Scandalous Games
123 FOLLOWERS
Scandalous Games is a video game history podcast that takes a closer look at video game-related controversies. Every episode, historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story about a scandalous event from gaming's past to his friends who offer commentary on moral panics, ill-advised advertising campaigns, unusual figures, and any and all topics related to video game scandals and how they shaped the..
Scandalous Games
3w ago
Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Andy Hunter, Kate Lynch, and Elford Stephens. This month, we take another break from the "killologist" to take a closer look at the wildest 90s PC game you may have never heard of: Harvester (DigiFX, Merit Studios, 1996). We start our deep dive into this cult piece of 90s PC weirdness by examining the impetus behind the game and what inspired its creators to try to make the most over-the-top video game ever.
Topics discussed include: Horny jigsaw puzzles, the politics of Roadrunner cartoons, and Harvester i ..read more
Scandalous Games
1M ago
Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch and Andy Hunter. We continue our deep-dive into self-proclaimed "killologist" Dave Grossman starting a deep dive into how exactly Dave waged war on video games. We start we Dave's information-based battle, the types of organizations Dave felt comfortable calling comrades-in-arms, and how Dave might have started making his own research.
Topics discussed include: Dave's less than savory associates, a detour to look at the board game Stroop (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/212376/stroop ..read more
Scandalous Games
1M ago
Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch and Andy Hunter. We continue our deep-dive into self-proclaimed "killologist" Dave Grossman starting a deep dive into how exactly Dave waged war on video games. We start we Dave's information-based battle, the types of organizations Dave felt comfortable calling comrades-in-arms, and how Dave might have started making his own research.
Topics discussed include: Dave's less than savory associates, a detour to look at the board game Stroop (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/212376/stroop ..read more
Scandalous Games
2M ago
Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch and Andy Hunter. We continue our deep-dive into self-proclaimed "killologist" Dave Grossman seeing how he became a media-anointed expert on video game violence in the wake of a school shooting in his home town, and how Dave managed to insert himself into future violent video game conversations in the wake of mass shootings.
Topics discussed include: Did a school shooter go from average teen to deadly marksman by playing too much DOOM? Andy tests Kevin and Kate's ability to distinguish betwe ..read more
Scandalous Games
3M ago
Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch and Andy Hunter. Whether you want it or not, we return to our long series on the self-proclaimed "killologist" Dave Grossman, and we finally get to Dave's entry into the violent video game fray as he peddled his killological wares in the wake of the March 24, 1998, Westside Middle School shooting, a less talked about school shooting that happened to take place in Dave's hometown and propel him from rando adjunct to media-anointed expert.
Topics discussed include: How Dave potentially used a schoo ..read more
Scandalous Games
3M ago
Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch, Kayt Ahnberg , and Ryan Weaver. We wrap up our four-part series on Manhunt, Rockstar North's snuff film inspired follow up to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. As we close the book on Manhunt, we try to figure out what might have inspired people to think Manhunt caused a real-world murder in 2004 and how it (possibly) had more to do with the machinations of an old friend of the pod than Manhunt acting as a "murder simulator." We then go into the game's popular reception and how Manhunt as a gam ..read more
Scandalous Games
4M ago
Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch, Kate Ahmberg, and Ryan Weaver. Today, some of us are still here and alive to cover part three of our four-part series on Manhunt, Rockstar North's brutal 2003 survival horror title. This time, we examine whether Manhunt caused a real-life murder (spoiler alert: it did not), and how the British tabloids gave us the infamous July 29, 2004, headline "Murder by PlayStation."
CONTENT WARNING: brief discussion of a murder (5:30-7:17)
Topics discussed include: The British papers have a wobbl ..read more
Scandalous Games
4M ago
Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch, Phil Thomas, and Andy Hunter. This time, part two of our four-part series on Rockstar Games' 2003 snuff film inspired stealth/horror game Manhunt. This time, we look at the moral backlash against Manhunt leading up to and following its 2003 and try to place that within the context of anxieties over video games as an art form during the early 2000s.
Topics discussed include: Manhunt gets banned in Germany and New Zealand, and Jack Thompson enters the fray!
For more on the challenge t ..read more
Scandalous Games
5M ago
Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch, Phil Thomas, and Andy Hunter. This month, we finally keep our promise and take a break from Dave Grossman for a four-part series on Manhunt, Rockstar North's 2003 snuff film inspired follow up to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Today, we go into the game's inspirations and its early reception in the gaming press to set up the brouhaha that ensued following its release.
Topics discussed include: a (very) brief history of snuff films, whether Manhunt almost caused a mutiny at Rockstar, the Sadi ..read more
Scandalous Games
5M ago
Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends...except it's Halloween and we want to do something fun and scary, so buckle up for our second synchable audio commentary. This time, Kevin, Kate Lynch, Phil Thomas, Elford Stevens, and Andy Hunter are ripping and tearing through the 2005 film adaptation of DOOM (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419706/) directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak.
We're watching the theatrical cut, which is 1 hour 45 minutes and not to be confused with the unrated director's cut.
To sync the movie, queue up the film to 00:00:05 and wait f ..read more