10 Controversial Video Games That Are Insanely Tame Today

Briefly and inaccurately surmised by politicians at the time as a game in which players kill strippers to earn points, the original Grand Theft Auto was, alongside games like Carmageddon, totally offensive to the non-gaming populace of the day.

We've made a ton of progress since DMA Design—now known as Rockstar Games—released the first top-down entry into what would become one of the most recognizable and profitable franchises in video game history. Yet, the game almost requires a microscope to make out any identifiable human characters, and much of the gameplay is far too over-the-top to be taken seriously.

While movies and books have been capitalizing on the genre for ages, video games centered around crime or illicit activities of any sort seem to be, for whatever reason, inexcusable. Few chose to point the finger at masterpieces like The Godfather, Goodfellas, or the Sopranos, but when a computer is forced to render such apparently vile imagery, that's where the line is crossed. If only the concerned parents of 1997 could have known what the Grand Theft Auto series would eventually grow to become (or if they'd realised it had been slapped with an 18 rating).