Top 5 biggest violent video-game controversies

U.S. Supreme Court that a California law banning the sale of violent video games to kids went too far is just the latest in a long string of headline-grabbing moments in gaming history.

Unfortunately, at least as far as mainstream audiences are concerned, those headlines often center around violence in video games, particularly focusing on how that violence affects children.

To be sure, there's plenty of content in video games that's not for kids. Virtually everyone agrees on that, and there's a ratings system in place to help parents decide which games are appropriate and which ones aren't.

The ratings, like those at a movie theater, provide guidelines and create rules for game retailers. (California's law would have judged games differently though, making it a crime if a retailer doesn't follow them.)

But even the current ratings system was born out of controversy. And, as games get more graphic and complex, it hasn't stemmed the tide of complaints about some titles.

In light of this week's rulings, here's a look at 10 video games that sparked controversy with their violent content -- and what it was that made them so polarizing.

1. Death Race (1976)


At this point, it's downright quaint.

But when it hit arcades more than three decades ago, "Death Race" (based on the cult movie "Death Race 2000") may have been the first video game to spark controversy for its violence.

In the chunky, black-and-white pixilated graphics of the time, players ran down "gremlins" in their vehicles. The targets squealed and cried, and were then replaced by tombstones on the screen. It didn't help when word leaked that the working title had been "Pedestrian."

It was enough to prompt the National Safety Council to call the game "morbid" and earn it a spot in a "60 Minutes" segment on violence in games.

2. Mortal Kombat (1992)


The '90s classic has spawned innumerable sequels that have found themselves pretty well in the middle of the pack in terms of fighting-game violence.

But when it hit arcades in 1992 and home consoles the next year, "Mortal Kombat" jumped out because of its realistic, digitized graphics -- and the gore they depicted.

Brandishing severed heads, ripping out hearts and spines and the like helped put "Mortal Kombat" at the head of a pack of games that prompted hearings in Congress and, eventually, led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

The gore also helped it to become one of the most popular video games of all time.

This year's reboot (often called "Mortal Kombat 9") does its best to uphold the tradition. Options include eating an opponent's head, pulling out their stomach after spitting acid down their throat and slicing them in half with a buzzsaw.

3. Doom (1993)


From the same gaming class as "Mortal Kombat" came "Doom."
"Doom" was the first time many people had seen a first-person shooter game.

It might not have been the original first-person shooter game, but "Doom" certainly popularized the style. And there was something about seeing the violence from the viewpoint of the shooter that really got to folks.

There was also blood and gore, shotguns and chainsaws. And when it emerged that the shooters in the 1999 Columbine High School tragedy were avid "Doom" players, it was pretty much assured that the game would move to the forefront of the controversy of the time.

4. Grand Theft Auto (1997)


If any one game inherited the mantle of violent game poster child from "Mortal Kombat" and "Doom," it was "Grand Theft Auto."

The game was controversial from its very earliest incarnation because it let players do just about anything as they portrayed criminals.

But it really ramped up with 2001's "Grand Theft Auto III," when improved graphics made the chaos even more realistic. Players could kill police officers, hire (and subsequently kill) prostitutes and perform any number of other unsavory acts.

In 2003, the family of two shooting victims filed the first of what would become several lawsuits against the series. That case was quickly dismissed.

5. Silent Hill (1999)


When Konami released it in 1999, no one had seen anything quite like "Silent Hill." A creepy survival shooter, it took horror-movie style visuals to a new level, complete with cut scenes that included disemboweled and crucified bodies.
"Silent Hill" and its sequels use music, sound and sight for a horror-movie feel.

Future installments in the series kept it up, using music, sound and visual advances to boost the creepiness factor.

For the original, a monster called "The Grey Child" -- a small, naked creature encountered near a school -- had to be redesigned before the game could be released in North America. The monster was eventually taken out of the European release altogether.