Scandalous Games

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Elford Stephens and Phil Thomas. In today's episode, we examine the aggressively controversial 1997 "murder simulator" Postal. We talk about the history of creator Running with Scissors, their aggressive attempts to spark a controversy and the ways they have massaged the truth about the impact of their supposed "software trauma of a game."

Topics discussed include: how a company went from making games based on Sesame Street to one where you mow down entire towns worth of people, the history of "going Postal," and how has Running with Scissors stayed in business for so long???

More information on the history of "going postal":
DeLani R. Bartlette, "The Origin of 'Going Postal,'" Medium, June 29, 2020: https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-origin-of-going-postal-90992ce6fa6a.
Aaron Gordon, "The Legacy of Going Postal," Vice,  September 24, 2020: https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5pabb/the-legacy-of-going-postal.

Content warning: discussion of mass shootings.

Also, check out Noah Caldwell Gervais' overview of the entire Postal series: https://youtu.be/kivtv6wabBk.

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: Elford Stephens, John Dukes, and Phil Thomas. In today's episode, we examine the career of infamous director of bad video game movies, Uwe Boll aka "The Raging Boll," "The Deutschland Destroyer," "The Teutonic Terror," and the "Worst Director Ever."  We talk about his personal and professional style; his literal and figurative battles with critics, gamers, and pretty much everyone else; and whether he knew something about film making that the rest of us didn't.

Topics discussed include: the video game movies that never got made, Boll's tax-related shenanigans,  and who's the biggest "Uwe Duva?"

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: Elford Stephens, John Dukes, and Phil Thomas. In today's episode, we take a closer look at the "erotic" themed 1982 Atari 2600 game Custer's Revenge. What on Earth did people find offensive about a racist, sexual assault-themed game? We also examine whether American Multiple Industries, the game's creators, were trying to troll people for free publicity. 
Topics discussed include: Damage control when Atari sues you for your gross game, the Washington Football Team, and the Activision-Blizzard lawsuit.
Content warning: Sexual assault, discussion of racism and abuse against Indigenous peoples, brief mention of suicide.
For more resources on sexual assault, please check out RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network): https://www.rainn.org/; the National Sexual Violence Resource Center: https://www.nsvrc.org/: and the National Sexual Abuse Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Want to learn more about the history of Custer's Revenge? Check out Kate Willaert, "Porno Hustlers of the Atari Age," Kotaku, September 6, 2021: https://kotaku.com/porno-hustlers-of-the-atari-age-1847622176.
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: Elford Stephens, John Dukes, and Phil Thomas. In today's episode, we tackle the infamous 1992 FMV game Night Trap and how the game became the "ultimate violent video game."
Topics discussed include:  alternative titles Digital Pictures could have used instead of Night Trap, why would anyone bother playing this game,  and who stole money from the old guy from Scene of the Crime?
Content warning: brief discussion of sexual assault.
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: Elford Stephens, John Dukes, and Phil Thomas. In today's episode, we take on part two of our two part series on Jack Thompson, the one-man anti-video game moral crusader. In Part Two, we take a deep dive into his crusade against video game violence, his personal feuds against game developers and journalists, his attempts to develop his own video game, and his eventual downfall. 

Content warning: murder, mass shootings, child abuse

Topics discussed include:  fixing cable news, the relationship between video games and forest fires, and (seriously) what is Jack Thompson's deal?

Today's game: Thompson's Tips, Part Two. Kevin has more advice from Mr. Jack Thompson himself on waging culture wars. Can the guys tell real tips  from stuff Kevin made up?

*Correction: David Grossman didn't describe police as "apex predators." He described them as sheep dogs who protected the sheep (that's how he sees us) against the wolves (violent criminals).

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)   

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Elford Stephens, John Dukes, and Phil Thomas. In today's episode, we tackle Jack Thompson, the one-man anti-video game moral crusader. In Part One of our two-part series, we examine Jack Thompson's early life; the start of his war against obscenity; his personal feuds with rappers, DJs, and Janet Reno; and his personal style.
Topics discussed include:  our personal moral crusades, Thompson getting yelled at on a national talk show,  whether or not Jack Thompson is actually Batman, and Bibleman's robust rogue's gallery.
Today's game: Thompson's Tips. Can the guys identify real advice from Jack Thompson on waging culture wars from stuff Kevin made up?
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)  

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Elford Stephens, John Dukes, and Phil Thomas. In today's episode, we take a closer look at the Turok naming contests, a pair of 2002 marketing campaigns for the GameCube/Xbox/PlayStation 2 game Turok Evolution where publisher Acclaim tried to convince people to change their name to "Turok." 
Topics discussed include: looking back at some fun (and some not so fun) dinosaur themed first person shooters, what it would take for you to change your name to a brand, the marketing potential of seagull attacks, and whether its a good idea to put ads on tombstones.
Today's game: Lore or Lies. Can the guys tell real parts of the Turok lore from stuff Kevin made up?
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)