Despite the modern trend towards fully fleshed out stories and ultra-realistic gameplay experience, modern video games remains in the Dark Ages when it comes to issues of equality and diversity, and they remain capable of huge controversy and offence through their content. That may well change now thanks to the new legislation relating to game ratings, but games are still completely capable of being utterly offensive – as long as controversy sells, developers will continue to push the limits of what they can get away with, leading to examples of sexism, racism and downright depraved material.
Unfortunately, homophobia too remains a strong accusation against the gaming community, and while developers tend to avoid that sort of controversy in general, the lack of openly-gay characters in mass market releases suggests a lack of confidence in releasing such material. That might have something to do with the perceived reaction of the fans, who reacted so infamously to the very suggestion that Mass Effect 3 might include the option of same sex relationships, and some of whom react in the following heinous way to the mere presence of a gay gamer on their network…
For every positive step, it seems the gaming world isn’t ready for that sort of politicised enlightenment. BioWare may have done it with Mass Effect 3, and Dragon Age 2, but as long as the market response is as closed-minded as it was when the male-male relationships were announced for Mass Effect 3, they are unlikely to push the envelope much in fear of turning away fans and their money.
It might be gaming’s dirty little secret, but there are certainly still offensive moments included in games, and this list isn’t merely a collection of out-dated titles. That’s why opponents of gaming have ammunition to paint on their protest boards, and why the media has the opportunity to explode with outrage at the latest violent game – as long as the extremes exist, they reflect every “bad” element of the industry back on itself.
So, let’s look at the most offensive moments from video gaming history…
We are currently seeking Gaming contributors on WhatCulture. To find out more about the perks of being a Gaming contributor, click here.
33 Comments
“But if you pick apart what they are saying in relation to the situation, they are obviously relating homosexuality with negative connotations, attaching shame to it and reinforcing the idea of the behaviour as abhorrent and abnormal.”
Wait what? Naturally it is abhorrent and abnormal, just like any other form of rape. There’s really nothing wrong or intolerant about someone fearing a forced anal intercourse. Not wanting to be anally raped (even metaphorically) doesn’t make you a homophobe, silly. Two consenting adults are free to stick whatever they wish into whatever orifice they have, but that doesn’t make a forced act any less abhorrent and abnormal.
Also, anal intercourse is not something exclusive to homosexuals – such form of rape was (and still is) used as a violent demonstration of dominance between heterosexual males. Homosexual behaviour is not always induced by homosexual orientation, sometimes it is also induced by sheer aggressiveness, sadism and general asshole-ism of the perpetrator. Just like not every child molester is actually a pedophile, you know.
(Also, you should seriously reconsider your understanding of the term “normal”. Normal doesn’t mean “good”, normal simply means “being a norm” (as in, being in a statistical majority). Homosexuality isn’t a norm, homosexuality is a minor exception from said norm – thus, it is abnormal. With absolutely no negative undertone.)
Wow, battlefield 3… a whining political correctness article. It adds to the atmosphere in the game, and honestly can’t imagine a ‘Gay person’ being offended by what is said in this game.
If they are offended by this they need to stop being whining little girls, this is what is wrong with people today, you can’t say anything… and to go as far as it should have been removed :/, “men, we are being shot at by the enemy” doesn’t quite give the same atmosphere.
and also to say it is one of the most offensive moments EVER! is a massive over exaggeration. I feel sorry for you if you are this easily offended by things..
as if a gay person would be playing bf3 anyways lulz
Guys, if you compare the those who take offense to “whining little girls” and have a hard time conceiving the idea of a gay person playing BF3, then I dare say you are victims of the very culture you are trying to defend.
I’m a gamer too, and I am aware of the unbelievably outdated and offensive views some games portray. It doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy them, but I sure as h*ll don’t try to deny this fact.
Why would any gay guy be offended by the Battlefield lines?
Why would any gay guy be offended by the prancing homosexual?
As a gay guy myself I know there are flouncy femme gays out there. All this game did was exaggerate it…like all forms of entertainment do!
As for most of the other stuff, I wouldn’t say it’s that offensive (bar Muslim Massacre). Surely you could have added the rape simulators out there? No?
The list isn’t ranked Georgii. It is in no particular order, precisely because of reactions like yours.
doesn’t excuse the fact most of these aren’t even in the slightest offensive. Muslim massacre I agree with but the others are hardly offensive. What do you expect from GTA? to pet bunny rabbits and draw rainbows?
Anyone who thinks that these examples aren’t offensive to certain groups of people is a moron. Of course each example is offensive. I love violent, edgy games with raw content but it’s so obviously about perspective. If you can’t see something from someone elses perspective, you’re degenerate, you’re not evolved. As for Miles’ sooper dooper smart rant on anal rape, missing the point by a country mile. The writer may have put in a little too much of his own opinion on the PC/personal position or whatever but jeez, guys, IT’S OFFENSIVE STUFF. Just because you may have enjoyed it, doesn’t make it right. Did I care about the examples when I experienced any of them during gaming? Not really but that’s because I’m a white, western, middle class man. If I were gay, black, a woman or someone touched by real hyper violence, I would see it differently. Steve, (I’ll just pick one of your stupid comments out cos there’s so much goodness in there and I don’t have all day) just because you aren’t offended by things doesn’t make you a more well adjusted or savvy person compared to all these whiney, easy-to-offend types, it just means you can’t see things through another persons eyes. If anyone’s offended by that, kiss both sides of my ass.
LOL if you can’t have a laugh about your own race or religion or sexual orientation then there is no hope for humour! Its just a laugh, (exception muslim massacre). Do i get offended when family guy rips the S*** out of the british, no because its I can laugh at my own origins! sort yourselves out it isn’t a personal offence on your own being! why should you take offense to it! Sort yourself out
infact the only time it should be considered offensive is if its downright racist, for example, mowing down the civilians in the COD level was instead shooting a load of russians just for the sake of eradicating them. Then I would see why that is offensive.. Hardly any of these are a personal attack on someone so dont take it to heart and don’t get offended by it. Just lighten up :/ moaning girls
I think the word offended is being used slightly in the wrong context, you might dislike the level/game, but to be personally offended by it, i feel sorry for those people do you really care? did you actually feel as if some one had just insulted you? If you were gay playing battlefield would you stop because one of the soldiers shouted to you “I’m being anally raped”? doubt it.. next please
I’ve never agreed with offenses in videogames, and I often think that these criticisim is taken way too far. But the No Russian mission in COD really did disgust me. I think that did go a little too far…
How the hell is Battlefield 3 “Homophobic”? I have no clue where the hell you got that from.
Have you even played Duke Nukem before? I think you’re just WAAAAYYYYYYY TOO sensitive if you ask me, it’s a funny game.
I applaud Infinity Ward for having the balls to make something as uncompromising as “No Russian” I don’t blame people for finding it offensive, but oh well.
Bonetown is so over-the-top it stops being offensive and becomes just plain hilarious.
I beg to differ.
Good qualification..
Good job there’s a load of blokes on here telling us how not offensive everything is. Don’t they say it’s always best to look at the status quo when deriving your moral values?
Oh no, they don’t.
That’s just what the bigots do who refuse to budge from the values of yesteryear, allowing insensitive bigoted values and opinions to persist.
Keep defending your racist old grandad’s guys! Good for you!
But do us all a favour (all being society at large) and stop trying to reject the opinions of people that have actually given a bit of thought to the issue instead of belligerently sticking to your guns.
Feel free to call me a whining little girl or whatever though, sexists.
Super Colombine Massacre MMORPG Should have been on here…
I just read this comment after I mentioned the Columbine game myself – yes – agreed! (I don’t even think it’s debatable that it’s ‘offensive’!?)
“two game _sprites_ bumping uglies.”
:<
that’s right. don’t defend yourself. if you experience injustice, don’t answer back cause then you’re a whiner and nobody wants to be a whiner. just laugh at it all. that’s what the slaves should have done, and that’s what women and homosexuals should do as well.
it’s just for laughs, right?
This is a case of being hyper sensitive. Everyone is so quick to jump to something being racist, or being offensive, that the terms aren’t even used properly anymore.
Yeah some of these games dosent belong to the top surely noone can say Custards Revenge (An old atari game where you rape a native American woman, thats the whole objective of the game) is less offensive than BF3, im not defending those comments but its not in the same class.
Theres another game based on the Colonbine shootings that surely beats Bf3. So many offensive games this list is not that good.
Are you serious? We better tread lightly as not to offend any person in the world about anything. If you are offended by these examples you need some real hardship in you’re life. Our culture is becoming waaaaaayyyy too soft and P.C. Grow up, people who are different get made fun of by the people making the observations. Who cares! A bunch of sensitive don’t hurt my feelings babies we have become. Uhh
You sound like the least fun person to hang out with. This whole article was just annoying to read.
A site design might need to be irepovmd by applying some small tweaks or changes whenever it is required particularly when they are launched. may schedule later some major re-designing if they believe that could be necessary. It might be just a little inconvenient to the users to adjust to changes. However, notifying them in advance of the minor or major changes that they may expect will ease their problem. These tips might help people who want to succeed in creating their own site design.
Lolwut?
So the line of offense is really ambiguous. I’m not agreeing with all the people that are saying nothing except Muslim Massacre was offensive, but it’s too easy to see that most people commenting, and especially the person who wrote this article is being far too sensitive. It works both ways, don’t read enough into it, you are ignorant, but if you read waaayy too far into something you are just as bad and making the world even worse. It’s walking the line between anarchy and police state.
Of course there are differences between races, sexes, and sexual orientations. If you think every person was created identically sufficient at any given task, you are ridiculous sheltered. The differences in the world is what defines humanity. If you were to make a completely straight Politically Correct game it wouldn’t be fun, because you couldn’t make anyone a villain without being racist.
For the hyper-sensitive that will trace my beliefs back to some bull story of how I’m middle class white and whatever. I’m not. I’m native American, some of the most atrociously treated people on the planet and then given a ridiculous stereotype. Both my brothers and several other people in my family are gay, both flamboyantly and masked. I grew up in an awful ton and pulled myself up. and yet, I haven’t once played a game where i was slightly offended.
There are differences in humanity, get used to it.
Postal 2 uses cats as silencers for different weapons. More offensive than most games on that list. A whole lot more fun offensive stuff in there too.
If it isn´t offensive to some it just can´t be funny; universal rule.
I haven’t read all the comments but I remember a few years ago finding a game based on the Columbine Massacre – thought that was pretty yuck.