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| 3 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Take care to put your example in its proper place in accordance with Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings! |
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| 7 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1385078836074420300 |
| 8 | %% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. |
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| 10 | [[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/BrutalDoom https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brutaldoom_9785.png]]]] |
| 11 | [[caption-width-right:350: [[VideoGame/VisceraCleanupDetail Get a mop]]... [[LudicrousGibs again.]]]] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ->''"Disemboweler IV, the game where condemned criminals dig at each other with rusty hooks."'' |
| 14 | -->-- '''Bart Simpson''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' |
| 15 | |
| 16 | {{Fictional video game}}s on TV tend to be disgusting, ultraviolent messes of [[LudicrousGibs blood, guts,]] and severed limbs as the hypnotized player kills everything that moves, and [[DieChairDie more than a few things that don't]]. [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Many]] [[VideoGame/{{Quake}} games]] ''are'' about killing everything, of course, but [[VideoGame/{{Bulletstorm}} with some style]]. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Also, the names for these types of video games on TV tend to be rather unimaginative and generic with names such as "[[GoryDeadlyOverkillTitleOfFatalDeath ACTION KILLTACULAR DEATHMOWER 5000]]" or simply "[[WesternAnimation/TheJimmyTimmyPowerHour The Decimator]]", when in real life, they're often much shorter, punchier, sophisticated, and clever, like ''Franchise/{{Doom}}'', ''VideoGame/HalfLife'', ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}''. In fact, even some of the most controversial games have simple titles, such as ''VideoGame/{{Postal}}''. Granted, ''some'' ultraviolent RealLife games are named like the trope, but not all. What little frequency there ''is'' of such naming, will probably continue to decrease as 1) games try to become taken more seriously in general as a medium, and 2) [[MurderSimulators contro]][[NewMediaAreEvil versy]] over the more violent and realistic (or just [[VideoGame/MedalOfHonor close-to-home]]) games continues to mount. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | [[TakeOurWordForIt Often just used for name-dropping]] as a gag. If such a game is shown, it can be an example of PacmanFever (another case of producers not getting it) and/or [[BrandX bear a surprising resemblance]] to a well-known game. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | In a CrimeAndPunishmentSeries, these can cause innocent victims to act out the events, possibly including AnAesop about why [[NewMediaAreEvil video games are horrible]] and teenagers [[BrokenAesop should be watching responsible adults shoot each other on TV instead.]] |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Sometimes the corruption comes not from the violent games, but from the very influence of computers themselves -- from the Internet. This is because [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling executives]] and MoralGuardians on {{Creator/TBN}} and elsewhere, worrying about the time you spend away from your TV, want to convince you that NewMediaAreEvil. Very often, if the game is portrayed in a negative light, it can be a case of DoNotDoThisCoolThing for any ''actual'' gamers in the audience. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Also, possibly due to ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}'', virtually every example of this will be a FightingGame, a ''Grand Theft Auto'' clone, or a [[MurderSimulators ridiculously gory shooter of some irrational kind]]. Occasionally [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs it will be all three at once]], with a subtitle declaring "[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids It's For Everyone!]]". |
| 27 | |
| 28 | This is when a game has an overly elaborate and violent ''title''. When a real-world game's ''content'' includes over-the-top violence, regardless of its title, that's an example of RatedMForMoney and ExploitationFilm. Not to be confused with GoryDeadlyOverkillTitleOfFatalDeath, although the name is an example of it. See also MurderSimulators. Contrasts with UltraSuperHappyCuteBabyFestFarmer3000, where the game is a really kiddy game. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | ---- |
| 31 | !!Examples: |
| 32 | |
| 33 | %% |
| 34 | %%This list has been alphabetized. Please put new entries in alphabetical order. |
| 35 | %% |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 38 | |
| 39 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 40 | * {{Parodied|Trope}} in the ''VideoGame/SonicManiaPlus'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiFgaatXuRc infomercial,]] a remake of the classic ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'' informercial. Here, a salesman is trying to sell a shooter game called ''Finger [=GunZ=]'', where you shoot with ''literal'' [[FingerFirearms finger guns]], and the customer chooses ''Sonic Mania Plus'' over that game much to the saleman's dismay. |
| 41 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHiNwDhLfRs This 2009 ad]] for Coca-Cola, titled simply "Video Game", takes place in a ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''-like open-world crime game where a man is going on a rampage, only to drink a bottle of Coke while robbing a convenience store, which turns him into a law-abiding citizen who helps the needy and stops other criminals. |
| 42 | [[/folder]] |
| 43 | |
| 44 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 45 | * Mamimi from ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' spends half the second episode playing ''Fire Starter'', a handheld video game with the objective of "burn down a demon-infested city while dodging the cops". In the manga, the point of the game is to simply burn down the city [[WellIntentionedExtremist so it doesn't expand]] and [[GreenAesop devour the Earth]]. She spends another quarter hanging out with Naota, and the last quarter starting fires. But being Mamimi, she's incredibly whacked ''anyway'', so the game's probably not really to blame. |
| 46 | * A running gag in ''Manga/MinamiKe'' is a bad Soap Opera called ''Sensei and Ninomiya-Kun''. The two youngest daughters own a copy of the show's video game which runs the gamut from fighter games to platforming to ''zombie survival horror'' (complete with co-op) leading to many deaths of Ninomiya-Kun. |
| 47 | * ''Manga/OutlawStar'' has an episode where Aisha is playing some kind of high-speed combat DatingSim. |
| 48 | * Subverted in ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent''. [[spoiler:The detectives are interviewing the suspect for the Shounen Bat assaults. The boy seems convinced that he is living in the world of an RPG he played, and all the people he assaulted were, to him, the enemies controlled by the BigBad that needed to be cleansed with his magical, holy sword. In the end it turns out that the kid wasn't the real Shounen Bat, he was just an attention seeker.]] |
| 49 | * Subverted in ''Anime/PureTrance'': some of the games that are mentioned are "Connect the Bowels" (kind of appropriate since most of the characters are nurses), "Throw The Baby Around", and "Real Fight", a fighting game that uses "ordinary things like scissors and razors as weapons (not for children)". |
| 50 | * Interestingly, ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'' did something like that. In one of the early chapters of the series, there are several teenagers stuck in an online shooter called ''Phantoma'' without even being logged on to their computers, and confusing random people with enemy {{N|onPlayerCharacter}}PCs as a result. [[spoiler:One of them commits suicide, while the other one murders a little girl.]] This was obviously intentional, given how one of the main themes of the series was the ever-growing disconnect with reality that most Wired developed. It's not about the violence, it's more about the reality itself and its perception. [[spoiler:What's more, the "real world" is not all that real either.]] |
| 51 | [[/folder]] |
| 52 | |
| 53 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 54 | * Although a gamer from the [[PacManFever old]] generation, Creator/LewisTrondheim suggested such videogames in his stories: ''Danger Trash III'', ''Deathfighter III'', ''Maximum Blood XVI'' or ''Excreminator''. |
| 55 | * ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'' Vol 2 #146 revolved around a board game called ''King's Feud'', which had been reinvented as a video game called ''King's Blood Feud of Death''. Supes is not impressed. |
| 56 | [[/folder]] |
| 57 | |
| 58 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 59 | * An early SundayStrip of ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'' had children playing an MediaNotes/ArcadeGame titled ''Space Carnage''. A [[GrumpyOldMan Grumpy Old Woman]] heckles them, complaining that they ought to be playing checkers rather than "perfectly dreadful, immoral machines," only to be vaporized by a blast from the game cabinet. |
| 60 | * ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'': |
| 61 | ** The comic strip likes this one, with titles like ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}[[VideoGame/{{Marathon}} athon]] 2000'' and ''Mortal Karnage II''. The latter, according to Jason, features "17 levels of escalating bloodletting, digitally sampled screams and splatters and, of course, the new and improved decapitation round." |
| 62 | ** The strip sometimes uses the names of real games -- for example, ''VideoGame/{{Carmageddon}}'', which is an actual game. |
| 63 | ** Sometimes the names of Jason's games combine the names of two violent real games; in one series of strips, he was playing something called ''[[VideoGame/DukeNukem Duke]] [[VideoGame/{{Quake}} Quakum]]'', and in one strip, Paige complained that he was playing ''[[VideoGame/PrimalRage Primal]] [[VideoGame/KillerInstinct Instinct]]''. Not because she thought it was too violent, but because he was hogging it, and ''she'' wanted to play. |
| 64 | ** Not to mention ''World of Warquest'', and Jason's rather extreme addiction thereof. However, all of this could be an AffectionateParody as Bill Amend, the creator, is quite the avid ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' player as well. |
| 65 | ** It then brilliantly subverts it by introducing ''Nice City'', a game where the player just hangs out not killing anything at all. Literally. Peter has to reset after ''stepping on an ant''. |
| 66 | [[/folder]] |
| 67 | |
| 68 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 69 | * ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/4642155/chapters/10592955 Adventures in Dimension Hopping]]'' has ''Super Mega-Death Massacre III''. |
| 70 | * ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'': In the third chapter of the non-canon ''New Adventures: Mature Edition'', Gaz enters an online competition to win a rare demo copy of a game called ''Gore of War 3: The Bloodening'', which was scrapped during development for being too over-the-top violent. |
| 71 | [[/folder]] |
| 72 | |
| 73 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 74 | * ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': |
| 75 | ** The first film features ''Hero's Duty'', an AffectionateParody of sci-fi shooters such as the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'', ''Franchise/MassEffect'', ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', and ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series. When he escapes into the game from his own (an old-school ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''-esque 8-bit arcade game), Ralph exclaims, [[TakeThat "When did video games get so violent and scary?!"]] |
| 76 | ** ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'' has ''Slaughter Race'', a violent post-apocalyptic racing game inspired by the likes of ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal'', ''VideoGame/{{Carmageddon}}'', and (of course) ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''. One of the missions involves stealing cars and delivering them to a chop shop. Surprisingly for an instance of this trope in a Disney movie, it's not portrayed negatively at all. In fact, [[spoiler:Vanellope even [[IChooseToStay decides to stay there]] because it suits her tomboyish personality better than the SugarBowl MascotRacer she came from]]. |
| 77 | [[/folder]] |
| 78 | |
| 79 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 80 | * In the Swedish SoBadItsGood 1997 crime/detective movie ''Beck - Spår i mörker'', a gang of teenagers who live in the underground tunnels beneath Stockholm run around armed with swords and knives and decapitate random people on subway platforms and trains at night. It's quickly revealed that they do it to get the most frags, and that they are inspired by the game ''Final Doom''.[[note]]The script writers probably did not know that a version of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' actually existed by that name.[[/note]] In the end, the gang's underground hideout is raided by the police, and you clearly see the game ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' on their computer screens. |
| 81 | * Mike Teevee's updated "sin" in Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' is having a passion for violent video games, though the Oompa Loompas still sing about [[BrokenAesop watching TV too much]] when Mike meets his fate. |
| 82 | * ''Film/{{Clockers}}'' has ''Gangster'', which appears to be some kind of proto-''GTA'' played via VR helmet and supposedly made by Sega. |
| 83 | * ''Film/DontBeAMenaceToSouthCentralWhileDrinkingYourJuiceInTheHood'' has a scene where a bunch of racist {{Rabid Cop}}s are playing ''Rodney's Ride'', an arcade game based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King Rodney King incident]] in which you play as one of four police officers [[PoliceBrutality beating King with nightsticks]]. |
| 84 | * Subverted in ''Film/Elephant2003'', where Alex and Eric, preparing for the [[AxesAtSchool school shooting]] they're about to commit, are seen playing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRbrfG-cP3M an FPS game]] called ''Gerrycount'' (a ShoutOut to Creator/GusVanSant's previous film ''Film/{{Gerry}}'') that is about as stripped-down as could possibly be, consisting entirely of the player wandering across an empty void shooting avatars of Creator/MattDamon and Creator/CaseyAffleck who keel over in a horribly canned animation. It feels like a parody of the idea that violent video games make people violent, as the game in question is so dull and plain that one can't possibly imagine anyone getting any excitement or aggressive urges out of it. |
| 85 | * ''Film/{{Gamer}}'': |
| 86 | ** The mind-control game central to the plot is called ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHdKVf4jA0c Slayers.]]'' This is an especially extreme version, as the game's players aren't controlling virtual avatars but ''real people'' (specifically, [[CondemnedContestant death row inmates]] promised a shot at freedom if they participate) who are killed in an enclosed free-for-all warzone. |
| 87 | ** Before he created ''Slayers'', the film's villain Ken Castle created the "ultimate sim environment" ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6C9t2LkX_o Society,]]'' a game more reminiscent of ''VideoGame/TheSims'' or ''VideoGame/SecondLife'' with a similar premise of players controlling real people, albeit with less violence and more sex. It has become "the number-one {{guilty pleasure|s}} of billions" and made Castle the [[Fiction500 richest man in the world]]. |
| 88 | * In ''[[Film/GrandmasBoy2006 Grandma's Boy]]'', the video game in development is ''Eternal Death Slayer 3''. |
| 89 | * The video game that Lenny's kids play at [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqzPFUhplOM the beginning]] of ''Film/GrownUps'' involves slaughtering people on a cruise ship with assault rifles and chainsaws. You also get bonus points for pushing old ladies off the ship. Lenny isn't impressed, and tries to get them to play Chutes & Ladders instead, to which they ask if the prize for winning that game is a training bra. |
| 90 | * ''Film/ImNotAshamed'', a biopic of UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} victim Rachel Scott, has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weo5oaGzJzg&t=167s a scene]] where the future shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold are playing a violent FPS game on their Platform/PlayStation. It's portrayed as their StartOfDarkness, with Dylan remarking "now, if only ''this'' was Columbine" and Eric responding "maybe it could be." It should be noted that the game has excellent graphics for a [=PS1=] game in the late '90s, and that both Eric and Dylan are holding controllers even though what's shown on the screen is single-player. |
| 91 | * In ''Film/InsideMan'', the leading bank robber sees one of the hostages, an African-American boy, playing a ''GTA''-like game of plotless violence with racial overtones on his Platform/PlayStationPortable. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYNUp5rAZJo He's not happy.]] It should also be noted that the graphics on the game are pretty good for a PSP. |
| 92 | * In ''Film/MarsAttacks'', a bus driver catches her sons cutting school to play a shoot-em-up arcade lightgun game, stops the bus, hauls them in, and yells at them, whereupon the passengers (who are all middle-aged women) clap. Later, though, it turns out that [[IKnowMortalKombat playing those games taught them how to shoot]], and they mow down several alien invaders with their own laser guns. |
| 93 | * Zabulon's prophetic video game in ''Film/NightWatch'' is a pretty gory example, involving, among other things, people pulling out their own spines like katanas and hitting people with them. |
| 94 | * In ''Film/RideAlong'', Ben is a fan of an ultraviolent ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjXHHjnhPIg clone]] whose online multiplayer is composed of players of [[InternetJerk varying degrees of maturity]], with gamertags like Assface and Ballsdeep. Ben's own gamertag is [[BlackIsBiggerInBed BlackHammer]]. The fact that his knowledge of guns comes entirely from video games bites him in the ass when his girlfriend's [[KnightTemplarBigBrother cop brother James]] takes him to a shooting range as part of a police ride-along, where it turns out that being a top-level FPS gamer does ''not'' mean that [[ATeamFiring one knows how to fire]] a [[BlownAcrossTheRoom shotgun loaded with magnum shells]]. [[spoiler:Though his knowledge of the exotic military weaponry featured in the game does come in handy for tracking down Omar. Also, Assface warns Ben and James when he hears Omar's goons break into Ben's home over his Xbox Live headset.]] In the sequel, he's moved on to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wglo324OxNg a game]] more reminiscent of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', in which he wrecks a Lamborghini in a police chase [[spoiler:and gets killed by [[NeverMessWithGranny an old lady he tried to carjack]]]]. |
| 95 | * In the Creator/RobinWilliams film ''Film/{{Toys}}'', the GeneralRipper antagonist sees children playing violent games at an arcade and has the bright idea to use the children to fight wars by remote control, in the style of ''Literature/EndersGame''. |
| 96 | -->'''General:''' What happens when you hit the UN trucks?[[note]]very heavily paraphrased[[/note]]\ |
| 97 | '''Kid:''' [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment You lose points]].\ |
| 98 | '''General:''' That's ridiculous. ''[blows up every vehicle on screen, UN trucks included]'' |
| 99 | [[/folder]] |
| 100 | |
| 101 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 102 | * Creator/DaveBarry: |
| 103 | ** ''Dave Barry's Money Secrets'' includes a passing reference to ''Death Killer of Fatal Murdering II: The Slaying''. |
| 104 | ** His column "Silent Night, Holy %*&?c" features a cartoon of a boy asking Santa for a "Nintendo Super Android Mario Mutant Amazon Slime Leech from Hell(TM)." |
| 105 | * In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Dudley Dursley is fond of "blowing up aliens on his computer." He had a Platform/PlayStation game called ''Mega Mutilation Part Three'' in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire The Goblet of Fire]]'', but he destroyed the [=PlayStation=] by throwing it out of a window in a tantrum. (Goblet of Fire is set in 1994, before the system was even released anywhere (including Japan). Creator/JKRowling admitted [[AnachronismStew she didn't check her facts.]]) Before her editor suggested using the Platform/PlayStation, Rowling was going to use an Platform/{{S|uperNintendoEntertainmentSystem}}NES. |
| 106 | * In the ''Literature/PilgrennonsChildren'' novel ''The Emerald Forge'', Dana and Eric play ''Pillage and Burn III'', where you loot villages and use what you find to make better weapons. |
| 107 | [[/folder]] |
| 108 | |
| 109 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 110 | * ''Series/CSIMiami'' went to town with the trope. A not-''GTA''-honest game was essentially a nonstop synaesthetic rollercoaster of violence, robbery, murder, and rape (though only on bonus rounds), causing easily influenced youngsters to mimic these acts point-by-point while shouting "[[PacManFever 9000 points]], bitch!" The protagonists got lines like [[QuipToBlack "It'll all be very real soon"]] and [[QuipToBlack "So he played <dramatic pause> to death."]] (YEEEAAAAHHHH!!!) Also notable for gamers giving their nicks as their names in interrogations, total ignorance of sites like Website/GameFAQs... you get the picture. |
| 111 | ** The game in the episode also had no save feature - first-person and third-person shooters made for the PC in the late 2000s have been increasingly ditching real save/load functions in favor of a checkpoint system. This was likely to keep them as similar as possible to their console ports; it IS worth noting that consoles of the era were moving or had moved towards internal hard drive storage, making this example seem ridiculous, [[RealityIsUnrealistic but not for the reasons you'd think.]] |
| 112 | ** Unlike most examples of this trope, the crimes are not really blamed on the game itself, but on the suspects, who are portrayed as people who have trouble separating the game and reality, or simply don't care about the difference. The game is distasteful, and [[BeAsUnhelpfulAsPossible the guy who made it is obstructive because he wants to protect his company]], but that's about it. They even portray an obsessive player who [[AntiPoopSocking poopsocks]] himself to death, and it's clearly his own fault, not the game. |
| 113 | ** Even so, ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' placed a TakeThat to the show in its recent Cataclysm expansion: an NPC called "Horatio Laine" is investigating a murder in Westfall, and another NPC calls him the dirtiest cop he's ever known. |
| 114 | ** ''Computer game'' ''CSI: 3 Dimensions'' of Murder had an "episode" where a fictional video game, ''Gut Wrench 3'', was central to the plot. And yes, said fictional game was a FPS, was that bloody, and yes, the murder imitated the game's poster. Although in a subversion, [[spoiler:the murder had nothing to do with the nature of the game; the killer's real motive was their boss cheating one of his employees out of their promised bonus. The resemblance to the poster was there to draw suspicion away.]] |
| 115 | * Served as an important plot point in ''Series/TheDistrict'' episode "Something Borrowed, Something Bruised." Complete with flashes to and from reality and screams of "It was only a game!" The goal of the game is to beat an unarmed bystander to death. |
| 116 | * ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'' subverts this in one episode. Max mentions playing a ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' rip-off, and Angie and George don't want him playing it. George then says that he doesn't want Max playing it because he doesn't want Max to beat his high score. |
| 117 | * In ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'', Shibaura Jun (Kamen Rider Gai) creates a fighting game that gradually makes the players so obsessed with the game that they start re-enacting it in live-action, to the death. |
| 118 | * ''Series/KillerInstinct'' (no relation to the FightingGame of [[VideoGame/KillerInstinct the same name]]) had the episode "Game Over". It constantly used the phrase "murder simulator" and went downhill from there. The game in question was a ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' clone called ''Murder One: San Francisco''. |
| 119 | * ''Series/LawAndOrder'' did an episode where a character kills someone because the game "made him crazy". The game was actually called ''Blood'', which is the name of [[VideoGame/{{Blood}} a real shooter]]; this one, however, was described as basically killing random people for no discernible reason and was supposedly of ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''-like fame. Also if memory serves, the killer wrote a FanFic about his gameplay experience using... ''wildly'' inaccurate slang, and describing what can only be called the deformed offspring of ''Quake'' and ''VideoGame/PacMan''. "9000 points bitch!" indeed. |
| 120 | * '' Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': |
| 121 | ** There's a subversion in one episode. A boy obsessed with a console RPG was suspected of killing another child, and the game itself was held responsible when evidence found at the scene was heavily reminiscent of the events and setting of the story. However, after playing through the entire game the detectives realized that he was imitating the game's "rescue the princess" storyline, and had actually tried to help the child by replicating the actions that restored the princess. There was a later episode with a straight version of the trope with a GTA clone, but "the game made them do it" was the defense and the prosecution quickly set to tearing that defense apart. Another episode revolved around a clone ''Second Life'', where the rapist used the game to track down his victim. However, the detectives turn the tables and use the game itself to find the necessary evidence to convict the felon. |
| 122 | ** Happens in the infamous "Intimidation Game" episode, featuring a ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''-esque game called "Kill Or Be Slaughtered", the logo of which the episode's delusional villains (who behave like a straight-up terrorist cell) adopt while also stealing tactics from the game itself, with the ringleader even proclaiming that shooting a gun in real life is ''exactly'' like shooting in a video game. |
| 123 | * Parodied (like everything else was) in ''Series/TheMiddleman'' which has the ultra-rare, super violent video game, Gut Wrencher 1, described as "the goriest side-scroller in history, banned in 17 countries, the only video game to be denounced by both [[MediaWatchdog Tipper Gore and the Dalai Lama]]". And this was the arcade version, which has [[ExaggeratedTrope "4 levels of sheer carnage"]] which the set-top version did not have. It's the game that leads to [[GeekyTurnOn Wendy and Tyler's first hookup]]. |
| 124 | * Pingu, resident ButtMonkey of ''Series/NathanBarley'', plays a horror first person shooter game when not managing Nathan's Trashbat.co.ck site and gets drawn in to the point of oblivion so that Nathan is able to pull mean pranks on him on a regular basis. |
| 125 | * ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': |
| 126 | ** Averted, where at least two of the protagonists are gamers themselves. One case is solved because one of them has played ''GTA 3'', thus knowing which real-life car a teenager referred to when he named the in-game equivalent. |
| 127 | ** There's an episode where two navy crewmen who played an MMORPG 'Immortals', a fairly transparent ''World of Warcraft'' parody, ended up dueling with swords, and one of them kills himself out of disillusionment with the game. Early eps of the series seem to have a Nerd Culture Is Evil Vibe going. Makes you wonder why they bother doing all this investigative stuff when they could just walk in and arrest the guy with the biggest knowledge of sci-fi/comic books. |
| 128 | ** Played straight with regards to the game ''Fear Tower 3'', which involves shooting zombies in the head to kill them... and then shooting the brains that crawl out of the bullet holes to kill ''them''. And apparently it's on 30 million computers. The same episode had a flagrant version of digitized GretzkyHasTheBall when [=McGee=] claimed a character held the highest scores in multiple [=MMORPG=]s... which generally don't ''have'' scoring systems. Unless one counts player-versus-player rankings. |
| 129 | * And while still on the social [=MMO=] topic, ''Series/{{Numb3rs}}'' actually avoided this trope when they did an AlternateRealityGame with a video game component that stuck to fairly standard fantasy violence. And they ran the game in the show as an actual AlternateRealityGame. And the show ''wasn't'' an AuthorTract about video game violence. And on the whole it was pretty cool. |
| 130 | * Avoided in ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' season 3, when the members of Jim's [[spoiler:new]] office play ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' as an office team activity. The developers themselves were impressed by the hilarious {{Noob}} mistakes Jim was making. |
| 131 | -->'''Josh''':"You don't snipe in Carentan, ok?!" |
| 132 | -->'''Andy:''': "[[GratuitousFrench Saboteur!]] [[StopHavingFunGuys You're a saboteur!]]" |
| 133 | ** This is actually because the production staff [[TruthInTelevision actively played the game during downtime.]] |
| 134 | ** And again, where Jim finds Dwight's character on ''VideoGame/SecondLife''. Dwight's Second Life has his own Second Life. He also flies, a feature Dwight finds very liberating. |
| 135 | * The German show ''Polizeiruf 110'' has ''Killman 4'', which consists (based on the in-game sounds heard in the episode) of air raid alarms and shooting children as a child soldier. Yeah. |
| 136 | * ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'' gives us "Virtual Love", wherein a man is murdered with a Viking spear engraved with the name of his character in the game "Vikings of the Realm" on it. Apparently their characters go to LAN parties in full Viking regalia, complete with real weapons (one of which the Killer of the Week uses to kill another victim). |
| 137 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had an episode featuring a 24th Century version of such a game used as part of an attempt to take over the minds of the crew and thus the Enterprise as a whole. Data and Wesley successfully resisted the "lure" of the game, the latter resorting to what can only be described as video-game inspired tricks to lead the [[MindControl mind-controlled]] members of the crew on a merry chase through the rest of the ship [[spoiler:while Data worked on an antidote for the addictive qualities of the game]]. And then he got to kiss Ashley Judd. This is a bit of a subversion, as the game itself was entirely non-violent, and consisted of herding red discs into funnels. Indeed, the game is described as "practically playing itself"; if you try to ''not'' win, it makes you win anyway. The episode suggests that the game's rewards are ''literally'' orgasmic. |
| 138 | * In an episode of the Creator/{{CBBC}} series ''Series/{{Stupid}}'' one character is playing a game called ''Killing People 3''. |
| 139 | * An episode of ''Series/TekWar: The Series'' featured a Tek video game where the point is to kill cops. The game was designed to convince the players that they were still in the game even after they stopped playing, causing them to kill cops in real life. |
| 140 | * The laughable ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' episode entitled "Virtual Reality", where a good student immediately turns bad after his cousin introduces him to "''Car Jack 2000: Millennium Mayhem''". PacmanFever abounds, particularly when the game shouts out "2000 points" every time someone is run over, as well having an evil CG monk lead the characters in a ''prayer to the video game''. |
| 141 | * Referenced in ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' where Jake and Kandi are playing an unnamed violent video game. Alan walks in and remarks, "My word, this game is violent." To which [[TheDitz Kandi]] replies, "It has to be. You can't negotiate with zombies!" Touche. |
| 142 | * ''Series/TheXFiles'' did this one too, with its usual flair, in the episode [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E13FirstPersonShooter "First-Person Shooter]]. A virtual reality game is [[YourMindMakesItReal killing its players]], so our heroes get called in. Scully got to act as the voice of disapproval, while Mulder and the Lone Gunmen were "reduced... back to moony adolescence." Interestingly, this episode was co-written by Creator/WilliamGibson, one of the people with a claim to inventing CyberPunk. The episode also had Scully getting armed to the teeth and having a shootout with the program, alongside a notable ThisLoserIsYou moment aimed at geeks with "[[InformedAbility world-renowned hacker]]" [[TheWorldsExpertOnGettingKilled Darryl Musashi]] getting [[DistractedByTheSexy ridiculously distracted]] by [[IHaveBoobsYouMustObey the AI's avatar modelled on a hot stripper]]. |
| 143 | * ''Series/XPlay'' has Johnny X-treme's X-treme Adventure, a game that will '''PUNCH YOUR BALLS OFF TO THE MAX!''' This is a TV show '''about''' video games, so this one is entirely tongue-in-cheek. |
| 144 | [[/folder]] |
| 145 | |
| 146 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 147 | * In Music/CIsForLettuce: |
| 148 | -->Just look at this atrocity! There's hoodlums, thugs, and skanks / And chronic-tokin' gangstas running hookers down with tanks / There's nudity and blood and guts and chainsaws cutting people / And that's just in the new updated 3-D ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' sequel! |
| 149 | * The video for Music/FiftyCent's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZIc8VSonVY "Heat"]] has two guys playing a ''GTA''-style game where the PlayerCharacter is a CIA agent who's been assigned to assassinate prominent inner-city activists and cultural leaders (including Fiddy at the end) across Las Vegas, Hollywood, and New York. Among the highlights are being able to [[DirtyCop bribe the cops]] to give you guns and turn a blind eye to your crimes, as well as a GanglandDriveBy with a flamethrower. One of the guys is implied to have [[MurderSimulators started seeing the world as a video game]] after playing it for too long, to the point where he's thinking about murdering his friend, though it's left up in the air whether or not he goes through with it. |
| 150 | [[/folder]] |
| 151 | |
| 152 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 153 | * Tellus Enterprises from ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' produces several such games, some of which are literal MurderSimulators. The company's titles include ''[[PrettyLittleHeadshots Exit]] [[AvertedTrope Wound]]'', ''[[BodyHorror Biological Warfair]]'', and ''[[ExaggeratedTrope Elementary Skool Rampage]]''. This is a JustifiedTrope in this case, as Tellus is part of a mega-conglomerate called [[EvilInc Pentex]] that made a DealWithTheDevil; Pentex's [[MayContainEvil products]] are intentionally designed to corrupt humanity in various creative ways, and Tellus' ultra-violent video games serve that purpose well. |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 157 | NB: Those examples are when the Ultra Super Death Gore Fest Chainsawer 3000 is mentioned InUniverse. Real examples of video games with ultra-violent names have been moved to the RealLife folder. |
| 158 | * ''Bladehunt: Deathspank 2: The Revenge''. It was later {{defictionaliz|ation}}ed as ''VideoGame/DeathSpank''. |
| 159 | * Thanks to the metafictional narrative around ''VideoGame/BloodCrusher2'', the game is both a fictional example ''and'' an actual game! |
| 160 | * Super Turbo Turkey Puncher from ''VideoGame/Doom3''. |
| 161 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'': |
| 162 | ** Surprisingly given its reputation, the series {{invert|edTrope}}s this trope more often than not. Fictional video/arcade games advertised or [[GameWithinAGame available for play]] within some ''GTA'' games are far less menacing, cross a wide spectrum of genres, and may even pass as kid-friendly, though sexual jokes are aplenty and their presence is more for homage or parody. The [[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Degenatron Degenatron,]] first seen in ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]]'', is a pastiche of the Platform/Atari2600 with graphics consisting of squares and dots of various colors, its games including parodies of ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Tempest}}''. The [[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/EXsorbeo EXsorbeo,]] first seen in ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas San Andreas]]'', is a phallic-shaped FictionalCounterpart of the Platform/GameBoy with most of the games named after sexual slang. ''[[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/QUB3D QUB3D,]]'' "The Puzzle Game That You've Played Before", is an obvious in-universe counterpart to ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' and ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo''. ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoOnline GTA Online]]'' introduced the ability to purchase and run a video arcade, with many of the aforementioned games appearing along with various other retro-styled arcade games based on classics like ''VideoGame/OutRun'', ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe'', ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'', ''VideoGame/MadDogMcCree'', and ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' (the last of which has an ExcusePlot about the US [[NoBloodForPhlebotinum invading other countries for their oil]]). |
| 163 | ** Though it's less a commentary on violence and more of a parody of early [=2010s=] modern military shooters like ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'', ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' does have a parody of this sort of game with ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAJG8tF5MQM Righteous Slaughter 7,]]'' the ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare''-meets-''VideoGame/{{Postal}}'' FirstPersonShooter that Jimmy is seen playing in his room, which is packed with every stereotype about violent FPS games -- and their fans -- rolled into one. Weapons include syringes filled with [=VDs=] (which earn the player an "Infected!" bonus) and a "Shit Stick 3000" (a literal shit on a stick) alongside the usual StandardFPSGuns, the player is able to literally [[BeatingADeadPlayer violate his opponent's corpse]] after killing him (complete with a {{sexophone}} playing when you do it), the [[HintSystem tips]] on the LoadingScreen tell players that insulting other players' sexuality is an effective tactic and that you should shoot anyone who has a foreign accent, and never is less than a quarter of the screen painted red with blood. The game's website (viewable on the in-game internet) and advertisements take the parody further, [[TakeThat making fun]] of the CashCowFranchise nature of the ''Call of Duty'' games. Jimmy himself hasn't been turned into a psychopath by it, though that's not to say that his [[InternetJerk actual]] [[DumbassTeenageSon behavior]] is a whole lot better. |
| 164 | ** ''GTA V'' also has [[Radio/GTARadio advertisements on the radio]] for ''Pride Not Prejudice'', a DeepSouth-themed video game that (going by the ads) is utterly draped in [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar neo-Confederate apologia]], in a parody of the perceived right-wing tilt of many shooters. Unlike ''Righteous Slaughter 7'', we don't get to see this game in action, though judging from the [[https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Pride_not_Prejudice description]] from two separate radio commercials, it's an FPS, and it parodied ''Grand Theft Auto'' itself (HilariousInHindsight when the remastered ''GTA V'' turns out to have a first-person mode), among other things. |
| 165 | * ''[[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Kagetsu Tohya]]'' has ''Bloody Royale 3'' (or [=BR3=] for short!), which seems to be ''VideoGame/RivalSchools'' with guns. |
| 166 | * In ''VideoGame/TheSims3'', the description for the GUGA [=JoyToy=] 3 video game console lets you know that it comes with all manner of games that "[[SarcasmMode all ages can enjoy]]", such as ''[=DeathSaga=]'', ''[=GoreWar=]'', and the award-winning ''Blood Buckets 7''. As an added bonus, it also comes with a built-in [[{{Microtransactions}} credit card slot]]. ([[BitingTheHandHumor A bit rich]] coming from an [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA]] game, that last one.) |
| 167 | * ''Super Viking Shark Panch Corpse Ride Mega Extreme 9000'' lampshades this trope by name, despite being of the rhythm genre. It involves punching sharks in the mouth while riding a corpse to the beat of music. |
| 168 | * One news report in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' involves a "Senator Limperman" railing against violent video games such as ''Rape and Pillage'' and ''Abe Lincoln Teaches Killing''. (He's also upset about a crude TakeThat directed at him in another unnamed game, presumably ''this one''; the game can get somewhat meta at times.) |
| 169 | [[/folder]] |
| 170 | |
| 171 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 172 | * "VideoGame/{{Gears of|War}} Franchise/{{Halo}} [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto Theft Auto]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvscM-4n5gA 5!"]] It's described as a game where the player commits horrible crimes and is full of so much explicit content that the ESRB had to make a new rating for it. It's also mentioned as being [[BannedInChina banned in 43 different countries]] even though it hasn't been released. |
| 173 | * ''WebAnimation/{{Japanoschlampen}}'': |
| 174 | ** ''[[RuleOfThree Ninja Shotgun Gemetzel 3]]'' (Ninja Shotgun Carnage 3) [[AdvertisingByAssociation from the makers of]] ''Ninja Shotgun Gemetzel'', ''Ninja Shotgun Gemetzel 2'' and ''[[UltraSuperHappyCuteBabyFestFarmer3000 Cutie Eichhörnchens]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Abenteuerländ]]'' (Cutie Squirrel's Adventure Land). |
| 175 | ** ''[=GedärmeGemetzelGirl=]'' (Guts Carnage Girl) from a parallel universe. |
| 176 | * Quite a few on this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHJLGXDzSgo 1-UP Whiteboard episode]] discussing the lessons video games teach us, besides the fear mongering from politicians. |
| 177 | * ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'': Extreme Gore Edition! [[RatedMForManly Not your dad's kind of game!]]" Especially hilarious when it may come bundled with the UltraSuperHappyCuteBabyFestFarmer3000 version of the game. "CS for kids? More like CS '''FOR PUSSIES'''!" |
| 178 | * ''WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail'': |
| 179 | ** One email throws a few gag titles up: ''Blood Bleeder'', ''Head Chopper II'', ''Scab Wars'', and ''Blistergeist''. There is the strong suggestion that these games would be really fun to play. It also pokes fun at the MoralGuardians' alternative, because Homestar can only play ''Clapping Party'': no, it's not like [[VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution DDR]], it's [[http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/Clapping_Party just clapping]]... This is, of course, a one shot joke, and most of the games that Strong Bad plays and enjoys aren't evil whatsoever, varying between ''Sundae Drivin''' and ''VideoGame/ThyDungeonman'', which is also a real game playable on the site. |
| 180 | ** In another email, he mentions a preference for R-rated movies, apparently independent of factors such as "quality" and "not a waste of moneyosity". So it may not be a statement of the entertainment value of the games (except insofar as even ''VideoGame/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' would be an improvement over what Homestar's allowed to play), so much as another one of those factors that blurs exactly how old these characters are (when's the last time you automatically equated violence with quality? Probably when you were eight). |
| 181 | [[/folder]] |
| 182 | |
| 183 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 184 | * PlayedForLaughs in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': Sam wants to use the ship's computer to play a game called ''Quake Nukem, Doomed Heretic in Castle Wolfenstein 3D''. |
| 185 | * ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' plays this one for laughs [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=199 on this page,]] where Antimony's first (and judging by her horrified reaction, last) exposure to video games is one of the ''Grand Theft Auto'' titles. (Though [[WordOfGod Word of Tom]] clarifies that Annie did give video games another chance after that. She was impressed with ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'', as was Renard.) |
| 186 | * In the ''Webcomic/{{Jack|DavidHopkins}}'' arc "Two for You", the character Evan mentions a game entitled "Killing Killers and the Killers Who Kill Them" (a play on the book title "Lying Liars and the Liars Who Tell Them"). |
| 187 | * Occasionally mentioned in ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell''. However, this being a world that runs on CarnivoreConfusion, the games are probably not that violent by [[BlueAndOrangeMorality their standards]]. |
| 188 | * In ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'', when Repelista Jahad is shown playing a new computer game at the beginning of the "Hell Train" arc, what's seen of it is a MultiArmedAndDangerous guy slaughtering people with four axes until achieving "TOTAL KILL". |
| 189 | * A ''Webcomic/UserFriendly'' strip during the Hot Coffee scandal (where it was revealed you could hack GTA: San Andreas to unlock a minigame where you had consensual sex with a woman after a long courtship, outraging moral guardians somehow) listed a number of these games as healthy entertainment, then condemned a title named Boobies as morally corrupt. |
| 190 | [[/folder]] |
| 191 | |
| 192 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 193 | * Website/TheOnion: [[https://www.theonion.com/hot-new-video-game-consists-solely-of-shooting-people-p-1819594804 "Hot New Video Game Consists Solely of Shooting People Point-Blank in the Face."]] And they actually made the game. |
| 194 | * ''Literature/PlayerTwoStart'', an AlternateHistory story about a different development of gaming in TheNineties thanks to Creator/{{Sony}} and Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s plans for the Platform/{{SNESCDROM}} never falling apart, has a couple of examples. |
| 195 | ** One of the first big butterflies from the PointOfDivergence is that Nintendo, thanks to Sony holding an ExecutiveVeto on censoring games for the SNES-CD, allows ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1992'' to be released uncensored on the console.[[note]]In our world, the SNES port removed all the gore and replaced the blood with sweat, causing it to be seen as inferior to the Platform/SegaGenesis port (which merely hid the gore behind a cheat code) despite that version being worse on a technical level.[[/note]] As a result, Nintendo gets embroiled in Congressional hearings alongside Sega. This actually works out well for Nintendo in the long run, however, as Sony's influence leads to the company loosening its infamous censorship policies (which, in our world, helped give it its 'kiddie' reputation) much earlier. |
| 196 | ** The ''Arbiter of Sin'' games are a pair of ultraviolent {{First Person Shooter}}s released in 1998 and 2000 on the Platform/SegaSaturn (which, thanks to more power and fewer marketing blunders, is far more successful in the US than it was in our world). The games follow Mitch Atwater, a modern-day soldier who, after being killed on the battlefield and sent to {{Hell}}, is imbued with demonic powers by {{Satan}} and recruited as an unholy warrior to fight the forces of God led by the Archangel Michael. The first game wins some praise for its gameplay and level design, even if critics note that the story feels like it was [[RatedMForMoney designed purely to offend Christians]], though they're a lot less forgiving towards its sequel, which is seen as a creatively stagnant SophomoreSlump. The games earn a degree of notoriety, however, when they get caught up in the controversy over video game violence after a deadly school shooting in Virginia in 2001, where it's discovered that the shooter, [[spoiler:Christian Weston Chandler (yes, Chris-Chan of ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}'' infamy in our world, complete with {{Allohistorical Allusion}}s)]], was a fan of the games. |
| 197 | [[/folder]] |
| 198 | |
| 199 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 200 | * One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' mentions a game Jimmy and his friends wanted to buy called ''Doom Bringer II'', but the cashier denied their purchase because the game was "for mature players only due to violence, exaggerated mayhem, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking old lady kicking]]," kickstarting the plot as Jimmy then decides to try and make them all older. |
| 201 | * ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' gives us "Hooker Killer: Vatican City", a first-person shooter so violent that you can see the blood, guts and ''souls'' leave the bodies of your victims. |
| 202 | * In ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', Todd's life was ruined due to his addiction to a video game series called "Decapathon". Once we see the game (specifically ''Decapathon VII'') we see [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope a Columns-esque puzzle game]]]]. |
| 203 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', the title heroine and her best friend love playing the video game "Cannibal Fragfest". |
| 204 | * One episode of ''Gasp'' features Gasp attempting to beat Fred's high score on a video game called ''Death Race Mutant Zombie Exterminator XV''. |
| 205 | * The "Vampire Piggy Hunter" series in ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is a popular video game series for the Game Slave which centres around the brutal and violent exploits of a vampire piggy hunter. |
| 206 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheJimmyTimmyPowerHour'' had "Decimator: Crush the Planet", Timmy's video game with a Mechagodzilla {{expy}} which he says is rated "Triple-G for Gratuitous Gutwrenching Gorefest". |
| 207 | * ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': |
| 208 | ** The episode "Grand Theft Arlen" features Hank playing a ''GTA''-esque game (probably a GameMod of ''San Andreas'') known as "Pro-Pain". ("Oh God, I just stabbed a parking attendant. Where's the button to turn yourself in?") It's actually based on his life, being made by a couple of college students to make fun of him. Sort of subverted in that Hank ends up enjoying (and even getting addicted to) the game when he finds out the benefit of the WideOpenSandbox is that you can choose to do good deeds (like stopping robbers) rather than having to be a criminal himself. Also, the game isn't a nation-wide hit but a local fad, only really popular around Rainey Street. (see RuleOfFunny) |
| 209 | ** Another episode has Bobby mention a video game called ''Face Kicker 3'', but it's just a footnote to the main plot (a [[StrawCharacter sensitive liberal]] turning the [[ScoutOut Boy Scouts]] {{Expy}} into a bunch of touchy-feely wimps). When the scoutmaster gets mad at Bobby for showing the game to his kids, Bobby muses "Making all these faces explode can't be good for me." |
| 210 | * A particularly {{Anvilicious}} episode of ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'', "GI Janie", was about this. Pepper Ann's aunt was asked by someone to do a study on the dangers of video games, so she borrows Pepper Ann's system and plays it continuously for "research". As she plays the game (called War Monger) more and more (which looks like a simulation of the Vietnam War), she starts to think she is actually in the game, which looks like Vietnam veteran flashbacks. In the end she declares that videogames are dangerous because they blur the line between reality and fiction. |
| 211 | * ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' did a few of these when the series went DarkerAndEdgier. An ''Franchise/EvilDead'' game, a ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' game, and ''Kron the Destroyer''. Shooting zombies, a demon crushing heads, [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Kron]]. |
| 212 | * Spoofed on ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' with ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnuDEsBH_zc Codename: The Abortionator]]'' (Creator/SethGreen originally wanted to call it ''Nun Raper''). Highlights include: "Shoot your parents! Urinate on the homeless! [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals Kick a puppy!]] Make sweet, sweet love to your hot cousin! Or your hot cousin's mentally disabled friend! Take out your aggression the old-fashioned way: with a motor vehicle! Extra points for family members!" [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids "Rated E]] [[BlatantLies for 'everyone'!"]] Strangely, the DVD commentary for the episode has Green state how he believes this trope is real and bemoans that there are hyper-gory games being marketed to young kids. |
| 213 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 214 | ** The show has mentioned such games repeatedly and featured them at least twice in the early seasons, once with ''Super Slugfest'', which might have been played straight, once with the hottest new beat-em-up ''Bonestorm'', which really wasn't. Later addition: ''Death Kill City 3: Death Kill Stories''. Three guesses what it's based on. |
| 215 | ** Also, "''Disembowler IV'': the game where condemned criminals dig at each other with rusty hooks." |
| 216 | ** However, they ''do'' accidentally mention [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BloodStorm a real game...]] |
| 217 | ** TheMovie gives us ''Grand Theft Walrus.'' And hives. In an [[RuleOfFunny arcade cabinet]]. |
| 218 | ** "''Razorfight 2: The Slashening''". |
| 219 | ** An issue of the comic featured Bart sneaking out to get the new game, ''Violent Stick-Men 3D''. |
| 220 | ** ''The Simpsons'' being what it is, even Rod and Todd's favorite game, ''Billy Graham's Bible Blasters'', is a ridiculously over-the-top [=FPS=]. "Second Coming! RELOAD! RELOAD!" |
| 221 | * The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Towlie" introduced a FightingGame named "''Thirst for Blood''" for the [[BlandNameProduct Okama GameSphere]], in which Stan cuts off Cartman's face and eats it, among other things. It would later [[CallBack re-appear]] in the form of an arcade cabinet in several later episodes. |
| 222 | [[/folder]] |
| 223 | |
| 224 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 225 | * ''VideoGame/TwentyFiveToLife'', named for the criminal penalty associated with three-strikes (or habitual offender) laws in the US, was one of many crime games in the mid-'00s trying to [[FollowTheLeader copy the success]] of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', one that distinguished itself with a story and online multiplayer built around the battle between the police and street gangs -- in which you could play as the {{gangbangers}}. Law enforcement groups, talk show hosts, and even a United States Senator [[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/25-to-life/ called]] for the game to be pulled from shelves and its publisher Creator/EidosInteractive boycotted, claiming that it glorified [[CopKiller violence against the police]]. Indeed, Eidos did delay the game by a few months in order to tone down the violence. |
| 226 | * Creator/BloodlustSoftware revels in making games like this, having started as a backlash against anti-video game violence movements. The biggest offender is the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' clone ''VideoGame/{{Timeslaughter}}''. Ironically enough, they gained notoriety not for their overtly politically-incorrect games, but for an emulator they named [=NESTicle=], which revolutionised the video game emulation scene, though the emulator was also given the lowbrow, morbid treatment they were notorious for, with a name referencing genitalia and a ThemedCursor resembling a bleeding severed hand. |
| 227 | * ''VideoGame/{{Carmageddon}}'', where the point is to destroy other cars and run pedestrians over. When MoralGuardians objected, they added a mode that replaced all the pedestrians with zombies. |
| 228 | * ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' was advertised in a manner that emphasized the potential to commit war crimes specifically. [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cq5VD-UWgAAB3jZ.jpg One ad]] that was run in Europe showed mugshots of people like UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, Pol Pot, UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein, UsefulNotes/IdiAmin, UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and Jacques Chirac]] under a banner that read "PREVIOUS HIGH SCORES", while [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cq6FuspWIAASclf.jpg another one]] showed Hitler looking out over a field of countless Nazi soldiers assembled for a massive parade under a banner that read "IT'S A GREAT FEELING". |
| 229 | * The marketing for ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'' actively invoked this, showing footage of the graphically violent SurvivalHorror game where "[[AnArmAndALeg strategic dismemberment]]" is a key component of combat gameplay to a focus group of middle-aged mothers and then [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKkPFDEiC6Q&list=PLA8D6BCA0A537750D&index=1 filming]] their shocked and horrified reactions. |
| 230 | * ''Death Race'' is considered the first controversial gore-fest game, as you drive around running over suspiciously human-looking "Gremlins". |
| 231 | * ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', for all its infamy, is not an example of this. The developers at Creator/IdSoftware mainly intended it as an homage to the horror movies they loved combined with some of the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' campaigns they played, with the controversy just being [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity an added bonus]]. The release of [[VideoGame/Doom2016 its 2016 reboot]], however, produced a wave of GenreThrowback "boomer shooters" in the indie sphere designed to hearken back to the FirstPersonShooter games of TheNineties, many of which fully indulged in this trope in homage to their predecessors. ''VideoGame/{{Strafe}}'' is probably the most explicit example, with a '90s-style [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef_41JpwqdE live-action trailer]] in which the game literally [[TheMostDangerousVideoGame kills its players]] through its sheer intensity. |
| 232 | * The infamous Italian ''Doom'' mod ''VideoGame/Grezzo2''[[note]]"Grezzo" is an Italian word meaning "crude," "rough," or "raw"[[/note]] is intended to be a tribute to the gratuitously and unrepentantly violent video games of TheNineties, filtered through a circa-2012 Italian lens with a plot filled with overtly anti-Christian themes and mockery of Italian politics and pop culture. The tutorial level has you [[AxesAtSchool shooting up a school]], and the main plot has you going back in time to kill Jesus. It has been billed as the most offensive video game ever made, with some commenters describing it as the kind of game that MoralGuardians think all video games are like. |
| 233 | * ''VideoGame/{{Hatred}}''. As if the title alone was enough, it was done in the same font as the title of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', and all of the marketing played to this trope by showing the SpreeKiller VillainProtagonist murdering civilians and police officers. |
| 234 | * The ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'' series is a subversion. The title refers to the ProfessionalKiller you play as, but the games generally discourage running in guns-blazing in favor of [[StealthBasedGame taking a stealthier approach]]. This means that, while the games are very literal MurderSimulators that are as much about getting away with murder as actually doing it, they play more like a DarkerAndEdgier version of a Film/JamesBond spy thriller than a stereotypical violent video game. |
| 235 | * ''Hooligans: Storm Over Europe'' is a 2002 RealTimeStrategy game in which, as the name suggests, you control a firm of English FootballHooligans as they bash and beat their way across Europe during a [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball football]] season. Its version of the CommandAndConquerEconomy typical to RTS games involves you sending your hooligan mobs to loot stores, then using the money to recruit new thugs from pubs you control. Naturally, it was extremely controversial all across Europe, forcing its developer, the Dutch studio [=DarXabre=], to publish the game themselves in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the UK because no major publisher would touch it. |
| 236 | * ''TabletopGame/KillPuppiesForSatan'' parodies the moral panic over tabletop games like ''Dungeons and Dragons'' and the overexposure of the NinetiesAntiHero, among other things. Its Player Characters are every bit the [[HollywoodSatanism Hollywood Satanists]] that some of D&D's detractors erroneously imagined. |
| 237 | * The little-known C&C clone, ''Krush Kill 'N' Destroy''. |
| 238 | * ''VideoGame/{{MDK}}'' is a bit more obtuse with this. You have to have seen ''Film/DemolitionMan'' and remember what the acronym stands for ("Murder Death Kill") to know why it's an example. |
| 239 | * The creators of ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' wanted to stand out from the competition in the post-''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' FightingGame genre, and so, inspired by contemporary action and {{martial arts movie}}s ([[SpiritualAdaptation particularly]] ''Film/{{Bloodsport}}''), they decided to go DarkerAndEdgier and fill their game with blood and violence, including {{finishing move}}s called "fatalities" in which the loser is brutally murdered and often dismembered. Together with ''VideoGame/NightTrap'', it led to [[HauledBeforeASenateSubcommittee Congressional hearings]] and the creation of the MediaNotes/EntertainmentSoftwareRatingBoard. |
| 240 | * ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' counts as well, as the game, with its booming electronic music, encourages the characters to gleefully kill police officers with lavishly-designed guns by the truckloads in the name of ill-gotten gains. Unlike most other examples of this trope, it didn't garner so much controversy, presumably because the game was of Swedish origin (most controversy-generating games were American made) and relatively limited circulation of the game (mostly digital, while physical copies of the game existed, they weren't shipped as much as the other. Most of the game's promotion initially were word-of-mouth as well). |
| 241 | * Some versions of the ''Myth/{{Polybius}}'' urban legend say that the game was designed as a nefarious [[SubliminalSeduction subliminal brainwashing]] tool to turn people who play it into violent murderers or {{Manchurian Agent}}s. |
| 242 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Postal}}'' series, which the aforementioned ''Hatred'' is a SpiritualSuccessor to, is a more subtle example than most. Like ''MDK'' above, you have to know where the phrase GoingPostal comes from[[note]]It refers to a number of incidents where United States Postal Service workers killed people, most infamously a [[SpreeKiller mass shooting]] in 1986 in Edmond, Oklahoma in which fourteen people died, not counting the shooter.[[/note]] in order to understand how it's supposed to be connected to violence. The second game takes it to the point of parody, making a PacifistRun possible and having some of the enemies you face be anti-video-game activists trying to burn down [[CreatorCameo Running With Scissors' offices]] while still being jam-packed with all of the violence and depravity that you can imagine. |
| 243 | * ''VideoGame/RobotUnicornAttackHeavyMetalEdition'' exists on the opposite end of the parody spectrum as [[VideoGame/RobotUnicornAttack its predecessor]]. There's not much in the gore department, but while the first game was an [[UltraSuperHappyCuteBabyFestFarmer3000 ultra-non threatening romp through a land of rainbows and butterflies]], this one has the robot unicorn trying to escape from a FireAndBrimstoneHell with platforms made of skulls and the player collecting demons and smashing through giant pentagrams before exploding and leaving a severed robot unicorn head that cries tears of flaming blood. All while Music/BlindGuardian plays in the background. |
| 244 | * In the late '90s and '00s, [[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive Rockstar Games]] built its notoriety on indulging in this trope, making games that explicitly courted controversy, though they started backing away from it from ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' onwards. |
| 245 | ** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', of course. The title refers to the American terminology for the crime of stealing a car, which happens to be one of the main gameplay features alongside many other criminal activities players can undertake. When making [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoClassic the first game]], Rockstar actually [[https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-10-22-gta-max-clifford-made-it-all-happen hired]] the infamous publicist Max Clifford to tell various British tabloids and politicians, especially those with a {{Moral Guardian|s}} streak, about how edgy their game was, and just [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity let it go from there]]. As arguably ''the'' most controversial video game series of all time, it likely inspired many of the examples on this list, especially those made after the release of ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII GTA III]]'' in 2001. Later games in the series, however, mostly scaled back the deliberate edginess, focusing more on their own storylines and parody of American pop culture. |
| 246 | ** ''State of Emergency'' was merely published by Rockstar (it was developed by VIS Entertainment), but its marketing [[AdvertisingByAssociation leaned heavily into its connection]] to the makers of ''GTA''. Its plot and gameplay, about mass rioting and looting against the backdrop of a dystopian, [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future]], [[OneNationUnderCopyright corporate-run]] America that the protagonists seek to overthrow, was inspired by the 1999 riots in UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} against a meeting of the World Trade Organization in that city, causing politicians in Washington state to condemn the game. |
| 247 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}'' was their take on the SurvivalHorror and StealthBasedGame genres, with a plot about {{snuff film}}s and street gangs, gameplay that revolved around murdering enemies in extremely brutal ways straight out of a SlasherMovie, and a title that evoked both the police hunting down a wanted criminal and HuntingTheMostDangerousGame. The sequel upped the ante in its Platform/{{Wii}} version by adding that console's motion controls, meaning that the players themselves acted out stabbing and bludgeoning the game's enemies as opposed to just pressing a button, making it about as close to a literal {{Murder Simulator|s}} as one could get. Both games were enormously controversial, they were banned or {{Bowdlerise}}d in several countries, and the first one was blamed for a real-life murder in Leicestershire, all of which likely only boosted its sales in those countries where they weren't banned. According to [[https://www.gamesradar.com/manhunt-nearly-caused-a-mutiny-at-rockstar/ one account,]] even ''Rockstar's own staff'' was horrified by the first game's violence, especially since it lacked the levity and satire of the ''GTA'' games, and nearly [[WriterRevolt mutinied]]. |
| 248 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'' was a subversion. Given the game's title, its HighSchool setting, and Rockstar's reputation, MoralGuardians expected the worst, thinking that Rockstar was making a game that revolved around [[BarbaricBully bullying your classmates]] or even [[AxesAtSchool killing them]]. It even had to be renamed ''Canis Canem Edit'' (Bullworth Academy's PretentiousLatinMotto in-game, translating to "dog eat dog") for [[MarketBasedTitle its European release]] due to these concerns. When it finally came out, however, it turned out to be nothing of the sort. Instead of a school shooting simulator, it was a [[LighterAndSofter lighthearted, T-rated]] GenreThrowback to '80s teen comedies in which the unambiguously heroic (if [[GoodIsNotNice rough-hewn]]) protagonist fought against the bullies terrorizing the school, without any murder or lethal weapons. |
| 249 | ** Many other games that Rockstar made and published in the '00s didn't quite fall into this trope, but did otherwise trade on the "bad boys of gaming" reputation that ''GTA'' gave them. The ''VideoGame/MidnightClub'' games were about illegal street racing, the ''Smuggler's Run'' games had you playing as a VenturousSmuggler transporting illegal cargo across national borders, and the ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' games were neo-noir action shooters that let players recreate the gunfights from ''Film/TheMatrix'' and Hong Kong HeroicBloodshed movies. They also made a [[VideoGame/TheWarriors video game adaptation]] of the CultClassic '70s crime movie ''Film/TheWarriors'' that faithfully recreated the film with a strong dose of AdaptationExpansion. The only subversion was ''Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis'', a TechDemoGame showing off the new Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (or [[FunWithAcronyms RAGE]]) which was ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, much to the amusement of many critics due to it being such a CreatorsOddball. |
| 250 | * In 2011, Checkerboarded Studios tried to make a ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' mod called ''School Shooter: North American Tour 2012''. Billed as "the most realistic student slaughtering modification ever made," its [[https://web.archive.org/web/20100728080646/https://www.moddb.com/mods/school-shooter-north-american-tour-2012 description]] on [=ModDB=] (from which it was [[https://kotaku.com/hyper-violent-school-shooter-mod-yanked-from-mod-hostin-5785053 quickly pulled]] once mainstream news outlets discovered it and had exactly the reaction one might expect) name-dropped several real-life {{Spree Killer}}s as "martyrs" and served largely to troll anybody who might criticize the idea. The game's lead developer, in an [[https://www.escapistmagazine.com/inside-the-sick-mind-of-a-school-shooter-mod/ interview]] with Greg Tito for ''Website/TheEscapist'', described it as having been designed to appeal to people who delight in VideoGameCrueltyPotential. |
| 251 | * Every ''VideoGame/{{Splatterhouse}}'' game minus the Naughty Graffiti spin-off counts as this, but the most notable is the 2010 port, which is full of [[{{Gorn}} oceans of blood]], guts everywhere, violence, and more. But hey, at least you're trying to be the good guy for once. |
| 252 | * Subverted by ''VideoGame/SuperColumbineMassacreRPG''. It's exactly what it sounds like, a video game where you play as the [[UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} Columbine High School killers]] as they carry out their rampage against their classmates and teachers... and it's a [[TurnBasedCombat turn-based]] RolePlayingGame with {{retraux}} 16-bit sprite graphics and very little detailed gore apart from a real-life crime scene photograph of the killers' corpses. Furthermore, much of the game is a [[ShownTheirWork meticulously researched]] exploration of the killers' lives and what drove them to become {{Spree Killer}}s. Even the second half of the game, where the killers get sent to Hell and fight demons straight out of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', is done in the same style. |
| 253 | * Strata released a pair of infamous ultra-violent ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' clones in their time: ''VideoGame/TimeKillers'' and ''VideoGame/BloodStorm'' (the latter being the subject of the aforementioned ''Bonestorm'' parody in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''). |
| 254 | * ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre'''s Platform/Atari2600 adaptation is the other big candidate for the first controversial violent video game. The player character is Leatherface, and the objective is to kill as many little girls as possible before his chainsaw runs out of fuel. The game even features extremely primitive blood effects and "screaming" noises. |
| 255 | * The unreleased FightingGame ''VideoGame/ThrillKill'' promised to go even farther than ''Mortal Kombat'' in this regard, and became the first game to receive an [[MediaNotes/AdultsOnlyRatingESRB Adults-Only rating]] purely for violence (all previous AO ratings had been handed down for sexual content), forcing the developers to tone down some of their original ideas. In addition to its edgy name, its content included dismemberment, cannibalism, UsefulNotes/{{BDSM}}[=-=]inspired character designs, brutal {{finishing move}}s that were the only way to kill an opponent, violent special moves with suggestive names such as "Bitch Slap" "Swallow This", and "Going Down", and a plot about damned souls in {{Hell}} fighting for a shot at reincarnation. Ultimately, it was [[EveryoneHasStandards too controversial]] for Creator/ElectronicArts, who [[{{Vaporware}} canceled the game's release]] after buying out its publisher Virgin Interactive due to how shocked they were at its content, though since the game was already finished by that point, bootlegs quickly circulated. |
| 256 | %%* Warhammer 40000 LIVES this trope. |
| 257 | * ''{{VideoGame/ULTRAKILL}}'' lives and breathes this trope. Mankind is dead, Blood is fuel, Hell is full. You play as a robot exterminating demons in Hell, and [[HealItWithBlood you can replenish your health by literally bathing in the blood and gore of your enemies]]. It even looks a lot like the kind of game that would be featured in a TV show for a joke, given the highly {{Retraux}} design. |
| 258 | [[/folder]] |
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