Which video game caused the biggest moral panic?
Games that ended up in front of politicians, newspapers or a court. What they were accused of rarely matched what they actually were.
1Mortal KombatThe 1992 fighter whose Fatalities were named at the 1993 US Senate hearings that produced the ESRB.1000pts
2Street Fighter IICited alongside Mortal Kombat in early-1990s arguments about arcade violence, and mostly cleared.927pts
3PokémonAccused in the late 1990s of promoting gambling and, in some communities, the occult.800pts
4HatredThe 2015 shooter briefly removed from Steam Greenlight before Valve reversed the decision.709pts
5DoomBlamed by name in coverage of the 1999 Columbine shooting, and the centre of the 1990s shooter debate.709pts
6Death RaceThe 1976 arcade game pulled from some locations after a national television segment about it.600pts
7Grand Theft Auto: San AndreasThe Hot Coffee content found in the 2004 game's files, which forced a re-rating and a recall.466pts
8Postal 2The 2003 game built entirely around the transgression, and banned outright in New Zealand.466pts
9ManhuntRockstar's 2003 stealth game, banned in several countries and pulled from shelves in the UK.466pts
10Custer's RevengeThe 1982 Atari game protested by women's groups and Native American organisations on release.466pts
11Dungeons & Dragons video gamesInheritors of the 1980s satanic-panic argument about the tabletop game they adapt.466pts
12Night TrapThe 1992 full-motion-video game hauled before the same Senate hearings for its live-action scenes.0pts
13Grand Theft Auto IIIThe 2001 open-world game that made "you can do anything" a political problem.0pts
14Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2The "No Russian" airport level, cut or gated in several territories in 2009.0pts
#Brands226#Games275#90s153#Crime58
Comments
Mortal Monday shipped 13 September 1993 and Senate hearings followed in December, while Street Fighter II came out of it untouched: https://youpick.best/articles/mortal-kombat-vs-street-fighter-ranked
