Though the history of gaming is less than 100 years old, the industry has seen its fair share of both triumphs...and controversies. To build gaming empires, toes were stepped on. To challenge sensors and score sales, the limits of decency were pushed. And to achieve glory, some gamers have even resorted to cheating.

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Since the early days, problems have arisen in the gaming industry. It's up to developers, publishers, and gamers themselves to figure out which controversies were rightfully so, which were blown out of proportion, and if it's possible for games to go "too far."

Saturn & The PlayStation

A SEGA Saturn box next to a PlayStation box

At the very first E3 expo in 1995, SEGA was determined to reclaim the gaming crown. In recent years, the company had seen ample amounts of customer complaints after the launch of the forgotten 32X console (which was technically a peripheral). They hoped their new 32-bit Saturn console would revolutionize the gaming industry.

However, that changed when SONY arrived on stage immediately after SEGA's presentation. After SEGA announced the Saturn would have a price of $399, SONY's head of development, Steve Race, walked up to the mic and simply said, "$299." He then walked off stage as the crowd erupted in cheers, signaling the beginning of the end for SEGA.

Polybius - is it Real?

The supposed Polybius arcade cabinet in an undisclosed arcade

One of the biggest controversies in gaming is the question of whether an elusive arcade game called Polybius actually exists. According to the legend, Polybius was an arcade game at a Portland, Oregon arcade during the early 80s that was causing players to fall ill with everything from migraines to heart attacks, seizures, strokes, and more.

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The game, which was purported to be a secret government experiment, was called Polybius, according to Input. While it's been largely debunked as an urban legend, it's still made its way into pop culture, spawning books, appearing in The Simpsons, and even leading some to wonder if the story might actually be true.

A Fistful of Lies

Billy Mitchell is featured in the movie "The King of Kong - A Fistful of Quarters"

Billy Mitchell is famous for setting the record as the first person to achieve a perfect score in Pac-Man and the first person to earn 1 million points in the original Donkey Kong arcade game. He even became the focus of the hit 2007 documentary, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

However, it was revealed that Mitchell used an emulator, not an original arcade cabinet, to achieve his high scores. Plus, all of his major achievements have been sent in via videotape and have never been achieved in a live venue. Because of this, Twin Galaxies - an organization that databases video game high scores - removed Mitchell from their leaderboards, spawning years of legal battles and controversies.

Atari Gets Sued

Two paddles bat a ball around in PONG

Everyone knows Pong, and in fact, many people erroneously believe that Pong was the first at-home video game. In reality, Pong was a copied idea from a previous game console called the Magnavox Odyssey. The Odyssey had a game called Table Tennis which saw two larger squares moving up and down to volley a smaller square between each other.

Pong simply changed the two squares to lines and released it as their own game. Magnavox sued and Atari had to pay $1.5 million. They also paid to license the title from Magnavox so they could continue selling Pong arcade cabinets. In a few short years, Atari would grow larger than Maganvox and (for a short time) completely dominate the world of gaming.

Star Wars and Online Gambling

Rey and Darth Maul pose on the cover of Star Wars Battlefront 2

In 2017, the Star Wars: Battlefront series was set to receive a massive revival with Battlefront II. However, thanks to the addition of loot boxes - which could be purchased with actual cash - the game had a disastrous launch. Not only did the loot boxes mean that players could literally buy their way to victory, but because of the boxes being randomized, there was a sense of gambling to it.

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Gamers could pay real money and either get something small and useless...or something amazing and powerful. In the end, not only did players turn against the game so heavily that EA's stock dropped, but the game was also investigated by various governments to determine if Battlefront II constituted as online gambling.

WoW Deaths

Two players battle an NPC in World of Warcraft

Gaming addictions are very real, and during the 2000s when World of Warcraft was dominating pop culture, many players fell victim to the allure of being able to live second lives online. Various people have died while playing marathon sessions of WoW (sometimes forgetting to eat, drink, or even move for almost an entire day) and others, like children, have died while being neglected by their parents who were playing the game. Throughout the years, WoW's addictive nature has been discussed and analyzed in-depth and the game remains a trigger for those who struggle with addiction.

Six Days in Fallujah

US soldiers attempt to break down a door in Six Days in Fallujah

One of the biggest controversies going on right now is the proposed game Six Days in Fallujah. The game is based on the Second Battle of Fallujah, which took place in 2004 during the Iraq War. On top of the military deaths, the battle is known for having a heavy civilian death toll, with CNN stating that at least 800 civilians were killed.

Many are worried the game will glorify the killing of Arabs, which could be extremely harmful given that nationalism is currently rising in many nations. Furthermore, the US military has a long history of recruiting by glamorizing war through military video games, and some say Six Days in Fallujah is nothing but a military propaganda piece. Due to the outrage, the game's release date has been pushed back numerous times.

GTA's Open World Madness

The cover of Grand Theft Auto III features the game's many characters

In 2001, just over a month after the 9/11 attacks, Grand Theft Auto III was released. The game was heavily criticized, with many noting that the plot was to roam around a city (that was clearly inspired by NYC) and cause destruction. Furthermore, the game allowed players to do more than any game had before...including committing tons of crimes.

In GTA III, gamers can kill civilians, make deals with mobs, and most notoriously, have sex with, murder, and rob prostitutes. However, for GTA, the controversy only made the game popular, and it went on to be one of the bestselling PS2 games of all time, spawning numerous high-profile sequels.

Creating the ESRB

Night Trap was featured at the 1993 congressional hearing on video games

In 1993, a congressional hearing was held about violence in video games. Two games, in particular, were the main targets: Night Trap, an FMV game about a group of girls who are terrorized by vampiric beings, and Mortal Kombat, which had gained notoriety for its blood and graphic kills. Both games were criticized mainly for their realistic portrayals, which critics argued was somehow more likely to encourage players to enact real violence.

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At the conclusion of the hearings, the gaming industry was given two options: either create a rating system for games...or the government would. And thus, the ESRB was born and continues to rate games as E, T, M (and the very rare AO) to this day. After the hearings, Mortal Kombat remained a popular franchise, and Night Trap has been re-released and is better appreciated in retrospectives as a campy and ridiculous homage to B-movies.

The Columbine Shooting

The Doom cover and the cover of TIME magazine sit side-by-side

Back in the '90s, mass shootings weren't commonplace the way they sadly are today. When two students walked into Columbine High School in 1999, killing 13 and injuring 21 more, the world was shocked and wanted answers. One of the answers was Doom.

It was revealed that both students enjoyed playing Doom, and because the game involved battling demons from Hell, many conservative and religious parents took it as a sign that the game had somehow corrupted the two teens. Even respected papers like the Chicago Tribune and The Guardian told the dangers of playing violent games like Doom and linked them to Columbine. In recent years, there's been a reemergence of blaming media for real-world problems, reigniting the debate once again.

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