It’s another One Life Left special, as we meet Nolan “the father of videogames” Bushnell ahead of his brilliant BAFTA presentation: “My life in videogames.”

 

After a quick interview, we’ve the full, unedited session, so you can experience the event as if you were there. Turn off your mobile phones!

 

Laugh! As Nolan reveals secrets behind the development of Pong!

Cry! As Bushnell reveals some of the things he did wrong when developing the Atari 2600.

Pretend you’re  blind and deaf! When you realise the videos weren’t recorded, so you have to imagine what they were like.

 

It was a top evening, and one you’re all able to enjoy thanks to BAFTA’s generosity.

 

Keep an eye on the BAFTA site for more brilliant games-events worth attending.

 

We’re hoping to do more specials throughout the year, so make sure you’re subscribed through iTunes or the RSS button on the side. It’s our gift to you, because we love you.

Season Finales are meant to offer closure, but What mortal could write an ending for a season that's included all-star contributions from Joe Cornish, Iain Lee and Simon Byron's niece? Only one man: it's official OLL literary expert Steven Poole, author of Trigger Happy, the definitive book about videogames!

Steven's bar-raising appearance not withstanding, what else can you expect from the last episode of OLL for a little while? There's a spectacular three-way song fight between Season 3's most tuneful contributors. There's what Ann declared before the show to be her 'worst news ever', no small feat. There are reviews, there are chiptunes, there are small sobs as we say goodbye. Boo! Hoo!

There's also reference to these awesome listener-contributed remixes which we didn't have time to play:

Spencer Lee's "No Butts"
Blinn's "OLL Amiga Mashup"

Amazing. Thanks, chaps. And thanks to SteVader too, who rescued this show after someone (not us, obviously) broke the Resonance backup machine.

Other Music on #96

The Doctor's in Danger: Mahamajama
Hotncold: Bit The Medusa
The Kat and Marie Waltz: Orenji

And with that One Life Life Season 4 is done, done, done. New listeners, don't fret: twenty-four episodes of varying quality are available on this website or iTunes right now (you can even go back as far as the start of Season 3 if you really want). Old listeners, don't fret either. We'll be back. In a little while. Maybe in less time than you expect.

Why? Well, we talk about that at the end of the show. But the abbreviated version: make sure you're subscribed on iTunes or following our RSS Feed. We'll be running some exclusive subscriber content over our break. And we'll still be broadcasting new content on Resonance 104.4 FM.

One final note: if you've ever considered doing a feature for OLL now is the time to suggest it. We'll be launching season five with a new lineup of contributors and one of them could be you. You should know the address to email by now.


Bye! And don't forget to write / tweet / facebook / stalk,

love,

Ste, Simon and Ann
xxx

OLL faces up to the challenge of a Simon-less show this week in the only way it knows how: by packing in half a dozen features, keeping the libel to a minimum and staying well inside our comfort zone. News. Reviews. Authoritative commentary. You’ll find half-assed attempts at all of those in the penultimate episode of Season 4! Our run of excellent guests continues, too. Dave Green (I’m Dave Green) joins us in the studio to teach us about some more retro hardware. There’s some improvised music and a listener competition, and Ann has a special request for email mischief. Also brilliant returns for Best Worst Game, Odds On O’D and Game For A Laugh. We are fortunate to have them all. You might find there’s some stereo imbalance during some of the recorded features this week. Apparently one of the CD players is a bit off-kilter. Some post-production tinkering only resulted in multiple Audacity crashes – we’ll try and fix it in the live broadcast next week. It’s our finale! Do join us (and our special guest)! Music on #95: Swapping Harpoons with Ron Moss – Poke-1,170 8-Bit Symmetrical Girl – Chalices Of The Past