Scandalous Games

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch, Phil Thomas, and Elford Stephens. We continue looking back at the previous year that was with a sample platter of gaming related controversies that came up over 2024. This time around, we look at some wild backlashes against Sony in the Helldivers II community and the alleged role of video games in the December 4, 2024, shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Topics discussed include: Precision review bombing raids, Phil's harrowing ordeal against the bugs, the horrors of Altoona pizza, and did Among Us cause a murder?

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. For our first recording of 2025, we share our favorite gaming experiences from 2024 and take a look at the tumultuous state of the games industry over the past year, including  the discussions of corporate greed, massive layoffs, and huge live service failures.

Also, a scheduling note: we will not be airing a second episode this month. Check back in on March 4 for our next episode.

Topics discussed include: Hilarious achievements, the Embracer Group gets too greedy, the incredible failures that were Concord and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the event horizon of maximizing profits, and firearm carrying crabs. 

For a deep dive into the wave of industry layoffs, check out: Phil Hornshaw, “Video Game Industry Layoffs Are Worse Than Ever. How Did We Get Here?” Gamespot, March 12, 2024, https://www.gamespot.com/articles/video-game-industry-layoffs-are-worse-than-ever-how-did-we-get-here/1100-6521799/.

For more on The Stanley Parables' wild achievements, including awards for not playing the game for 5-10 years, see: "Achievements," The Stanley Parable Wiki, https://thestanleyparable.fandom.com/wiki/Achievements.

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, Elford Stephens, and Phil Thomas. Part Two (of two) of our remastered edition of our deep dive at Postal 2 (Running with Scissors, Whiptail Interactive, PC, 2003). This time, we go past the game's less-than-stellar reception and learn how developer Running with Scissors found a second life in the anti-woke crowd.

Topics discussed include: Running with Scissors accuses critics of giving their games bad reviews without playing them, Vince Desi vs. Jack Thompson: the epic battle the world deserved (but never got), Running with Scissors gets its place in the sun thanks to GamerGate, and a timely theory about how RWS stayed in business for years despite not making any games.

For more on the tumultous history of Postal III, check out: Matt McMuscles, "Postal III - What Happened?" August 22, 2020, https://youtu.be/WJnivzm-WjA?si=jo1sxeOAnirAOVO2.
For a thoughtful deep dive into the Postal series (plus previous subject Hatred), check out: Noah Caldwell-Gervais, "Postal, Hatred, and Weighing the Worth of Asshole Simulators," November 9, 2015, https://youtu.be/kivtv6wabBk?si=VFdEeIsYcK3a14Bd. 

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, Elford Stephens, and Phil Thomas. We're taking a month off for the holidays, so enjoy part one of a two-part remastered version of our episode on Postal 2 (Running with Scissors, Whiptail Interactive, PC, 2003), the crass magnum opus of the rudest, crudest dudes in gaming: Running with Scissors. This time, you'll be treated to tons of never-before-aired footage and additional info from Kevin.

Topics discussed include: The logistics of using a cat's butt as a silencer, the tumultuous 2000s career of Gary Coleman, and games RWS could have ripped off to make Postal 2 combat's better.

For more on the Nyan Cat mod for Unreal Tournament 3, check out Brandon Stines, "Nyan Cat Becomes a Weapon of Mass Destruction in This Unreal Tournament 3 Mod," Nerdeux, September 20, 2011, https://nerdeux.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/nyan-cat-becomes-a-weapon-of-mass-destruction-in-this-unreal-tournament-3-mod/

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, Elford Stephens, and Phil Thomas. We reach the thrilling conclusion of our deep dive into the history of college sports video games and why there weren't college football video games for over a decade until the release of EA Sports College Football 25.

Topics discussed include: The NCAA loses a whole bunch, college athletes gain NIL rights (and $600 for their troubles), that time the Supreme Court actually ruled in favor of people over corporations, the return of college football video games, Scandalous Games as written by Grok, and Ed O'Bannon did not take your college football video games away.

For more on the Pottsville Maroons, check out Tim Selway, "Stolen Glory: The Pottsville Maroons," Pennsylvania Center for the Book (Spring 2008): https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-cultural-heritage-map-pa/feature-articles/stolen-glory-pottsville-maroons.

You can play First Person Tutor, the Flash version of The Grading Game, check out the preserved copy on the Flashpoint Project: https://flashpointproject.github.io/flashpoint-database/search/#6b16381e-d142-4d92-b356-aa252186565c. 

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, Elford Stephens, and Phil Thomas. On Elford's triumphant return, we start looking at the state of college football during the 2010s that led to the end of the NCAA Football video game series. Plus, we tackle the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing match in the latest installment of Scandalous Games Sportschat!

Topics discussed include: NCAA head Mark Emmert's bad day with PBS's Frontline, the NFL's worse day in Congress, Kevin misses out on a huge payout.

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. 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/.

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: Dick Vitale branded merch, a rundown of digital college athletes, and how many Rutgers snuggies is too much?

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!