Russ Frushtick

Well, I mean, the big milestones that people think of are probably the jump from 2D to 3D. So in the mid 90s, you know, you had the original Super Mario Brothers and then Super Mario 64 comes out. And that's the first time you see that game in three dimensions. So that was a pretty big leap.

Well, I mean, the big milestones that people think of are probably the jump from 2D to 3D. So in the mid 90s, you know, you had the original Super Mario Brothers and then Super Mario 64 comes out. And that's the first time you see that game in three dimensions. So that was a pretty big leap.

And then obviously these days, you know, you mentioned the difference between Tennis for Two and Fortnite, for example, is night and day. It's amazing the level of fidelity and realism that you could find in video games today. But you're right. A lot of it is just small incremental improvements year after year after year.

And then obviously these days, you know, you mentioned the difference between Tennis for Two and Fortnite, for example, is night and day. It's amazing the level of fidelity and realism that you could find in video games today. But you're right. A lot of it is just small incremental improvements year after year after year.

Is it purposeful to make a game addicting? Yes. My general attitude is that I think games are made to be fun and as fun as possible. And frequently, to create something that is as fun as possible, you want to make something that someone does not want to put down, does not want to stop playing.

Is it purposeful to make a game addicting? Yes. My general attitude is that I think games are made to be fun and as fun as possible. And frequently, to create something that is as fun as possible, you want to make something that someone does not want to put down, does not want to stop playing.

And obviously, people with impulse control issues might play way too much, spend all their days playing the same game over and over and over again. That's not ideal. But certainly in a capitalist society where people are trying to make money selling video games, that is somewhat of the end goal, right? Is to just get people playing the game a lot, a lot, a lot.

And obviously, people with impulse control issues might play way too much, spend all their days playing the same game over and over and over again. That's not ideal. But certainly in a capitalist society where people are trying to make money selling video games, that is somewhat of the end goal, right? Is to just get people playing the game a lot, a lot, a lot.

Well, you have gravity, which is a key component to amusement parks back then. Some of the earliest amusement parks were just cars that were placed on tracks and just kind of shoved down a hill at a very fast speed. I've early examples of some roller coasters that were looping roller coasters without electricity, which is about as dangerous and horrifying as you can imagine.

Well, you have gravity, which is a key component to amusement parks back then. Some of the earliest amusement parks were just cars that were placed on tracks and just kind of shoved down a hill at a very fast speed. I've early examples of some roller coasters that were looping roller coasters without electricity, which is about as dangerous and horrifying as you can imagine.

And yet people were just pushing the boundaries of that. So there's always been a desire, I think, to kind of cheat death in a somewhat safe way. But looking at these photos, not that safe.

And yet people were just pushing the boundaries of that. So there's always been a desire, I think, to kind of cheat death in a somewhat safe way. But looking at these photos, not that safe.

Absolutely. Yeah. Disneyland, when it opened, was a major shift in terms of how people kind of approach theme parks, amusement parks. Ironically, even though it ended up being an enormous success, the first day of Disneyland was a total disaster. They handed out tickets for people to come.

Absolutely. Yeah. Disneyland, when it opened, was a major shift in terms of how people kind of approach theme parks, amusement parks. Ironically, even though it ended up being an enormous success, the first day of Disneyland was a total disaster. They handed out tickets for people to come.

They sold tickets and all of the tickets that they sold ended up getting counterfeited and scalped such that they were about four or five times more tickets than could actually be allowed in the park. which resulted in giant traffic lineups for miles on end.

They sold tickets and all of the tickets that they sold ended up getting counterfeited and scalped such that they were about four or five times more tickets than could actually be allowed in the park. which resulted in giant traffic lineups for miles on end.

And then when people came to the park, it was an extraordinarily hot day that first day at Disneyland, and people's shoes were actually melting into the asphalt because it hadn't fully set yet. And there was a plumbing strike. And the plumbing was not functioning. So people looking to get water to kind of cool down were totally out of luck. So it was a very unlucky day.

And then when people came to the park, it was an extraordinarily hot day that first day at Disneyland, and people's shoes were actually melting into the asphalt because it hadn't fully set yet. And there was a plumbing strike. And the plumbing was not functioning. So people looking to get water to kind of cool down were totally out of luck. So it was a very unlucky day.

But obviously, we know Disney came out OK in the long run.

But obviously, we know Disney came out OK in the long run.

I mean, there were pretty spectacular amusement parks before Disneyland. You know, we look to Luna Park and Coney Island obviously had their heyday in the early 1900s. And they were astonishing. I mean, just enormous light shows and everything. various rides of complexity. People would really come from all around to experience that.

I mean, there were pretty spectacular amusement parks before Disneyland. You know, we look to Luna Park and Coney Island obviously had their heyday in the early 1900s. And they were astonishing. I mean, just enormous light shows and everything. various rides of complexity. People would really come from all around to experience that.

I think later on, as the interest in amusement parks kind of waned, places like Coney Island did develop a seedier reputation. But when they first started, they were really just the height of entertainment for people.

I think later on, as the interest in amusement parks kind of waned, places like Coney Island did develop a seedier reputation. But when they first started, they were really just the height of entertainment for people.

Yes. So there's a place called Wonderland Kalkar in Germany. This is an amusement park you can go to today. It's open. And it is set in a nuclear power plant

Yes. So there's a place called Wonderland Kalkar in Germany. This is an amusement park you can go to today. It's open. And it is set in a nuclear power plant

not an active one it is off but it was actually built as a nuclear power plant but never functioned because germany pulled the plug literally right after it was built so you have the giant cooling towers you have everything you would need for a nuclear power plant but inside of it is this wild amusement park there's actually a giant swing within the cooling towers so if you've ever wanted to experience that uh there's really only one place in the world you can do that

not an active one it is off but it was actually built as a nuclear power plant but never functioned because germany pulled the plug literally right after it was built so you have the giant cooling towers you have everything you would need for a nuclear power plant but inside of it is this wild amusement park there's actually a giant swing within the cooling towers so if you've ever wanted to experience that uh there's really only one place in the world you can do that

It seems kind of weird, strange, odd. So there's a small town in Spain that actually hosts an annual baby jumping festival. It is as weird as it sounds, but it is a traditional festival. And the idea is that in order to ensure the health and luck of newborn babies, The parents of the town will place their children on the street in the middle of the street. They clear it out.

It seems kind of weird, strange, odd. So there's a small town in Spain that actually hosts an annual baby jumping festival. It is as weird as it sounds, but it is a traditional festival. And the idea is that in order to ensure the health and luck of newborn babies, The parents of the town will place their children on the street in the middle of the street. They clear it out.

There's obviously no traffic or anything. And then people dressed up as devils will leap over the babies and and sort of rattle their, they've got some noise-making devices, and make a whole scene. And because of that, I guess, it shows that these babies experienced a very near close call, if you will, to having a demon curse them.

There's obviously no traffic or anything. And then people dressed up as devils will leap over the babies and and sort of rattle their, they've got some noise-making devices, and make a whole scene. And because of that, I guess, it shows that these babies experienced a very near close call, if you will, to having a demon curse them.

And by jumping right over them, the babies are forever safe from any illness or bad luck. So it kind of really made me want to visit. Spain obviously has the classic tomato festival, which is also pretty spectacular. So maybe I'll do a two for one day. That is my dream.

And by jumping right over them, the babies are forever safe from any illness or bad luck. So it kind of really made me want to visit. Spain obviously has the classic tomato festival, which is also pretty spectacular. So maybe I'll do a two for one day. That is my dream.

Yeah, I think the modern version of that is cosplay, which is short for costume play. And it's basically people dressing up as their favorite characters at events like Comic-Con. But what's really cool about cosplay is that people have started coming up with kind of mashups between the characters. You know, there's so many people dressing up as Wolverine, for example. So people have started...

Yeah, I think the modern version of that is cosplay, which is short for costume play. And it's basically people dressing up as their favorite characters at events like Comic-Con. But what's really cool about cosplay is that people have started coming up with kind of mashups between the characters. You know, there's so many people dressing up as Wolverine, for example. So people have started...

Mashing it up with so there's like a Jedi Wolverine, for example.

Mashing it up with so there's like a Jedi Wolverine, for example.

It was very successful. It was based on a James Bond movie of the same name, and they decided to make a video game based on it, and they wanted to release it on Nintendo's system, which was the Nintendo 64. Now, Nintendo, traditionally known as this family-friendly, happy-go-lucky company that really didn't have a lot of violence, a lot of guns in their game,

It was very successful. It was based on a James Bond movie of the same name, and they decided to make a video game based on it, and they wanted to release it on Nintendo's system, which was the Nintendo 64. Now, Nintendo, traditionally known as this family-friendly, happy-go-lucky company that really didn't have a lot of violence, a lot of guns in their game,

And they didn't know for sure that it was going to be the right fit. In fact, the creator of Super Mario Brothers, Shigeru Miyamoto, said, I will let you release this game on the Nintendo 64, but only if you add one scene to it.

And they didn't know for sure that it was going to be the right fit. In fact, the creator of Super Mario Brothers, Shigeru Miyamoto, said, I will let you release this game on the Nintendo 64, but only if you add one scene to it.

And the scene he wanted to add was James Bond approaching all of the people that he shot throughout the game in a hospital and shaking their hand at the end of the game just to hammer home that no one was actually injured in the making of the game. How'd that game do? It did amazingly well. It's one of the most well-known games that came out on the Nintendo 64.

And the scene he wanted to add was James Bond approaching all of the people that he shot throughout the game in a hospital and shaking their hand at the end of the game just to hammer home that no one was actually injured in the making of the game. How'd that game do? It did amazingly well. It's one of the most well-known games that came out on the Nintendo 64.

So board games are extremely old. We're talking about like ancient Egypt, 3100 BCE is the general approximation of where we think board games started. The earliest known one is called Senate. We have no idea how this game was played precisely. It seems like it kind of mixed the rules depending on where you were, but they go back a long ways.

So board games are extremely old. We're talking about like ancient Egypt, 3100 BCE is the general approximation of where we think board games started. The earliest known one is called Senate. We have no idea how this game was played precisely. It seems like it kind of mixed the rules depending on where you were, but they go back a long ways.

Yeah, I think board games just don't have a limitation on technology, right? The technology to play chess hasn't changed in thousands of years. So the idea that someone could play the same game today that you could back then is amazing. And I think people really are enraptured by that.

Yeah, I think board games just don't have a limitation on technology, right? The technology to play chess hasn't changed in thousands of years. So the idea that someone could play the same game today that you could back then is amazing. And I think people really are enraptured by that.

I think there are some people that find Monopoly a little bit taxing, but I think it is the core of it is people like taking financial risks without any actual stakes beyond, you know, wasting time for three hours. So I think that's why people love it. But Monopoly in particular has a very fascinating origin story where this woman created a game called the Landlord's Game. And then

I think there are some people that find Monopoly a little bit taxing, but I think it is the core of it is people like taking financial risks without any actual stakes beyond, you know, wasting time for three hours. So I think that's why people love it. But Monopoly in particular has a very fascinating origin story where this woman created a game called the Landlord's Game. And then

other sort of profiteers, if you will, took the idea, called it monopoly, and it kind of got usurped. So she, in later years, got credit for it. But delving into that history is really fascinating.

other sort of profiteers, if you will, took the idea, called it monopoly, and it kind of got usurped. So she, in later years, got credit for it. But delving into that history is really fascinating.

So basically, the head of security who is running the game, he was in charge of making sure that the game was secure for McDonald's. decided, hey, I could just funnel these few winning game pieces to people that I know and kind of launder the winning game pieces that way. And they ended up making a ton of money until they were caught by the FBI and spent some time in jail.

So basically, the head of security who is running the game, he was in charge of making sure that the game was secure for McDonald's. decided, hey, I could just funnel these few winning game pieces to people that I know and kind of launder the winning game pieces that way. And they ended up making a ton of money until they were caught by the FBI and spent some time in jail.

So unfortunately, it didn't work out for them in the long run, but it was pretty fascinating.

So unfortunately, it didn't work out for them in the long run, but it was pretty fascinating.

The belief is that we're looking at like kind of corn husk dolls, stuff like that. Very simple. Again, we're talking about thousands of years ago. No one really knows for sure the very first quote toy or doll. But because the technology was so simple back then that all you really needed was like a piece of string, twine, whatever that you bundled together.

The belief is that we're looking at like kind of corn husk dolls, stuff like that. Very simple. Again, we're talking about thousands of years ago. No one really knows for sure the very first quote toy or doll. But because the technology was so simple back then that all you really needed was like a piece of string, twine, whatever that you bundled together.

And then suddenly some kid has this device in their hands that they could have some fun with.

And then suddenly some kid has this device in their hands that they could have some fun with.

The fascinating thing about Lego is today the largest manufacturer of tires is Lego. They make the most tires in the world because of those little tiny rubber tires they put on the cars and Lego boxes.

The fascinating thing about Lego is today the largest manufacturer of tires is Lego. They make the most tires in the world because of those little tiny rubber tires they put on the cars and Lego boxes.

The guy who created it was a naval engineer, and he was working on submarines, actually, and found the Slinky. just like in his development of various engines and other mechanics that had to exist in these submarines, it was just sort of like on his desk and he accidentally knocked it over and suddenly it did its, you know, classic slinky thing. And he's like, I could probably sell this.

The guy who created it was a naval engineer, and he was working on submarines, actually, and found the Slinky. just like in his development of various engines and other mechanics that had to exist in these submarines, it was just sort of like on his desk and he accidentally knocked it over and suddenly it did its, you know, classic slinky thing. And he's like, I could probably sell this.

And that's a lot of these classic toys kind of come out from that, just like as accidents, like total mistake.

And that's a lot of these classic toys kind of come out from that, just like as accidents, like total mistake.

They started pretty simply. The guy who created Legos in the first place was just kind of making wooden toys. And he kept at that until his toy factory actually burned down. And he decided maybe we'll try this plastic thing. In the 1950s and 60s, he sort of evolved...

They started pretty simply. The guy who created Legos in the first place was just kind of making wooden toys. And he kept at that until his toy factory actually burned down. And he decided maybe we'll try this plastic thing. In the 1950s and 60s, he sort of evolved...

his work into including more plastic devices and toys and and came up with this idea of having these kind of bricks that snap together. Unfortunately, his factory burned down again. Separate factory also burned down. He rebuilt again. Thankfully, the next factory actually stuck around for a while and he was able to build this sort of conglomerate of Lego.

his work into including more plastic devices and toys and and came up with this idea of having these kind of bricks that snap together. Unfortunately, his factory burned down again. Separate factory also burned down. He rebuilt again. Thankfully, the next factory actually stuck around for a while and he was able to build this sort of conglomerate of Lego.

And now the fascinating thing about Lego is today The largest manufacturer of tires is Lego. They make the most tires in the world because of those little tiny rubber tires that they put on the cars in Lego boxes.

And now the fascinating thing about Lego is today The largest manufacturer of tires is Lego. They make the most tires in the world because of those little tiny rubber tires that they put on the cars in Lego boxes.

So Rubik, after the classic Rubik's Cube, is Erno Rubik, who is Hungarian. And in 1974, he kind of created the cube that we know of. He was a toy maker, but he just came up with this idea of these blocks that you can kind of twist and rotate independently of one another. And out of that came this kind of puzzle box that just took the world by storm.

So Rubik, after the classic Rubik's Cube, is Erno Rubik, who is Hungarian. And in 1974, he kind of created the cube that we know of. He was a toy maker, but he just came up with this idea of these blocks that you can kind of twist and rotate independently of one another. And out of that came this kind of puzzle box that just took the world by storm.

Today, actually, there is a concept called speed cubing, where people try to solve the Rubik's Cube as quickly as possible. I think the latest record as of right now is 3.47 seconds, which is much, much shorter than I am capable of doing it.

Today, actually, there is a concept called speed cubing, where people try to solve the Rubik's Cube as quickly as possible. I think the latest record as of right now is 3.47 seconds, which is much, much shorter than I am capable of doing it.

So people don't precisely know exactly when squirt guns or water guns were invented. The earliest record of them even being mentioned was in 1858 at Amherst College. It seems that students were having a bit of a war. They called it the squirt gun riot, and they were kind of firing water guns at each other throughout the college. So that was kind of like not exactly...

So people don't precisely know exactly when squirt guns or water guns were invented. The earliest record of them even being mentioned was in 1858 at Amherst College. It seems that students were having a bit of a war. They called it the squirt gun riot, and they were kind of firing water guns at each other throughout the college. So that was kind of like not exactly...

You know the birth of them because obviously they existed before that but no one really knows when or where they started But it wasn't until the late 1800s that it actually got like patented and officially sold The first one was called the USA liquid pistol and then people started making money on them But before that yeah, it was very much like kind of a total mystery

You know the birth of them because obviously they existed before that but no one really knows when or where they started But it wasn't until the late 1800s that it actually got like patented and officially sold The first one was called the USA liquid pistol and then people started making money on them But before that yeah, it was very much like kind of a total mystery

Yeah, it's amazing because the water gun did not change for like 150 years. And then this guy, Lonnie Johnson, came around. This was in 1989. And he invented the super soaker. And he came up with the idea. We could just use water pressure to fill this giant tank and get all sorts of range that you couldn't previously get if you were just like a little plastic junky squirt gun.

Yeah, it's amazing because the water gun did not change for like 150 years. And then this guy, Lonnie Johnson, came around. This was in 1989. And he invented the super soaker. And he came up with the idea. We could just use water pressure to fill this giant tank and get all sorts of range that you couldn't previously get if you were just like a little plastic junky squirt gun.

And he just revolutionized the entire water gun industry. Pretty amazing.

And he just revolutionized the entire water gun industry. Pretty amazing.

So there's a little bit of debate, but the general consensus is that the very first video game was called Tennis for Two. It came out in 1958, and if you wanted to run it in your home, you couldn't because it basically needed... nuclear-powered computers to run it.

So there's a little bit of debate, but the general consensus is that the very first video game was called Tennis for Two. It came out in 1958, and if you wanted to run it in your home, you couldn't because it basically needed... nuclear-powered computers to run it.

A guy who created it was named William Higginbottom, and he actually used the computers in his nuclear power plant to engineer and create this piece of software just for fun. They would have an annual event where they would basically invite people from the public to come into the plant and see what they were working on.

A guy who created it was named William Higginbottom, and he actually used the computers in his nuclear power plant to engineer and create this piece of software just for fun. They would have an annual event where they would basically invite people from the public to come into the plant and see what they were working on.

And just as a demonstration of their computers, he created this game called Tennis for Two.

And just as a demonstration of their computers, he created this game called Tennis for Two.

It's kind of great, surprisingly, for being the very first video game. It's a very complicated physics-based recreation of tennis. You actually see the ball bouncing realistically from left to right. It's much more involved than Pong, which I'm sure everyone is more familiar with. But yeah, it was pretty amazing and is still very playable today if you manage to find a machine that can run it.

It's kind of great, surprisingly, for being the very first video game. It's a very complicated physics-based recreation of tennis. You actually see the ball bouncing realistically from left to right. It's much more involved than Pong, which I'm sure everyone is more familiar with. But yeah, it was pretty amazing and is still very playable today if you manage to find a machine that can run it.

I believe the last time that I played it was at the Museum of the Moving Image, which is in Queens, New York. They had a version of Tennis for Two that you could actually play.

I believe the last time that I played it was at the Museum of the Moving Image, which is in Queens, New York. They had a version of Tennis for Two that you could actually play.

Well, I mean, the big milestones that people think of are probably the jump from 2D to 3D. So in the mid 90s, you know, you had the original Super Mario Brothers and then Super Mario 64 comes out. And that's the first time you see that game in three dimensions. So that was a pretty big leap.

And then obviously these days, you know, you mentioned the difference between Tennis for Two and Fortnite, for example, is night and day. It's amazing the level of fidelity and realism that you could find in video games today. But you're right. A lot of it is just small incremental improvements year after year after year.

Is it purposeful to make a game addicting? Yes. My general attitude is that I think games are made to be fun and as fun as possible. And frequently, to create something that is as fun as possible, you want to make something that someone does not want to put down, does not want to stop playing.

And obviously, people with impulse control issues might play way too much, spend all their days playing the same game over and over and over again. That's not ideal. But certainly in a capitalist society where people are trying to make money selling video games, that is somewhat of the end goal, right? Is to just get people playing the game a lot, a lot, a lot.

Well, you have gravity, which is a key component to amusement parks back then. Some of the earliest amusement parks were just cars that were placed on tracks and just kind of shoved down a hill at a very fast speed. I've early examples of some roller coasters that were looping roller coasters without electricity, which is about as dangerous and horrifying as you can imagine.

And yet people were just pushing the boundaries of that. So there's always been a desire, I think, to kind of cheat death in a somewhat safe way. But looking at these photos, not that safe.

Absolutely. Yeah. Disneyland, when it opened, was a major shift in terms of how people kind of approach theme parks, amusement parks. Ironically, even though it ended up being an enormous success, the first day of Disneyland was a total disaster. They handed out tickets for people to come.

They sold tickets and all of the tickets that they sold ended up getting counterfeited and scalped such that they were about four or five times more tickets than could actually be allowed in the park. which resulted in giant traffic lineups for miles on end.

And then when people came to the park, it was an extraordinarily hot day that first day at Disneyland, and people's shoes were actually melting into the asphalt because it hadn't fully set yet. And there was a plumbing strike. And the plumbing was not functioning. So people looking to get water to kind of cool down were totally out of luck. So it was a very unlucky day.

But obviously, we know Disney came out OK in the long run.

I mean, there were pretty spectacular amusement parks before Disneyland. You know, we look to Luna Park and Coney Island obviously had their heyday in the early 1900s. And they were astonishing. I mean, just enormous light shows and everything. various rides of complexity. People would really come from all around to experience that.

I think later on, as the interest in amusement parks kind of waned, places like Coney Island did develop a seedier reputation. But when they first started, they were really just the height of entertainment for people.

Yes. So there's a place called Wonderland Kalkar in Germany. This is an amusement park you can go to today. It's open. And it is set in a nuclear power plant

not an active one it is off but it was actually built as a nuclear power plant but never functioned because germany pulled the plug literally right after it was built so you have the giant cooling towers you have everything you would need for a nuclear power plant but inside of it is this wild amusement park there's actually a giant swing within the cooling towers so if you've ever wanted to experience that uh there's really only one place in the world you can do that

It seems kind of weird, strange, odd. So there's a small town in Spain that actually hosts an annual baby jumping festival. It is as weird as it sounds, but it is a traditional festival. And the idea is that in order to ensure the health and luck of newborn babies, The parents of the town will place their children on the street in the middle of the street. They clear it out.

There's obviously no traffic or anything. And then people dressed up as devils will leap over the babies and and sort of rattle their, they've got some noise-making devices, and make a whole scene. And because of that, I guess, it shows that these babies experienced a very near close call, if you will, to having a demon curse them.

And by jumping right over them, the babies are forever safe from any illness or bad luck. So it kind of really made me want to visit. Spain obviously has the classic tomato festival, which is also pretty spectacular. So maybe I'll do a two for one day. That is my dream.

Yeah, I think the modern version of that is cosplay, which is short for costume play. And it's basically people dressing up as their favorite characters at events like Comic-Con. But what's really cool about cosplay is that people have started coming up with kind of mashups between the characters. You know, there's so many people dressing up as Wolverine, for example. So people have started...

Mashing it up with so there's like a Jedi Wolverine, for example.

It was very successful. It was based on a James Bond movie of the same name, and they decided to make a video game based on it, and they wanted to release it on Nintendo's system, which was the Nintendo 64. Now, Nintendo, traditionally known as this family-friendly, happy-go-lucky company that really didn't have a lot of violence, a lot of guns in their game,

And they didn't know for sure that it was going to be the right fit. In fact, the creator of Super Mario Brothers, Shigeru Miyamoto, said, I will let you release this game on the Nintendo 64, but only if you add one scene to it.

And the scene he wanted to add was James Bond approaching all of the people that he shot throughout the game in a hospital and shaking their hand at the end of the game just to hammer home that no one was actually injured in the making of the game. How'd that game do? It did amazingly well. It's one of the most well-known games that came out on the Nintendo 64.

So board games are extremely old. We're talking about like ancient Egypt, 3100 BCE is the general approximation of where we think board games started. The earliest known one is called Senate. We have no idea how this game was played precisely. It seems like it kind of mixed the rules depending on where you were, but they go back a long ways.

Yeah, I think board games just don't have a limitation on technology, right? The technology to play chess hasn't changed in thousands of years. So the idea that someone could play the same game today that you could back then is amazing. And I think people really are enraptured by that.

I think there are some people that find Monopoly a little bit taxing, but I think it is the core of it is people like taking financial risks without any actual stakes beyond, you know, wasting time for three hours. So I think that's why people love it. But Monopoly in particular has a very fascinating origin story where this woman created a game called the Landlord's Game. And then

other sort of profiteers, if you will, took the idea, called it monopoly, and it kind of got usurped. So she, in later years, got credit for it. But delving into that history is really fascinating.

So basically, the head of security who is running the game, he was in charge of making sure that the game was secure for McDonald's. decided, hey, I could just funnel these few winning game pieces to people that I know and kind of launder the winning game pieces that way. And they ended up making a ton of money until they were caught by the FBI and spent some time in jail.

So unfortunately, it didn't work out for them in the long run, but it was pretty fascinating.

The belief is that we're looking at like kind of corn husk dolls, stuff like that. Very simple. Again, we're talking about thousands of years ago. No one really knows for sure the very first quote toy or doll. But because the technology was so simple back then that all you really needed was like a piece of string, twine, whatever that you bundled together.

And then suddenly some kid has this device in their hands that they could have some fun with.

The fascinating thing about Lego is today the largest manufacturer of tires is Lego. They make the most tires in the world because of those little tiny rubber tires they put on the cars and Lego boxes.

The guy who created it was a naval engineer, and he was working on submarines, actually, and found the Slinky. just like in his development of various engines and other mechanics that had to exist in these submarines, it was just sort of like on his desk and he accidentally knocked it over and suddenly it did its, you know, classic slinky thing. And he's like, I could probably sell this.

And that's a lot of these classic toys kind of come out from that, just like as accidents, like total mistake.

They started pretty simply. The guy who created Legos in the first place was just kind of making wooden toys. And he kept at that until his toy factory actually burned down. And he decided maybe we'll try this plastic thing. In the 1950s and 60s, he sort of evolved...

his work into including more plastic devices and toys and and came up with this idea of having these kind of bricks that snap together. Unfortunately, his factory burned down again. Separate factory also burned down. He rebuilt again. Thankfully, the next factory actually stuck around for a while and he was able to build this sort of conglomerate of Lego.

And now the fascinating thing about Lego is today The largest manufacturer of tires is Lego. They make the most tires in the world because of those little tiny rubber tires that they put on the cars in Lego boxes.

So Rubik, after the classic Rubik's Cube, is Erno Rubik, who is Hungarian. And in 1974, he kind of created the cube that we know of. He was a toy maker, but he just came up with this idea of these blocks that you can kind of twist and rotate independently of one another. And out of that came this kind of puzzle box that just took the world by storm.

Today, actually, there is a concept called speed cubing, where people try to solve the Rubik's Cube as quickly as possible. I think the latest record as of right now is 3.47 seconds, which is much, much shorter than I am capable of doing it.

So people don't precisely know exactly when squirt guns or water guns were invented. The earliest record of them even being mentioned was in 1858 at Amherst College. It seems that students were having a bit of a war. They called it the squirt gun riot, and they were kind of firing water guns at each other throughout the college. So that was kind of like not exactly...

You know the birth of them because obviously they existed before that but no one really knows when or where they started But it wasn't until the late 1800s that it actually got like patented and officially sold The first one was called the USA liquid pistol and then people started making money on them But before that yeah, it was very much like kind of a total mystery

Yeah, it's amazing because the water gun did not change for like 150 years. And then this guy, Lonnie Johnson, came around. This was in 1989. And he invented the super soaker. And he came up with the idea. We could just use water pressure to fill this giant tank and get all sorts of range that you couldn't previously get if you were just like a little plastic junky squirt gun.

And he just revolutionized the entire water gun industry. Pretty amazing.

So there's a little bit of debate, but the general consensus is that the very first video game was called Tennis for Two. It came out in 1958, and if you wanted to run it in your home, you couldn't because it basically needed... nuclear-powered computers to run it.

A guy who created it was named William Higginbottom, and he actually used the computers in his nuclear power plant to engineer and create this piece of software just for fun. They would have an annual event where they would basically invite people from the public to come into the plant and see what they were working on.

And just as a demonstration of their computers, he created this game called Tennis for Two.

It's kind of great, surprisingly, for being the very first video game. It's a very complicated physics-based recreation of tennis. You actually see the ball bouncing realistically from left to right. It's much more involved than Pong, which I'm sure everyone is more familiar with. But yeah, it was pretty amazing and is still very playable today if you manage to find a machine that can run it.

I believe the last time that I played it was at the Museum of the Moving Image, which is in Queens, New York. They had a version of Tennis for Two that you could actually play.