From the SEGA Nomad to the Virtual Boy, gaming history is littered with devices that stumbled at launch but paved the way for the future. In this episode, we dive into the tech that was “half-baked but ahead of its time” - motion controls before Wii, VR before Oculus, cloud gaming before Stadia. We share stories of quirky peripherals, failed handhelds, and bold experiments from SEGA, Nintendo, and more. Sometimes failures, sometimes forgotten gems, these experiments helped shape how and where we play today.

In this episode, we sit down with Jennifer Tsao, a fellow Sega veteran. Before her time as a creative director at SEGA, Jennifer was managing editor for Electronic Gaming Monthly and Next Generation, and she later contributed to VentureBeat and GamesBeat.

Jennifer shares insights from her unique path: what people often misunderstand about casual games, what it takes to run a magazine, and how the early days of 1UP Yours and The 1UP Show helped launch the podcast and YouTube gaming generation we take for granted today.

We talk with David Wood, who has been working on video games since the Genesis era. At SEGA, he helped drive business development by signing titles across Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii. His portfolio ranged from licensed blockbusters like The Golden Compass and Iron Man to SEGA-branded PSP and iPhone games. David later brought his expertise to Sony’s mobile division and Bandai Namco, navigating the unique challenges of working with Japanese teams. He also shares some interesting stories about working for the flash publisher Addicting Games and more recently, Meta.