Game history and the case of "Malzak": Theorizing the manufacture of "local product" in 1980s New Zealand

Videogames were one of the earliest ways in which consumers came into contact with digital media. Typically, game history has been told from a North American or Japanese perspective. Central debates have been concerned with what “great men” did (e.g., Ralph Baer and Nolan Bushnell), while a range of foundational stories and markers (the shortage of 100-yen coins following the Japanese release of “Space Invaders,” the dumping of “E.T.” cartridges in the desert, “the” video game crash of 1983), establish historical narratives and major turning points in the industry.1 The iconic status of such stories delivers the impression that the experiences of making, selling, and playing games in this era were the same everywhere. This is highly problematic. It is not only factually wrong, it also begs the question about the gaps in existing historical knowledge. This chapter draws from a larger research project on the early digital games history of New Zealand to reflect on the significance of “local” factors in the production, distribution, and reception of videogames at the moment of their emergence as a cultural force. New Zealand enjoyed a lively homegrown digital games industry during the late 1970s and at least the first half of the 1980s.