The Most Controversial Games Of All Time

With Germany's 17 year ban on Doom finally lifted this week, we take a look at some of the most controversial games of all time.

By Stephen Leigh /

More so than any other form of media, video games have a particularly difficult position when it comes to controversy. While violent films or TV shows merely engage viewers passively, games differ in that they give direct control over the on-screen action. What many fail to understand is that the majority of gamers have the ability to differentiate reality from fantasy. It€™s for this reason that you don€™t see the plumbing industry swamped with applications from gamers who were attracted to the profession by promises of gold coins and a hot princess named Peach. Still, it€™ll never stop video games from being a scapegoat for the many problems within modern society. It wasn€™t long before the ugly sight of the U.K riots were blamed on video games - with an unnamed police officer quick to pinpoint the source of the entire problem as Grand Theft Auto. Meanwhile, Noel Gallagher joined in to also lay the blame for our disenfranchised youth at TV & video games. Let€™s add role models who enjoy publically feuding and swearing endlessly to the list of reasons eh Noel ? While its true that many controversial games are shocking or disturbing in thier content, they are always aimed squarely at adults only. Despite this fact, it won€™t stop the industry being criticized for targeting youngsters with violent or sexual content. The fault here isn€™t always with the games themselves but with careless parents who still have an old-fashioned view of video games being aimed at kids. Join an online game of Call Of Duty and you€™ll quickly see just how many parents don€™t see anything inappropriate in letting their 10 year old child shoot people in the face. Things are sadly unlikely to change. Video games will continue to come under scrutiny from the press and moral crusaders, helped in no way by the swathes of parents who give their children the ability to play games designed and created with adults in mind. As graphics continue to become more realistic and the boundaries are pushed even further, video games will always be seen by many as a dangerous form of entertainment - single handedly capable of corrupting society's youth. Daily Mail readers beware......Here€™s our look at some of the most controversial games of all time. Click next to start revealing the choices...

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