Controversy, controversy and more controversy!

As gamers, we've all heard it: "Video Games are bad for you!". Quite often, individuals who subscribe to this notion are heard citing things like violence, sexuality, and even just the physically sedentary nature of gaming itself. However, as gamers, we know that this is merely a misconception. After all, these exact aspects being spoken of in gaming are ever present in movies, TV, books, and music. In many cases, these topics and themes are even more present in those other mediums, and yet they are often accepted with a much more open-minded attitude. Sexual content in movies is quite accepted, and (when compared to the ESRB) we put a great deal of faith in the MPAA's rating system of R to ensure children don't go see 'naughty' films. We also don't often hear people too concerned about the amount of violence on broadcast TV or music nowadays, in comparison to gaming, either. Even with something as physically sedentary as reading a book, how many of us have been chastised for 'wasting our day' with reading? It's hard to remember sometimes how young, culturally speaking, the medium of gaming really is. The first 'video games' began as simple technical experiments in the 50's, and the medium wasn't even really relevant to the public until people started pumping endless coins into PONG machines in the 70's. Moreover, it's also important to remember that a great deal of marketing in the early days of the industries' history was focusing on young kids as their demographic and as a result games were seen as electronic toys for children for a long time. In fact, many people still view them this way today. So where is all this leading? Well, this month at Emuparadise, we want to take a look at some of the more controversial titles that have been released. Games that brought these kinds of issues in our ever-evolving corner of media into the spotlight, and in doing so has helped the industry mature.

Mortal Kombat

Systems:Arcade, Game Boy, Super Nintendo, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Commodore Amiga

Year: 1992

Easily crowned as the king of controversy when it comes to video game violence, Mortal Kombat is often credited as the very reason that we have the ESRB's rating system in place. Its portrayal of bloody fight-to-the-death violence and over-the-top fatalities were made even more realistic by the use of digitized characters; a method of creating game sprites by using real life actors instead of pixel art. Prior to this, no one had experienced anything quite like it, and a lot of people were concerned that it would lead to more real-world violence among the youth that frequented arcades.

While the game made far too much money to 'not' be considered for home-console ports, each company did this in different ways. Nintendo, who'd previously established themselves as a family friendly product, decided to remove much of the blood and gore, replacing it with sweat. Meanwhile, Sega, still in the midst of its "Sega does what Nintendon't" campaigns, was still etching out its own and had found audiences in the more mature crowds of gamers. They leaned into this by allowing the gore in the game to remain, albeit with the use of the famous 'Blood Kode'.

PRO TIP: Enter A, B, A, C, A, B, B at the "Code of Honor" intro screen to enable the 'Blood Kode'.

Grand Theft Auto 3

Systems:Sony Playstation 2, Microsoft Xbox

Year: 2001

20 minutes of playing Grand Theft Auto and it's easy to see how it stirred up so much contention. Stealing cars, running over pedestrians, beating up the elderly with a baseball bat, sleeping with hookers in said stolen cars, drug running, police chases, setting people on fire... the list goes on, and on, and on. It was basically a collection of every virtual crime you could imagine, buckled with the freedom to choose your own actions. The world had never ever seen a game quite like this, and it's easy to see how it was such a draw for gamers. The ability to go anywhere at anytime and do anything was something which had previously only been a dream. It's no wonder that following GTA3, we saw a boom in what is now called "Open World" games.

While the ESRB was already in place for years when this game came out, the prevalence of minors playing game led to a great deal of legislation being put into place regarding how we purchase games. If you've ever had to show your ID, or get your parent's permission to purchase a game at the storefront, than you can thank Rockstar Games for its influence on the industry. Yet also, this brought the standard up to par with the movie industry where you can't purchase tickets to an R-rated film without an ID or a parent that accompanies you to the film.

Thrill Kill

System:Sony Playstation

Year: UNRELEASED (Planned for 1998)

We've mentioned the ESRB several times in this article, but you simply can't talk about the rating system without looking at how it can also adversely effect a games development, and even release. The basic rating system of E for Everyone, T for Teen, and M for Mature is almost as recognizable today as the G-PG-PG13- & R system is for movies from the MPAA; but did you know there was one more rating?

The rank of AO for Adults Only has existed for quite some time, however you may not be familiar with it for a combination of reasons. You see, back in the 90's the AO rating was basically reserved for any game containing excessive amounts of sexual content, and when we say excessive we mean the video game equivalent of pornography. This led to a standing policy from Nintendo, Sega, Sony, and even Microsoft to not allow games with the AO rating to be officially licensed for their respective home consoles.

So in the early 3D era of gaming, the excessive blood and gore (which is admittedly tame by today's standards) of Thrill Kill was deemed to be above that of an M rating. This had never happened before in the industry, where a game was given the AO rating not for sexual content, but for sheer violence. Despite this seeming like a call to re-examine the system, the policies remained the same and the game was not granted licensing which then resulted in it never being released to the public; despite having been finished. Naturally, that didn't stop us from using the magic of computers to upload it to the World Wide Web. I've heard you can even find it on a great little retro site called Emuparadise.

Night Trap

Systems:Sega CD, Sega CD 32X

Year: 1992

FMV games were a short lived genre brought on by the introduction of larger storage capacities on CD-ROM discs. The basic idea was to create an interactive movie, akin to 'choose your own story' books, where choices would lead to different outcomes. Some games excelled in this genre, many failed miserably, but none are as (in)famous as "Night Trap". In fact, you may have recently heard of this game as it was just re-released on the Playstation 4.

Initially released on the Sega CD in '92, this game actually contained what basically amounts to no offensive content, certainly by today's standards. However, in the craze of violence swirling around games like Mortal Kombat, this game (seemingly picked out of a hat) had several images and scenes taken completely out of context. These were used as examples in the US Senate hearings where people who had never even played the game were condemning its content as a simulation for trapping and killing women, when in fact the entire concept of the game is to stop the women from coming to harm.

The controversy, whilst being based on basically nothing, was so strong that it generated a massive sales boom for the game. After all, nothing sells a product faster than telling a bunch of people they shouldn't be allowed to have it. This eventually led to a temporary removal of the game from store shelves, during which time the 'offensive' scenes were removed and it was re-released on the Sega CD 32X. The scenes were later restored once the buzz died down and it was released on the 3DO as well.

DOOM

Systems:Sega 32X, Atari Jaguar, Super Nintendo

Year: 1993

If Mortal Kombat was the king of violent controversy, then DOOM is the god of it. After the shock of seeing digitized characters rip each others spines out, and setting each other on fire, what could possibly top that? How about a game that let's you see through the eyes of a man firing guns at endless amounts of characters and monsters in levels riddled with satanic imagery all to a digitized metal soundtrack? Still not enough? Let's have the media use this game as a scapegoat for an incredibly tragic school shooting, claiming that it was a large contributing factor to the violent events that had transpired.

It wasn't only controversial for its violence and imagery though. When DOOM was released id Software distributed the first episode of the game via shareware. If you're not familiar, this was basically a floppy disk that would allow you to install a portion of the game and was legally allowed (and encouraged) to be shared with as many people as possible. Coupled with its deathmatch style LAN multiplayer, this led to a number of companies having to address the game's existence on their machines as it was not only drawing network strength, but company productivity was taking a hit as well. This was a step up to say the least from employees just playing solitaire at their desk.

Manhunt 2

Systems:Sony Playstation 2, Sony PSP

Year: 2007

Even though 10 years prior Thrill Kill had been given the AO rating, proving that it wasn't just about sexual content, Manhunt 2 was presented with the same problems. A few years before, the original Manhunt was used as the scapegoat for a teen who had committed a violent murder. In the wake of that incident, and the increased violence of its sequel, an AO rating was basically guaranteed for this installment. This lit an absolute fire in gaming publications, as it has been a decade since this situation had been seen. Not to mention that, when Thrill Kill came around, the Internet was little more than a computer tool for hobbyists.

Unlike Thrill Kill though, Manhunt 2 was voluntarily censored by the developers, who used a visual filter during its most violent scenes, and this was strangely enough to appease the people at the ESRB who eventually gave the game an M rating. This allowed for the game to be released for most consumers (though some countries still banned it.) Still though, perhaps you want to see the game in its full glory? Well, you're in luck because a number of modifications for several versions of the game exist. While you will have to patch the game yourself, it is possible to remove some of the censorship placed on the title using these methods. Still, if that's more of a hurdle than you'd like to deal with, some online game retailers actually sell the digital, AO version, of the game for PC. Thus proving that the market for violent AO games does exist.

Keeping in mind how new video games are, we surely have many more growing pains to go through before it's as accepted as movies, music and books are today. Still, gaming has the fortune of belonging to all of us, so no one can truly tell us what's right and wrong. That's up to each and every person, or their parents, to decide for themselves what's OK and what isn't. In addition, the age of the internet allows us to discuss things at a faster pace, and share data more freely. There are many groups online that champion violent video games as a tool for venting anger and stress, akin to how some view hitting a heavy punching bag. There's also several studies that seem to suggest that regularly playing violent games lowers an individual's tendencies to be violent in real life. No doubt we've all met a friend or two, or perhaps even a spouse, via online gaming; which says a lot to contradict the notion that gaming restricts our social lives. Recently we've even seen pro gaming leagues come into the spotlight, which laughs in the face of all the times we've been told it would never amount to anything. What do you guys think, is there a particular game you felt was controversial? Maybe something your parents barred you from playing? Or perhaps you have a story about how a controversial aspect of gaming has added to your life? Whatever you play, and for whatever reasons you play it, we're delighted to share that experience with you all!