Finish him, Slackers! 

This week’s episode is all about how PC games like DOOM, console titles such as Mortal Kombat - on Sega Genesis of course - and early games on the first Xbox sparked intense controversy.

We dive into the societal fears that linked pixelated violence to real-world crimes, from Senate hearings scrutinizing Night Trap to media reports tying Grand Theft Auto and DOOM’s gory first-person action to youth aggression. It’s crazy looking back on how these games became scapegoats for violence, while also embodying our generation’s embrace of new technology, set against a backdrop of parental advisory stickers and early internet culture. 

Long before there was WiFi and Xbox live, there were LAN servers - we have had this kind of online gaming culture far longer than we sometimes recognize! Fun? Yes! Toxic? Probably!

There were some wild true crime connections amid widespread cultural debates surrounding PC and console gaming. These controversies continue to influence modern gaming culture today. Whether gaming is good, or bad, or otherwise -  who knows? I mean, who didn’t play Halo into the wee hours of the morning!?