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 Sadism Spectrum (TM), and the environmentally friendly uses of canvas bags for suffocations.

For more on the history of Rockstar during Manhunt's development and release, check out: David Kushner, Jacked: The Unauthorised Behind-the-Scenes Story of Grand Theft Auto (London: Collins, 2012), http://www.davidkushner.com/book/jacked/. 

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.wordpress.com.