Censorship (deleting part of a publication) has already become a hot button issue in the world of video game, reason being that developers nowadays has chosen to alter their vision in order to satisfy the desire of the market. A lot of video games have been taken out of store shelves across the whole world due to the fact that they were getting out of hand for the community.
It’s not for us to judge whether these censorship is proper but what is instructive is to look into the games that was banned and pin point on what actually pisses people off. According to research, it is crystal clear that they are as a result of intense violence, unsavory theme, or graphic sex in which you will notice in the games that were discussed below, though there are numerous weird reasons for which some game got banned.
1. Beyond: Two Souls
Even though Ellen Page has not at any point in time appeared nude in any film, she however does appear so in this video game.
In one of the scene of this PlayStation 3 game, “Beyond: Two Souls,” Page’s character took a shower. Though its never shown fully nude nor could the game’s camera be manipulated to view her naked character, because she didn’t allow the game’s developer to scan her naked body.
Page’s attorney (Jeffrey Abrams) took some actions to work out a fix with the game’s developer (Quantic Dream) first, however, that didn’t yield any positive result. Then Abrams contacted Sony (via Weil, the counsel of Sony picture Entertainment) to warn of an impending lawsuit on behalf of Ellen Page.
Russell (the PlayStation’s chief legal counsel) after been contacted by Weil said that the game’s developer is ultimately worthy of blame for the content of the game, not its publisher, Sony. Moreover, Sony, in one of their leaked email said, “The developer is responsible for it, though it doesn’t guarantee that we won’t get sued.”
Where the legal action went was somehow vague because there were no legal cases pertaining to Ellen Page, her lawyer and Sony. Even the email thread between Weil and Russell halts there.
Here is the link for the shower scene – https://youtu.be/bBIcJ96erSk
2. RapeLay
Some games on this list were banned as a result of cultural misunderstandings. But the reason is not the same for RapeLay. This game was developed by Japanese studio illusion and was released in the year 2006. Almost immediately after it was released, it triggered a firestorm of bad emotions. Perhaps you are yet to be aware of how RapeLay seeks to place you in the state of a sexual predator and tasks you with having sex forcefully with a mother and her two daughters. You will agree with me that its totally not cool
3. Manhunt 2
You will somehow notice Rock star Games been discussed here a few times, just to hint you ahead of time. The studio was still able to defend the controversy with Grand Theft Auto games until it venture into a brutal world of snuff porn with production of Manhunt games, of course with this they got more than expected. It turn out to be a rejected classification in the UK which showcase how screwed up it was, not to even got a rating.
Rockstar later on added some graphical filter to cover up the gore and released the edited version. But it was banned from sale in Germany, Kuwait, New zealand, and south Korea (that banned the original also).
4. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Though Mexico has not experience a ban that is nationwide on any brand of video game, but this very one pissed off the regional authorities to the extent that they just have to forbid it from being sold.
This game, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 isn’t just a crazily long title, it’s also a well-reviewed tactical shooter. But unfortunately, the city of Ciudad Juarez was not painted in a good light.
In the way the game was designed, your tactical team works with the Mexican authorities to clear out the guerillas (irregular armed forces) in the streets by engaging in brutal firefights. However, the mayor of Juarez does not subscribe to this kind of video game that picture his city as unsafe (irrespective of the drug violence that is happening in reality there) and as a result spoke to the governor of Chihuahua to command the seizure of any of the game’s copy and eventually banned it from being sold.
5. Postal 2
This game place you in a position of a Joe trying to run errands only to be lured into a violent, homicidal rage, etc. The prohibition on this game by New Zealand was as a result of gross detesting contents that were spotted, such as high impact violence, Homophobia, Racial etc. Interestingly, the consequence for any one who owns a copy is $1,400 fine. With such amount, you can purchase many befitting games.
6. The Pokémon Trading Card Game
If you’re asked to specify what kind of country you can think of that can prohibit something that seem harmless as The Pokémon Trading Card Game? Which country would you have said? Well, I present to you Saudi Arabia, a strong Muslim Eastern nation. In 2001 they banned both electronic and also the physical versions of this game, claiming its a threat to the national security. Reason being that the symbol denoting energy looks like the star of David – which is connected to Zionism and is Israel’s nation emblem. It is evident that based on geopolitical factor, something like this will not thrive even when it’s unintentional.
7. Grand Theft Auto
The GTA games is known for their glorification of violence and mutilation of another person, though only Thailand has taken the drastic step of banning every single title in the franchise. It might be surprising because the country is not typically censorious of violence except for games with adult sexual content, but this comes out as an exception based on some real-life consequences.
A man named Polwat Chino in the year 2008, budded a Bangkok taxi but by the time he was to pay for the ride, he stabbed the driver to death. After being arrested, he threw the blamed on GTA for the cause of his actions claiming that killing became quite easy through the game. And because many Thai does not have a console or computers of their own, they rather play at Internet cafes. So Chino claimed he needed money to play the game. The government therefore reacted to this by enacting law against all the GTA games in one fell swoop.
8. Bully
Remember I said earlier that from the lists provided, you would meet Rockstar being discussed more than once. So what is it about Bully, since it is known that government was against GTA games and Manhunt’s as touching the excessive killing or bloodshed. This game picture an English schoolboy making moves to navigate the social structure of a boarding school.
Consequently, the government of Rio Grande do Sul (the southernmost province of Brazil) argued that setting such game in a school would be detrimental to the teenagers, as a result, they have to place a ban on the game almost immediately after it was released. Coupled with a fine of 1,000 Brazilian reals on anyone caught owning or hawking the game.
9. The Guy Game
But what do you think could make a game got banned in a generally known free-speech country like United States? Though this happened only ones, so its not unlikely that you will be aware of the 2004’s “The Guy Game”. In the actual sense, the gameplay was a bog-standard (with no interesting qualities) multiple choice trivia competition. However, the trap there was that as you get the questions right, you will be rewarded with FMV (full motion video) footage of young women undressing themselves, making there boobies bounce freely.
Quite unfortunate, one of those pair of naked boobies featured is that of a 17 years old girl, putting the company in the violation of child pornography statutes. Consequence upon this, a lawsuit was filed, with a judge in Travis County in Texas who passed an edict prohibiting additional copies to be sold. This results to the game being pulled from the market and eventually forgotten.
10. Command & Conquer: Generals
A game content need not to be atrociously (very offensive manner) violent or sexual before it triggers the wrath of government censors. Oftentimes, all what could be done is blow up a country, then sit back and watch how you will be antagonized for such, and eventually get you banned.
Command & Conquer: Generals, is a typical example of this. It makes room for player to be able to receive command either from the US, China or a decentralized terrorist force attacking the two countries.
The game’s story mode features the detonation of a nuclear bomb in Beijing coupled with Three Gorges Dam being damaged. This however was annoying to the country’s government, which eventually leads to banning the whole series.
