10 Controversial Video Games That Are Insanely Tame Today
From fatalities to friendships.
Violence in video games seems to be a nearly-evergreen debate, and just when it seems to have gone away, fresh controversy or political posturing will force it back into the spotlight. Not long ago, the official White House YouTube channel posted a montage of apparently heinous violent video game scenes, and it was ludicrous.
Yet, while Trevor Phillips and Master Chief draw the perpetual ire of middle-aged soccer moms, it's tough for many to take theses arguments seriously. Pac-man may munch on ghosts, and Mario may stomp on goombas, but neither of them have ever wrought any serious societal ills.
The anger of the non-gaming populace may seem totally misplaced, but, in earlier eras of gaming history, it was even more so. Games like Street Fighter, Castlevania, and Megaman may seem like some of the most benign media entities available today, but there was once a time during which politicians and activists alike considered them to be a major issue.
It's hilarious to go back and recognize just how totally inane some of the public outcry leveled against gaming truly was. The White House's video may seem out of touch, but it can hardly compare to these ten squabbles from yesteryear.
10. Doom (1993)
Id Software's 1993 hallmark FPS title Doom is recognized as one of the pioneering games of its genre, and many respect it today for boldly going where no game had gone before. Sure, it doesn't look like much today, but it was a big deal 25 years ago.
Disgustingly realistic in that it forced the player into a first-person view, Doom quite literally shoved the violence right in the faces of those who booted it up. Those blocky, pixelated imps and gruff, unrefined gore effects may look beyond tame today, but lots of kids in 1993 had to take great care to ensure that their parents never caught them playing this game.
The outcry was, to a point, understandable, as a game of such dark and mature subject matter had never been so fully realized up until that time, and, compared to most PC games of the era, it was downright true-to-life in terms of visual fidelity.
Clunky MIDI files and red and pink pixel meshes don't make for realistic violence, however, and it's doubtful that Doom was ever the cause of most of the issues for which it was blamed.