Owen Rowley

Owen Rowley

Author: Karl Kuras October 3, 2023 Duration: 2:06:56

Starting out as a signals decoder for the air force, through to working for Nolan Bushnell's Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theatre on its ill-fated Kadabrascope animation initiative, Autodesk, VRML and so many others, Owen Rowley is a man of a thousand lives in tech.

Heck, he may have even helped invent the mousepad.

Listen to some amazing stories, from the dawn of the computer age through to the rough and tumble world of the dot com bubble.

Recorded April 2023

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Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/owen-rowley-6040354/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14013035/

The Christmas that Almost Wasn't: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BEIoe_YFEo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Air_Command

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_availability

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_packet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Bushnell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_E._Cheese

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flying_Karamazov_Brothers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Catmull

http://platypuscomix.com/darkvault/misfits/misfit52.html

https://www.showbizpizza.com/info/documents/ptt/ptt_pizzatimes3-1.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sente_Technologies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Bushnell#Catalyst_Technologies_Venture_Capital_Group

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etak

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett-Packard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICANN

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Nelson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk

https://techmonitor.ai/technology/autodesk_releases_the_cyberspace_developer_kit

https://www.keanw.com/2017/03/autodesks-early-role-in-the-vr-revolution.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk_3ds_Max

https://segaretro.org/Ono-Sendai

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RenderWare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Pesce

Servan Keondjian - Direct3D - Interview   https://www.patreon.com/posts/servan-keondjian-75383519

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_Lab

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Douglas-Engelbart

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRML

https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/11/column_cyberbanana_windows/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidelity_Investments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypherpunk

https://web.archive.org/web/20010412094448/http://www.echo.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_People%27s_Money

https://twitter.com/owen93

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensorama

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_Sonoma

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakes_the_Clown

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skidoo_(film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_for_Fake

https://fortune.com/2023/04/27/elon-musk-lawyers-argue-recordings-of-him-touting-tesla-autopilot-safety-could-be-deepfakes/

Copyright 2023 Karl Kuras


Ever wonder what gamers were actually talking about decades ago, before online forums and endless hot takes? Each month, Video Game Newsroom Time Machine hosted by Karl Kuras does exactly that, dusting off the headlines and magazine pages from the past. This isn't just a nostalgia trip; it's a grounded look at the industry's turning points as they happened. You'll hear about the surprising announcements, the forgotten controversies, and the hardware launches that had everyone buzzing-from arcade trends in Japan to home computer wars in Europe and North America. The podcast specifically revisits news from exactly 30, 40, and 50 years prior, creating a unique layered perspective on how video game culture evolved. It’s like sitting in a newsroom from a different era, piecing together the stories that shaped the games we remember today. Tune in for a monthly dose of context, where the past conversations about pixels and processors feel surprisingly fresh and directly connected to the present.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Video Game Newsroom Time Machine
Podcast Episodes
Ed Pearson - Seattle Funplex [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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After the crash, a new type of venue emerged as the dominant force in coin operated video games, the family entertainment center. No longer just video games, but a mix of mini golf, redemption games, food counters and mo…
July 1983 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Atari axes Ray Kassar, Nintendo launches the Famicom & Commodore's Jack Tramiel delivers the killing blow to Texas Instruments These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM This episode we will look back at t…
June 1993 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Street Fighter movie is a go Traditional computer game makers falter Sega's Battle with Nintendo heats up These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in…
Gary Brose - Seattle Funplex [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:47:11
After the crash, a new type of venue emerged as the dominant force in coin operated video games, the family entertainment center. No longer just video games, but a mix of mini golf, redemption games, food counters and mo…
June 1983 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:35:35
40 years ago: TI reports huge losses, Sega gets out of the arcade business in the US & Nintendo prepares to launch the Family Computer These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM This episode we will look b…
May 1993 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:24:28
Super Mario Brothers hits theatres, Blast Processing brings sega to the next level & Id shows off Doom These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in an…
May 1983 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:18:36
The Supreme Court comes to the aid of video games Commodore's Vic20 drops below $100 Electronic Arts ships its first games These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM This episode we will look back at the b…
OpenGL vs. Direct3D with Servan Keondjian and Casey Muratori [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:13:40
At the dawn of 3D acceleration a battle was fought over who would control the APIs that would allow programmers to unlock the power of this new type of PC hardware. Would it be an open source community effort born of Sil…
April 1993 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:47:50
Street Fighter 2 merch goes into overdrive, Nintendo neuters Mortal Kombat & The World Wide Web goes open source These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM This episode we will look back at the biggest sto…
March 1993 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:44:24
Nintendo leaks SNES CD specs Sega touts Genesis VR Mortal Kombat coming to consoles 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…