A free game on Steam was still noteworthy in 2010, so bored kids throughout America are setting about making their own fun in Moonbase Alpha. But will the people who made it be able to capitalize on its unexpected success?

Get over 50 bonus episodes of IFTI for just $1 at https://www.patreon.com/IFTIpod

You can review this episode's document with sources (and pictures) at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIPodMoonbaseAlphaDoc

Submit episode concepts at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIpodIdeas, or contact the show directly at [email protected]

Created and Hosted by

Winslow Dumaine - www.winslowdumaine.com/

Jay Brandstetter - linktr.ee/jaybrandstetter

Produced and Edited by:

Steve Brown - linktr.ee/killhamster

Intro and Outro music is "in failure" by steveisbroke off of their album "steve and his week of wonders", used with permission. https://steveisbroke.bandcamp.com/album/steve-and-his-week-of-wonders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2010, a free online game from NASA took the internet by storm. But before we get to the fun shenanigans, where did this game come from? Why was it made? And why is the Army credited on a NASA project aimed at children?

Get over 50 bonus episodes of IFTI for just $1 at https://www.patreon.com/IFTIpod

You can review this episode's document with sources (and pictures) at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIPodMoonbaseAlphaDoc

Jay's guest episodes on Scandalous Games:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1780299/episodes/19040075-jack-thompson-v-rockstar-with-jay-brandstetter-from-i-m-from-the-internet-part-1-bully-bullies-bully

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1780299/episodes/19118754-jack-thompson-v-rockstar-with-jay-brandstetter-from-i-m-from-the-internet-part-2-bully-bully-bullied

Submit episode concepts at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIpodIdeas, or contact the show directly at [email protected]

Created and Hosted by

Winslow Dumaine - www.winslowdumaine.com/

Jay Brandstetter - linktr.ee/jaybrandstetter

Produced and Edited by:

Steve Brown - linktr.ee/killhamster

Intro and Outro music is "in failure" by steveisbroke off of their album "steve and his week of wonders", used with permission. https://steveisbroke.bandcamp.com/album/steve-and-his-week-of-wonders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've got a fun art thing going on, let's just introduce a little bit of commerce to it...

Get over 50 bonus episodes of IFTI for just $1 at https://www.patreon.com/IFTIpod

You can review this episode's document with sources (and pictures) at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIPodHitRECordDoc

Submit episode concepts at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIpodIdeas, or contact the show directly at [email protected]

Created and Hosted by

Winslow Dumaine - www.winslowdumaine.com/

Jay Brandstetter - linktr.ee/jaybrandstetter

Produced and Edited by:

Steve Brown - linktr.ee/killhamster

Intro and Outro music is "in failure" by steveisbroke off of their album "steve and his week of wonders", used with permission. https://steveisbroke.bandcamp.com/album/steve-and-his-week-of-wonders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Remember that one young white dude that was in a ton of movies in the late 2000s and early 2010s? No, not Shia LaBeouf, think smarmier and more frictionless. That's right, Joseph Gordon-Levitt! He was cool in Inception and Looper was good, I wonder what he's been up to since then...

Get over 50 bonus episodes of IFTI for just $1 at https://www.patreon.com/IFTIpod

You can review this episode's document with sources (and pictures) at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIPodHitRECordDoc

Submit episode concepts at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIpodIdeas, or contact the show directly at [email protected]

Created and Hosted by

Winslow Dumaine - www.winslowdumaine.com/

Jay Brandstetter - linktr.ee/jaybrandstetter

Produced and Edited by:

Steve Brown - linktr.ee/killhamster

Intro and Outro music is "in failure" by steveisbroke off of their album "steve and his week of wonders", used with permission. https://steveisbroke.bandcamp.com/album/steve-and-his-week-of-wonders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Ouya is launching, now it just needs to find games and an audience before the crowdfunding dries up.

This week we are joined by special guest and muckraking expert Frost of Rivia. Check out his videos and writing at https://linktr.ee/theotherfrost

Get over 50 bonus episodes of IFTI for just $1 at https://www.patreon.com/IFTIpod

You can review this episode's document with sources (and pictures) at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIPodOuyaDoc

Submit episode concepts at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIpodIdeas, or contact the show directly at [email protected]

Created and Hosted by

Winslow Dumaine - www.winslowdumaine.com/

Jay Brandstetter - linktr.ee/jaybrandstetter

Produced and Edited by:

Steve Brown - linktr.ee/killhamster

Intro and Outro music is "in failure" by steveisbroke off of their album "steve and his week of wonders", used with permission. https://steveisbroke.bandcamp.com/album/steve-and-his-week-of-wonders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The OUYA is The Little Console That Couldn't. This tiny metal cube promised to democratize videogaming, to the tune of millions of dollars on Kickstarter. The revolution they promised never arrived, but we got a fun story out of the attempt.

This week we are joined by special guest and muckraking expert Frost of Rivia. Check out his videos and writing at https://linktr.ee/theotherfrost

Get over 50 bonus episodes of IFTI for just $1 at https://www.patreon.com/IFTIpod

You can review this episode's document with sources (and pictures) at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIPodOuyaDoc

Submit episode concepts at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIpodIdeas, or contact the show directly at [email protected]

Created and Hosted by

Winslow Dumaine - www.winslowdumaine.com/

Jay Brandstetter - linktr.ee/jaybrandstetter

Produced and Edited by:

Steve Brown - linktr.ee/killhamster

Intro and Outro music is "in failure" by steveisbroke off of their album "steve and his week of wonders", used with permission. https://steveisbroke.bandcamp.com/album/steve-and-his-week-of-wonders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Beanie Babies reaching their natural saturation point and new fads springing up, Ty Warner takes a dramatic swing at changing the entire brand.

Get over 50 bonus episodes of IFTI for just $1 at https://www.patreon.com/IFTIpod

You can review this episode's document with sources (and pictures) at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIPodBeanieBabiesDoc

Submit episode concepts at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIpodIdeas, or contact the show directly at [email protected]

Created and Hosted by

Winslow Dumaine - www.winslowdumaine.com/

Jay Brandstetter - linktr.ee/jaybrandstetter

Produced and Edited by:

Steve Brown - linktr.ee/killhamster

Intro and Outro music is "in failure" by steveisbroke off of their album "steve and his week of wonders", used with permission. https://steveisbroke.bandcamp.com/album/steve-and-his-week-of-wonders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beanie Babies are ascendant, reaching over a billion dollars in annual sales in just a few years. And the one of the people most responsible for their success, the creator of their website, is still being paid $12 an hour.

Get over 50 bonus episodes of IFTI for just $1 at https://www.patreon.com/IFTIpod

You can review this episode's document with sources (and pictures) at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIPodBeanieBabiesDoc

Submit episode concepts at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIpodIdeas, or contact the show directly at [email protected]

Created and Hosted by

Winslow Dumaine - www.winslowdumaine.com/

Jay Brandstetter - linktr.ee/jaybrandstetter

Produced and Edited by:

Steve Brown - linktr.ee/killhamster

Intro and Outro music is "in failure" by steveisbroke off of their album "steve and his week of wonders", used with permission. https://steveisbroke.bandcamp.com/album/steve-and-his-week-of-wonders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the back half of the 1990s, polyethylene pellets could be more valuable than gold if you knew who to sell them to. Beanie Babies were not only a crash course on the perils of speculative assets, but one of the foundations of early e-commerce and online community building. In the first of three parts, we look at the history of the teddy bear and Ty Warner's early stabs at the plush market as well as the early years of Beanie Babies and the inception of their website.

Get over 50 bonus episodes of IFTI for just $1 at https://www.patreon.com/IFTIpod

You can review this episode's document with sources (and pictures) at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIPodBeanieBabiesDoc

Submit episode concepts at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIpodIdeas, or contact the show directly at [email protected]

Created and Hosted by

Winslow Dumaine - www.winslowdumaine.com/

Jay Brandstetter - linktr.ee/jaybrandstetter

Produced and Edited by:

Steve Brown - linktr.ee/killhamster

Intro and Outro music is "in failure" by steveisbroke off of their album "steve and his week of wonders", used with permission. https://steveisbroke.bandcamp.com/album/steve-and-his-week-of-wonders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi-ya! Karate kicking our way into the new millennium, we go back to the Something Awful forums once again. A poster named Scoots Magoo is making some jokes about Vin Diesel, and a man named Ian Spector is going to spend the next twenty years taking credit for them. Meanwhile, Chuck Norris uses his newfound youth fame to espouse some very old man talking points.

Get over 50 bonus episodes of IFTI for just $1 at https://www.patreon.com/IFTIpod

You can review this episode's document with sources (and pictures) at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIPodChuckNorrisFactsDoc

Submit episode concepts at https://tinyurl.com/IFTIpodIdeas, or contact the show directly at [email protected]

Created and Hosted by

Winslow Dumaine - www.winslowdumaine.com/

Jay Brandstetter - linktr.ee/jaybrandstetter

Produced and Edited by:

Steve Brown - linktr.ee/killhamster

Intro and Outro music is "in failure" by steveisbroke off of their album "steve and his week of wonders", used with permission. https://steveisbroke.bandcamp.com/album/steve-and-his-week-of-wonders

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.