I don't mind gory, vulgar or lewd games at all, especially old ones (e.g. Splatterhouse, Leisure Suit Larry, Time Killers, Duke Nukem, Carmageddon, etc) which actually have a certain charm to them...
I don't mind gory, vulgar or lewd games at all, especially old ones (e.g. Splatterhouse, Leisure Suit Larry, Time Killers, Duke Nukem, Carmageddon, etc) which actually have a certain charm to them and were really pushing the boundaries of what the general public considered acceptable in video games at the time... but this one just seems so absurdly over-the-top as to be actually crossing in to distasteful territory.
The way Tolomei described it, the company’s brass was looking to rattle the cage and generate some press and controversy for the ailing company.
And I guess that probably explains why. Nothing sells better than controversy, even the manufactured/intentional variety. Too bad for them it didn't really work:
Chiller earned some controversy upon release, but it was also built into an arcade cabinet at a time when that business model was decaying. Because of that, the game never received the full-blown scrutiny you’d expect from Tipper Gore-types.
But I almost can't help but feel that any company that desperate and willing to go so far "over the line" doesn't really deserve to succeed. There is something to be said for pushing the boundaries of a medium, but when the intent is merely to cause as much controversy as possible, that really rubs me the wrong way for some reason.
Here's some gameplay. Yeah, it's pretty much just a "capitalize on the fact that people are outraged by games depicting graphic violence" exercise. I don't remember this game, but I sure remember...
Yeah, it's pretty much just a "capitalize on the fact that people are outraged by games depicting graphic violence" exercise. I don't remember this game, but I sure remember the outrage over Mortal Kombat's death animations. It was a big deal when I was young, although my parents took a "they can handle it" attitude, which I think was the prevailing consensus among my friends' parents as well, because I never heard of any of them being restricted from going to the arcade.
I don't mind gory, vulgar or lewd games at all, especially old ones (e.g. Splatterhouse, Leisure Suit Larry, Time Killers, Duke Nukem, Carmageddon, etc) which actually have a certain charm to them and were really pushing the boundaries of what the general public considered acceptable in video games at the time... but this one just seems so absurdly over-the-top as to be actually crossing in to distasteful territory.
And I guess that probably explains why. Nothing sells better than controversy, even the manufactured/intentional variety. Too bad for them it didn't really work:
But I almost can't help but feel that any company that desperate and willing to go so far "over the line" doesn't really deserve to succeed. There is something to be said for pushing the boundaries of a medium, but when the intent is merely to cause as much controversy as possible, that really rubs me the wrong way for some reason.
Here's some gameplay.
Yeah, it's pretty much just a "capitalize on the fact that people are outraged by games depicting graphic violence" exercise. I don't remember this game, but I sure remember the outrage over Mortal Kombat's death animations. It was a big deal when I was young, although my parents took a "they can handle it" attitude, which I think was the prevailing consensus among my friends' parents as well, because I never heard of any of them being restricted from going to the arcade.
I had it on Mame. I shut it down as soon as I realized what it was about. That's Hatred level pointless gore.