This week on TechStuff, we decided to kick off our metaphorical shoes and have some fun. We took a short break from our more technical topics to look at some subjects that are near and dear to the TechStuff heart. Monday’s episode brought back memories of plunking down quarters to challenge the arcade champion to a game of Mortal Kombat. Wednesday’s show reminded us why we took up knitting just to make our own mile-long scarf.

Monday’s show was our profile on Midway Games. The company started out building games and amusements for carnivals and fairs — the sort of things you’d find on the midway. The company evolved over time, designing games for arcades and other venues. They started with pinball machines and moved to arcade games — launching one of the most famous games ever: Space Invaders. Thanks to Midway Games, we are all familiar with the concept of the high score.

The company is famous for bringing games like Pac-Man to America and Europe as well as publishing titles like Spy Hunter and Discs of Tron. Later, the company received notoriety and criticism when it released Mortal Kombat. The game was phenomenally successful.

Sadly, the company’s fortunes didn’t last. Today, Midway Games no longer exists. Other companies bought up bits and pieces of Midway after it declared bankruptcy in 2009. Many of the franchises will live on — Warner Bros. purchased the Mortal Kombat property and will release a new game in the series next year.

Wednesday’s show was all about another franchise that’s been around for a while. TechStuff welcomed guest host Tracy Wilson of FanStuff fame. Tracy has been writing for HowStuffWorks.com for several years and is my boss. She’s also a Doctor Who fan, which made her the perfect guest for an episode all about the venerable British television series.

Doctor Who launched in 1963 as a horror and science fiction show aimed at a young audience. The series follows the adventures of The Doctor, an alien who uses his time traveling machine called the TARDIS to explore space and time and right wrongs. Over the course of the series, 11 actors have played The Doctor. We talk about how the show explains the different appearances (and personalities) of The Doctor as well as the technology he relies upon when he’s not busy running away from something.

We plan on having guest hosts more often in the future now that we’ve got the new studio space. We’ll probably stick with our fellow coworkers at first. If there’s a tech issue you think we should tackle with one of our fellow writers or editors, let us know!

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