Dungeons and Dragons and Documentaries

Westpaw Films has decided to make a documentary looking at Gary Gygax and the creation of Dungeons & Dragons, an idea I approve of mightily. I think the rocky relationship between Gygax and TSR is worth exploring, and it’s especially worth remembering how some morons actually believed D&D was promoting satanism and somehow inspiring kids to murder each other. I do think, however, that the doc might be overselling D&D’s cultural importance just a tad. Oh, it’s certainly important, but I don’t think that we can necessarily give it praise for creating the entire videogame industry, or Facebook. I think it’s somewhere in-between — it inspired a lot of people and a lot of great things, but also wasn’t a nefarious tool of satan. Split the difference. Thanks to Eric B. for the tip. (Via Wired)