Well, I have mixed opinions on the subject. One of the more interesting conspiracy theories out there is that one of the reasons why Creepypasta, found footage movies, and the like have proliferated is because the government is well aware of "weird stuff" (to use a general header) and keeps a lid on it for various reasons. In a day and age where nearly everyone has access to the internet and many people carry personal recording devices of one type or another (it's not like the old days when only reporters and tourists were likely to have cameras, almost every cell phone has one) keeping anything quiet is almost impossible. The best way to conceal stuff thus becomes to put so much garbage out there that the truth becomes impossible for people to accept. Basically if you reported a paranormal experience on the internet "because people have to know" people would immediately assume it's a phrank or Creepypasta, even if (or perhaps especially if) it's very detailed. Likewise even if you recorded the whole thing on video, it can be dismissed as another group of kids trying to do the whole "found footage" thing or fake footage to seem like one of those "Ghost Hunter" shows. I'm not a big believer in conspiracy theories, but when people talk about Creepypastas and the quality and such it reminds me of it... along with how in the past people have identified real things, like pictures of animals or whatever, as being fakes, because simply put the fakes have just gotten so good.
That said I have no real issue with most creepypasta about video games and such, after all we live in the modern world, and pretty much any kind of haunting that could have been attributed to a book, music box, or whatever else could logically also apply to something more modern. Especially when you consider that a lot of technology, even computers, have been around for decades. Things like haunted pokemon cartridges are no different than say haunted or cursed dolls or other toys, and really if something WAS going to happen of that sort, I'd expect it to take that form nowadays. After all when it comes to something like "Ben Drowned" it would make more sense for him or an affiliated entity to be attached to a video game, than say a toy car or wagon. You might also find this unusually common, especially if certain theories about the supernatural's affinity for cameras, video, and electronics are to be believed.
My big problem with a lot of Creepypasta is when it starts to get too evasive, basically having to struggle to explain why the writer wouldn't have included more specific details. Some of the best incorporate a degree of truth, or rely on other, well known, urban legends.
On another note creators have been known to occasionally do weird things for their own amusement, or to goof off internally. In some cases I think the idea of a "lost episode" of a show or something is simply meant to be unsettling because it seems like something which could conceivably be found. That said some famous incidents like the "Alien Autopsy" showing up on TV and the like have inspired ideas for what various hackers might do in order to be weird, or even stranger things that might have shown up. On top of this you also have old horror stories like "The King In Yellow" which involve a play about "Carcosa" that is really boring to begin with, but the third act of which will drive an audience insane, a lot of creepy pastas about lost episodes and such seem to be a variation on that.
On a final note I will also point out that with the sheer weight of material that gets published some truely weird stuff appears and disappears never to be seen or heard from again. For example when I was growing up there was a big boom on "choose your own adventure" books and they tried them with all kinds of different themes, RPG elements, puzzles built into in-book pictures, and stuff, I had, borrowed, and read tons of these which I've lost or never saw again and some of them were pretty weird, and done by fly by night companies. One of them was a quasi-horror thing where you get dropped off at a friend's costume themed birthday party he's having at a castle, except nobody else showed up, and oh the castle is full of monsters (thanks mom and dad) I remember it being very easy to die in, and images of bad endings involving descriptions of failing to defend myself with a toy sword made of tin foil, and stuff like that. Nothing especially terrible or haunted, but the point is it existed, and I've never seen it again and can't even remember the title... as everyone probably has a few things like this that they can remember but not identify, especially from their childhood, it probably inspires a lot of the creepypasta. I could probably say spin an interesting story about rediscovering a book like that and how much worse it was than I remembered as a child... and then weird things started to happen.
That said I have no real issue with most creepypasta about video games and such, after all we live in the modern world, and pretty much any kind of haunting that could have been attributed to a book, music box, or whatever else could logically also apply to something more modern. Especially when you consider that a lot of technology, even computers, have been around for decades. Things like haunted pokemon cartridges are no different than say haunted or cursed dolls or other toys, and really if something WAS going to happen of that sort, I'd expect it to take that form nowadays. After all when it comes to something like "Ben Drowned" it would make more sense for him or an affiliated entity to be attached to a video game, than say a toy car or wagon. You might also find this unusually common, especially if certain theories about the supernatural's affinity for cameras, video, and electronics are to be believed.
My big problem with a lot of Creepypasta is when it starts to get too evasive, basically having to struggle to explain why the writer wouldn't have included more specific details. Some of the best incorporate a degree of truth, or rely on other, well known, urban legends.
On another note creators have been known to occasionally do weird things for their own amusement, or to goof off internally. In some cases I think the idea of a "lost episode" of a show or something is simply meant to be unsettling because it seems like something which could conceivably be found. That said some famous incidents like the "Alien Autopsy" showing up on TV and the like have inspired ideas for what various hackers might do in order to be weird, or even stranger things that might have shown up. On top of this you also have old horror stories like "The King In Yellow" which involve a play about "Carcosa" that is really boring to begin with, but the third act of which will drive an audience insane, a lot of creepy pastas about lost episodes and such seem to be a variation on that.
On a final note I will also point out that with the sheer weight of material that gets published some truely weird stuff appears and disappears never to be seen or heard from again. For example when I was growing up there was a big boom on "choose your own adventure" books and they tried them with all kinds of different themes, RPG elements, puzzles built into in-book pictures, and stuff, I had, borrowed, and read tons of these which I've lost or never saw again and some of them were pretty weird, and done by fly by night companies. One of them was a quasi-horror thing where you get dropped off at a friend's costume themed birthday party he's having at a castle, except nobody else showed up, and oh the castle is full of monsters (thanks mom and dad) I remember it being very easy to die in, and images of bad endings involving descriptions of failing to defend myself with a toy sword made of tin foil, and stuff like that. Nothing especially terrible or haunted, but the point is it existed, and I've never seen it again and can't even remember the title... as everyone probably has a few things like this that they can remember but not identify, especially from their childhood, it probably inspires a lot of the creepypasta. I could probably say spin an interesting story about rediscovering a book like that and how much worse it was than I remembered as a child... and then weird things started to happen.
