Violent Video Games That Caused Controversy

Gruesome scenes of bloodshed alarmed critics.

Sending the Wrong Message? - On Wednesday, President Obama unveiled a $500 million plan aimed at curbing gun violence, calling on lawmakers to take aggressive steps to ensure guns stay out of the wrong hands. Video games have long taken heat for encouraging violent behavior by glorifying grisly scenes of murder, torture and dismemberment. Keep reading for a look at 10 violent video games that have come under fire. — Britt Middleton (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
NRA: Practice Range - The Nation Rifle Association’s recently released shooting game app features targets in the shape of coffins. Days after the Sandy Hook shootings, the gun lobbyist group blamed mass shootings on violent video games and movies rather than lenient gun laws. (Photo: NRA: Practice Range/ MEDL Mobile, Inc.)
Doom - Bloodbaths are plentiful in this 1993 game, where the player becomes a space marine armed with various assault rifles to fend off the demons of hell. The game is credited for popularizing the first-person shooter genre and it was also criticized for its use of satanic imagery. (Photo: Courtesy of Doom/ id Software)
Grand Theft Auto Series - Sex, drugs and guns are perennial themes in the Grand Theft Auto universe, where players aim to rise in the ranks of the criminal underworld. Realistic gun violence, including the killing of military and police personnel, drew much negative attention to the successful series. (Photo: Rockstar Games)Mortal Kombat Series - When the original Mortal Kombat was released in 1992, censors couldn’t wrap their heads around the fighting game’s gratuitous blood and scenes of characters ripping the limbs from their enemies. The latest incarnations of the game are still generating buzz. (Photo: Warner Bros. Interactive)

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NRA: Practice Range - The Nation Rifle Association’s recently released shooting game app features targets in the shape of coffins. Days after the Sandy Hook shootings, the gun lobbyist group blamed mass shootings on violent video games and movies rather than lenient gun laws. (Photo: NRA: Practice Range/ MEDL Mobile, Inc.)

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