Featured Image Credit: CEX / Moby Games
When you think of the most controversial games of all time, it's generally violence that comes to mind - especially in the PlayStation 2 generation.
Back in the day, games like Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were the center of media storms around the allegedly realistic violence they portrayed (most of which now looks quaint by modern standards).
Despite all that furore, though, neither game ever became illegal to own, even if Manhunt and its sequel were banned from sale in a whole heap of countries.
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By contrast, there's actually a significantly more controversial PS2 game that fewer people know about - one that didn't just get removed from sale, but would actually be illegal to have in your possession.
The title in question is The Guy Game, a trivia game that saw players trying to answer questions correctly to slowly uncensor an image of a woman without her top on.
First released in 2004, it was a sort of cultural spin-off from the era of uncomfortable shows trying to pressure women into nudity.
The reason the game was banned and became illegal was all down to how it was created. It turns out that some of the footage in the game was filmed at a spring break party in South Padre Island, Texas.
In theory, the film crew would approach women, check their IDs, and then offer to ask them a trivia question. If they got the answer right, they'd be paid a small sum, but if they didn't, they'd have to 'expose her breasts', according to a case filing.
That's already an extremely uncomfortable premise, but it unraveled further after the game's release when one player was shocked to discover his own sister in the game's footage - who was actually 17 at the time of filming.
The anonymous 'Jane Doe' launched a lawsuit in 2005 against the game's developer, Topheavy Studios, and the case involved the fact that she hadn't actually been 18 at the time of filming, and had lied about her date of birth. The filing argued that responsibility for verifying that sort of information, and having safeguards in place, fell to the developer.
Jane Doe won the court case the game was given a temporary injunction order, meaning it was pulled from shelves. It was considered illegal, as it included underage pornography.
After the ruling, Topheavy reportedly wrote on the game's website: 'The Man has decided that our fun and hilarious presentation of spring break revelry just wasn't appropriate for the world of gaming.' The gaming company later went out of business.
