'Wow, they actually got away with this?' Moments

[pulse2]

Have there ever been any moments that you have experienced in gaming that have seriously gotten close to what is unacceptable in gaming, either through racism, sexism, dramatic or upsetting scenes, rather too sexy scenes, etc, but they haven't been caught out, but you thought to yourself, how the hell did this get through the ratings board without it causing some kind of controversy? If not here, elsewhere.

 

[lacktheknack]

Daggerfall.

I mean, really? You can role-play as a naked elf with large breasts and stab giggly naked dryads to death and join temples with naked dancers, slaves and implied orgies? How'd THAT get past unchecked?

The italicized words were for moral watchdog benefit, by the way.

Actually, they probably didn't notice because the game barely noticed half of that itself. The dryads are what dryads were thought to be mythologically, the temples are fairly tame, the orgies are implied in some book somewhere, and I didn't even know the naked main character bit until I failed at switching shirts in minimal clicks.

 

[Blind Sight]

I'm amazed that there weren't more complaints about the Dead Space series and drop-kicking babies. Then again, they're undead so I don't really think it counts.

But I'm not one for bitching about that kind of stuff, I just won't play the game if it doesn't appeal to me.

 

[lacktheknack]

The Path.

The game's all about the death of six children. One of them gets her neck stretched out about a foot.

Underage sex & rape of a fifteen-year-old are implied.

And it's a recent game too.

Well, if you take it at face value, yes.

The most agreed upon definitions is that Robin (9) learns an unpleasant lesson that not all animals are safe, Ginger (13) has her first menstruation period, Ruby (15) learns that many men are sex-crazed, Carmen (17) learned that the party-'til-you-drop life has its downfalls, Scarlet (19) faces her first true rejection of weight.

And no one knows what the hell happened with Rose (11).

Still, the selected imagery is... horrifying, yes.

 

[Macheteswordgun]

World of Warcraft Wotlk and Cata. Such crappy expansions but thats what happens when you fire people for making something to hard or send them to make a different mmo and hire a guy who has a marine bio degree. But people keep buying it up but i have seen my ways but i shall miss my warlock Gladiator Gorgoroth forever. Seewuitididthur

 

[Vault101]

Ive never really had any problems

But Im very surprised that Deadspace and other similar games got released In australia but L4dead2 didn't I mean how bad could it possibly be?

 

[Booze Zombie]

Daggerfall.

I mean, really? You can role-play as a naked elf with large breasts and stab giggly naked dryads to death and join temples with naked dancers, slaves and implied orgies? How'd THAT get past unchecked?

The italicized words were for moral watchdog benefit, by the way.

Actually, they probably didn't notice because the game barely noticed half of that itself. The dryads are what dryads were thought to be mythologically, the temples are fairly tame, the orgies are implied in some book somewhere, and I didn't even know the naked main character bit until I failed at switching shirts in minimal clicks.

You've probably just gotten about 100 hits off of a Google search result somewhere, you know?

 

[mireko]

I wasn't offended at all, but I'm surprised nobody got angry about the Evokers in Persona 3.

Basically: To cast spells, your characters (mostly teenagers) have to shoot themselves in the head. They're not really using guns, but they look exactly like guns and it's obvious they were going for that kind of symbolism.

Can't think of anything that made me feel like a game had crossed the line, though.

 

[Chiasm]

The Path.

The game's all about the death of six children. One of them gets her neck stretched out about a foot.
Underage sex & rape of a fifteen-year-old are implied.

And it's a recent game too.

On top of that, It is also one of the best games recently in my mind.

 

[pulse2]

I would have otherwise mentioned Homefront if it had released in it's original form, for getting the chinese angry as well as Modern Warfare 2 and that oh so notorious airport scene, but that was solved.

 

[lacktheknack]

ell, if you take it at face value, yes.

The most agreed upon definitions is that Robin (9) learns an unpleasant lesson that not all animals are safe, Ginger (13) has her first menstruation period, Ruby (15) learns that many men are sex-crazed, Carmen (17) learned that the party-'til-you-drop life has its downfalls, Scarlet (19) faces her first true rejection of weight.

And no one knows what the hell happened with Rose (11).

Still, the selected imagery is... horrifying, yes.

Hey, do the ratings board take it any further than that?

I disagree with some of those explanations though. Robin's journey really came across strongly as the realisation of death, first learning that things come to an end.

Ginger having her first period is a bit iffy, I think. Is the wolf's red dress the only indicator for that?

I always thought Ruby was about trying to rebel against your parents but accidentally going too far, & while that could mean learning that men are sex-crazed I took it as rape, you don't come out of that revelation as badly as she did.

I agree with what you say about Carmen though.

Scarlet, I had no fucking clue what was going on there. Care to explain?

I don't think even the woman who wrote the game knows what Rose is about. She's done a bit of writing on all of the girls, first says that Rose is jealous of all her other sisters then says she is the most forgiving, loving girl in the world.

There's three reasons I subscribe to the "No one actually died" train of thought:

1. I think it's a coming-of-age story, which would make less sense if any of them actually died.
2. Why'd they all suddenly come back in the end? After you play a round with the girl in white, I mean.
3. I agree with those who say they're all the same young woman, at different stages in her life. Most will think I'm an idiot here, but it's what I think.

As to Scarlet, the idea is that she played a recital for her wolf, who then told her how incredibly bad of a player she was, crushing her spirit and enthusiasm for music. It's the only explanation that remotely makes sense.

Rose... I don't know! Canoe? Hurricane? White man floating in the sky? Magic tornado thing?! Augh!

The only reason the game didn't get flack is because it was really low-profile. To any bystanders reading this: Track it down on Steam and play it! It's fascinating (although not exactly "fun"), and fairly cheap as well.

Daggerfall.

I mean, really? You can role-play as a naked elf with large breasts and stab giggly naked dryads to death and join temples with naked dancers, slaves and implied orgies? How'd THAT get past unchecked?

The italicized words were for moral watchdog benefit, by the way.

Actually, they probably didn't notice because the game barely noticed half of that itself. The dryads are what dryads were thought to be mythologically, the temples are fairly tame, the orgies are implied in some book somewhere, and I didn't even know the naked main character bit until I failed at switching shirts in minimal clicks.

You've probably just gotten about 100 hits off of a Google search result somewhere, you know?

Oh heavens above, I did. Wow. You made my entire evening right there.

By the way, consider reading my <link=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.258867-Lets-Play-The-Elder-Scrolls-II-Daggerfall-Round-Nine>locally grown Let's Play of DaggerfallPluggity plug plug plug... I want more readers who say stuff.. I haven't reached the high breast content quite yet, but it's only a matter of timeYes, I am so shameless that I'll use that as a hook at this point. Please don't hate me forever..

 

[pyrosaw]

Who the hell QA tested Fallout: New Vegas? How the hell did they say"Yep, this is good enough." Did anyone play this game? Did they not know about the title wave of bugs? Seriously.

 

[pulse2]

Who the hell QA tested Fallout: New Vegas? How the hell did they say"Yep, this is good enough." Did anyone play this game? Did they not know about the title wave of bugs? Seriously.

Think that's bad? I remember 'This is Football' back in the day being a game notorious for crashing, heck, it was nearly impossible for you to get through 2 matches without it crashing, every time I went into a store and it was available to play at the time, it was a crashed version that the staff probably cba to restart for the 100th time that day. Whats worse is that they released a sequel to it.....which was even worse! Exactly, how can a sequel be more buggy than the predecessor? Wouldn't you fix those bugs not at more :/

 

[The Madman]

I can think of plenty of 'how'd they get away with that' moments in games. Hell, I mentioned an rpg just the other day, think I saw the topic still active earlier, where you can play as a prostitute for example. And Vampire: Bloodlines is the wonderful, wonderful game I have to thank (This is extreme sarcasm!) for opening my eyes to the snuff genre of film, something which I wish I had never learned existed because it's so grotesque and disgusting and worse, real.

But meh at them, lemme see if I can think of a non-M rated game that got away with some serious shit. Hmm...

Oh, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer. I have it right next to me on my shelf, it's rated T for Teen for Alcohol References, Blood, Mild Language, Sexual Themes, and Violence. Makes me think whoever rated this game never played it! Lesse... Oh yeah, one of the main characters mother you meet was as punishment for dallying about forced to cannibalize her lover. When you meet this lovely lady, she laments endlessly about how she can still taste him and how the act had driven her very much mad. Another scene depicts your character being operated on all medieval style, meaning no anaesthetics were involved. Oh, and the central theme of the game is eternal damnation in hell and religious injustice.

But I guess as long as there's no nipples, that's all fine!

*sigh* This world is so screwed up!

 

[emeraldrafael]

I wasn't offended at all, but I'm surprised nobody got angry about the Evokers in Persona 3.

Basically: To cast spells, your characters (mostly teenagers) have to shoot themselves in the head. They're not really using guns, but they look exactly like guns and it's obvious they were going for that kind of symbolism.

Can't think of anything that made me feel like a game had crossed the line, though.

Probably cause its a metaphor. And I dont thik japan is as big on the whole, kids shooting themselves through suicide like the US is (cant speak for Europe). Also, fist bump for the reference to it. Though they got rid of all that peskiness in P4 with the card business.

OT:
Custer's Revenge.
http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/1/15562/634750-b_custersrevenge_front_large.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custer%27s_Revenge

Because no, I'm not going to sum this up for you.