Historian Kevin Impellizeri usually shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends. However, this month Phil Thomas takes the lead and teaches Kevin, Elford Stephens, and Andy Hunter about the (as of this recording) ongoing global computer chip shortage and why it has been so hard to get a next-gen game system (or a car or ballistic missiles or anything else you might need). Topics discussed include:  A brief history of video game related chip shortages, the most important company you've never heard of,  how we are possibly a war/global pandemic/ecological disaster a ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Elford Stephens, Andy Hunter, and Ryan Weaver. This time around, we continue our look at the  relationship between crypto and gaming by taking a closer look at the mainstream games industry's brief but notable foray into NFTs.  We examine the crypto escapades of the likes of Atari, Konami, Square-Enix, and Ubisoft, how game makers tried to sell the idea of NFTs to their players, and the incredible backlash against them. Topics discussed include:  The role of the Darkmoon Greatsword in the cryp ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Phil Thomas, and Andy Hunter. In this episode, we take a closer look at Destructive Creations, the team behind previous episode Hatred.  We examine the other controversy connected to Hatred, one that was connected to the beliefs of its creators, and how a team that claimed to make a statement against politics in gaming made some political games in the years to follow Hatred's release.  Content warning: Discussions of racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, fascism, and Neo-Nazis. Topics dis ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Elford Stephens, Phil Thomas, and Andy Hunter. In this episode, we look at Hatred, the 2015 PC game developed by Destructive Creations where you play out a mass shooting enacting by a guy whose name is not important (aka Alan). We dissect the controversy and how this was a game designed by trolls for trolls. Topics discussed include:  How Destructive Creations basically trolled everybody--video game news sites, the ESRB, and GamerGate--to market their homage to Postal, a surprising number of Star Wars r ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Elford Stephens, Phil Thomas, and Andy Hunter. This time around, we continue our look at the  relationship between crypto and gaming by taking a closer look at the mainstream games industry's brief but notable foray into NFTs.  We examine the crypto escapades of the likes of Atari, Konami, Square-Enix, and Ubisoft, how game makers tried to sell the idea of NFTs to their players, and the incredible backlash against them. Topics discussed include:  The role of the Darkmoon Greatsword in the cryp ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Elford Stephens, Phil Thomas, and Andy Hunter. This time around, we dive into the world of cryptocurrency and its relationship to gaming. We examine the basics of blockchain technology, decentralized digital currencies, and NFTs as well as some of the hopes (and very, very real problems) with the current crypto scene. We use this to talk about "play-to-earn" (P2E) games, a genre where people can earn crypto by buying, selling, and trading NFTs.   Topics discussed include: How a Magic: The Gathering &nbs ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Elford Stephens, Phil Thomas, and Andy Hunter. We finally wrap up our series explaining how video games got age ratings in the United States. We address the December 9, 1993, Congressional hearing about video game violence and how this led to the games industry creating a trade organization--the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA, now known as the Entertainment Software Association)--as well as a comprehensive ratings system: the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB).  Topics discusse ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Elford Stephens, Phil Thomas, and Andy Hunter. In our (unprecedented) second episode of this month, we continue our look back at early 90s tech fads that influenced the conversation over video games. This is part of our multi-part series on how video games got age ratings in the United States.  This time around, we look at the full-motion video (FMV) game, its origins in LaserDisc, its relationship to multimedia "convergence" (where corporations mashed together telecommunications, film, gaming, and any ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Elford Stephens, Phil Thomas, and Andy Hunter. We celebrate one year of video game controversies with a mulit-part series on how video games got age ratings in the United States.   In today's episode, we  look back at tech fads that influenced the way people thought about video games, starting with virtual reality. Would VR give us the Holodeck or the horrors of the Lawnmower Man?  And how did the seemingly limitless possibilities of virtual reality influence video games? Topics discussed in ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Elford Stephens, Phil Thomas, and Andy Hunter. In today's episode, we go back to the Postal series to look at Postal’s 2003 sequel: the “anti-PC” PC game Postal 2. We look at its development, the fortunes of its maker (Running with Scissors), and how the company handled criticism. Also, Kevin makes an argument for why Postal 2 might be the first "MAGA video game." Topics discussed include:  the logistics of using a cat as a silencer, whether Gary Coleman represented everything wrong with America, and ..read more