EPISODE 67 | Pixels & Paranoia – Video Game Conspiracies

From its humble beginnings, the video game industry has expanded from cabinet arcade games to PCs and home consoles. Two-thirds of adults in the US and three-quarters of children play them. It makes more than the film industry, which got to around $21 bn last year; and music, which made almost $26 billion in 2021. Globally, gaming hit $192 bn in 2021 and is expected to break $200 bn this year.

And it should come as no surprise that there have been rumours, urban legends, controversies and even outright conspiracy theories about video games. Games that kill, or carry a curse, or control people's minds, or contain hidden truths that some would prefer remained hidden. 

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VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/__bLJOkZYgw 

SECTIONS

1. 02:36 - Intruder Alert! - Berzerk kills
2. 06:43 - Lavender Town - Pokemon kills
3. 09:32 - The Madden Curse - Fame carries a price
4. 15:50 - Killswitch - A legendary game from Czechslovakia
5. 19:47 - Polybius - Mind control in Oregon
6. 30:20 - Drowned God - Harry Horse, history and aliens
7. 37: 37 - Omikron: The Nomad Soul - A Big Pharma/NWO playbook
8. 40:48 - Resident Evil's Umbrella Corporation and Covid-19
9. 42:16 - Corrupted Blood - A virus sweeps through the World of Warcraft MMORPG

• Music by Fanette Ronjat

More Info:

• Video Game Conspiracy Theories by TheHairyGamer (Michael Carter)
• The Best Video Game Urban Legends Ever in IGN Southeast Asia
• 20 Video Game Myths, Conspiracy Theories, and Urban Legends to Celebrate Halloween
• 10 Video Game Conspiracy Theories You'll Start To Believe
• 10 Video Games Myths & Conspiracies to Keep You Up at Night
• 30 Video Game Urban Legends: Are They True Or False? on 80s Kids
• How Many People Has the Berzerk Arcade Game Killed?
• Berzerk: The Killer Arcade Game? on Little Bits of Gaming
• Video Game Related Deaths
• Pokémon: What Is Lavender Town Syndrome (& Is It Real?) on ScreenRant
• Did the 'Madden' cover curse strike again?
• The covers of the Madden video game on NFL.com
• Secrets & Lies on GamePro
• Computerspiele in der DDR (in German)
• The Story Of Killswitch, The Creepy Game No-One Has Ever Played on Kotaku
• Gamebusters myth 8: KILLSWITCH on GotGame
• Polybius on CoinOp.org
• Sinnesloschen webpage
• Reinvestigating Polybius on RetroBitch
• The Polybius Conspiracy on Vimeo
• Polybius mockup by Rogue Synapse
• Morava Academy on WWASP Survivors
• Polybius Conspiracy podcast
• Drowned God page on Harry Horse website
• Aliens, conspiracy theories, and a forged diary inspired one of the weirdest games of the '90s on PC Gamer
• Drowned God on Hardcore Gaming 101
• Bandersnatch IRL: Harry Horse & "Drowned God: Conspiracy of the Ages" in /blackmirror/ Reddit forum
• Gamespot interview with Harry Horse
• Reality check: Microsoft, David Bowie, Bill Gates, and a creepy video game called ‘Omikron’
• Fact check: 1999 'Omikron' video game has no connection to pandemic, Bill Gates
• Plaguelands.. - 2005 article on Corrupted Blood Incident
• 'Virtual' Virus Sheds Light on Real-World Behavior on NPR
• The researchers who once studied WoW's Corrupted Blood plague are now fighting the coronavirus on PC Gamer

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