Eleven controversial classics that may be hazardous to your health.
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat stands out as one of the most recognizable games around, thanks to its over-the-top blood splatter and brutal fatalities that have characters ripping out each other’s spines. The violence is highlighted by the fact that the game uses scanned actors instead of computer animated characters, which stirred even more fury. This ultra-violent fighter eventually became one of the most popular games in the world, and led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).
Grand Theft Auto Series
Rockstar’s open-ended crime simulator always draws attention, such as the public getting fired up over the “Kill All Haitians” graffiti found in Vice City and the Hot Coffee hack unlocking a secret sex game in San Andreas. The yet to be released GTA IV managed to spark controversy with just a trailer showing Liberty City to be a very close representation of New York City.
Manhunt Series
Since the public was already in an uproar over the violence in Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar decided to develop a game that would really give them something to shout about. In the flavor of high gore films like Saw and Hostel, the Manhunt games follow a killer that finds creative ways to use everyday objects as weapons of mass execution. All the bludgeoning, strangulation, maiming and suffocating finally caught up with the series, and Manhunt 2 had to be revised to dodge an Adults Only rating. However, the blurring put in place to cover up explicit scenes was promptly removed by hackers on the PlayStation Portable.
DOOM
Doom’s demonic gore fest makes it the most notorious game on the list. It has been accused of being a combat training program used by the military and a game that helped inspire the Columbine Massacre.
Night Trap
Night Trap is a campy game about girls in nightgowns trapped in a house full of vampires, featuring actress Dana Plato from the 80s show, Diff’rent Strokes. Although the game did not have any nudity, sex or excessive violence, it was listed along with Mortal Kombat and Doom when Congress held hearings about offensive video games. The game is cited as primary factor for the creation of the ESRB.
Phantasmagoria
Featuring loads of gore and violence including a rape scene that uses full-motion video, the game was banned in Australia and Germany, while major U.S. retailers refused to carry it. However, the game overcame the odds and became one of the best-selling games of 1995.
Harvester
This game from 1996, which features full-motion video, has a list of offenses a mile long. In addition to scenes depicting violence and gore, there’s implied sex, masturbation, S&M, cannibalism and offensive Italian, Native American and Homosexual stereotypes. It was among the top games the media picked up in its search for links between entertainment and real life violence, forcing people to demand some kind of ratings system for video games.
Mass Effect
Although critics praised Mass Effect for being one of the best role-playing games, it gained its infamy from a short and relatively tame alien lesbian sex scene. The scene was further blown out of proportion by false allegations made on Fox News made by the host and psychologist Cooper Lawrence. Lawrence later apologized for being misinformed.
Thrill Kill
Thrill Kill, a game that features characters that resemble marionettes maiming each other in four-player bloody combat, barely had time to stir controversy. Virgin Interactive, the game’s original publisher, was purchased by Electronic Arts and the new owners didn’t want to be associated with such a senselessly violent game, so they cancelled it shortly before its release. However, that wouldn’t be the end of the game, since a leaked version later surfaced on the Internet.
Hitman: Blood Money
Controversy for a game that features a bald, bar-coded assassin pursuing the perfect kills using various instruments comes from a completely unexpected place: A magazine advertisement that depicts a woman laid out on a bed. The suggestion of sexualized violence against women surpassed the game’s actual violent content.
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Although the Hot Coffee incident was still fresh in people’s minds, the controversy over Oblivion took gamers completely by surprise. A hack let users remove the generic clothing from the models, essentially allowing female avatars to go topless. The ESRB responded by upgrading the game’s rating from Mature to Adults Only until a subsequent patch fixed the problem.
