shooter that pits you against a sinister cult! Participate in our listener questionnaire & automatically get entered in a […]

About This Episode Martial arts. Ancient sorcerers. Monsters. Kurt Russell driving a big rig. Somehow, Big Trouble in Little China managed to cram all of that into one unforgettable movie. This time, we’re revisiting John Carpenter’s cult classic and discussing why Gen X fans still can’t get enough of Jack Burton and the Pork-Chop Express. […]

About This Episode We take a trip to Eternia to see the new big-screen adventures of Prince Adam’s alter ego, test drive a new budget-friendly 4K video capture card, and play the new remaster of fan-favorite ’90s interactive horror-puzzle game! Participate in our listener questionnaire & automatically get entered in a drawing for a $50 […]

About This Episode Before binge-watching and streaming took over, one wisecracking alien from the planet Melmac became a television sensation. In this Backtrack, we’re looking back at ALF, the hit 1980s sitcom that brought an unexpected extraterrestrial into the Tanner family’s home—and into living rooms around the world. We’ll revisit the laughs, the characters, and […]