alt_edTop 10 controversial games of all time!
October 28th 2008 02:47
Death Race (1976) ... the first video game to stir up controversy was Exidy's Death Race (inset), a cult classic black-and-white arcade game in which the player had to run down "gremlins", which looked like stick men. Upon being hit the creatures would scream or squeal before being replaced by a tombstone.
The game, inspired by the 1975 film Death Race 2000, sparked public protests, causing such a public outcry that Exidy pulled the game off store shelves shortly after its release. The game inspired modern-day versions such as the graphic and equally infamous Carmaggedon (pictured).
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Custer's Revenge (1982) ... one of the most infamous X-rated games ever made, Custer's Revenge caused outrage due to simulating and "glorifying" the apparent rape of a Native American woman. In the game the player controls the naked General Custer character, who dodges arrows to have sex with a woman (named "Revenge") who is tied to a post.
The Atari 2600 game was banned in many stores. It was made by pornographic games publisher Mystique, which later went out of business and sold the game rights to Playaround. The new publisher made minor modifications to Custer's Revenge and continued marketing it under a different title, Westward Ho.
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Mortal Kombat (1992) ... if there ever was a game destined for controversy, Mortal Kombat was it. The revolutionary fighting game caught the attention of anti-violence activists with its "fatalities" — signature finishing moves that included graphic animations of players ripping out their opponent's spine.
Developed by Midway as a reaction to the popular game Street Fighter II, the Mortal Kombat series began in arcades. Numerous versions of the game have been made with the latest title, Mortal Kombat vs DV Universe, due for release later this year. The controversy surrounding the series led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), which applies and enforces ratings for computer and video games in the US.
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Doom (1993) ... community groups and religious organisations criticised the notorious game Doom for its violent and "satanic" images. In the game players take on the role of a space marine who is deported to Mars and has to fight his way through hell. Produced by id Software, it quickly became the most downloaded PC shareware program of the era and is credited with establishing the first-person shooter as a major gaming genre.
Doom was hit by a new wave of criticism after it was revealed the perpetrators of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre were fans of the game. Lawmakers and activists called the game a "murder simulator" and several lawsuits were filed against the video game and film industries by victim's families, however these were later dismissed. Production of the latest instalment in this series, Doom 4, began earlier this year.
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Postal (1997) ... a prime example of placing shock value over substance, Postal depicts a crazed postal worker happily harming innocent members of the public. Named after the colloquial phrase "going postal", the game was made by Running With Scissors and published by Ripcord Games in 1997. The sequel, Postal 2, was released in 2003, along with a film version in 2007.
Postal was pulled off most shelves within a couple of weeks of its release, but has a cult following to this day. Postal and Postal 2 are banned in Australia and over 10 other countries. Postal 3 is under development and is due for release next year.
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Grand Theft Auto (1997) ... the ultimate controversial video game, Grand Theft Auto is a highly successful series by Rockstar North that mixes violence, racing, sexual themes and generally offensive content into a detailed virtual world. The games are set in a criminal underworld and the play must complete various missions set by underworld figures to progress.
The original GTA (inset) encouraged players to run over people, including a group of chanting Hari Krishnas. GTA 3 (pictured) enabled players to visit prostitutes then kill them to get their money back. And then there was the infamous "hot coffee mod" controversy, in which a normally inaccessible interactive sex scene was uncovered in the code for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, sparking protests and prompting the game to be re-classified and pulled from shelves until an updated version was released.
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JFK Reloaded (2004) ... who shot JFK? Well thanks to this game, it could be you! The first-person shooter JFK: Reloaded recreated the 1963 assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. The player takes the role of Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, and attempts to perform the assassination as described in the Warren Report for more points.
JFK: Reloaded was created by Traffic Software and released online on the 41st anniversary of JFK's assassination. The company said that the primary aim of the game was run "the world's first mass-participation forensic construction" to disprove the theory that someone else was involved in the assassination. However an outraged public rubbished this notion, with many arguing that the game simply taught people how to be assassins.
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Super Columbine Massacre RPG! (2005) ... the Columbine High School shootings may have caused an uproar over Doom, but that didn't stop the creation of a new game based on the event. Super Columbine Massacre RPG! follows Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold through Columbine High School on the day of the shootings. The game, which used original media images of the shooting, was in turn blamed by some for the 2006 Dawson College shooting in Canada.
Super Columbine was made available as a free download on the sixth anniversary of the Columbine massacre. However it quickly became too popular and cost too much to sustain, so it was pulled the same year. Creator Danny Ledonne claims the game "is intended to deepen the understanding of the shooting and its possible causes", however many people found it insensitive and disturbing.
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Fallout 3 (2008) ... proving that a game can be banned for reasons other than violence, Fallout 3 was denied classification due to its realistic depiction of drug use. Set in the 22nd century, Fallout 3 follows a survivor who ventures out of a fallout shelter into a post-apocalyptic world.
The Australian Classifications Board initially refused the game classification due to its "realistic visual representations of drugs and their delivery method". The developer, Bethesda Softworks revised the game and resubmitted to get an MA 15 classification. The animation showing drug usage was removed, but some drug-related content remained.
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Silent Hill: Homecoming (2008) ... developed by Double Helix Games, Silent Hill: Homecoming follows the journey of a soldier returning from war only to find his town in disarray and his brother missing. He searches for his brother, fighting various monsters along the way. The Silent Hill series, published by Konami, debuted in 1999 and included a movie adaptation release in 2006.
The game's high impact violence and excessive blood effects, particularly in a scene depicting a drill being forced into an enemy's skull, were found too high for Australia's maximum MA15 rating, and it was refused classification. There are now plans to tone down the violent scenes in the hope that the game will be reclassified as MA15 and thus allowed for a 2009 release.
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