Well, the big release season is basically over this year. Sure, there's still Prince of Persia, but that's about it until 2009, and I don't think it's going to garner a whole lot of controversy just because it says "fer-tile" a lot. That's why I'm going to look at some older games that may have been overlooked by the media watchdogs in the past. These are some sleeper controversies, starting with Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3.
So, it's a JRPG. There are also some little Japanese dating game elements, but nothing nearly as naughty as some awful ones that are out there. That's not the problem. The problem is, the protagonists are, at first blush, teens who gain powers when they shoot themselves in the head. Yeah. Let that sink in before I explain why that's, of course, not at all reasonable for me to say. Go ahead. I'll wait. Write a letter to your congressman demanding that it be banned. Say that it gives you points for committing suicide, and they'll jump on it. Do it.
The thing is, the "gun" they shoot themselves with is an "evoker". There are other, real guns inside the game as well, so the characters aren't actually shooting themselves, it just really looks like it. This GameTrailers video should show you what's going on at about 0:22. So yeah, it's kind of a bust. Of course, these "facts" here don't stop our politicians from saying that Grand Theft Auto gives you points for killing hookers and raping people, so I think this could really make it into the spotlight. That is, if it weren't more than a year old and not at all mainstream.
EDIT: Oh, and Persona 4 is out now. I can't believe I didn't realize that before I wrote this.
