Scandalous Games

Scandalous Games is a video game history podcast that takes a closer look at video game related controversies. Every episode, historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story about a scandalous event from gaming's past to his friends who offer commentary on moral panics, ill-advised advertising campaigns, unusual figures, and any and all topics related to video game scandals and how they shaped the medium. New episodes drop on the first and third Tuesdays of every month! Check out more info, including show notes and sources, at http://scandalousgamespodcast.wordpress.com.

All Episodes

Scandalous Games

Manhunt, Part Two: The game that was banned in New Zealand

November 21, 2023 • Scandalous Games • Episode 37

Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friends: Kate Lynch, Phil Thomas, and Andy Hunter. We're back for part two of our four-part series on Rockstar Games' 2003 snuff film inspired stealth/horror game Manhunt. This time, we look at the moral backlash against Manhunt leading up to and following its 2003 and try to place that within the context of anxieties over video games as an art form during the early 2000s.

Topics discussed include: Manhunt gets banned in Germany and New Zealand, and Jack Thompson enters the fray!

For more on the challenge to Alan Moore's Neonomicon in Greenville County, SC, see: Carolyn Kellogg, “Alan Moore graphic novel banned from South Carolina library,” Los Angeles Times, December 6, 2012, https://www.latimes.com/books/la-xpm-2012-dec-06-la-et-jc-alan-moore-graphic-novel-banned-from-south-carolina-library-20121206-story.html

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.