What was the first ever rated "M" game?

**cpt_azad** · 11-21-2004, 04:19 AM

not manhunt, the question is what was the FIRST EVER game rated as "M". not the most violent.

**cpt_azad** · 11-21-2004, 04:20 AM

oh, and doom (original) came out AFTER wolfenstein3d. doesnt make sense, but i guess ESRB didn't give a shit back then (wolf3d), and got more involved when doom came out. and no good sir, i do not know what the "edit" button is

**Rip The Jacker** · 11-21-2004, 04:28 AM

Originally Posted by cpt_azad

not manhunt, the question is what was the FIRST EVER game rated as "M". not the most violent.

Re-read my first post in this thread, I edited it a while ago.

**Haz** · 11-21-2004, 04:44 AM

The ESRB wasn't around when Wolfenstein came out.

They formed somewhere around the sega 32X days, so it makes sense that Doom was the first one to catch the heat when they ported it to the 32X.

And they've been letting gamers know which games are worth playing (M) and which ones you should stay away from (E) ever since.

**bujub22** · 11-21-2004, 04:47 AM

i believe mortal kombat was the first?

**Rip The Jacker** · 11-21-2004, 04:47 AM

Thanks for the link Haz, my report is looking good.

I also think Manhunt is one of the most violent video games.

**3RA1N1AC** · 11-21-2004, 05:44 AM

Originally Posted by cpt_azad

oh, and doom (original) came out AFTER wolfenstein3d. doesnt make sense, but i guess ESRB didn't give a shit back then (wolf3d), and got more involved when doom came out. and no good sir, i do not know what the "edit" button is

well, they did give ratings to a lot of games when they were re-released. Wolf 3D would've acquired a rating when it was re-released as a CD-Rom.

as for Doom being the first, ESRB lists the Sega CD version of Doom, which might have been released on the same date as a number of other M-Rated games. who knows what date they would've actually been given the ratings on. maybe the ESRB list has it in the proper order... or maybe not.

notice that Night Trap is one of the first few games on the list, even though it was originally released a couple of years before the ratings began. in fact Night Trap and Mortal Kombat were two of the main examples that were used by people in the anti-game movement that led to the industry creating the ESRB as a way to regulate itself (i.e. keep the gov't out of it). so, why's Night Trap near the beginning of the list if it's so much older than the ESRB? 'cause Sega re-released the game around that time, and it received a mature rating despite Sega going so far as to censor the new cd.

i don't think it's all that important to figure out which one received a mature rating first. it's prolly more relevant to point out that the first batches of mature-rated games included re-releases of Doom, Night Trap and Mortal Kombat, which were precisely the games that the censorship wonks had been complaining about for the previous year or two.