Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat is synonymous with controversy, thanks to the bloody fighting game's "fatalities" -- signature finishing moves that include ripping out spines, wrenching heads off bodies or making enemies explode into a pile of gore.
The over-the-top violence made this game one of the most talked about in the world, among both fans and critics, and led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the video game equivalent of the MPAA film rating system.
Source: Midway





Reader Comments (161)
Holly crap, I just read the whole article and couldn't believe it... ***ht Trap was a contributor to the ESRB rating? ***ht Trap was some ****** Sega CD game if I'm not mistaken, I remember the woman on the screenshot from AVGN's review on Sega CD. If anything, why do games bring around so much controversy when violence and sex are involved? You hardly hear about films with nudity, sex and violence in. In fact, that's considered the norm these days. But the moment a game has fifteen seconds of alien lesbian sex which contributes to the game's thirty hour long sci-fi epic storyline, it gets blown out of proportion by Fox news, which really blow EVERYTHING out of proportion, and sets games and gamers a bad name. I've read Goosebumps books that are more gory than Doom. I've read James Patterson books that make GTA's portrayal of crime seem tame. I've read other books from the same author which makes Manhunt's gore seem PG-13. The media isn't giving gaming the time it needs to develop, and people feel it should be destined for death by the fires of Satan. Does anyone know that the film Psycho, made I think in the sixties, caused as much uproar? Look at the film industry now, and there are much worse films than Psycho. These so called politicians need to pull their thumb from their arses and crack down on real issues like the economic crisis, instead of trying to restrict people's media.
All this BS is saying, when violence and sexuality are much more easily located in plastic toys, Saturday morning cartoons, the internet, and from the kid's very own parents, is that parents are too damn lazy to pay attention to their children. When you see someone say video games cause bad nature in a child, just tell yourself that they are the ****tiest parent in the world. =) "Oh God, I bought my kid the X-Box, spent hundreds of dollars on it, games, and everything! Then I found out that there was a sex scene in the game that was rated mature to begin with, and my 12 year old son saw it! This is ALL the manufacturer's fault!" R-E-T-A-R-D-E-D.
I don't remember a **** scene in Phantasmagoria...In the 2nd game i could figure out what the h*** i was supposed to do. The first one was scary, had my hair standing on end. Which was a good thing.
i think its re****uliss to do that just cuz some over pertetiv parent comes along and mess up a good game cuz they dont like it its amreica freedom but no
why isnt there mgs?
hey ghjd u got the 1/4 of ppl in the world are retarded from southpark, its not a proven fact, i dont think xD
lol i remember that add for hitman in game informer, when my mom saw it she flipped on me and then i had to explain to her it's just a game and i know not to shoot women in the head or something
im seriously like ashamed to be a catholic cause i dont believe in any of the stuff like why cant i just do something because it is right and not because it is right in the eyes of god like srsly and yeah ive played some of these games like gta and mortal kombat i actually was playing gta 3 on the ps2 when i was like 7 years old and im perfectly fine now and pretty much the only game i play now is call of duty 4 i honestly think that gta 4 is pretty boring im only like 30% through the game but i dont really care like really the others gta's are so much more fun with the tank cheat and c4 and stuff like that gta4 is too realistic and you die from only like 5 shots and the cover system sucks
lol hillary clinton dropped out of the race? I don't even follow the presidential elect anymore, its all become such a huge joke its ridiculous. None of the people running for president deserve to be one or can even run this country properly, we don't need showmen who can say that they can do all the same stuff that the next guy is saying, we need someone who will actually do what f'n needs to be done. But none of them will because theyre all too afraid of what everyone else in congress and politics would say about them if they did. Also hillary supposedly was going to back in the clinton years but her getting paid off tons of money by the health care and prescription drug companies shut her up. Which is why I am kindof glad she is out of the race is thats true because she might have good intentions but shes just as corrupt and worthless as the rest of the candidates.
wow any 1 who uses that religion breeds violence e****ally christianity is idiotic sure during the crusades and that era it did bring alot of violence but now its because of instability in there minds that they cannot control and dont go to doctors to help themselves. Its a game and there is nothing more to it. Parents blame the game because they didnt take the time to teach there kids anything