Announcer

Get in touch with technology with Tech Stuff from www.HowStuffWorks.com.

Chris Pollette

Hello, everyone. Welcome to Tech Stuff. My name is Chris Pollette, and I am an editor here at www.HowStuffWorks.com. Sitting across from me as he always does is senior writer, Jonathan Strickland.

Jonathan Strickland

Flawless victory.

Chris Pollette

Nice.

Jonathan Strickland

Yeah. We decided we were going to do a profile not on a person, but on a company, a company that has ceased to be.

Chris Pollette

Sort of.

Jonathan Strickland

It has rung up the curtain and joined the choir in Vazul.

Chris Pollette

Well, ceased to be as an independent company.

Jonathan Strickland

Yeah. We’re talking about Midway Games. Midway Games has a special place in my heart because they actually publish one of my favorite video games of all time.

Chris Pollette

Gee, which one would that be?

Jonathan Strickland

Well, you might have two or three titles going through your head.

Chris Pollette

Yeah, but considering your quote.

Jonathan Strickland

No, it is not that one.

Chris Pollette

It’s not that one?

Jonathan Strickland

It’s not Mortal Kombat.

Chris Pollette

Really?

Jonathan Strickland

It’s probably the most famous title that Midway published, but it’s not the one that’s my favorite.

Chris Pollette

Okay, which one is your favorite?

Jonathan Strickland

Spy Hunter.

Chris Pollette

That’s mine too.

Jonathan Strickland

You got the Peter Gunn theme, and you got the cool spy car with guns and stuff. I like the old, old classic Spy Hunter game.

Chris Pollette

We’re talking the one that you look down on top of the car, not the remake where you’re in the car. Although, that one’s kind of fun too.

Jonathan Strickland

Yeah. The overhead view, especially the ones that had the cockpit style console, so you were sitting down, and you were completely enveloped. You just had that Peter Gunn theme playing and glorious, glorious low fidelity.

Midway Games has sadly fallen on hard times to the point where the company is no more than just a name, really, at this point. Let’s kind of set the whole story here.

Going way back to the ’60s, Midway was a company that was developing and producing equipment for amusement parks and fairgrounds. The name made sense. The Midway. That was the area of a carnival where you would find all the games.

Chris Pollette

Right.

Jonathan Strickland

And rides as well. That’s the midway. Midway starts off developing various games for amusement parks. In 1969, they were purchased by another company that became known for producing lots of games and amusements, Bally.

For those of you who have listened to our pinball podcast, you may have heard us talk about Bally. We were actually talking about Midway as well because both companies did produce pinball machines.

Back then, that’s pretty much what the coin-operated divisions of these companies were concentrating on, producing pinball machines.