Midway - What Happened?

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SSFF's Cool FPS Console Ports: • Quake Ports (N64/Sat/P...
Liam Robertson's This is Vegas Video: • Cancelled $60million G...
Edited By: / guarascia
SkeleMatt Art By: / krooked_glasses
Intro By: / 2manysnacks and / littlevmills
Music List:
NBA Jam - Main Menu
Mojo X - Skipping on a Riff
Bruno Freitas - When Night Falls
Pac-Man - Will You Continue
Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness - Cleopactra
Rampage 2 Universal Tour - Theme Song
EnergySounds - Retro Game
Ramon Arnella - My Dream (Instrumental)
Cruis'n USA - Menu Ambience (Arcade Version)
Cruis'n World - Jungle Bump (Arcade Version)
NBA Jam - 2nd Quarter (Arcade Version)
Pac-Man 99 - Top 100
Primal Rage - Diablo's Theme
DOOM - E1M3 - Dark Halls
Chopper Attack - Select Theme
Killer Instinct - Boxing Gym (Arcade Version)
Dr. Muto - The Lab
Sleeping Dogs - Title Theme
GTA San Andreas - Title Theme
Metal Slug 3 - Blue Water Fangs
GTA Online - Diamond Casino Heist Finale
Cruis'n USA - House Special Theme (Arcade Version)
Cruis'n USA - Hot Times (Credits Theme)
Tales of Phantasia - Be Absentminded (SNES Version)
Cruis'n Blast - Arcade Theme Song
#mattmcmuscles #midway #whathappened?

[@MattMcMuscles]

Want more Midway mayhem? Then check out the WH on all the failed Mortal Kombat Remakes! kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGrTf5djnpmsoa8

[@greatfox232]

Do Marvel Nemesis; rise of the imperfects

[@horrorandmonsterfan952]

Matt McMuscles can you do a What Happened? On Destroy All Humans Series

[@pattybean457]

Oh man I can't wait for you to do the shit show that was Acclaim especially when they did all the outrageous PR stunts for BMX XXX and getting someone to call their kid Shadowman

[@bbreimm]

We don't deserve you Mr. McMuscles. Thank you and please never stop

[@aaronbasham6554]

Can I just say Sumner Redstone is an amazing name? Like, can that be the official name of some sort of Gauntlet character?

[@atk1152]

for a company bringing "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks", "The Suffering", "Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures", "Rampage: Total Destruction" it is very sad to see the company bankrupt

[@TheLastRaven6]

Gauntlent dark legacy...OH MAN thats so fun with friends. ...Until one em steals the food you needed so you take their control outta the port and turn it into a sudo-mace

[@retroentertainment1340]

I actually remember playing Ed, Edd, n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures and Rampage: Total Destruction on Nintendo GameCube.

[@RGF91]

Me silently chanting tna tna tna tna tna

[@yellowmarshmellowpuffnob6922]

Don't forget DOOM 64

[@BaronOfZLand]

Dude, Psi-Ops. Probably the most underrated game of all time.

[@GenerationWest]

Honestly never knew that Midway was that old, but it tried to change with the times, and now it's a WB Games subsidiary, milking Mortal Kombat properties. Watching it fall in real time was heartbreaking... But we still have Crazy Uncle Ed Boon!

[@RichardBarkman]

Ik man but there’s other ip own thq Nordic too by old midway but sitting there dusts as long time.

[@andrewjriggs]

@@RichardBarkman bro I’m not trying to be rude but I have read this comment at least 6 times and still have no clue what you are trying to say

[@SoftwareAgentsTV]

Not even that, it is nothing more than a brand name WB Games controls that they used for any classic arcade game they own, regardless of whether it was made at Midway or not (ref: Super Off-Road).

[@AkumaKristian]

@@andrewjriggs I think they were trying to say that THQ Nordic owns some of Midway's old IPs. Emphasis on "I think". (I don't even know if that is the case to be honest. It's hard to keep track of the amount of niche IPs that THQ Nordic own)

[@343ishill]

@@andrewjriggs I think what he's saying is THQ Nordic still revisits old IP like Darksiders while making licensed games like Spongebob. Meanwhile Midway under WB only develops Mortal Kombat and ignores all its old catalogue of IPs to gather dust.

[@RebelTaxi]

17:10 WB at least gave Midway its own world in Lego Dimensions. It's nice having a 3D sandbox with landmarks from Gauntlet or Rampage

[@MattMcMuscles]

Damn, I've never seen a company do the barest amount of effort with so many IPs.

[@autobotstarscream765]

Mortal Kombat LEGOs when?

[@FractalShoggoth]

@@MattMcMuscles Konami springs to mind...

[@mrcritical6751]

That was one of the most WTF franchises in that game. The level made zero sense, the character you got with it (The Gamer Kid) was a complete nobody who just made video game references constantly, the adventure world was barren as hell and it just felt like a last minuet “oh god we need another thing to get the franchise count up, quick what can we get off Warner Bros for cheap?”

[@Acidonia150reborn]

@@mrcritical6751 What I dont get is you see Gamer Kid in the stage ending Turning into Gegorge. Yet the Actual in game character can't but they is in Gegorge as a NPC model in the midway world but Bane in the same has the Abilty to change into a fully playable Model based on the Big Fig that the Gegorge NPC uses. Theres Lego Stlyed figures from the Midway series in game too yet none are playable. Godzilla,King Kong,Megaman and the universal Monsters was scraped series for Lego Dimensions to name a few. Though back to Rampage they is no Missions or levels in the game that play like Rampage which is such a waste with the amount of characters in that game. It is only way to play some midway classic arcade games on the PS4/PS5 and Wii U still. Though you have to unlock them by finding them in every stage and this includes the DLC story ones for year one so it's a long way and possibly expesensive way to fo so.

[@UfodexENMD]

This made me sad. Midway gave us such great games especially the sports games. Thanks for the childhood memories Midway

[@THANATOS-PRIME]

They made my favorite arcade shooter. Carn-Evil.

[@MalcolmTurnerKing]

I still play Blitz The League on AetherSx2 and I still have Blitz: The League 2 for PS3.

[@chemergency]

NFL Blitz always blew Madden and everything else out of the water. Football is so much more fun when the rules are stripped to the bare minimum.

[@UfodexENMD]

@@chemergency and we'll never get another game like Blitz due to the NFLs rules about late hits and other bs. I could go on a rant about the league but unfortunately we'll only have memories of those chaotic amazing games.

[@chaosdirge4906]

I remember liking the suffering when it came out, I would like to see a sequel to it but I doubt I ever will. Honestly, I'm OK with most of midway being left forgotten.

[@dansilvers8052]

Shortly after Midway fell apart, I was at an Autodesk presentation in Boston and met one of their artists. He gave me an "Art of Midway" book for reasons unknown to this day. It's an amazing treasure trove of concept art and inside info on a bunch of their old titles. Just one of those crazy, serendipitous treasures.

[@razorflossrazor2937]

You still have it? That thing is probably worth something

[@BassmintStile]

@@razorflossrazor2937 I just gooled the book. You can get it used for under $5 shipped.

[@dansilvers8052]

@@razorflossrazor2937 I do indeed! Right on my bookshelf. Only goes for like $7 on eBay, so it's mostly sentimental value representing an awesome night during a very different time in game development.

[@kenmastersX]

I met Ed Boon at a CEO tournament hanging out with sonicfox. I told Ed I wanted a sequel to Smash TV, where afterwards Sonicfox asked "What's Smash TV?" I was never more sad after hearing those words from a young person not knowing about old midway stuff

[@Phreno_Xeno]

Who's Sonicfox? Nvm..

[@SpiderInStockings]

I think it’s insane how much their catalogue got bolstered after Williams bought them; you have the likes of Joust and Defender and Robotron 2084 and Smash TV it’s insane. Im about Sonicfox’s age and Smash TV is probably my favorite arcade game of all time. Pure violent bliss

[@greedpower565]

What's a sonicfox?

[@mlbastronaut7352]

23 year old and smash tv is one of my favorites. Wasnt even alive when it was out. Grew up playing it on an emulator. Not all hope is lost.

[@kenmastersX]

@MLBAstronaut yeah its not a big deal, just wish they would try at doing a budget style reimagining but I feel like it'd be something akin to a mobile game today. Instead of TV it'd have something to do with the internet lol

[@StopSkeletonsFromFighting]

Just sitting here, enjoying some What Happened, and suddenly I’m in the video! Where’s my check, Matt??

[@reillocb]

Somebody get uncle Derek that check Stat, those esoteric controllers aren't cheap.

[@Killer-Lover]

Nice vids skeleton

[@raminatox]

✔️

[@SN1PERx64]

a check in sweet, sweet exposure...

[@crawlingkhaos8970]

Silly Derek, it's right next to your username!

[@SAPProd]

Looks like we have a new champion for the earliest starting point of a What Happened episode (you wore the crown well, E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial). Gonna be hard to top this one on the video game side; probably would have to tackle the origins of Nintendo or something.

[@btr3k]

If Coleco is ever covered, that goes further back to the 1930s (edit - definitely nothing compared to Nintendo in 1889 though)! The video game industry is an odd beast.

[@16ktsgamma]

Please the origins of Nintendo is. "It's a card company."

[@SAPProd]

@@16ktsgamma but it didn’t stay a card company. They went into a lot of ventures in the near 100 years they spent before become a video game company, including love hotels.

[@josephjefferies346]

@@btr3k Coleco Chameleon needs to be on this show. It has to be.

[@btr3k]

@@josephjefferies346 That came to my mind as well… though has there ever been a What Happened about something that is basically vaporware? 😅

[@captainmidnight]

Great video, I never really knew what happened to them! Between Doom 64, Crusin USA and NFL Blitz, I was a big fan! I thought they were a way bigger deal than like, Activision when I was a little kid.

[@DetectorCliche]

Love your channel

[@TidusX16]

Do a crossover!!! Make the Matt McMuscles Cinematic Universe happen!!!

[@rickyretriever4503]

Actually, the real reason why Fear & Respect was cancelled is because the developers originally had in mind to make the game a narrative shooter akin to something like Max Payne, but Midway instead wanted the game to on an open world (GTA-Styled) direction to which the developers had to decline because they didn't have the recourses or time to make such a drastic change in scope. This was said by one of the game directors who worked on it on her personal website.

[@rickyrosay33977]

I get why midway wanted them to make it a gta clone since it was the genre at the time and every company was hungry for that gta money and wanted to cash in on the phenomenon sadly money always gets in the way of innovation

[@alexn8672]

Gauntlet and Rampage deserve so much better. It's weird to think that Midway's old PS1 compilations were the thing that introduced young me to retro gaming, and it's tragic to see just how many of their IPs just fizzled.

[@Randomyoutuber-4831]

Honestly ‘rampage: total destruction’ wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t great, the overly inflated roster and repetitive gameplay held it back; but it was still a fun time to be had, tearing down block after block of major world cities. Plus it included a port of rampage and rampage world tour on the disk. Frankly they nailed the concept, if they had changed it from being confined to one block at a time to being able to freely roam across a city with the goal of smashing up as much stuff as possible within a time limit (similar to the game play in ‘war of the monsters’ with less PvP) then rampage could have done well in modern day.

[@Red-rb3sd]

@@Randomyoutuber-4831 I also enjoyed playing Total destruction back in the day. What you suggested about it being more open than 1 block would definitely be more interesting!

[@lovebirdrica22]

I love gauntlet

[@GeminiTasiri]

Man, the Fall of Midway had everything. Celebrity-starring games, questionable hiring choices*, desperate trend chasing, underestimating HD development costs, shady deals in upper managment, all in one continuous downward spiral. *seriously, what was up with hiring the COO of Playboy? Were they hoping to get some investors purely on the ~scandalous~ headlines that would produce? Especially since he didn't seem to care about reversing the direction Midway was heading...

[@tafua_a]

Business people are convinced that just because you made money for one company, then you can make money for any company, even if that company has nothing to do with the previous one. That's how you get stuff like Jim Herd as president of WCW, his previous experience being managing a Pizza Hut (Sting often calls him "The Pizza Guy"), a financial decision so great, it sent WCW on a downward spiral that would close their doors ten years later.

[@ccricers]

@@tafua_a On the other hand, it worked with Reggie Fils-Aime, who was Senior Director of Marketing at Pizza Hut before he was hired by Nintendo.

[@alrecks619]

@@tafua_a a financial decision so great that it let the rival, WWE (then WWF) grabbed all its assets for not a whole lot (about 3 to 5 million compared to original 70+ million)

[@jwalton117]

Over the last few years Matt has become my favorite KZbinr. Thanks for the great videos

[@blyat8832]

Omfg even bots will spam on a wholesome comment smh

[@sixxjr]

As a kid I ran a TBFP Facebook fan page lol, crazy to see I'm still here watching him.

[@BryMoon]

Midway was one of my favorite developers, so much of my childhood gaming is tied to Midway. Even playing old Midway games today gives me nostalgia. They really died a hero, I clicked this on instant. Maybe an episode on another favorite of mine THQ.

[@lilliana1605]

I struck gold when I found the midway arcade disk for xbox. It's out of production and I paid $9 for it. All the classics and nostalgia. 😌

[@smokenojoke8182]

THQ vid would be great

[@dylano5173]

Or an episode about how rare went from making the best games of the N64 era to completely falling off

[@darkchris66]

I live in Chicago and I’m not far where Midway games used to be. I remember always being super excited passing by their studio and thinking what MK game they’re probably cooking up next. It was sad when they closed down and their office was used by someone else. Fun fact: when Midway Williams split, Williams moved one block from the old Midway office (where they have a towering and shiny building) and Netherrealm Games (currently making MK games) actually moved 2 blocks away from their old Midway office. Their new office building is really much better with the MK props by the main lobby to take quick pics.

[@sugarfrosted2005]

I don't know why I'm surprised Midway Games got started with midway games.

[@discoron77]

I remember as a kid going to some carnival and saw a sign for "midway" games, then being disappointed that Mortal Kombat wasn't there.

[@GreatMewtwo]

It surprised me as well when I realized some time ago that their name may be in reference to the midway of the Chicago World's Fair, where such a concept was first demonstrated in 1893.

[@PsychoCrusher46]

Same tho the midway at Vegas I frequent had MK2

[@MoonSpiritChannel]

Man, this hurts to see one of the most prolific game companies go down like this.

[@trinityharris8823]

Makes me wonder what happened to all the IPs they had. I'd pay good money for a uprez release of Shaolin Monks and The Suffering alone.

[@lycanwarrior2137]

You either die a hero or see yourself become the villain as the old saying goes...

[@shadowleon659]

Midway is a company that I really miss.

[@schemar17]

Missway

[@lancepage1914]

I don't miss Midway at all, only the 90s itself. But all good things must come to an end.

[@TheScarface43]

I never realised how much I needed a new "The Suffering" game until now, Jesus Christ

[@chillworksdev4145]

This feels like the season finale boss that all other episodes have been ramping up towards.

[@joesomenumbers]

I remember War: Final Assault. Me and my friends played it after school a lot. You could save your score and profile and log in every time you played. If you got to a certain rank they were supposed to send you a t shirt if you sent away. My friend did. They never sent him his shirt.

[@jjonohjamson9540]

WB gots tons of IPs, more than what they'd know what to do with, obscure Midway IPs are on the bottom of their priority list. The best they'd get is probably cameos in that WB Multiverses game.

[@Big_Z14]

Psi-Ops is almost unknown at this point and The Suffering is somewhat obscure too, but both of those games were absolutely fantastic. Sad to think that it's likely nothing will ever be done with those IPs.

[@pollo20x6]

Midway was such a huge part of my childhood. Midway Arcade Treasures 1 and 2 got so much use growing up

[@Sabeythang]

I would have loved to hear you mention Midway's bizarre-but-welcome decision to localize the first two Shadow Hearts games. RPGs are so far from their usual output, there HAS to be an interesting story there.

[@Brolly-hh7hx]

I'd think they wanted a slice from that JRPG boom that came along with FFVII, Shadow Hearts released very close to FFX so that momentum still hadn't died down.

[@ducklabsgaming4676]

I was working at GT in these last couple of years publishing Midway stuff. I QA tested all those Quake, Doom, Cruisin' etc console versions! Some of it was decent obviously but man some of their stuff was getting rough towards the end there 🤕

[@Mystic-Aidan]

Every time I remember Arctic Thunder (my favorite racer of all time), I’m forced to remember that Midway is dead, and we’ll probably never get an Arctic Thunder sequel. The agony is never going to leave until we finally get a new one. If only we never lost Midway…

[@ctgmighty7039]

Most likely not a remake but there is Arctic Thunder: Hurricane for the x360

[@NeoStrayCat]

@@ctgmighty7039 That's Hydro Thunder, but yeah, Arctic Thunder is some good stuff, if it only had a modern re-release tho. But its stuck to Arcade and both PS2/Xbox.

[@marcocamacho2013]

Your videos are the equivalent of the Saturday morning cartoons. Just love to see one of your videos every Saturday morning-ish Thanks for the great content.

[@btr3k]

Just came to say it's MS. Pac-Man, not Mrs! At that time in her life, she was living the free-wheeling "Sex and the Pac-City" lifestyle before she met Pac-Man and had a Pac-wedding. Though, really thinking about it further, shouldn't it have been Ms. Pac-Woman? Well, anyway. Also not mentioned, Midway squeezed their Pac-Man license for as much as they could - there wasn't just the "unofficial" Ms. Pac-Man released by Midway, but also the "official bootleg" Pac-Man Plus, "good sequel" Jr. Pac-Man, "okay pinball game" Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man, "bad video-pinball game" Baby Pac-Man, and "WTF is this" Professor Pac-Man, all in the span of a few years. On top of that Midway also released Namco developed Super Pac-Man and Pac-Land... that's a lot of Pac-Man.

[@tjoconnell2524]

I think a good what happened episode could be about jaws. That movie had a hellish production, but hey, what came out of that is considered to be one of the greatest movies ever.

[@djpegao]

And the sequels almost ruined it

[@slymm76]

Hey Matt, long time listener first time poster! I used to work in QA for midway and worked on Stranglehold . It had a lot of potential . I also did voice work on blitz and DC v MK....they have a lot of great ip they should revisit

[@NoirMouse]

Oh shit, who'd ya voice in Mk Vs. DC? I played that quite a bit back in the day.

[@spiralgodking9877]

Who'd you voice in DC v MK?

[@slymm76]

@@NoirMouse random grunts and yells on dc v mk and players noises and shouts like" hit me im open" on blitz.. also i was a cofounder a record label that put out the song broken dreams which was on the blitz soundtrack

[@NoirMouse]

@@slymm76 I haven't played Blitz so I can't comment on that, but neat dude! Hope you've been doing well.

[@afterthought55]

I can't figure out why Stranglehold wasn't a huge success. It was an awesome game!

[@HaefentheZebra]

I remember when I was a kid passing by their offices in Corsicana (Formerly Tradewest offices) every so often and just being so in awe that they were right there. Even if I didn’t know it wasn’t their whole operation at the time.

[@GreatMewtwo]

Similarly, as an adult, I would drive around the Miami areas where Gametek and Rare had offices. I am still blown away that Gametek was based right in my hometown.

[@Hypno_BPM]

the days that Midway and THQ closed down, a part of my childhood died

[@rickyrosay33977]

We need a THQ whathappun episode

[@deconyus3412]

10:25 matt you owe me for reminding me Dr. Muto exists, the most early 00’s game that’s ever existed.

[@caitlineder6950]

Growing up in suburban Chicago gave me a soft spot for Midway in particular, and their story has always been so sad to me. I think the city could be a great hub for games and I hope we can build on the success that studios like Jackbox have found, and that Midway once had. Also: CarnEvil deserved better

[@oakleygleason7145]

I was born in 98, but I grew up on the Midway Arcade Treasures compilations, as well as a lot of Midway's (admittedly mostly bad) lineup of games during the PS2 era. I really do miss a lot of their classic games.

[@SoftwareAgentsTV]

3:35 Williams bought Midway and more or less turned it into its video game development wing. The video game crash of 1983 lead to the Williams execs laying off most of their software department. Both companies had a strong rivalry with each other and had their eye on each other. The Midway buy-out was particularly nasty as their entire software department was removed except for Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman.

[@axelzxsh1107]

The best way to end the video, with the song of the franchise that survived from Midway's bankruptcy

[@turretnyle]

Man, it's a shame what really happened to Midway, considering their amazing arcade legacy. CarnEvil is still one of my all-time favorite coin-op games, and I would still love to see that and all of the other Midway games that never got a home port get the attention they deserve!

[@AnferneeMyers]

This show is so damn cultured. I would be honored to work with Matt, someday.

[@videosthatwhatever]

7:58 Standing Here I Realize

[@James-gj8rn]

Now you're adding entire companies to the series! I like this! More please :)

[@smokey3504]

Can we get a What Happened on the original Street Fighter? Nobody I've talked to about it had ever heard of it or played it, then suddenly its sequel took the world by storm. Of course I've played it on the 30th anniversary collection, but that only further begged the question as to why they decided to make a sequel to THAT thing. Iconic in its own right, but a total mystery

[@DoorsInTheLabyrinth]

This Is Vegas also sunk Surreal Software, who did two of my favorite games ever, being the Drakan series. I want more than anything for someone else to get the license and do a Drakan 3. In the days of big open world action adventure fantasy games, Drakan would be an amazing fit!

[@Vicky-Hugh-Martini]

As a kid, it was fascinating seeing and playing Cruis'n World at my local HEB store (Texas grocery chain) in the 2000s before they rid of the arcades the following decade. I don't know how in my head I mixed the symbols of Midway and the defunct Oldsmobile.

[@rickyrosay33977]

Nice to see a fellow Texan in the comments the closest HEB to me is 30 minutes away they also used to have a Cruisi’n world arcade machine in that one I always choose the blue mustang looking car

[@hamsandwichson]

Every teenage quarter I had that didn't go into Little Debbie snack cakes went into either NBA Jam, MK 2 or T2. Especially T2. That was an absolute quarter cruncher.

[@chadalexander1924]

Pinball didn't really tank until around the mid 90s. You had from Bally: The Addams Family, Twilight Zone, from Data East: Jurassic Park, from Williams: Indiana Jones. There was a mini-Renaissance. But it was in 1995/1996 when numbers started to drop because of loss in demand and the revenue arcades were still getting from The Addams Family (they were still producing them well into 1994, creating a Gold version for making 20,000 units, the highest selling solid state machine of all time). Even with Pinball 2000 in the late 90s, Williams was actually profitable in two full years. But it wasn't enough. But other than that, awesome video!

[@gregoryberrycone]

midway games had such a distinct look and feel to them, they definitely carried on that bold arcade feeling to the end. their ps2 era titles are so underrated, the mk games from that time, gauntlet dark legacy and psi ops were all so much fun

[@kingbeastben1465]

I miss midway, the games I love from the company is killer instinct, rampage 2 and mortal kombat 3.

[@tedjomuljono3052]

Yeah, and donkey kong country!

[@foxtonvector8327]

@mr nobody who the fuck are you? And why are you sending the same link as the other guy?

[@neo1711]

???

[@kingbeastben1465]

@KTV 4U that too, but din't capcom made it?

[@tedjomuljono3052]

@@kingbeastben1465 midway also didn't make killer instinct

[@CliffDiverBOA]

Ed Boon tweeting that Psi-Ops deserves a reboot gives me a sliver of hope.

[@commdaofgc]

Wow, the mention of The Grid at the end there. Totally forgot about it-- so many memories rushing back now.

[@lilliana1605]

Thank you for covering this studio. midway produced some of my favorite childhood games and I always wondered what happened. I had to comebacks and comment this..........Wtf is WB doing?

[@elhazthorn918]

Still hoping for a Quintet What Happened. I loved their games on the SNES.

[@TheAssirra]

So Midway actually owned a lot but threw it all away due to poor management. Can only imagine how standard employees must have felt.

[@lancepage1914]

If you weren't Ed Boon it must have been pretty shit.

[@Sore5791]

They really need to make another "The Suffering" game. The last one had such an abrupt ending.

[@JellyJman]

Only took 1:32 to get to the "it was the style at the time" Simpsons clip but it was a different joke in the clip. Well done Matt for subverting expectations!

[@Mateus_Carvalho]

I remember the past couple of years where people kept saying that Midway was somehow being kept alive via Mortal Kombat. That said, I wonder if Midway would've done anything with the old games if they were still somehow around. Like... WB obviously didn't do much.

[@SlicingDicingGamingENT]

Growing up in Chicago Midway had a very special place in my heart. I remember when I found out they were based in the city it made me love their games even more. NetherRealm and Iron Galaxy carry the touch now but Midway will forever be Goated 💯

[@PeteSkerritt]

This is great work (as always), but it hurt to watch/relive. I’ve been a *huge* fan of Midway’s releases, dating all the way back to the 1970s (Sea Wolf). When Midway went belly up, it was tough to swallow. Seeing WB snap up so many quality IPs and do nothing with most of them has repeatedly stung. I can imagine how an updated version of The Grid would be with online play and today’s console power. But nope! At least we’ll always have Midway arcade compilations.

[@Nic5Cyprus]

It's sad that besides Mortal Kombat basically the only Midway game released by Warner was the Rampage 2018 arcade game. Not even collections, nothing

[@eyalrephaeli6833]

WB also released Spy Hunter in 2012 and Gauntlet in 2014

[@itsthesoup11]

I’m all here for the healthy doses of Cruisin’ USA music, Matt! 🤙😆🎶🎶🎶

[@jeremyabbott4537]

God, The Suffering was one of my favorite PS2 games and it actually gave young me nightmares! It's a shame it won't even get a rerelease :/

[@mbrown7361]

This is Vegas. Dude I remember seeing that in magazines back in high school in like 05. I was so pumped. Years went by and nada. I still hold out it'll be resurrected one day

[@Choralone422]

Ahh Midway. I'm glad to see this video! What's here mirrors what I've heard about them as well. I have 2 friends who worked for Midway (one is a bonus character in the arcade version of 2 on 2 Open Ice Challenge!) in Chicago in the 90s into the early 2000s Even then they spoke of mis-management, spending issues and a real lack of focus at the corporate level. Neither friend has worked in the games industry again after leaving Midway.

[@Silvershire]

Gauntlet: Dark Legacy was a huge part of my childhood. I’d love it to be brought to modern consoles

[@Alurkerdood]

I wouldn’t mind a straight up remaster of Gauntlet Legends/Dark Legacy. The new Gauntlet game isn’t what I was hoping it was.

[@timman98]

The Ms. Pacman thing was more complicated than just Midway making a Pacman clone, I recommend Jonii's video on The Disappearance of Ms Pac-Man.

[@marcingulik2373]

This is my favorite video series. Great job and keep 'em coming!

[@thesegaguy6279]

I was literally thinking about Midway lately and working on a convention panel about them. I still miss them to this day. Also, holy crap, I forgot all about Fear & Respect!!

[@gamefreak3000dx]

To this day I'm still heartbroken about the cancelation of fear and respect. I was so fucking hyped for this game as a kid and I'm pretty sure I still have that game informer.

[@Warweazel]

Midway was a HUGE part of my childhood. I had the Midway Collection on PS2, which was pretty much my introduction to video games. I played SOOOO much Gauntlet and Smash TV, and some of my happiest memories are playing Gauntlet Dark Legacy with my parents.

[@dyll_pyckle]

Matt...there is literally no way. How did you read my mind and make this video??? I watched your MK vs DC vid the other day and wondered "Gee, a What Happened on Midway would be super interesting!" GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

[@lucasdellamaggiore]

Please do a what happun on Acclaim, now that's an interesting story

[@nathanlopez5610]

He kinda (sorta) did that when he talked about Acclaim in the Flophouse Files, but I also wouldn’t mind him tackling Acclaim too.

[@CircadianRhythmm]

You should definitely check out dr. Muto one of midways last original IPs on this show. Underrated to me but I’m sure you’ll find tons of material lol

[@HarriHaffi]

Cool! Wish there were more videos out there about Midways games. Really liked the gauntlet remake and Mortal Kombat usually comes with bonus games. Bonus games in fighting games are nice.

[@zane_losvir3798]

It was nice to honestly know what happened to Midway. Because I remember playing a bunch of Midway games back in the day. The Area-51 game for PS2 was still one of the coolest games I played back then to me. Then I remember hearing Midway just kinda disappeared off the map. It kinda sucked honestly because I had no idea what was going on with it all and caused that. So its honestly nice to know what happened and my god no wonder why their logo is burned into my mind. They legit tried to make anything and everything lmao. Thanks for making this one Matt. It helped me finally figure out what happened to them directly to cause it. Ironically I think I may have seen all of if not almost all of the What Happened videos thus far 😂. Its been interesting to see how everything has progressed. Keep up the awesome work with it all 👍.

[@levithewizard]

Absolutely wild, midway ruled the arcades in the 90s (in us at least) but failed to bridge the gap. It always happens when you have non gamer/developers making the decisions for the company they don't ever understand the industry.

[@lachesis1541]

A lot of Midways arcade games were playable in lego dimensions actually

[@Kenoji8]

Matt, you always have amazingly produced videos with this series and you always have me laughing and jamming to stuff that you put in. NBA Jam, Eddie Murphy's "Delirious" (I was born in '86, too)...this is some legendary stuff, man. This stuff brings back so many memories for me. I'm glad I'm subbed to your channel thanks to Maxmillian's recommendation and I regret not being subscribed earlier. This is fantastic work, man, and a lot of well-done research. Awesome work, Matt. Just awesome. Keep up the outstanding work, man!

[@ubernocrono]

@0:58 "Its 1958...Jesus!" XD time to become VIP just for that

[@Damian_1989]

Damn, that sucks. Psi-Ops i think would benefit greatly if Nightdive could remaster it or something!

[@ratchetxtreme6591]

A wha happun done on a whole game publisher, now that’s definitely a rare sight to see.

[@BazTheStoryteller]

9:52, BUBSY: Hey! That's my line!

[@ChrisSaturn]

According to Steve Golson from the Ms. Pac-Man dev team (kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJmwaYF3grySjLM), Namco was aware of the Ms. Pac-Man development from the get-go. The idea that Midway made Ms. Pac-Man without Namco's knowledge is just an old myth.

[@Crocogator]

Ughhhh. RIP Psi-Ops. I keep forgetting that was Midway.

[@vangoghsseveredear]

It's shocking how incompetent Midway was. They went from being arcade kings to completely videogame illiterate. So many head scratching moments, man.

[@kuraisaurus]

I found this channel maybe last week and I've subsequently binge-watched most of these deep dives. Love these videos 🤗

[@SpiderHam]

Having seen Insert Coin Doc I was wondering what your take would be and I was absolutely delighted to learn stuff I didn’t know from the other doc (which is also fantastic). I appreciate you going over the name changes as that was always so fuzzy to me. Ending on that Cruisin theme was (chefs 😚 kiss) perfect!

[@rocznik83]

Some of the most talented video game designers to ever walk this earth, managed by the most inept executives. They waited too long to come to terms with the fact that arcade era has ended and it is all about home 3d gaming and playstation now. Mortal Kombat alone was not enough to keep them afloat, as it has also been surpassed by the likes of Tekken and Virtua Fighter. Each of these titles massacred their products in virtually every respect. I still remember the disappointment of Mortal Kombat 4. Back then it was a shame to admit that you prefer this over Tekken, while the game was hyped beyond reason with all the "world tours", tv ads and all that. Young me, standing in front of the machine with a quarter in my pocket, wondering whether to throw the coin into the machine or not. The game looked so shitty and forced compared to the previous ones. That day it was over for me. It was downward spiral after that.

[@oscarzxn4067]

Speaking of confusing branding stuff and Atari, I have alwys been confused with the split of Atari into the forever doomed creators of consoles and computers that went bankrupt after the Jaguar, and Atari games, really weird that the companies shared the same name.

[@andywilliammockzek]

It's a very long story. But basically what happened is that Atari then owner (Warner communications. Who successor time warner (through wb games) would end up owning midway) sold the home console and computer division to tramell computers( who changed their name to Atari corporation) whlie they kept the Atari game name...which they then sold to namco for a short while. Then they sold it time Warner interactive back in 93 then sold it to Midway in 95

[@YuseiTheSynchroHero]

Even just HEARING the music from NBA JAM (the SNES version) made me shed tears...

[@johnnychopsocky]

7:44 I remember that, Matt. I remember it well indeed.

[@foriarez944]

You know what could be good to relaunch nowadays? The Grid, just give it online multiplayer and that's it. (I just want to play The Grid again, i miss The Grid)

[@Tazzer88]

I feel you on that one so much! Why did that one have to be an arcade-only title?

[@dogauthier]

Best editing and jokes I've ever seen in your videos. Keep up the amazing job man!

[@jasonz7788]

Awesome work Sir thank you

[@ArkadaTheDergon]

man these guys made some killer racing games. hydro thunder was amazing

[@mrWendybird]

It was. That one day I first played the arcade cabinet when I was 8 or 9, I got home and immediately constructed a little race course with wooden blocks. I even used a couple of Hot Wheels speedboats in it XD

[@johnnyzero8853]

Midway died a hero.

[@Tazzer88]

I am so glad at least gave a passing metion to The Grid right at the end! That was one of my favorite arcade games ever and was always a must-play whenever I'd visit the boardwalk arcades of Ocean City, MD or any time I could ever find it in the wild.

[@soupalex]

i kind of already knew about their history in pinball and arcade machines (used to see a couple of pinball machines that were branded "bally midway", and i made the connection to midway's arcade cabinets), but-having never played the arcade version-i never knew that nba jam was originally a midway title! yeah, acclaim definitely got the better half of that deal