Controversy Corner: No Man’s Sky

On the first edition of controversy corner, we looked at controversy caused via graphic violence which is a medium we will visit frequently in this series. However, in this second edition, we will be looking at controversy caused by extreme over-hype. I am of course talking about the infamous No Man’s Sky.

Players were first ‘treated’ to No Man’s Sky in December of 2013 when the first official trailer was published. Along with it were a lot of promises such as that there would be enough content (planets,vegetation, lifeforms etc.) so that a single player could not explore it all in a lifetime. No game had ever promised such things (because they’re realistic) thus hype was instantly at an all time high; some players even speculated that No Man’s Sky could be a game that lasts forever.

With each month, Hello Games dug their grave even more- making more and more unrealistic promises. Their advertising campaign was extremely successful as they had a large amount of players hooked…too successful for their own good. Upon release, No man’s Sky received a terrible reception with many of the promised features being nowhere to be found. This, of course, led to it becoming a Steam game with a review of “Overwhelmingly Negative”.

For reference, here is a list of some of the things that were promised yet did not make the final cut:

• Planetary physics
• Ship classes with meaningful differentiation
• Faction reputation with meaningful gameplay impact
• Homogenous resource availability
• Asteroid landings
• Space station and fleet destruction
• Large fleets
• Traveling freighters
• Large scale battles the player can join
• In-atmosphere battles
• NPCs outside trading posts and other docks
• Ringed planets
• Sand planets
• Flying between stars (as opposed to warping via the Galactic interface)
• Complex creature behaviour including environmental interaction
• Rivers
• Points of interest such as large structures and crashed freighters
• Hacking locked doors
• Radio chatter
• Interaction with other players

Due to all of this, No Man’s Sky was the biggest piece of gaming controversy in 2016- completely tarnishing the name of Hello Games beyond complete repair.

However, as of recent, No Man’s Sky is starting to turn things around by updating the game thus to add features that were promised in the initial release (leading them to gain mostly positive reviews). Despite this, this remains to be too little and too late for many players who bought the game with many sharing the same mindset as Matty who said it was “The biggest waste of money since COD points”.

No Man’s Sky will always be one of the most controversial and infamous games in my opinion hence why I couldn’t resist including it on “Controversy Corner”

Until next time,

Luke

 

 

Controversy Corner: Manhunt

As I stated in my introduction, the first ever controversy corner will focus upon the Rockstar created title Manhunt. 

Game: Manhunt

Released:  18 November 2003

Publisher: Rockstar North

Banned In: Russia, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Germany and South Korea

 

Rockstar are a company that love to push the boundaries for what is and isn’t allowed in video games and they have proven time and time again that they will not stop pursuing this mindset. For this reason, they are never far from controversy with each title; however, perhaps the worst of them all was their 2003 title Manhunt which managed to get banned in 5 different countries but also heavily scrutinized in the UK (where it was very close to being banned).

Surprisingly, Manhunt was extremely well received due to pushing the boundaries of video game violence and offering a dark, sadistic tone filled with over the top and graphic violence never sen in gaming before – not even if Rockstar’s other controversial series: Grand Theft Auto. Manhunt’s main praise was also its biggest criticism hence why it is blacklisted in so many countries and frowned upon in so many others.

Most of the controversy of Manhunt stemmed from the graphic executions displayed within the game. Interestingly- in 2007- a former Rockstar employee in Jeff Williams admitted that even the staff responsible for the game were uneasy and perhaps uncomfortable about the level and extent of the violence in the game as they all knew there was no rationality about the game and they were most certainly crossing a line.

Many claimed that Manhunt was telling kids how to kill someone whilst others defended this by reminding them that there is an age rating for a reason. The height of controversy for Manhunt occurred in 2004 when a murder in Leicestershire, England of a 14 year old boy transpired at the hands of his 17 year old friend and a copy of Manhunt was found  in the culprit’s bedroom; the murderer was said to be obsessed with the game hence why many were so quick to blame his actions on Rockstar’s product. 

However, after a back and forth court case, Manhunt was ultimately dismissed of any link to the murder due to the murderer’s links to gang culture and owing money to said gangs. It was concluded that the murder was an act of desperation as opposed to a video game related scenario.

Rockstar didn’t stop with the Manhunt series after the original was shrouded with controversy thought as Manhunt 2 found its way to shelves in 2007.  This was perhaps one of the most controversial games I could have started the series off with and it was extremely interesting when researching this as I could see where both sides were coming from. 

Until next time on controversy corner,

Luke

Controversy Corner: Introduction

Recently, I incorporated a gaming related series called “12 games of Christmas” where I will run through 12 games before Christmas that I would recommend getting either for Christmas or during the boxing day sales. However, I strive to be unique hence why I am adding another series to my blog as I think I can handle this. Unlike “12 games of Christmas”, this series will be more of a permanent fixture as opposed to a seasonal arrangement.

As you can see in the title of the post, this new series is called “controversy corner”. Controversy corner is where I will take a game that, you guessed it, caused controversy in some way, shape or form- potentially even being banned in some countries. Some of these will be justified controversies yet some will be a case of people making mountains out of molehills. 

As with 12 games of Christmas, there is no time-frame of when I will be posting these but I will be aiming for at least one a week and this will be posted alongside my regular work projects. Expect the first of this series to be posted within the coming days where I will focus on perhaps the only Rockstar title that could be more controversial than Grand Theft Auto: Manhunt.

 

Thanks,

Luke