Overshadowed by Controversy: Difference between revisions
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* The ''[[Manhunt (series)|Manhunt]]'' series was best known for its premise of being about a convict being forced to take part in snuff films (the gameplay was mostly stealth based, with elements of [[Survival Horror]]). The first game was given mixed reviews, with some marking it down for the [[Gorn]] and others praising it for its atmosphere, the sequel received average reviews across the board and the series was mostly forgotten. It got to the point that even Rockstar Games employees themselves felt uneasy about the game's subject matter. Former R* employee Jeff Williams stated "there was almost a mutiny at the company over that game", and while it was "Rockstar North's pet project" most Rockstar staffers wanted nothing to do with it; ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' gets a free pass as mass slaughter isn't mandatory to play through the game, and had a somewhat [[Lighter and Softer|lighter]] tone to it, being more of a satirical commentary on American society compared to ''Manhunt''{{'}}s snuff film simulation.
* The ''[[Postal (video game series)|Postal]]'' series is well-known for being a common target for [[Moral Guardians]] to campaign against video game violence. Footage from ''Postal 2'' was featured in the 2003 [[Black Eyed Peas]] protest song "Where Is The Love", implying the band's contempt for media violence.
* Taking ''Doom'' and ''Mortal Kombat''{{'}}s place as the poster child for video game obscenity controversies is ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' especially in the 2000s when ''[[Grand Theft Auto III]]'' first came out, though the first game in the series did gain some notoriety in the UK thanks to a PR campaign by Max Clifford (who ironically would be controversial in his own right due to his rather inappropriate interactions with minors). [[Moral Guardians]] and authorities alike singled out the game and blamed it for causing real-world violence, which led to bans in a number of countries and certain versions of the games censored to appease ratings bureaus like in Australia and Germany
** ''Vice City'' attracted racism accusations when Haitian-American groups took umbrage at a mission involving a Cuban-Haitian gang war, the latter serving as the villains. Haitian Centers Council and Haitian Americans for Human Rights staged protests in New York City over complaints about how the game portrayed Haitians in an unflattering right, with the mission "Cannon Fodder" having a genocidal-sounding objective "KILL ALL THE HAITIANS!!" and other dialogue by [[Large Ham|Umberto Robina]] expressing grave hatred towards the gang. While Take-Two Interactive argued that the dialogue and objectives should be taken within the context of the game, the company relented and had subsequent releases of the game altered to remove any references to the Haitian gangs.
* In a similar vein, ''[[Hatred]]'' became so reviled by even video game journalists and some gamers that it was initially rejected from [[Steam]] due to its gratuitous and no-holds-barred brand of sociopathic violence, only for Gabe Newell to apologise and have it re-listed. [[Epic Games]] reportedly sought to disassociate themselves from the issue by requesting to have the Unreal Engine logo removed from marketing material. (While the ''[[Unreal (series)|Unreal]]'' series is known for its graphic violence, it is rooted more in science-fiction fantasies rather than real-world apathy towards people.)▼
** Besides wanton violence, ''GTA''{{'}}s sexual content also came under intense scrutiny, most notably the (previously) [[Dummied Out]] "Hot Coffee" minigame where CJ engages in casual sexual intercourse with a number of women. The minigame, which was discovered and re-enabled by Dutch software engineer Patrick Wildenborg, sparked significant controversy especially in the United States, where now-disbarred lawyer [[Jack Thompson]] and senator Hillary Clinton campaigned against the game and called for stringent ESRB regulations.
** Unsurprisingly, ''[[Grand Theft Auto V]]'' courted controversy, this time over its portrayal of women and a torture sequence carried out by [[Ax Crazy|Trevor Philips]] to an Azerbaijani individual who is believed to have links with terrorists. Politicans, advocacy groups and even video game journalists deemed the mission in poor taste. Asked about performing the torture sequence, Trevor's actor Steven Ogg said that he treated it like "just another day at the office", and was focused more on not making mistakes during filming than the scene's ethics. The sequence was censored in the Japanese release due to the country having more stringent guidelines. As for the portrayal of women, certain commentators remarked how females were unfairly treated ingame, one of them being GameSpot journalist Carolyn Petit. Adding to the complication was that the game was released at the time when the Gamergate controversy was taking place; the less said about the latter, the better.
** On top of the series being the butt of numerous controversies and lawsuits, it was reported that series co-writer Dan Houser cited changing sociopolitical attitudes as the reason why he left the company, as he felt increasingly uneasy with satirising modern American society without attracting controversy or offending anyone.
* ''[[Mafia III]]''{{'}}s social commentary sits right smack in the middle of the civil rights and racism issues the US is facing in recent years, especially with its portrayal of [[The Klan]], Confederate apologists and racist Southeners as [[Acceptable Targets]]. [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement|Needless to say]], said right-wing bigots took to Steam to review-bomb the game.
▲* In a similar vein to ''Postal'', ''[[Hatred]]'' became so reviled by even video game journalists and some gamers that it was initially rejected from [[Steam]] due to its gratuitous and no-holds-barred brand of sociopathic violence, only for Gabe Newell to apologise and have it re-listed. [[Epic Games]] reportedly sought to disassociate themselves from the issue by requesting to have the Unreal Engine logo removed from marketing material. (While the ''[[Unreal (series)|Unreal]]'' series is known for its graphic violence, it is rooted more in science-fiction fantasies rather than real-world apathy towards people.)
* ''[[Night Trap]]'' was one of the video games that contributed to the creation of the ESRB ratings in the United States. An infamous bathroom scene<ref>which the game does call you out for when you fail to spare the girl</ref> in particular was what led to intense Senate hearings with proponents of the ban saying it glorified violence toward women, while many of them admitted [[Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch|they hadn't played the game]]. In reality the supposedly-offensive scenes were rather mild in comparison to R-rated films, and was done more as a campy tribute to B-movie horror titles. The ''25th Anniversary'' re-release was given a milder T rating as a result.<ref>[https://www.esrb.org/ratings/35660/Night+Trap+-+25th+Anniversary+Edition/ Night Trap - 25th Anniversary Edition - ESRB]</ref>
* Besides ''Night Trap'', ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' was the scapegoat of parents and politicians for its visceral violence and subject matter. ''Mortal Kombat''{{'}}s digitised sprites based on footage from live actors made for what was at the time photorealistic violence which ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' described as "delighted young players but disturbed parents." Both games ultimately served as the catalyst for what is now the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.
* ''[[Doom]]'' not only courted controversy for its gore and occult imagery, it also came under fire (pun not intended) for being associated with a number of school shootings in the United States, most notably the [[Columbine]] massacre where Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people and injured 24 others. It didn't help that Harris and Klebold were avid players of the game and made WADs themselves (though contrary to sensationalist reports, the "Harris levels" were not at all based on the Columbine High School's layout and did not contain sprites of the school's students and faculty), and that Harris said that the killing would be "like playing Doom", and "it'll be like the LA riots, the Oklahoma bombing, World War II, Vietnam, Duke Nukem and Doom all mixed together", and that his shotgun was "straight out of the game". Upset by the mainstream media's stereotyping of video game players as degenerate youth, the ''Doom'' community distanced themselves from the shooters and defended themselves and the game from any sort of direct responsibility. Prominent Doomworld community members Javier "Dukrous" Heredia and Scott "Covaro" Cover both explained their side of the story to news media (in Covaro's case during a round-table talk with Bill and Hillary Clinton), contending that the community is comprised of law-abiding citizens and would not in any way emulate the actions depicted in the games.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010909175952/http://www.cnn.com:80/US/9904/28/dark.culture/ No easy explanation for Columbine killings]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr2K3bfkLEg&t=3169s Good Morning America Broadcast June 4 1999]</ref> Much of the controversy concerning ''Doom'' has died out though, as the usual moral guardians have moved on to the next scapegoat, despite the recent entries in the series being arguably more visceral.
* The Atari 2600 game ''[[Dragster]]'' was a short but sweet game by [[Activision]], which simulated drag racing in as far as what the hardware of the time could muster. It became better remembered in recent years as the game that now-disgraced player Todd Rogers claimed to have a 5.51 second time; subsequent analysis of the game's assembly code and revelations about Rogers' dubious records led Twin Galaxies to [[Persona Non Grata|permanently ban him]] from their leaderboards, as well as the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' to strip him of his titles.
== Western Animation ==
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