8 Video Games That Changed The World

6. Mortal Kombat & DOOM - Forcing Video Games To Be Rated As Artforms

Once Mario and Zelda had made gaming worthwhile again, the following decade saw a TON of experimentation into macabre subject matter and mature themes.

Gone were the cartoonish mascots of 80s gaming, and in was the blood n' guts brawling of Mortal Kombat, the creepy AF stalker-sim of Night Trap, or the shotgun headshot combos of DOOM.

The only problem? Video games didn't have their own ratings board, and as an overall product, were still thought of as "toys" - something designed for children thanks to all those rounded character models and chirpy sound effects.

Midway's fighting game about ripping out spines or iD's shooter with chainsaw kills certainly didn't fit that description, and with their rising popularity, a whole bunch of parent groups and lobbyists campaigned to have this "filth" removed from their TV screens.

It all ended with the formation of the ESRB - gaming's first officially recognised legal ratings board, and though some thought at the time it would restrict the possibilities of envelope-pushing titles, it legitimised and protected them.

Now games could be seen for what they really were: Artistic creations from creative minds, coding worlds, characters and mechanics in the name of entertainment and expression.

Nintendo set video game viability in motion, and the runaway rebellious attitude of the 90s helped cement it.