Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends, but this month we're celebrating the start of our third year and the end of our 14-part (!!!) series on Dave Grossman with something we're calling "Scandalous Games Summer," a set of syncable commentary tracks while we recharge and prep for some new stories. This month, we're watching and commenting on the 1994 live action Street Fighter movie (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111301/). So join Kevin Impellizeri, Kate Lynch, Andy Hunter, and Ryan Weaver as we celebrate the summer and have a good laugh. There ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Andy Hunter, Kate Lynch, and Phil Thomas. At long last, we have finally made it to the final episode in our extremely deep dive into the self-proclaimed "killologist" Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. In our thrilling (troubling?) conclusion, we close the book on arguably the most influential figure in the violent video games discussion by examining the violent media moral crusader/police trainer within the context of the larger atmosphere of America's increasingly militarized police. Content Warning: Police violence ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Andy Hunter, Kate Lynch, and Phil Thomas.  Topics discussed include:  Kevin shows his privilege when it comes to handling explosives, and we get to the bottom of whether we really eat eight spiders in our sleep. Plus, some more rounds of Pokémon or Prescription Drug? Theme Music: Occam's Sikhwee by Sikh Knowledge (Free Music Archive: https://bit.ly/33G4sLO), used under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US (https://bit.ly/33JXogQ)  More info, including show notes and sources at http://scandalousgamespodcast.w ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Andy Hunter, Kate Lynch and Phil Thomas. We leave the quirky little town of Harvest to continue our look into the self-proclaimed "killologist" Dave Grossman. This time around, we start looking at what Dave has been up to on the violent video games train in the last decade or so, and we take some time to think about the "why" of Dave. Topics discussed include:  Scandalous Games is officially a Pulitzer Prize nominated show (for real); Dave really wants you to buy his sheepdog branded coffee; is Dave ma ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends. This time, we wrap up Harvester with an interview with Aarno Malin, host of "The Harvester Show" and the Harvester Facebook page. Aarno graciously shared his experiences as a Harvester superfan and we discuss the process of tracking down people involved with the game, and he shares his thoughts on what might have kept the Harvester from joining the pantheon of controversial 90s video games. Be sure to check out Aarno Malin's channels for tons of inside information on Harvester, including interviews with the ..read more

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Andy Hunter and Kate Lynch.  Today, it's the thrilling conclusion to our look into the over-the-top PC game Harvester  (DigiFX, Merit Studios, 1996). We warp up by examining how its creators attempted to market Harvester, its reception (or lack thereof), and its surprising resurgence over the past decade. Topics discussed include: Harvester's creators desperately try to find someone who will get mad at their game, what did Postal get right that Harvester didn't, a definitely respectful memorial to ..read more

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

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

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

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