wondering about past religious anti-video-game fanaticism
we were just reminded that pokemon got a *ton* of hate in the 90s from religious people, claiming it was somehow demonic or something
and now i'm thinking
why did *pokemon* get that and not like, castlevania??? they were both wildly popular series but castlevania has literal demons in it
-F
re: wondering about past religious anti-video-game fanaticism
@JulieSqveakaroo okay but playing with whips on playgrounds sounds actually dangerous
-F
re: wondering about past religious anti-video-game fanaticism
Something being dangerous has never stopped kids, before.
I mean... we were whacking each other full-force with broomsticks as swords, and using garbage can lids for shields.
re: wondering about past religious anti-video-game fanaticism
@JulieSqveakaroo blunt objects are generally less painful than whips, though
then again, children probably wouldn't be able to properly use a whip--i mean, we certainly don't know how
-F
re: wondering about past religious anti-video-game fanaticism
We broke knuckles, broke wrist and forearm bones, and got knocked over the heads pretty hard... whips hurt, but they don't hurt as deeply.
re: wondering about past religious anti-video-game fanaticism
@JulieSqveakaroo hm, we never broke any bones as a kid, the worst anyone in our family had was our sister breaking her arm jumping on the bed
-F
wondering about past religious anti-video-game fanaticism
That said, there absolutely WAS a religious outrage panic over video games, in general, in the 70s and 80s. Specific arcade games like Satan'sHollow, Sinistar, and DeathRace got a ton of religious outcry.
wondering about past religious anti-video-game fanaticism
@Felthry my guess would be that Pokemon had shows, movies, and all sorts of merch that Castlevania didn't, so it was what their children would have been ambiently exposed to
re: wondering about past religious anti-video-game fanaticism
@starseeker that makes sense, just seems like castlevania has a lot more stuff in it that would be objectionable to religious fanatics
though i guess you could make the easy argument that in castlevania it's shown pretty unambiguously that the demons are evil, too
-F
wondering about past religious anti-video-game fanaticism
@Felthry
Kids were not as addicted towards Castlevania, and the satanic-panic outrage is more performative than anything.
If kids were absolutely playing with whips constantly on the playgrounds, and asking for holy-water and throwing crosses for their birthdays, I'm sure that would have had an outrage.