Thanks to GameSetWatch, I learned about an article about the 50 weirdest moments in PC Gaming. It listed a number of events, real or in-game, that were just plain strange. It’s an entertaining read, and I learned about some strange situations that I thought were relegated to the NES days. I always thought that PC games had lax restrictions compared to console games. Nintendo was particularly infamous for restricting content in games. Maniac Mansion had some entertaining problems getting the game approved by Nintendo, and I remember the fight between Nintendo and Sega fanboys when Mortal Kombat lacked blood for the SNES.
Even so, apparently PC games encounter similar problems, requiring changes to the game to accommodate different markets and gatekeepers. For example, #17 refers to the game Fallout in which the killable children had to be removed for the European market…only they weren’t really gone. #36 documents the problems Shadow Warrior had in the UK, which apparently does not like ninja paraphernalia.
The video near the end about the making of Bad Mojo was…interesting. I suppose the game would be interesting as well.
I would like to see a similar list for games that aren’t specifically for the PC. I’m sure such a list would include the strange marketing campaigns of Acclaim. While this list is being made, can we do a “Where are they now” feature to find out what happened to the people named Turok? They either have to be the most popular people in school today or the most teased.
3 replies on “50 Weirdest Moments in PC Gaming”
Glad you enjoyed the article! The key thing about the censorship issue is that the UK’s ratings system is enforced by the government – it’s not the same as the industry-volunteered system from the US. If you’ve got a game with graphic violence, sex, criminal activity and similar, it has to be rated or it can’t be sold. For the most part, the system works okay, but occasionally the BBFC gets a bee in its bonnet about something, like the ninjas.
As for Acclaim, I considered including them, but decided against it. I’m fairly sure they never actually went through with any of their wacky marketing campaigns – at the very least, I received all the announcements, but never a follow-up. I’m also pretty sure that at least one of the Turok winners (which was only to change your name for a year; ditto with the baby) was outed as being an actor shortly after the results were announced. I may be wrong, and being very mean – they may well have painted pigeons and genuinely planned to make a Shadow Man tombstone, and done all the other wacky crap I started filing away in the bin after a while, but I’ve never seen proof.
(If anyone who’s got a photo or something wants to send me a copy, feel free. I’m willing to be wrong about my suspicion ;-))
Ah, I wonder how much of an influence the rating system has on business, considering that it is part of the government. Does it affect indie developers or is its scope limited to retail publishing?
Just the retail ones, really. I’m not sure of the exact legal standing for indie ones, but…