6 Video Game Characters Who Mirror Real World Issues

Despite being recognized as your standard arcade shoot 'em up, the premise of 1990's Smash TV was revolutionary, even if unintentional.

The concept was simple. The player was a gladiatorial contestant, who had to fight hordes of various types of creatures and monsters. Each round of the game show was presented in front of a television production set, which was broadcasted live. To top it all off, a maniacal host, known in-game as the Evil M.C., would continually voice his pleasure for the violent events, and frequently egged the contestant on, in an effort to garner raucous applause. Smash TV was innovative for the conceptualization of contestants on a game show competing for glory, amongst other things.

That same notion is not unlike many reality television serials that dominant the media today. Gordon Ramsey, for instance, was paid to be an overly bombastic jerk to contestants on some of the reality TV shows he was on. High ratings for some of his shows, such as Hell's Kitchen, were reflective of our need to see a sometimes vile host belittling others for the sake of our entertainment.

Society's infatuation with reality television, coupled with a host who embodies all of the characteristics of what drives these shows, can be argued to have originated with Smash TV's main antagonist.