Mortal Kombat for mature players only
A new video game features people getting torn in half (vertically/horizontally), decapitated, burned alive, hanged, quartered, eaten, etc…
This archived article was written by: Cassidy Scovill
A new video game features people getting torn in half (vertically/horizontally), decapitated, burned alive, hanged, quartered, eaten, etc…
Mortal Kombat has a history of getting in trouble over its violent depictions of death and is responsible for the rating system games use today. The first game was released in arcades and featured digitized actors fighting each other; at the end of the fight, the winner gets to perform a “fatality,” a special move that causes you to brutally murder your opponent. In 1993, the game was brought before Congress by Sens. Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl. This prompted the creation of the Entertainment-Software-Rating-Board which Congress agreed to let rate video games.
The newest addition to the Mortal Kombat series has taken the violence to such a graphic and gory extreme that makes the other Mature-rated games seem family friendly. One of the new features of this game is the damage the fighter takes during the fight including: large bruises, gashes, cuts, chunks of skin missing and even loss of during the fight. In addition to cuts and bruises, both fighters usually end up drenched in both their own blood and their opponent’s.
The real way this game earns its Mature rating is through the gruesome fatalities special game end, which can include anything from decapitation, cutting/ripping off body parts or people getting torn in half vertically/horizontally. One of the more gruesome fatalities, “Make a Wish” features two ninja’s grabbing the opponent’s legs and then slowly pulling, tearing the opponent’s crotch up. The organs and blood start pouring out. After the opponent is completely split, both ninjas pose with the halves of the opponent.
So, is this game going cause mass murders, incite riots or cause kids to tear each other in half? No, most sane people can separate a game from reality, and this game is about as far from reality as it gets. It’s a game where a ninja can shoot ice from his hands, and four-arm monsters rip people apart. If a child gets a hold of the game, it’s up to the parents to determine if that’s okay. Parents should know at least a little bit about the games their kids are playing, and some parents even buy their underage kids the games.
Mortal Kombat, despite being filled with horrible gore and graphic violence, is still just a game.
