Video Game Nasties: Hottest Banned Games

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Video game developers just love to push the envelope of acceptability. Check out more examples of times they went that little bit too far.

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C&C: Generals (EA)

Where to start? It's hardly the most controversial game on this list, but Generals managed to fall foul of authorities in two of the most ban-happy countries in the world: Germany and China. German censors objected to the game's fictional depiction of the Iraq war, which had yet to take place at the time of the game's release, and the game was re-cut to remove these references. Meanwhile, the Chinese government banned the game for "smearing the image of China and the Chinese army."

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Football Manager 2005 (Sega)

Who'd ban a harmless soccer management sim like this? Did it have hidden footage of players "celebrating" in the locker rooms after the game? Could you tackle opponents with a chainsaw? No - Football Manager 2005's crime was, in the view of the Chinese government, including teams from Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan alongside the Chinese national team. Shocking stuff, right? The ban was especially surprising given that, at the time of the ruling, the game had not been released in China, and was only available through the country's thriving black market.

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The Guy Game (Gathering of Developers)

Combining footage of topless girls and trivia questions in a hideous sort of Girls Gone Wild meets You Don't Know Jack mashup, The Guy Game was hardly the pinnacle of the video game art form. But not only did this ill-conceived mix of trivia and titillation actually go on sale, it remained available for a few months - until an anonymous young lady filed suit against the game's developer, its publisher, and console manufacturers Sony and Microsoft. She alleged that the game contained footage of her, topless, taken during a South Padre Island "Hottie Challenge" contest...when she was 17, and underage. Oops. The Guy Game disappeared without trace, and its developer Top Heavy Studios, thankfully, did likewise.

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GRAW2 (Ubisoft)

On the face of it, this run-of-the-mill Tom Clancy action thriller doesn't inspire outrage. But take a stroll south of the border, down Mexico way, and you may find a different perspective. Advanced Warfighter takes place just across the US-Mexico border, and has the player's team of crack soldiers fighting South American rebels and yes, Mexicans. This didn't go down well with the governor of Chihuahua, who issued an order seizing all copies of the game. Viva la revolucion!

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Manhunt 2 (Take 2)

Surely the highest profile banned game since the Hot Coffee fiasco, "murder simulator" Manhunt 2 - another title from Grand Theft Auto dev Rockstar - was initially refused certification by just about every ratings board on the planet. Even the ESRB handed it the little-used AO rating, effectively banning it in the States. Undaunted, Rockstar delayed the title to October 31 to give them time to make edits and re-submit it for classification. Manhunt 2's recut version successfully earned a "Mature" ESRB rating in the US, but was again rejected by the British board of censors. Whether or not it'll ever see release in the land of warm beer and bowler hats still remains to be seen.

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