In November 1992, one of the most unique video gaming experiences of the time, Night Trap for the SEGA CD, was released. A video game that would go on to become one of the most criticized, controversial, and banned games in history.
The gameplay of Night Trap was unique at the time. As an interactive movie, originally developed for Hasbro’s Control Vision console in 1986, the game was repurposed and redeveloped for SEGA's Genesis add-on, the SEGA CD, as a launch title in 1992.
The premise was simple: five teenage girls had disappeared after having last been seen at the Martin Winery Estate. After the investigation turned up empty, five more girls went to the estate to stay, where Agent Kelli Medd joined them to discover what was actually happening there.
One year after the game's release, on December 9, 1993, the United States Senate held a hearing on video games, with a specific focus on violence and mature content associated with them.
One scene from Night Trap was heavily cited as promoting violence against women. In the scene, teenager Lisa is shown in a nightgown and captured by the video game villains, the ‘Augers,’ a derivative of vampires, who attempt to drain her blood.
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Following the first hearing, the game sold an additional 50,000 copies because gamers wanted to check out what was so controversial. However, after receiving numerous complaints, both Toys “R” Us and Kay-Bee Toys, at the time the two largest toy chains, pulled the games from their shelves during the peak of the retail season, two weeks prior to Christmas.
According to GamePro magazine at the time, Carol Fuller, a spokesperson for Toys “R” Us, alleged that the complaints came from “an orchestrated telephone campaign,” but did not share any further details.
In January 1994, Sega decided to withdraw the title from the market, citing the negative controversy surrounding it that distracted from the conversation about establishing a genre-wide rating system.
Speaking at the time, Sega spokesman Richard Brudvik-Lindner added, "Maybe not everyone is perceiving what we intended them to perceive," comparing the film to popular 1950s vampire films.
Years after its release, the game has since been ported to other gaming systems, and in 2018, to mark its 25th Anniversary, it was re-released on modern consoles with updated graphics and game play.
To this day, the impact of Night Trap can still be felt: following the 1993 Senate hearing, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) was formed to rate video games, similar to how motion pictures are rated.
Night Trap - 25th Anniversary Edition is available for purchase digitally on all major gaming platforms, including PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation.
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