Top 10 most controversial games ever

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Posted on 1 Apr 2010 at 15:11

2. Super Columbine Massacre RPG!

While games have been credited with inspiring horrific events, Super Columbine Massacre RPG! has the dubious pleasure of being a game inspired by an horrific event: the eponymous high-school massacre. Controversy would never be far away from this title.

Released in 2005, the game, created by Danny Ledonne, sees you play as Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. You have to plan and carry out the massacre on the high school. Understandably, the game wasn't at all well received in the general press and it was denounced as being sick by newspapers, TV stations and survivors and family members of the victims.

Ledonne never set out to create this controversy and has stated that he wanted to use a computer game to highlight the feelings of being an outsider he suffered while at school. Slowly, some positive reviews started to appear from people who agreed with Ledonne. Patrick Dugan of website Gamasutra even went as far as saying, "it regardless is a work of art. It puts you in the mindset of the killers and provides a very clear suggestion of why they did what they did; they were enacting an ideological demonstration through a terrorist act, and the game shines light on this as an indictment of the American dream and way of life painfully close to the main nerve".

1. Grand Theft Auto

Few games have courted as much controversy as the Grand Theft Auto series. Originally released as a top-down game in 1997 for the PC, the game saw you steal cars and perform a variety of jobs for underworld characters.

What was shocking to many was the depiction of violence, particularly as you got points for running people over. A special Gouranga! Bonus was obtained for running over an entire line of Hari Krishna followers.

As the game moved into 3D the controversy increased. The new more detailed graphics allowed the violence to become more real. With each progressing title, the game become more and more freeform, allowing players to rob, kill and steal to their heart's content.

Soon, the game was littered with sexual references (including the infamous Hot Coffee mod, which let you play a mini-game where you have sex with your in-game girlfriends). By Grand Theft Auto IV the list of crimes had been added to with the option to get hideously drunk and then drive a car.

Along the way, the games have attracted plenty of lawsuits including those that claimed that the games were the cause of cop killing and other murders.

Despite these claims, Grand Theft Auto is and has always been a fantastic series of games. Its involving game play and incredible action make it one of the best games ever made. The action is at times a bit shocking, but it's a game designed for adults.

Author: David Ludlow