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Gaming's 10 Biggest Scandals

Posted by Zonk on Tue Jul 17, 2007 05:09 PM
from the skeletons-in-the-closet dept.
Games
GamePolitics has a list of ten of the most well known gaming scandals to hit the games industry. Starting back in 1993 with the senate hearings on Night Trap (a game that arguably led to today's ESRB), the list catalogs some things that the companies responsible would probably just as soon forget. "Hot Coffee (2005) - needs no introduction. Cheeky Rockstar programmers left hidden sex animations (accidentally or otherwise) buried in the PS2 code of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Modders made sure they didn't stay buried for long. Rockstar's denials only made things worse. And then Hillary got involved ..." At the post's close they call for additional nominations, as it's definitely not an exhaustive list. They left off the ESRB's decision to re-rate Oblivion , for example. What 'scandalous' gaming events can you see rating with this topics?

Related Stories

[+] ESRB Changes Oblivion's Rating to 'Mature' 282 comments
kukyfrope writes "Perhaps reacting based on the debacle that was the 'Hot Coffee' scandal, the ESRB today changed the rating on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from Teen to Mature. From the article: 'The content causing the ESRB to change the rating involves more detailed depictions of blood and gore than were considered in the original rating, as well as the presence of a locked-out art file or 'skin' that, if accessed through a third party modification to the PC version of the game, allows the user to play with topless versions of female characters,' said the ESRB in a release."
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  • Night Trap (Score:3, Interesting)

    by doublefrost (1042496) on Tuesday July 17, @05:17PM (#19894011)
    I remember everyone rushing to buy the game when the story broke out. Maybe that was the idea.

    • Re:Night Trap (Score:5, Informative)

      by Akaihiryuu (786040) on Tuesday July 17, @05:59PM (#19894473)
      I actually have an old copy of the Sega CD/32X version sitting around somewhere. It's not a *terrible* game, gameplay is basically the same as Dragon's Lair, but it's not good for more than one playthrough as it is exactly the same every time. The amusing thing is, despite the controversy, if it were a movie, it probably would have *barely* gotten a PG-13 rating, if that. No nudity, no on-screen violence, no blood, nothing. The most "controversial" scene was a few women in nightgowns, nothing even remotely revealing. The fact that there was controversy over it was rather amusing.
      [ Parent ]
    • Re:Night Trap by Akaihiryuu (Score:3) Tuesday July 17, @06:15PM

  • WhereTF is Mortal Kombat? (Score:5, Informative)

    by xxxJonBoyxxx (565205) on Tuesday July 17, @05:22PM (#19894071)
    WhereTF is Mortal Kombat?

    e.g.,
    http://www.gamespot.com/features/6090892/p-5.html [gamespot.com]

    It looks like this "article" was written in about 5 minutes and would probably get a C in your average sixth-grade English class if judged for intellectual content.

  • Hit whoring (Score:2, Insightful)

    by My name is Bucket (1020933) on Tuesday July 17, @05:29PM (#19894151)
    Wondering how to get people to read your crappy-ass article when you've already reported on XBox's Red Ring fiasco? Find nine random things that are related in some obscure way and make a list out of them.

  • Erm... (Score:1)

    by Karganeth (1017580) on Tuesday July 17, @05:29PM (#19894153)
    Phantom?

  • Custer's Revenge? (Score:5, Funny)

    by morari (1080535) on Tuesday July 17, @05:32PM (#19894177)
    (Last Journal: Thursday June 14, @11:03PM)
    At least Hot Coffee was consensual and non-explicit. I guess America was founded upon the notions presented by that old Atari game though...

  • quake in the smithsonian (Score:3, Funny)

    by drfrog (145882) on Tuesday July 17, @05:34PM (#19894197)
    (http://www.wintermarket.net/)
    that it isnt in there is a scandal

  • Birdo! (Score:1, Funny)

    by The Iso (1088207) on Tuesday July 17, @05:45PM (#19894313)
    How can we forget Birdo, the transvestite antagonist of Super Mario Bros. 2?
    • Re:Birdo! by Bieeanda (Score:1) Tuesday July 17, @11:10PM

  • Jack Thompson (Score:3, Insightful)

    by grapeape (137008) <`ten.labolgcbs' `ta' `1epopj'> on Tuesday July 17, @05:55PM (#19894421)
    (http://www.sohomedic.com/)
    Jack Thompson should get his own category beyond just a mention in the Hot Coffee incident after all he has been stirring up controversy in gaming since the late 90's when he became bored with the PMRC crowd.

  • The guy game? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by crossmr (957846) on Tuesday July 17, @05:57PM (#19894455)
    (Last Journal: Thursday February 15 2007, @08:40PM)
    Wasn't it the guy game or one of those similar games released with a nude 17 year old contained within (that was only discovered AFTER the game was released). Animated guys kissing vs underage nudity in the US... I guess that is a pretty tough call on which would get more blown out proportion...
  • Launching rockets at cops during the height of the war on drugs in the 1980s, that was some fun stuff. I remember the outcries against it even now, and, I just had to play it. I think the game lead to a wave of "William Sessions of the FBI says don't do drugs", or some other crap, on arcade games thereafter.
    • Erm.. by Rob T Firefly (Score:2) Wednesday July 18, @07:55AM
      • Re:Erm.. by tjstork (Score:1) Wednesday July 18, @08:45AM

  • The Star Wars Galaxies NGE should be there (Score:5, Informative)

    by WCMI92 (592436) on Tuesday July 17, @06:20PM (#19894701)
    (http://wcmi.myftp.org/)
    The NGE was the biggest bait and switch EVER pulled on a MMO subscriber community, sell them an expansion containing content and enhancements for professions that would be removed 2 weeks later, publically say things like "The CU is here to stay", and "Jedi will never be a starter profession" then 2 days after charging for the expansion announce a massive change to the game that deleted 2/3rds of it. This was so egregious that a week later SOE was forced to offer refunds for the expansion (probably because spending time in a federal "pound me in the ass" prison for wire fraud didn't appeal to John Smedley).

    The NGE also ruined SOE's reputation basically for good. Not that the rest of Sony wasn't helping.
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.

  • hello? (Score:1)

    by tute666 (688551) on Tuesday July 17, @06:20PM (#19894705)
    11. Duke Nukem Forever 12. Daikatana
    • Re:hello? by TruePoindexter (Score:1) Tuesday July 17, @06:52PM
      • Re:hello? by aichpvee (Score:1) Wednesday July 18, @12:50AM

  • Tagged: Top10 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by SanityInAnarchy (655584) <ninja@slaphack.com> on Tuesday July 17, @06:33PM (#19894833)
    (Last Journal: Tuesday October 30, @10:59AM)
    From now on, I want to be able to filter out any "Top 10" list from some random blogger. Generally, these lists have at least five things that I've already heard about, and five more that I honestly couldn't give a damn about.
    • Re:Tagged: Top10 by TruePoindexter (Score:1) Tuesday July 17, @06:56PM
    • Re:Tagged: Top10 by shird (Score:2) Tuesday July 17, @07:27PM
    • Re:Tagged: Top10 by Khaed (Score:2) Tuesday July 17, @08:15PM
      • Re:Tagged: Top10 by Nimey (Score:2) Tuesday July 17, @08:39PM

      • I bet they did... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by SanityInAnarchy (655584) <ninja@slaphack.com> on Wednesday July 18, @02:42AM (#19898065)
        (Last Journal: Tuesday October 30, @10:59AM)

        I mean, they were busy blaming everything they could get their hands on for Columbine. There was so much blame that even on PBS, there was barely time left to mourn...

        Here's my all-time favorite quote, though:

        Michael Moore: If you were to talk directly to the kids at Columbine or the people in that community, what would you say to them if they were here right now?
        Marilyn Manson: I wouldn't say a single word to them, I would listen to what they have to say. And that's what no one did.
        [ Parent ]
    • Re:Tagged: Top10 by SanityInAnarchy (Score:2) Wednesday July 18, @02:38AM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.

  • How about.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by UncleTogie (1004853) * on Tuesday July 17, @07:09PM (#19895187)
    (http://127.0.0.1/ | Last Journal: Friday November 02, @08:43PM)
    ...the porn hidden in Star Castle [everything2.com]...?
  • The DC Sniper claimed he learned how to murder people by playing GTA, which is ridiculous. GTA isn't even a FPS. However, it provided the perfect quote for people who wanted to insist the game was a murder simulator.

    Somehow the PS3 launch is more of a scandal that an actual mass murderer blaming a video game for training him how to kill people.
    • Re:DC Sniper by steveo777 (Score:3) Wednesday July 18, @09:44AM
      • Re:DC Sniper by 4D6963 (Score:2) Thursday July 19, @08:12AM
        • Re:DC Sniper by steveo777 (Score:2) Thursday July 19, @08:25AM
  • What about the Nintendo Power with Simon Bellmont holding the bloody head of a vampire on the cover

  • How about something pre-Nintendo? (Score:2)

    by Megane (129182) on Tuesday July 17, @08:00PM (#19895613)

    Pac-Man vs K.C. Munchkin [wikipedia.org]
    and the Death Race arcade game [wikipedia.org]

  • Carmageddon. (Score:1)

    by sparkeyjames (264526) on Tuesday July 17, @09:34PM (#19896315)
    Remember Carmageddon? The highest scoring hit was the evasive little old lady with the walker for 300 points. Hours of pedestrian squashing fun.
    Sadly later versions of this game removed the running over of pedestrians for points. Though the multiplayer in later versions was entertaining.

  • How is an MMO game where the developers are cheaters who give themselves and their friends an advantage? That's scandalous. http://endie.net/cs/blogs/endie/archive/2007/05/25 /Eve_Online_Developer_Cheating_Again.aspx [endie.net]

  • The trouble with Rockstar (Score:1, Troll)

    by westlake (615356) on Tuesday July 17, @10:02PM (#19896541)
    Cheeky Rockstar programmers left hidden sex animations (accidentally or otherwise) buried in the PS2 code of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Modders made sure they didn't stay buried for long.

    Vice City helped set the stage.

    Rockstar North, based in Scotland, enraged ethnic communities in Miami.

    Rockstar came into the arena with a reputation for pushing the limits of public tolerance for violence in the M-rated game - and touched a raw nerve simply by being so far removed physically from the American inner city gang violence it exploits.

    Hot Coffee could be unlocked in every version of GTA: San Andreas.

    There is no way a voluntary ratings system could survive if AO content could be embedded in a game "accidentally-on-purpose" and later exposed through some more or less trivial "mod."

    Manhunt 2 seems to arrived as the window of opportunity is closing on the entire "torture porn" genre.

  • Let's not forget some historical controversies (Score:4, Interesting)

    by solar_blitz (1088029) on Wednesday July 18, @12:33AM (#19897451)
    I can think of several different controversies or scandals in the video game industry that need to be explained. Yes, Mortal Kombat is definitely one of them. Harris and Klebold are another. But aren't we forgetting some others?

    Christian Conservative backlash over Pokemon is one of them - summoning demons, doing demonic acts, James the cross-dresser, etc. As well as Jewish backlash against Pokemon because one of the Japanese card had the manji character on it (essentially a swastika), even though it was in use for thousands of years prior to World War II, and African American protests over the character Jynx, which was based upon a reference to picadilly characters in old Japanese comics. Oh, and the epileptic seizures caused by an episode of Pokemon.

    Also consider the Gizmondo, which had everything from a trashed 1 million dollar ferrari to the Swedish mafia. Oh yeah, and Phantom.

    Then there was that lawsuit Universal Studios threw against Nintendo in the early days over the creative license of Donkey Kong. Nintendo won, by the way. And got Universal to pay off their legal fees.

  • "Oblivion scandal" shame for ESBR. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SharpFang (651121) on Wednesday July 18, @03:52AM (#19898313)
    (http://sharpy.xox.pl/ | Last Journal: Wednesday September 14 2005, @02:12PM)
    For those who don't remember it: man-boobs forbidden.

    Oblivion originally used the same skin for both male and female models. Males had normal male chests with normal nipples on them. Female models had an extra unremovable piece of clothing - a bra or a strap of cloth, or some other halter, so the breasts never show. Except a mod removed the piece of clothing and what you got were stretched, misplaced textures of nipples that came from the male body.

    Result? "Bethesda tried to sneak adult content into the game!" outrage. And re-rating it.

    Incidentially, the male nipples appearing on female models were more offensive (and caused re-rating the game) than a mission to murder all children of a mother, then the mother herself, or performing a live sacrifice (ok, not actually human, but sentient...), or murdering innocent citizens on behalf of a schizophrenic madman... oh well, things that kids shouldn't be allowed to play. But cheating, stealing, murdering innocents in cool blood, that was all OK to ESBR. Piss-poor textures of nipples weren't.
    • False by Moraelin (Score:3) Wednesday July 18, @05:38AM
      • Re:False by SharpFang (Score:2) Wednesday July 18, @10:21AM
      • Re:False by Creepy (Score:3) Wednesday July 18, @03:47PM

  • Columbine RPG vs. Postal (Score:3, Interesting)

    by necro2607 (771790) on Wednesday July 18, @12:51PM (#19904073)
    The Columbine RPG note brings up a fact I found funny - that the shooting by Kimveer Gill was apparently "blamed" on the Columbine RPG. What the media didn't really mention is that Kimveer listed on his website quite a few other games that he had played. More significantly, one of them in common with what Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had played avidly: Postal [wikipedia.org]. Frankly I think the violence and "disturbingness" factor of this game well exceeds Doom or really any other game of the time.

    You basically ran around with the sole purpose of killing a sufficient percentage of "hostiles" in the city. Wounded people would crawl along the ground leaving a trail of blood [mobygames.com], crying in pain saying things like "I can't feel my legs!" or "I can't breathe!"... The audio in this game really completes the disturbing atmosphere. The ambient sound is some of the most creepy stuff I've heard in a game since, especially during some of the loading screens.

    Oh, did I mention the infamous marching band scene [mobygames.com]? (A marching band is parading through town playing music - you can guess as to the craziness that ensues when you lob a molotov cocktail in the middle of the group)...

    During all of this, whether you're on a senseless killing rampage or simply defending yourself from people trying to kill you is left for you to speculate - the loading screens give a bit of diary-style text written from the perspective of the player character, but that's all you have to go on. While he claims everyone is out to get him, as you progress further into the game you really begin to feel like maybe 'you' are just a psycho killer who is completely delusional, killing innocent people who are only armed because they know there's some rampaging killer on the loose. Gee, sound familiar at all to the "everyone is out to get me" attitude of basically every school shooter in recent history? Not to mention that the player character is wearing a full-length trenchcoat, no less.

    So, after hearing all this, and the fact that it was a game avidly played by at least three of the most infamous school shooters, I have trouble believing it wouldn't be a larger influence behind someone's violent actions than a low-tech "fan made" style of game (not to mention that Kimveer very likely just put "Columbine RPG" on his list of favorite games for the sheer purpose of maintaining a certain image of himself).

    Of course, I just spent all that time explaining something that any journalist would never even have been aware of - they just jump on the Columbine RPG thing just because of its name and reputation, despite how blatantly more extreme and disturbing Postal is. Regardless, Postal is definitely a key game that has gone largely overlooked despite its significance/value to at least a few notorious school shooters...

  • Re:Ha. (Score:2)

    by GFree (853379) on Tuesday July 17, @06:17PM (#19894671)
    Indeed. And remember, Gabe said during the 2003 presentation that the game would have all these funky features like NPCs which would perform actions on their own, but instead they just followed the player, or if on their own just sidestepped occasionally and died the rest of the time.

    Still, HL2 did turn out pretty good even with all the stuff they cut out.
    [ Parent ]
  • Heh, yeah, all the way to the BANK!
    [ Parent ]
  • Babbage? [wikipedia.org] Wow, DNF as been in development longer than I thought!
    [ Parent ]
  • exactly what I was thinking. The list is feeble.

    How Derek and his "Ph.D" didn't make the list is unforgiveable.

    I can remember following the flamewar closely - certainly spent far more time on it than I spent actually playing BC3000AD.

    In the end I felt sorry for him, because he did seem to want the best for his game. But his hair trigger temper was absolutely hilarious.

    I suggest anyone who doesn't know the story has a read at this site- guaranteed to give you a laugh!

    http://follies.werewolves.org/ [werewolves.org]
    [ Parent ]
  • 9 replies beneath your current threshold.

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