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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.
Scandalous Games
The 2025 Real Game Awards: Sir, this is a Dave & Buster's
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Historian Kevin Impellizeri shares a story of a video game controversy to his friend/partner, Kate Lynch. We interrupt our regularly-scheduled second episode on 2025 in controversies to take one more look back at the anti-woke paid award show The Real Game Awards, which, against all odds, aired a new edition on February 23, 2026. Join Kate and Kevin as we review the awards and their (lack of) impact so you don't have to.
Topics discussed include: Paying $150 to watch a YouTube video at a Dallas Dave & Buster's, the AI slop garbage pile that was their opening sequence, the coveted Best Jiggle Physics award, and a bunch of anti-woke grifters get mad over a Black samurai.
Here's the shot we discussed of the turnout at this year's Real Game Awards, courtesy of its creator: https://x.com/StutteringCraig/status/2026110216366928152.
For a look at Yaskue and the anti-woke backlash to his inclusion in Assassin's Creed: Shadows, see:
Robert Tuck, "We Need to Talk About Yasuke: Fact, Fiction, and History with the ‘African Samurai’ Part 1," Medium, January 6, 2025, https://medium.com/the-sundial-acmrs/we-need-to-talk-about-yasuke-fact-fiction-and-history-with-the-african-samurai-part-1-528a75dcc5ae.
Robert Tuck, "We Need To Talk About Yasuke: Fact, Fiction, and History with the ‘African Samurai’ Part 2," Medium, January 9, 2025, https://medium.com/the-sundial-acmrs/we-need-to-talk-about-yasuke-fact-fiction-and-history-with-the-african-samurai-part-2-4d470e3d3574.
More info, including show notes and sources at http://scandalousgamespodcast.wordpress.com.