This all seems downright quaint given the subsequent casual mayhem of titles like those in the Grand Theft Autoseries — not to mention more serious real-life horror, but at the time this controversy was a huge deal that helped define the generation gap between 90s gamers and those who sought to harsh their gratuitous violence-induced buzz. If there’s something politicians know, it’s videogames, amirite? This 1994 news report is a perfect snapshot of the panic, fear, and “what about the kids?” mentality that swirled around Mortal Kombatin a time when there apparently wasn’t anything else serious going on worth worrying about. Oh wait. Shit. More gaming doom-saying via a Los Angeles-area news report from the early 90s, one that contains this priceless exchange: “Fun!” – Mortal Kombat player AND SCENE! Here’s Tom Brokaw reporting on the establishment of the ESRB rating system. We don’t know his personal feelings on gaming (journalistic distance and whatnot), but we’re guessing dude is a major Dance Dance Revolution fan. It’s always the quiet ones. Finally, this UPN report (remember UPN? HAW HAW) features game creators Ed Boon and John Tobias discussing the blood and death and mayhem and society-crumbling Mortal Kombat 3, which, as we all know, single-handedly caused all societal ills of the past 20 years. Read and download the full Den of Geek Special Edition magazine here!
