Announcing 'Hidden Levels': how the videogame world has changed the world beyond videogames
Endless Thread
WBUR
4.1 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 6 October 2025
⏱️ 5 minutes
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Summary
Have you ever jumped on something as you're moving through the real world, and heard that Mario bouncy sound in your head? Or maybe seen someone acting like an NPC when they're a real person? Maybe you know that the first real "in-app" purchase was actually a weapons store in an arcade game version of Double Dragon 3.
Wherever you go in the real world, you can find signs of the influence of videogames. But you have to know where to look. That's why Endless Thread and 99% Invisible are launching a new limited series together called Hidden Levels.
Today Roman Mars and Ben Brock Johnson kick off the series with a little preview of what's coming.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey guys, it's Ben Brock Johnson, and today I want to tell you about a special mini-series. |
| 0:09.0 | We are going to be running on the endless thread feed for the next several weeks. |
| 0:13.6 | It is a collaborative series we're making with the podcast 99% Invisible. |
| 0:17.9 | And to help me introduce it is the host of 99PI. Roman Mars. Hey, Roman. |
| 0:23.1 | Hey, Ben. So, Roman, for our listeners who don't know, what is 99% invisible? |
| 0:28.5 | 99% invisible is about design, it's about architecture. It's about all the thought that goes |
| 0:32.6 | into things that most people don't even bother thinking about. So, Ben, you've been on our show |
| 0:36.9 | before. Yeah, that's right. |
| 0:38.1 | We work together on an episode about the history is Falbar, the home of the global seed vault in |
| 0:43.1 | Norway. You've also featured an episode from Endless Thread about the Punisher Skull and how that |
| 0:49.3 | imagery is used by white supremacists. Yes, which continues to be relevant today. |
| 0:55.3 | So I feel like our shows have always been Sympatico. |
| 0:58.8 | And last year, you came to us with a really cool idea for a collaboration all about |
| 1:03.7 | video games. |
| 1:04.8 | Yeah, I'm so excited about this. |
| 1:07.2 | It was really fun to work on with y'all. |
| 1:09.2 | Roman, do you know what you call two people collaborating to beat a video game together? No. Is this like a riddle or is this like a real thing? It's a real question. It's called the couch co-op. Oh, okay. Okay. So we're sitting next to each other on the couch like trying to defeat a level. Got it. That's right, man. You got the soda. I got the snacks. We're ready to go. Now, I am not a hardcore gamer. I mainly play Solitaire on my phone or the New York Times puzzles each day. How about you? I play several hours a week, I will admit. I'm in the Hell Divers 2 zone right now playing that game a lot. |
| 1:44.5 | But one of the things I love about this idea that you brought to us is that this show, |
| 1:48.5 | Hidden Levels, is all about how video games and video game design have changed the world beyond |
| 1:53.3 | video games. So it doesn't matter what kind of a gamer you are. These stories are meant for everybody. |
| 1:57.8 | That's exactly right. I really believe that video games have this really interesting and outsized impact on |
| 2:05.5 | everything we do. |
... |
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