Gaming Historian

Gaming Historian
YouTube channel logo
Caruso at TooManyGames 2017
Born
Norman Caruso

Okinawa, Japan
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2008–2026
GenreDocumentaries
Subscribers1.1 million
Views151 million
Last updated: October 16, 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. Topics covered on the channel have included The Oregon Trail, a television that had a Super Famicom built into it, the Sega Mega Modem, the first-ever video game cartridge, and the history behind the Nintendo Entertainment System.

At its peak, the channel had over a million followers. 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".

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

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

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. When he stepped back from the YouTube channel in 2026, he uploaded all of the documents to the Internet Archive for anyone to view.

Podcast

Caruso co-hosts An Old Timey Podcast, a history-themed podcast, with his wife Kristin. 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.

Personal life

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

Notes

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

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