12 Surprising Facts About 1990s Video Games

During the 1990s, video games gained popularity and became a cornerstone of pop culture. While writing my new book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times, these were the most interesting facts that I came across.

1. Congress freaked out about a pretty mild game called Night Trap. 
2. Grand Theft Auto’s publicist planted stories about how bad the game was for kids. 
3. On Super Nintendo, blood was an unspecified grey substance in Mortal Kombat.
4. The creator of Doom created a level where players could shoot his head on a pike.
5. An academic cottage industry sprung up after the Columbine shooting.
6. Many accessories were required to catch all the Pokémon. 
7. The biggest legal opponent of the video game industry saw himself as a Batman figure.
8. Sega released the first console with a built-in modem.
9. EA purposely reduced the quality of Joe Montana Football .
10. Michael Jordan didn’t appear in most NBA games.
11. Video games didn’t have First Amendment protection for years.
12. The U.S. military started working on its own video games

Congress freaked out about a pretty mild game called Night Trap. 

During the early ’90s, Congress held hearings on video game violence. One of the games singled out during the hearings was a niche interactive horror title called Night Trap. The theatrics of the Congressional hearing led to the creation of the ESRB, which rates video games similar to how music and movies are labeled. After all that fuss, Night Trap is now rated T for Teen.

Grand Theft Auto’s publicist planted stories about how bad the game was for kids. 

To market the original game, GTA partnered with a disgraced tabloid publicist to plant stories about the danger GTA posed to the public. The publicist leaked storylines to the most outrage-prone journalists and politicians in England. The tabloid Daily Mail ran a story about the “criminal computer game that glorifies hit-and-run thugs.” The simmering controversy led the UK House of Lords to debate whether or not it would regulate GTA, and the game’s publicist bought radio ads featuring excerpts of these lords criticizing GTA. Much of the animus directed toward the game came before it was finished. Critics took the bait, driving up sales.

On Super Nintendo, blood was an unspecified grey substance in Mortal Kombat.

Nintendo ran a more PG operation than its Sega competition. But Sega’s blood-filled version of Mortal Kombat outsold Nintendo’s—which led Nintendo to include blood in the sequel.

The creator of Doom created a level where players could shoot his head on a pike.

Video game critics have fantasized about creating games that feature the killing of video game developers. Doom’s co-creator John Romero beat them to the punch. A feature of Doom II is being able to shoot Romero’s severed head.

An academic cottage industry sprung up after the Columbine shooting.

Because the Columbine killers played Doom, video games were commonly blamed for the tragedy. This trend spread to academia. After Columbine, the number of academic articles about video games and violence jumped 300 percent over the following five years.

Many accessories were required to catch all the Pokémon. 

Pokémon players were told they gotta catch ‘em all, but the first video games made it difficult to do so. Two Game Boys, two Pokémon cartridges, and additional accessories were required to become a Pokémaster. 

The biggest legal opponent of the video game industry saw himself as a Batman figure.

Lawyer Jack Thompson honed his time and energy on combating moral decay that he believed stemmed from the entertainment industry. He filed dozens of lawsuits alleging that violent entertainment, especially video games, was the primary cause of shootings and their producers should be held accountable. Thompson likened himself to a vigilante. When faxing documents to legal opponents, Thompson juxtaposed a photograph of Batman onto his driver’s license. 

Sega released the first console with a built-in modem.

The Dreamcast sold poorly enough that it was the last console Sega ever released. But the system’s influence lives on: The Dreamcast was the first console with a built-in modem; now, online play dominates the video game industry.

EA purposely reduced the quality of Joe Montana Football .

Pro football fans with 16-bit consoles had a choice between Joe Montana Football and Madden. However, both games were made by EA, so any perception of real competition was false. “We made sure [Joe Montana Football] was totally inferior,” an EA executive told reporters. By worsening the graphics and cutting back on Montana’s gameplay options, Madden appeared superior.

Michael Jordan didn’t appear in most NBA games.

Michael Jordan is famously protective of his branding. During the Olympics, for example, he used the American flag to cover up a Reebok logo because he only wanted to be witnessed in Nike attire. That protectiveness also translated to video games. Jordan opted out of games like NBA Live but allowed his likeness to be used in games like Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City. If you chose to play as the Chicago Bulls anyway, instead of “Jordan,” your starting guard would be “Player 99,” who resembled him quite a bit.

Video games didn’t have First Amendment protection for years.

Over the years, video games have won and lost numerous cases. But the Supreme Court didn’t recognize the medium’s First Amendment protections until 2011.

The U.S. military started working on its own video games

After recruitment hit a low point, the military began working on its own shooting game in 1999 to be used as a recruitment tool. The military continued to develop new versions of it and release them for free for two decades. 

Ross Benes is the author of 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times.

Read More About Video Games: