Five banned video games that corrupted our minds

T3 checks out some greatest controversy-courters ever to meet the business end of a censorship baton

Rockstar's most controversial title to date, Manhunt 2, is finally getting the go ahead for release and will be offending our delicate minds from October 31st.

The fact that Manhunt 2 really isn't a very good game isn't likely to get in its way either. There's been so much kafuffle over this title already that there's not a 14 year old in the country that's not already bribing their older siblings in the hope that they'll get a shot at this one come Halloween.

The game originally fell foul of the British Board of Film Certification (BBFC) because of its "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone". But bleakness and a callous tone never prevents Endemol from pumping hours of Big Brother on to our screens each summer, so we assume that the fact you're encouraged to gruesomely execute your adversaries with a bewildering variety of household utensils had something to do with it too.

After a High Court appeal overturned the over turned the BBFC refusal to grant classification, Manhunt 2 is gearing up for another stab (hohoho) at the UK market. So without further ado, here's a few of our favourite games to wind up on the wrong side of the censor police.

Video Game: Mass Effect

Country that banned it: Singapore

Eventually released: November 2007

Reason for Controversy: If you picked your character and game actions carefully, the latter stages of Mass Effect could give you an eyeball at a steamy lesbian alien sex romp. The alien in question is a blue-skinned Asari scientist with long skin flaps instead of hair. She is still pretty hot though.

Reason for ban being overturned: Exciting though alien lesbian sex sounds, it isn't quite as titillating when you realise that all you get to see is a flash of xenomorphic buttock and it takes you a good ten hours of porn-free play to get there. Not to mention careful attention to dialogue options. Singapore's censors were eventually satisfied with an upgrade to an 18 rating after a public outcry.

Video Game: Carmageddon

Country that banned it: UK

Eventually released: November 1997

Reasons for controversy: Although running virtual people over for points is now something of a mythical cliché in modern games, it was very much a part of Carmageddon. You could even complete each level by simply crushing each and every inhabitant against your spiked bumper. The BBFC took exception to this, leading to the game being released with the blood replaced either with green ooze (to signify they were zombies, not real people) or oil (to represent robots).

Reason for ban being overturned: After months of appeal, the BBFC relented. But by that time there were readily available gore patches to turn the zombies back into helpless pedestrians anyway.

Video Game: Wolfenstein 3D

Country that banned it:Germany

Eventually released: Never

Reasons for controversy: Although Germany has a strict reputation, a 2003 ruling has prevented the outright banning of any video game in the country. They can have their advertising and in-store display's restricted if the violence is too gruesome though, which often results in more explicit titles simply never being released in the country. That wasn't the case for Wolfenstein though. A ban on including Nazi symbolism outside a historical reference meant that the game's many Nazi swastikas and the Nazi theme music caused it to be declared verboten.

Video Game: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Country that banned it:USA

Eventually released: August 2005

Reasons for controversy: Few serious games won't have heard of the infamous Hot Coffee scandal that embroiled Rockstar, GTA: San Andreas and the ESRB. In June 2005, an intrepid modder discovered and released a patch that unlocked a once inaccessible sex mini-game that was hidden in the game's code. Although Rockstar hadn't intended for this to be seen in the final version, the outcry was enough for the ESRB to reclassify the game as Adults Only in the US. Although that's not, strictly speaking, an outright ban, most retailers and each of the major console makers have strict rules about not allowing AO titles.

Reason for ban being overturned: Rockstar was forced to recall and patch all versions of the game with the offending section. As a result of a class action lawsuit, compensation was offered to those offended by the scenes. But to prove how much gave a shit about it all, only 2,672 actually applied for it - a drop in the ocean compared to the several million copies sold.

Video Game: Phantasmagoria

Country that banned it: Australia

Eventually released: Never

Reasons for controversy: Phantasmagoria will probably go down in history as one of only games (there are just two by our count) to feature a rape scene. It was NOT interactive and, unsurprisingly, the rest of the game was pretty dire. What's most surprising is that it didn't stir up more outrage - almost every other country made do with an 18 certificate but Australia's unusual ratings system doesn't allow for adult only games. That also means that on average Oz has the strictest games censorship policies of all. Although it's a landmark title now, we suspect they didn't really miss out on this one.