Here is an 1985 60 minute special on Dungeons and Dragons. While the retro aesthetic of the video and reporting style might be reminiscent of a spoof, this news report had serious impacts regarding the general reputation for Dungeons and Dragons. This was over 30 years ago, and was in regards to a later edition of the game which should shed some light on the extent to which the game’s stigma prevailed from the time of its conception. And what point did the Dungeon and Dragons reputation slowly switch over from something which causes teen suicide, to one of the biggest grossing games of all time. While other factors would have had an impact, I’m confident that the critical success of the Lord of the Rings movies – not just amongst fantasy fans but within the Academy, with the third movie taking home 17 Oscars – had a part to play. Another popular piece of fantasy theatre that would have opened up the social barriers of nerd culture would be Game of Thrones. A show so massively popular – again not only amongst fans but within the film community as demonstrated by the amount of Emmys it has won – that television networks are scrambling to find the next epic fantasy show to start filming.