Scandalous Games

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch, Andy Hunter, and Phil Thomas. Today, we dive into the legal battle over video game likeness rights and how some experts argued the name, image, and likeness rights of college athletes came in conflict with video games' growing free speech rights in the 2010s. This discussion will get us one step closer to learning how college athletes received NIL (name, image, and likeness) rights and set the stage for EA Sports College Football 25.

Topics discussed include: The legal image rights of dictators (and athletes), the twisted legal battle over Tony Twist, probably the first reference to the 1990s movie Solo in 30 years, and what's the legal standing of buying things ironically?

For more on arguments for free speech in the Hart v. Electronic Arts suit, check out: Greg Lastowka, “The Erosion of Creative Freedom? The Battle Over Publicity Rights,” Gamasutra, July 11, 2012, https://web.archive.org/web/20120717033755/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/173890/the_erosion_of_creative_freedom_.php; see also: William Ford and Raizel Liebler, “Games Are Not Coffee Mugs: Games and the Right of Publicity,” Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal 29, No. 1 (2012): 1-99: https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/chtlj/vol29/iss1/1/.

For more on SAG AFTRA's AI rights deal, check out: "New SAG-AFTRA and Ethovox Agreement Empowers Actors and Secures Essential A.I. Guardrails," SAG AFTRA, October 28, 2024, https://www.sagaftra.org/new-sag-aftra-and-ethovox-agreement-empowers-actors-and-secures-essential-ai-guardrails. 

More info, including show notes and sources at http://scandalousgamespodcast.wordpress.com.  

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch, Andy Hunter, and Phil Thomas. We've focused a lot on how college sports brings in billions of dollars while the athletes have seen little to none of that for the majority of their history. Today, we start looking at how video games became the battleground where athletes pushed back against the system. On top of that, we dive into the history of likeness rights in video games.

Topics discussed include: A dramatic reading of Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City, Kevin performs a series of wardrobe changes totally suited for a non-visual medium, arguably the greatest baseball player to ever exist, and that time a Panamanian dictator took on the video game industry. Plus, another installment of "Scandalous Games Sports Chat!"

For more on the history of New York Mets fans storming the field, check out: Mike Vaccaro, "NYC fans have checkered history of storming field," New York Post, October 27, 2019, https://nypost.com/2019/10/26/nyc-fans-have-checkered-history-of-storming-field/.
For more on Vanderbilt fans throwing the goalposts into the Cumberland River, see: Aria Gerson, "Inside Vanderbilt football goalposts march to river: Obstacles, honky-tonks and a police escort," The Tennessean, October 9, 2024, https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/vanderbilt/2024/10/09/vanderbilt-football-goal-post-river-alabama-nashville-broadway/75514929007/.
For more on the New Jersey Swamp Dragons, see: Zach Lowe, "Once upon a time, the Nets seriously considered becoming the Swamp Dragons," ESPN, December 14, 2021, https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/15155466/once-nets-seriously-considered-becoming-swamp-dragons.

My fellow Americans: Go out and vote! Here are resources on voting, including registering, checking your registration status, identifying your polling place, and knowing your rights:
https://www.vote.org/
https://vote.gov/
https://www.vote411.org/
https://civilrights.justice.gov/voting-resources
https://www.eac.gov/voters

More info, including show notes and sources at http://scandalousgamespodcast.wordpress.com.  

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch and Phil Thomas. As we get to the bottom of why it took 11 years to get a new college football video game, we take a closer look at how schools and the NCAA treat college athletes and the lengths college programs will go to not compensate players (even with a full education) to preserve amateurism.

Topics discussed include: a totally not problematic discussion about crab legs, the Rhodes Scholar turned NFL player turned neurosurgeon, and how dodging worker's compensation got us the "student-athlete."

For more on NCAA sanctions against players (as well as a bunch of other topics related to this series), check out Joe Nocera and Ben Strauss, Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA (New York: Random House, 2016): https://www.amazon.com/Indentured-Inside-Story-Rebellion-Against/dp/1591846323.
For more on the college exploits of Jameis Winston and Cam Newton, check out:
"Florida's Newton faces felony counts after fellow student's laptop stolen," Associated Press (via ESPN), November 21, 2008, https://www.espn.com/college-football/news/story?id=3718266.
"Jameis Winston: Store employee 'hooked us up' with crab legs," ESPN, April 22, 2015, https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2015/story/_/id/12739843/jameis-winston-florida-state-seminoles-says-crab-legs-were-given-not-stolen.
Elliot C. McLaughlin, "FSU settles for $950,000 in Jameis Winston rape case," CNN, January 26, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/25/us/florida-state-fsu-settles-jameis-winston-rape-lawsuit/index.html
For more on the SMU scandal and the college football "death penalty," check out
On the average NFL career length by position, see: Christina Gough, "Average playing career length in the National Football League," Statista, March 12, 2024, https://www.statista.com/statistics/240102/average-player-career-length-in-the-national-football-league/.
On Dr. Myron Rolle, former NFL player and current neurosurgeon, see: Wright Thompson, "The Burden of Being Myron Rolle," ESPN Outside the Lines, http://www.espn.com/espn/eticket/story?page=100218/myronrolle. Also, his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmyronrolle. 
Theme Music: Occam's Sikhweee by Sikh Knowledge (Free Music Archive: https://bit.ly/33G4sLO), used under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US (https://bit.ly/33JXogQ).

Also, one slight correction: the College Football Playoff has 12 teams, not 16.

More info, including show notes and sources at http://scandalousgamespodcast.wordpress.com. 

Be sure to also check out Andy and Phil's new podcast where they re-watch the 1990s animated series Beast Wars: Transformers, called So...We Were Talking About Beast Wars, wherever you get your podcasts!

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch and Phil Thomas. We start actually talking about video games by diving into 20 years of college sports themed video games and how everybody seemed to make money on them but the players. Plus, the first installment of "Scandalous Games Sportschat!"

Topics discussed include: An unprompted rant about Tim Tebow, Dick Vitale’s merch game is on point, Stephen Hawking: color commentator, Phil is introduced to the magic of ESPN NFL 2K5, and how many Rutgers snuggies is too much?

For more on Ski Festival, the recently uncovered Magnavox Odyssey skiing game, see: Donovan Harrell, "You can now play a rare, unreleased video game from the 70s, thanks to a Pitt lab," PIttwire, https://www.pitt.edu/pittwire/features-articles/magnavox-odyssey-ski-festival-recreated.

Theme Music: Occam's Sikhweee 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. 

Be sure to also check out Andy and Phil's new podcast where they re-watch the 1990s animated series Beast Wars: Transformers, called So...We Were Talking About Beast Wars, wherever you get your podcasts!

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch and Phil Thomas. We've covered the early history of college sports and the creation of the NCAA. Now we look at how college football became a multi-billion dollar enterprise thanks in no small part to the mad scramble for TV money.

Topics discussed include: Penn fools around and finds out, the fraught territory of ladder sponsorships, and a whole lot of talk about mayonnaise. 

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. 

Be sure to also check out Andy and Phil's new podcast where they re-watch the 1990s animated series Beast Wars: Transformers, called So...We Were Talking About Beast Wars, wherever you get your podcasts!

Also, a slight correction: Washington State's team name is the Cougars, not the Wildcats.

Hooray for our 50th episode! Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch and Phil Thomas. It's the start of the college football season in America, and we are weeks into the launch of EA Sports College Football 25, the first American college sports video game in 11 years. With that in mind, we start a deep dive into why it took so long to get a new college football game, taking a look at the history of college sports as a multi-billion dollar empire. In our first part, we examine the impact of college sports and go all the way back to their 19th century origins.

Topics discussed include: Summoning Clippy with eldritch rituals, Philly sports radio call-in guys, the 19th century equivalent of performance enhancing drugs, and the incredibly dangerous flying wedge.

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. 

Be sure to also check out Andy and Phil's new podcast where they re-watch the 1990s animated series Beast Wars: Transformers, called So...We Were Talking About Beast Wars, wherever you get your podcasts!

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Andy Hunter, Phil Thomas, and Kate Lynch.

We're still in the midst of Scandalous Games Summer as Kevin prepares for another exciting series of video game related controversies, so we're kicking back with another syncable audio commentary. This time, join us we talk through the 2020 Paul W.S. Anderson film adaptation of the popular Capcom monster hunting franchise, Monster Hunter (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6475714/).

To sync the movie, queue up the film to 00:00:10 and wait for the countdown. If you want to cut through the intro where Kevin offers some history behind the movie and get right to the commentary, head to 00:10:27 in the recording. 

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.

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 have been a bunch of fun histories written on this movie. Here are a few Kevin mentions during the commentary:
Luke Owen, Lights, Camera, Game Over! : How Video Game Movies Get Made (Schiffer, 2017): https://schifferbooks.com/products/lights-camera-game-over
Chris Plante, "Street Fighter: The Movie -- What Went Wrong?" Polygon, March 10, 2014, https://www.polygon.com/features/2014/3/10/5451014/street-fighter-the-movie-what-went-wrong.
Keith Stuart, "'I punched him so hard he cried': inside the Street Fighter movie," The Guardian, July 16, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/games/2018/jul/16/inside-street-fighter-movie-jean-claude-van-damme-kylie-minogue.

To sync the movie, queue up the film to 00:00:10 and wait for the countdown. If you want to cut through the intro where Kevin offers some history behind the movie and get right to the commentary, head to 00:10:55 in the recording.

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.

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, including police related killings

Topics discussed include:  Some possible explanations why police walk around in riot gear when they patrol the local farmer's market, corporate sponsored cops, Kevin is missing out on In-N-Out Burger,  Dave's possible kinks, the infuriating merch Dave sells on his online store, and a potentially fun way you can help spread the word about Dave Grossman.

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.  

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends:  Kate Lynch, and Phil Thomas. This time around, we finally start wrapping up our deep dive into Dave by learning about his career as a police trainer and the kinds of totally healthy and not dangerously upsetting messages he shares with America's law enforcement communities, school officials, and anyone else willing to pay him thousands of dollars.

Content warning: discussion of violence throughout. Brief mention of suicide (39:50-39:58, 40:48-40:52).

Topics discussed include: The state of Dave's underwear after a long tour pushing "killology," suicide bio bombers rushing across the border (?), the debate over gun control in Helldivers II, and the group shares some innovative classroom management techniques.

To check out the Bulletproof Warrior handout unveiled by Unicorn Riot in 2018, see: Niko Georgiades, "Bulletproof Warrior Training Manual Released," Unicorn Riot, May 25, 2018, https://unicornriot.ninja/2018/bulletproof-warrior-training-manual-released/.

For more on the ways the media paints a favorable view of police in America and downplays  systemic issues in law enforcement, check out: the Skip Intro series "Copaganda:" https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2ac8vr2QyTdlWwd8OQIc1it6bAfMGPPC&si=0wan2mGA9fkDooP4.

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.