Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Blood flows black and white on the highway this halloween.

For Halloween night, let me point to the first game to foster protest over video game violence, Exidy's 1976 Death Race.

In the game you drive a vehicle around a play field, chasing stick figures who flee randomly in all directions to avoid becoming a hood ornament.  If and when you strike one, the victim screams and turns into a grave marker, complete with cross.  If you have a buddy with you with a handy quarter, you can both mow down "gremlins", as they were described in the game cabinet text, simultaneously.

Even though with 1976 black and white graphics things are barely sketched out for you, the game brought a firestorm of controversy, which only helped to increase sales for Exidy.  They moved over 1,000 units of the game, their best-selling up to that point.

If you dare, read the history of the game the National Safety Council branded as "sick, sick sick", here at The Dot Eaters.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012