If you happen to possess a banned PS2 and Xbox game from 2004, you might be risking some legal issues.
To channel your mom’s concerns, video games have certainly stirred up their fair share of controversies over the years.
Critics have accused them of encouraging violent behavior, over-sexualization, and addiction. Your grandma might even argue that they ‘rot young people’s brains.’ Gaming has faced a lot of scrutiny.
In the case of one specific game, the controversy was not alleviated by revelations about its production shortly after its release.
This game debuted in 2004, but you won’t find it in any store, and it is banned from being streamed on Twitch.
The game in question is The Guy Game, developed by TopHeavy Studios. It is a trivia-based game for up to four players who answer questions. Sounds innocent enough, right?
Not quite.
Players who answered questions correctly were ‘rewarded’ with images of topless women, starting with censored versions that became less censored as points were accumulated, leading to the obvious conclusion.
While many viewed the nudity and objectification as distasteful and it was heavily criticized at the time, those factors alone weren’t enough to land someone in legal trouble.
This is where a spring break party comes into play.
The producers of The Guy Game obtained footage at a spring break party on South Padre Island, Texas.
It’s reported that the producers approached young women at the party, checked their IDs, and paid them $20 to answer trivia questions and remove their tops if they answered incorrectly.
After the release of the game, a player had an unsettling experience when he discovered his sister featured in it.
The girl, not publicly named and referred to as ‘Jane Doe’ in court proceedings, filed a lawsuit against TopHeavy.
During the court proceedings, it was revealed that the girl had falsified details, including her age, as she was 17 years old during the game’s production shoot.
This meant The Guy Game contained indecent images of a minor, making its possession illegal, although the court didn’t definitively classify it as child abuse imagery.
Jane Doe won her case, leading to an injunction that stopped the game’s distribution, and it was promptly removed from sale.
TopHeavy responded on their website, stating: “The Man has decided that our fun and hilarious presentation of spring break revelry just wasn’t appropriate for the world of gaming.”