History OvershadowedByControversy / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/WiiMusic'' probably would have been a completely forgotten game after its release if it wasn't for Nintendo [[ThisIsGoingToBeHuge pushing the game as its "killer app"]] at the [[UsefulNotes/ElectronicEntertainmentExpo E3 2008 press conference]]. The move alienated fans who were hoping to see a new ''Zelda'' or ''Mario'' game, and were instead given a Wii software dry spell for the rest of the year. It got to the point that Creator/SatoruIwata issued a public apology days after the conference, explaining that the company was trying to experiment with their press conference presentations. To this day, the game is seen as a symbol of everything wrong with the Wii.

* ''VideoGame/KakutoChojin'' was a 2002 fighting game for Xbox developed by Dream Publishing, which got negative reviews due to its weak Story Mode and shallow gameplay, and because it was a ripoff of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}''.[[note]]Coincidentally, its developers were indeed former ''Tekken'' members.[[/note]] But that's not all: within months of release, the game was pulled from the store shelves not because it was a ''Tekken'' rip-off, but because of the main protagonist Asad, whose theme of Islamic religion and chants of the Quran verses and ethnicity were pointed out to be insensitive due to the game being released over a year after [[TooSoon/SeptemberEleventh 9/11/2001]]. Although Asad's theme was modified to tone down the insensitivity, many copies of the game still made it to retailers in their uncensored format and eventually shipped to Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, where violent protests erupted against the game for Asad's theme that finally did the game in when it was pulled from worldwide stores.

* ''VideoGame/KakutoChojin'' was a 2002 fighting game for Xbox developed by Dream Publishing, which got negative reviews due to its weak Story Mode and shallow gameplay, and because it was a ripoff of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' (coincidentally, its developers were indeed former ''Tekken'' members). But that's not all: within months of release the game was pulled from the store shelves not because it was a ''Tekken'' rip-off, but because of the main protagonist Asad, whose theme of Islamic religion and chants of the Quran verses and ethnicity were pointed out to be insensitive due to the game being released over a year after [[TooSoon/SeptemberEleventh 9/11/2001]]. Although Asad's theme was modified to tone down the insensitivity, many copies of the game still made it to retailers in their uncensored format and eventually shipped to Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, where violent protests erupted against the game for Asad's theme that finally did the game in when it was pulled from worldwide stores.

* ''VideoGame/WiiMusic'' probably would have been a completely forgotten game after its release if it wasn't for Nintendo [[ThisIsGoingToBeHuge pushing the game as its "killer app"]] at the [[UsefulNotes/ElectronicEntertainmentExpo E3 2008 press conference]]. The move alienated fans who were hoping to see a new Zelda or Mario game, and were instead given a Wii software dry spell for the rest of the year. It got to the point that Creator/SatoruIwata issued a public apology days after the conference, explaining that the company was trying to experiment with their press conference presentations. To this day, the game is seen as a symbol of everything wrong with the Wii system.

* ''VideoGame/KakutoChojin'' was a 2002 fighting game for Xbox developed by Dream Publishing, which got negative reviews due to its weak Story Mode and shallow gameplay, and because it was a ripoff of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' (coincidentally, its developers were indeed former ''Tekken'' members). But that's not all: within months of release the game was pulled from the store shelves not because it was a ''Tekken'' rip-off, but because of the main protagonist Asad, whose theme of Islamic religion and chants of the Quran verses and ethnicity were pointed out to be insensitive due to the game being released over a year after [[TooSoon/SepetemberEleventh 9/11/2001]. Although Asad's theme was modified to tone down the insensitivity, many copies of the game still made it to retailers in their uncensored format and eventually shipped to Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, where violent protests erupted against the game for Asad's theme that finally did the game in when it was pulled from worldwide stores.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' is considered a crossfire victim within the Konami / Hideo Kojima controversy resulting with Kojima's departure from the company and the cancellation of ''VideoGame/SilentHills''. And [[InternetBackdraft that's just the tip of the iceberg...]]

* The ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' series has long lived under the infamy of ''Driver 3''. The game was ChristmasRushed while still in [[ObviousBeta a far-from-complete state]] in order to beat the then-upcoming ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', and Atari bribed two magazines to give it a suspicious 9/10 score. This incident, which is referred to as "[=Driv3rgate=]", gave the series a negative reputation and accusations of being a GTA clone. However, the reputation would die down with the moderate success of ''VideoGame/DriverSanFrancisco'', which was praised for ditching the ''Grand Theft Auto'' elements to focus on the driving.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' series has long lived under the infamy of ''Driver 3''. The game was ChristmasRushed while still in [[ObviousBeta a far-from-complete state]] in order to beat the then-upcoming ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', and Atari bribed two magazines to give it a suspicious 9/10 score. This incident, which is referred to as "[=Driv3rgate=]", gave the series a negative reputation. However, the reputation would die down with the moderate success of ''VideoGame/DriverSanFrancisco'', which was praised for ditching the ''Grand Theft Auto'' elements to focus on the driving.

* ''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE'' was originally announced as a straightfoward serious ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' and Atlus' ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' crossover RolePlayingGame on 2013 but became this upon its final gameplay reveal on 2015 as a LighterAndSofter Pop Idol-themed ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' SpinOff that uses Fire Emblem characters as the companion monsters and enemies of the game. Things got worse when it was discovered that the game was heavily altered to tone down the sexual undertones and cultural differences in the international release while Atlus and Nintendo gave vague reasons for the alterations.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' series has long lived under the infamy of ''Driver 3''. The game was ChristmasRushed while still in [[ObviousBeta a far-from-complete state]] in order to beat the then-upcoming ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', and Atari bribed two magazines to give it a suspicious 9/10 score. This gave the series a negative reputation and the incident itself was referred to as "[=Driv3rgate=]". However, the reputation would die down with the moderate success of ''VideoGame/DriverSanFrancisco'', which was praised for ditching the ''Grand Theft Auto'' elements to focus on the driving.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' series has long lived under the infamy of ''Driver 3''. The game was ChristmasRushed while still in [[ObviousBeta a far-from-complete state]] to beat the then-upcoming ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', and Atari bribed two magazines to give it a suspicious 9/10 score. This gave the series a negative reputation and the incident itself was referred to as "[=Driv3rgate=]". However, the reputation would die down with the moderate success of ''VideoGame/DriverSanFrancisco'', which was praised for ditching the ''Grand Theft Auto'' elements to focus on the driving.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' series has long lived under the infamy of the third game in the series, [=Driv3R=]. [=Driv3R=] was ChristmasRushed while still in [[ObviousBeta a far-from-complete state]] to beat the then-upcoming ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', and Atari bribed two magazines to give the games a suspicious 9/10 score. This not only gave the series (which had been previously seen as being average at best) a negative reputation, but also got it the nickname "GTA clone". However, the reputation has died down with the moderate success of ''VideoGame/DriverSanFrancisco'', which has been praised for ditching the ''Grand Theft Auto'' elements to focus on the driving.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' series has long lived under the infamy of the third game in the series, [=Driv3R=]. [=Driv3R=] was ChristmasRushed while still in [[ObviousBeta a far-from-complete state]] to beat the then-upcoming ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', and Atari brided two magazines to give the games a suspicious 9/10 score. This not only gave the series (which had been previously seen as being average at best) a negative reputation, but also got it the nickname "GTA clone". However, the reputation has died down with the moderate success of ''VideoGame/DriverSanFrancisco'', which has been praised for ditching the ''Grand Theft Auto'' elements to focus on the driving.

* Any and all discussion of ''Videogame/{{Star Wars Battlefront II|2017}}'' was swallowed up by the backlash against its {{microtransaction}} system, which was implemented in a way that many felt tread dangerously close to outright gambling, especially since, being a ''Franchise/StarWars'' game, it was guaranteed to be played by children. It has gotten so bad that ''multiple governments'' have identified it as gambling and are working now to regulate lootboxes and microtransactions in general, if not outright ban it.

* ''Videogame/{{Civilization}} VI'' is a difficult game to discuss without covering the allegations of Eurocentrism and CreatorProvincialism surrounding it. Its stable of playable empires was the most European-dominated since the first game, and included several European and European colonial civilizations not typically in the base game, most notably Brazil. There were no pre-Colonial empires from the Americas included in the game at launch, save for the Aztecs (included in the base game for every installment until this one), who were a pre-order bonus and only released for everyone ninety days later. The first two DLC civilizations were Poland and (post-colonial) Australia, which along with Brazil comprise three of the biggest overseas markets for the series, leading to allegations of putting profits before sense on the part of the developers. The sole Sub-Saharan African empire in the game at launch, Kongo, has an ability that defines it by how other civilizations affect it, is the only one to be locked out of a victory condition (Religious), and its Civilopedia entry and India's describe them rather condescendingly. Finally, UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat was given his own playable empire, Macedon, independent from Greece (which he usually leads), while non-European series standbys such as the Inca, the Mongols, and the Zulu have yet to appear. To a lesser, but still noticeable extent, the use of more female leaders than any game before (such as the replacement of fanbase darling Napoleon with Queen Catherine as the leader of France, or the choice to use Gorgo representative of Sparta over her [[ThreeHundred vastly more well-known husband, Leonides]]) has resulted a lot of negative backlash based on sexism (generally wrapped up in an argument that the female leader was chosen over more "deserving" historical figures simply to pander to "Social Justice Warriors" and "feminists"), which naturally dragged in some places into flamewars from which neither side came out looking [[IncrediblyLamePun civilized.]]

* The ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' fangame ''Sonic Gather Battle'' quickly became engulfed by controversy entirely over the fact that the creator, growing ridiculously overprotective of his work (which, by its nature as a fangame, uses characters, assets, and music that he does not own), implemented an overly intrusive form of DRM--in a ''fangame''--that automatically closes the player's web browser without warning if any web search for "cheat" or "hack" is performed while the game is open; [[InterfaceScrew tints the backgrounds red while causing yellow glowing eyes to appear at random]], [[BGMOverride replaces the music]] with the US ''VideoGame/SonicCD'' boss theme, and starts spawning enormous OneHitKill ghosts if it detects a cheat engine; and most damningly, logs the user's IP address and sends it to the creator if it deems that the player is trying to hack into the game.

* ''Videogame/{{Civilization}} VI'' is a difficult game to discuss without covering the allegations of Eurocentrism and CreatorProvincialism surrounding it. Its stable of playable empires was the most European-dominated since the first game, and included several European and European colonial civilizations not typically in the base game, most notably Brazil. There were no pre-Colonial empires from the Americas included in the game at launch, save for the Aztecs (included in the base game for every installment until this one), who were a pre-order bonus and only released for everyone ninety days later. The first two DLC civilizations were Poland and (post-colonial) Australia, which along with Brazil comprise three of the biggest overseas markets for the series, leading to allegations of putting profits before sense on the part of the developers. The sole Sub-Saharan African empire in the game at launch, Kongo, has an ability that defines it by how other civilizations affect it, is the only one to be locked out of a victory condition (Religious), and its Civilopedia entry and India's describe them rather condescendingly. Finally, UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat was given his own playable empire, Macedon, independent from Greece (which he usually leads), while non-European series standbys such as the Inca, the Mongols, and the Zulu have yet to appear. To a lesser, but still noticeable extent, the use of more female leaders than any game before (such as the replacement of fanbase darling Napoleon with Queen Catherine as the leader of France) has resulted a lot of negative backlash based on sexism (generally wrapped up in an argument that the female leader was chosen over more "deserving" historical figures simply to pander to "SJWs" and "feminists"), which naturally dragged in some places into flamewars from which neither side came out looking [[IncrediblyLamePun civilized.]]

* ''Videogame/{{Civilization}} VI'' is a difficult game to discuss without covering the allegations of Eurocentrism and CreatorProvincialism surrounding it. Its stable of playable empires was the most European-dominated since the first game, and included several European and European colonial civilizations not typically in the base game, most notably Brazil. There were no pre-Colonial empires from the Americas included in the game at launch, save for the Aztecs (included in the base game for every installment until this one), who were a pre-order bonus and only released for everyone ninety days later. The first two DLC civilizations were Poland and (post-colonial) Australia, which along with Brazil comprise three of the biggest overseas markets for the series, leading to allegations of putting profits before sense on the part of the developers. The sole Sub-Saharan African empire in the game at launch, Kongo, has an ability that defines it by how other civilizations affect it, is the only one to be locked out of a victory condition (Religious), and its Civilopedia entry and India's describe them rather condescendingly. Finally, UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat was given his own playable empire, Macedon, independent from Greece (which he usually leads), while non-European series standbys such as the Inca, the Mongols, and the Zulu have yet to appear.

* ''The Guy Game'' is an obscure erotic video game that rewards you for completing various puzzles with FMV clips of lovely gals taking their clothes off. Even among porn games it would likely not have been a blip on the radar... if it didn't hold the dubious honor of being the one and only video game to receive a nationwide ban in the United States, after it was discovered that one of the aforementioned lovely gals was underage at the time the clip was filmed, leading the game to be declared child pornography and ergo not protected by the First Amendment.

** Kadabra is mostly known for the controversy generated when supposed psychic Uri Geller sued Nintendo, claiming it was based off of him without his approval and was anti-Semitic due to the markings on its body. The Pokémon hasn't appeared in any animé episodes since 2005, and no Kadabra cards in [[TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}} the card game]] have been printed since 2003 (with Abra's evolution skipping over to Alakazam).
** ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' has had controversy from day one. While still a popular game, its infamy arises from the game's concept of walking around in the real world to find Pokémon, which has resulted in one too many incidents of people being mugged, hurt, distracted or killed while playing the game. As a result, [[BannedInChina it is banned in many areas or countries for safety reasons]]. The game's reputation is ''far'' more infamous in Russia, during a widely publicized incident where a vlogger was caught playing the game during an orthodox mass session. This incident not only lead the man to be jailed, but any references to the game are edited out of the media (ironically though, the game is not outright banned in Russia).

[[folder: S-W]]

** ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' is mainly known for putting series protagonist Samus Aran through severe BadassDecay, thanks to a combination of CharacterShilling of new character Adam Malkovich, ValuesDissonance, and just plain BadWriting. It's made all the worse since Samus is one of the medium's first and most well-known female protagonists and therefore something of a feminist gaming icon, which means gender politics get brought into play (and ''Other M''[='s=] gratuitous MaleGaze [[FanDisservice at inappropriate moments]] doesn't help either). In second place is the attempted justification for the series' usual BagOfSpilling that [[VoodooShark ends up absurd]] (particularly, not using available heat shielding in a lava-filled area).

* Any and all discussion of ''Videogame/{{Star Wars Battlefront II|2017}}'' was swallowed up by the backlash against its {{microtransaction}} system, which was implemented in a way that many felt tread dangerously close to outright gambling, especially since, being a ''Franchise/StarWars'' game, it was guaranteed to be played by children. It has gotten so bad that [[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-11-22-star-wars-battlefront-2-loot-crates-belgian-gaming-commission-hawaii-chris-lee Belgian and Hawaiian lawmakers have identified it as gambling]] and are working now to regulate lootboxes and microtransactions in general, if not outright ban it.