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Gaming Historian

YouTube channel

Gaming Historian

Gaming Historian is a YouTube channel created by Norman Caruso. Known for its extended documentary-style looks at topics related to historic video games, Gaming Historian posted new videos from 2008 until 2026.

Gaming Historian

Gaming Historian
YouTube channel logo
Born
Norman Caruso

Okinawa, Japan[1]
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2008–2026
GenreDocumentaries
Subscribers1.1 million[2]
Views148 million[2]
Last updated: April 3, 2026

Gaming Historian is a YouTube channel created by Norman Caruso. Known for its extended documentary-style looks at topics related to historic video games, Gaming Historian posted new videos from 2008 until 2026.

History

Gaming Historian is known for what PC Gamer called "Ken Burns-style documentary videos" about video games, including history, hardware, and legal cases.[3] Topics covered on the channel have included The Oregon Trail, a television that had a Super Famicom built into it, the Sega Mega Modem,[3] the first-ever video game cartridge,[4] and the history behind the Nintendo Entertainment System.[5]

At its peak, the channel had over a million followers.[4] A local news outlet in 2022 posited that the channel's popularity came from viewers' connection with its longform documentary style, as the videos "pull on a nostalgia from video game enthusiasts of a certain age that keeps them coming back".[6]

Caruso posted videos to the channel frequently for over a decade starting in 2008.[7][A] He reduced his involvement to part-time in 2024[3] after releasing a particularly work-intensive look into the Oregon Trail series.[7] Two years later, Caruso stepped away from the Gaming Historian, citing concerns with burn out.[9]

Gaming Historian was also a finalist in the gaming category at the 10th Shorty Awards.[10][11]

Universal v. Nintendo documents

Beginning in 2024, Caruso released National Archives and Records Administration-held court documents from Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., a 1982 case where the former alleged that the latter had effectively copied King Kong in creating Donkey Kong.[12][13][14] When he stepped back from the YouTube channel in 2026, he uploaded all of the documents to the Internet Archive for anyone to view.[3][7][15]

Podcast

Caruso co-hosts An Old Timey Podcast, a history-themed podcast, with his wife Kristin.[3][16] Following the retirement of the Gaming Historian channel, An Old Timey Podcast issued a two-part episode about the Donkey Kong case in April 2026 using the Nintendo court documents.[17]

Personal life

Caruso was born in Okinawa, Japan, to a military family.[1] As of 2022, he lived in Kansas City, Missouri.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ As of 2026, the oldest video on the channel is from 2009.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Caruso, Norman (April 2, 2015). History of Gaming Historian - 100K Subscriber Special. Gaming Historian. Retrieved April 11, 2026 – via YouTube.
  2. 1 2 Caruso, Norman. "Gaming Historian". YouTube. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Wagner, Justin (April 3, 2026). "Beloved YouTuber The Gaming Historian moves on from making videos with a 'parting gift': A ton of ancient Nintendo court docs you can browse on the Internet Archive". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on April 3, 2026. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  4. 1 2 Guner, Ediz (April 19, 2024). "Gaming Historian is 'Permanently' Taking a Step Back from YouTube". GameRant. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  5. ↑ Hughes, Marley (January 3, 2026). "10 Best Retro Gaming YouTubers, Ranked". CBR. Archived from the original on April 19, 2026. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  6. 1 2 Barry, Kevin (May 31, 2022). "KC's The Gaming Historian gives gamers a trip down memory lane". FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 Kotzer, Zack (April 4, 2026). "YouTube's Gaming Historian Steps Back After 15 Years". Kotaku. Retrieved April 11, 2026.
  8. ↑ Caruso, Norman (October 22, 2009). NES 2 Top Loader | Gaming Historian (old version). Gaming Historian. Retrieved April 11, 2026 – via YouTube.
  9. ↑ Dulle, Brian (April 8, 2026). "Kansas City's 'Gaming Historian' calls it quits after 15-plus years on YouTube". FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV. Archived from the original on April 8, 2026. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  10. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray (January 16, 2018). "Shorty Awards Nominees: Tiffany Haddish, Lena Waithe Among Those Recognized For Social Media Excellence". Deadline. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Gaming Historian". The Shorty Awards. Archived from the original on April 9, 2026. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  12. ↑ Shutler, Ali (June 28, 2024). "Donkey Kong was almost called something very different". NME. Archived from the original on April 15, 2026. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  13. ↑ Phillips, Tom (June 27, 2024). "Donkey Kong could have been called Kong Dong, Nintendo court documents state". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on October 12, 2025. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  14. ↑ Warren, Mark (June 27, 2024). "Nintendo reveals its Kong Dong in court documents". VG247. Archived from the original on April 16, 2026. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  15. ↑ Bailey, Dustin (April 3, 2026). "Massive Nintendo court document reveal shows Shigeru Miyamoto saw Donkey Kong as a man in a gorilla suit and wanted his original arcade game to be called "Build On"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  16. ↑ McFarren, Damien (April 4, 2026). ""I Will Always Cherish That Chapter Of My Life" - A Million Subs Later, One Of Retro Gaming's Most Famous YouTubers Calls It Quits". Time Extension. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  17. ↑ "The Story of Donkey Kong (Part 1)". An Old Timey Podcast (Podcast). April 15, 2026. Retrieved May 25, 2026.

Further reading