[Morgeruat]

the movie they probably saw that gave them all the bad ideas about gaming is called mazes and monsters. there was also an incident with a mentally ill man who got lost in the tunnels under a college, who also happened to be a gamer. heres a review of the movie from amazon.com

In the late 1970's and early 1980's, a popular game came along that scared the bejeezus out of the older generation. What initially appeared like a harmless game based on knights and dragons and other such fantasy figures from youth, proved to be not quite as sweet and innocent as parents previously thought. Mom and Dad found out that the game was (potentially) full of violence. Concerns grew that the game took long periods of time to play, and had occult/magic elements. Overzealous or simply ignorant adults blasted the game, fearing what exposure to these "fantasy plays" would do to their innocent little children. Parents have traditionally feared such things; in the mid part of the century, it was E.C's horror comics, then rock n' roll, then the Beatles. We see such similar and mostly unfounded fears today over card games like "Magic: The Gathering," and even more so over video games. Fearful parents always point to the occasional isolated news article about some guy who freaked out after several straight days of gameplay on "Everquest" ("Mazes and Monsters" instantly sprang to mind when this was reported), as some kind of proof that such games are bad for EVERYONE. "Mazes and Monsters" is the embodiment of the fear of overprotective parents in the early 1980's, who were worried about RPGs. In the made-for-TV film, a young man becomes so wrapped up in gameplay, that he loses his sense of self and "becomes" his character. The game itself is a very thinly veiled version of Dungeons and Dragons, and anyone even remotely familiar with the game will instantly see the allusions to D & D. While I have never been a big fan of Tom Hanks, I freely admit the man is quite talented. Even at a young age, and at a relatively early stage in his career, he still commands the film with his portrayal of the troubled young man, Robbie. The ending is especially well-handled, memorable, and poignant. Also interesting is that, although the film is clearly a warning against role-playing games, the message is somewhat mixed. While Robbie has problems divorcing himself from the gameworld, the other kids do not. In fact, they are incredibly intelligent, and prove this by deducing what is happening to their friend, and how best to help him. In addition, the kids are a far cry from being the sort of unpopular, nerdy, Star Trek virgins that gamers are usually portrayed as in the movies. I would encourage you to try this film, although I think you should avoid the Front Row Video brand version that I purchased, as it was dubbed very poorly in EP mode. "Mazes and Monsters" will take you back to the time at the dawn of the 80's when D & D and the books of J.R.R. Tolkien were all the rage. Ah, nostagia. The film is not only important as an artifact of the time in which it was made, it also showcases a recently lost New York landmark. And better still, the film is pretty good in its own right.

here's another

Like Refer Madness, this movie is so bad, it's good. Like Refer madness, it gets all the facts wrong, manages to play like a piece of Nazi propaganda, and proceeds to make you laugh in the process. Tom hanks later learned to act, but I doubt many casting directors wouldv'e given him the chance had they not seen this clunker, so perhaps we can thank this movie for that at least. That said, don't believe a word of what you see here. It's all just like I said earlier. Propaganda