It’s impossible to create something that doesn’t upset anyone, but some games really grind people’s gears. Parents slammed many of the titles on this list for being too “violent.” The joke’s on them though;
Studies have shown that ranting about games is a great way to get people playing them – not exactly what the ranters were hoping for.
Not every game on this list is violent though – for instance, parents view the first title we’ll be looking at as a great game for children.
Surprised? We certainly were. Pokemon is a game that comes with no nudity, no violence, and not even a single naughty word. No, the issue people had with Pokemon wasn’t with what the characters did, but with how they looked.
First off, we have Jynx. It’s not hard to see why people were a little offended by this Pokemon. These days, she’s well known for having a flowing red cloak, big lips, blonde hair, and purple skin. This hasn’t always been the case though.
When Jynx was originally released, she had dark skin. This seems harmless on the surface, but people were outraged. Here’s why;
People claimed that Jynx resembled an actor in blackface;
Firstly, Jynx is one of the more human-looking Pokemon – having a Pokemon be this dark-skinned would be fine, so long as they resembled an animal. The Pokemon in question also had large lips – historically, Minstrel actors performing in blackface would paint on large lips. This all lead to a growing amount of outrage from fans of the franchise, causing Pokemon to take serious action.
The entire skin tone of Jynx was changed from black to purple, although not everyone was pleased. Some folks claimed that she had been “purple washed”, but it’s impossible to please everyone.
For reference, here’s an image of Jynx before being painted purple;
We’re sad to say that this isn’t the only time that Pokemon has come under fire. The franchise has had plenty of scandals throughout its long history. Take Probopass, for instance.
This giant head has been slammed for looking a little too much like the ancient statues found on Easter Island. Some saw this as cultural appropriation, and there’s certainly a resemblance.
Others have claimed that Probopass is a Jewish stereotype, given his large nose and bushy beard. We’ll leave it up to you to decide, is Probopass acceptable in this day and age?
There are, of course, other Pokemon that are seen as controversial due to their appearance. We’ve even seen reports of people complaining due to the way a Pokemon’s voice has changed over the years.
Even the loveable Pikachu has faced backlash, but there’s one particular Pokemon game that truly stands out as controversial;
You might think of this mobile game as cute and harmless, but read on; there’s been plenty of dark cases linked to it.
For those who don’t know, Pokemon Go requires folks to venture out of their homes into the real world; This sounds great on paper – fresh air, socialisation, exercise! What more could you ask for?
The issue arose due to the fact that some people were so focused on catching them all, that they ended up becoming reckless;
In order to catch Pokemon, you have to walk to where they are. This might be down a dark alley, into an overgrown forest, or through a junkyard. That’s not all though, criminals have claimed to use Pokemon Go as a way of finding potential victims.
There’s also traffic to worry about, along with regular trips and stumbles. Who has time for road safety when there are colorful critters to capture? In all seriousness though, let’s get to the bottom line;
People have died while playing this game. As tragic as this is, all risk can be avoided with a bit of common sense. Blaming Pokemon Go for these incidents would be like blaming League of Legends for how salty a player gets. Then again, LoL has had some issues. People still complain about the clothing that the ladies of League wear – or rather, lack of clothing.
In terms of outcry, players definitely didn’t take kindly to Dynamic Queue.
There is some good news though – Pokemon hasn’t been banned in any first world countries. The same cannot be said for the next game on our list.
The United Kingdom is not fond of the censorship of games. However, Manhunt 2 is one of few to be outright banned. Usually, cuts can be made to the game that allow it to be sold in the UK, however the great amount of violence made it impossible to do that with Manhunt 2.
How bad could it be though? After all, this game had 2003 video game graphics, you would probably have a hard time figuring out which pixel is supposed to be the victim, right? No, not at all.
Despite the obvious low resolution of the game, violence is front and centre. Actually, it would be safe to say that violence is almost everything there is to this game. Your goal is to kill people, and you must do so in a vast amount of horrifying ways. During one mission, you have to go around and bash fellow cellmates skulls in with a mallet – while they quake in fear, mind you.
The United Kingdom wasn’t the only country to ban Manhunt either, but despite all the bans it received, it went on to sell an insane amount of copies – perhaps saying more about our fascination with violence than anything else. We don’t view this as negative though. In our opinion, the Manhunt series has nothing to do with “glorifying violence” as some critics claim.
On the contrary, we think of the Manhunt series as horror games. It is so blunt about the nasty acts that it requires the player to commit, doing nothing to soften the blow. It truly makes you look at your own relationship with violence and deeply analyze it.
One of the main reasons we play video games is because we want to have those moments where we’re forced to stop and think about ourselves, and given that every moment of Manhunt achieves that, it gets a thumbs up from us.
This isn’t the only game series that Rockstar has received controversy for though, and we know that the next game on our list will be one you’ve heard of.
Grand Theft Auto has been slammed for everything, from its treatment of women, to nasty torture scenes. One scene, in particular, requires the player to actually waterboard, tear out teeth, and much more. Some have claimed that demanding players cruelly torture someone to advance is a line they should not have crossed. Are those people right?
The easy answer to this question is yes, of course, they are. How could forcing a player to attach jumper cables to a man's chest ever be okay? Well, as with Manhunt, it forces us to reflect on our views.
Of course, there are those who just play for the violence – they will torture innocents, run over civilians, and hire hookers like there’s no tomorrow. For those of us looking for a more in-depth experience though, it offers a unique opportunity.
It asks us how we feel about torturing someone, which at first seems like a necessity – we’ve got to make him talk, right? However, it quickly becomes apparent that the FIB agent doesn’t care about the truth and simply enjoys hurting the victim. And that’s what the man is, a victim.
Another noteworthy point is that the FIB stands for “Federal Investigation Bureau.” This is clearly a reference to the real-life organization known as the “FBI.” Why is this relevant?
There are many reported cases of the FBI abusing people, along with institutions such as ICE. It’s easy to dismiss claims that mysterious organisations might be sadistically torturing people. However, being made to carry out the torture in-game makes us really consider what the government might be up to.
While you are forced to torture the man, you are allowed to choose your methods – personally, we kept shocking the guy over and over again, as that seemed like the least damaging of all the options.
Grand Theft Auto has also been accused of racial profiling. Tests have shown that in certain areas, police will react more negatively toward Franklin – a black protagonist – than they will Trevor or Michael. Rockstar has denied that this feature is in the game, but who knows? A video some have used as proof can be found here.
Other parts of the game series that cause controversy includes the killing of prostitutes for money and full frontal nudity. We’ve made our position pretty clear though – Grand Theft Auto is made to reflect the darkest parts of the USA and does not make killers. If anything, it gives aggressive people a release that does not involve actual murder.
Another game that caused a storm for being super violent. You can yank peoples hearts out of their chests, or if you prefer something a little simpler, smash their backbones. Certainly not for the faint of heart, and you would certainly not let your kids get their hands on it – in fact, it’s possible that this game is the reason we have a rating system for video games.
We won’t repeat ourselves too much though – it’s ridiculous that movies like Kill Bill didn’t receive nearly as much criticism as Mortal Kombat. Hopefully, as video games become more popular, people begin to accept them more and more. After all, even games like League of Legends have received criticism, and there’s hardly any violence at all!
What do you think? Of course, we couldn’t list every controversial video game out there, but are there any major ones you think should be included?
