Research: Night Trap (The Aftermath)

Night Trap had a mixed reception when it released alongside the Sega Mega-CD in October 15th, 1992.  In terms of game play it is almost universally panned now, but when it first released it was comparatively well received.  It didn't really sell well at first, due to the expensive cost of both the game and the Mega-CD.

Things changed when in December 9th, 1993, Senators Joseph Lieberman and Herbert Kohl held a hearing about the effect of video game violence on children.

(Left to right) Joseph Lieberman and Herbert Kohl

The proceedings started with Mortal Kombat.  Mortal Kombat is a game that had actors that were digitized into realistic looking sprites.  The game was first released on arcade machines, but was ported to the SNES and Sega Genesis.  The senators at the hearing were advocating censorship of arcade games, due to the violent and gruesome fatalities (ripping out hearts and spines, for starters) in Mortal Kombat which was a problem since any child could access an arcade machine without hindrance.

The proceedings quickly shifted its attention to Night Trap.  Since it used film and looked very realistic at the time, it became the target of strong criticism.  One of the senators at the hearing, Byron Dorgan, called it "sick, disgusting trash," and claimed the game was "an effort to trap and kill women."

Like this one, which you actually can trap and kill if you complete a perfect run!

 
The criticism was off-base; the game was about saving women, there was only a little blood, and the blood that was featured was not shown in a gruesome manner (nobody was disemboweled or even cut).  The violence was largely limited to shoving and pushing, and a few explosions when Weird Eddie and Danny use their laser guns to blow up some Augers.  Some of the girls were dressed in night gowns and other sort-of inappropriate wear, but again nothing explicit at all.

The senators were not the only ones building up Night Trap as some sort of women-murder simulator.  Nintendo of America's Howard Lincoln was pushing to make Sega look bad.  He would edit the footage presented to the committee, which lead to the spread of the infamous Bathroom scene.

 

Tom Zito, head of Digital Pictures and creator of Night Trap claims to have attempted to defend the game, but was silenced at the hearing.  Rob Fulop, a co-creator that would go on to create the Petz games, also claimed that the game was simply a victim of politics rather than any serious censorship; Lieberman and Kohl wanted to gain easy credibility and political capital, and leading the crusade on games was a safe bet since no large group of people were going to protest applying ratings to games.

A week later, on December 16th, KB Toys and Toys 'R' Us pulled Night Trap from their shelves, to maintain a family-friendly image.  These bans and the hearing gave Night Trap a ton of free publicity, and many people began buying the game to see what the controversy was about.  As a result, Night Trap was financially successful despite all the negative attention and criticism.

 The committee decided that games must be rated, censored, and regulated.  They issued an ultimatum; come up with a ratings system, or the government will make one.  Fearing extensive repression, multiple game companies began scrambling to create a system.  Sega had a system in place, but the criteria for ratings and the ratings themselves were considered too vague.  Several companies banded together to form the Interactive Digital Software Association [IDSA] (now the Entertainment Software Association[ESA]).

Since the IDSA doesn't seem to have a logo, this one will have to suffice.

The IDSA would eventually become responsible for a lot of things.  It handles the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which is considered to be the biggest trade fair for games.  It also handles copyright infringement cases involving games, and combats government censorship and regulation of gaming.  Most relevantly to Night Trap, though, is that the IDSA would create the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

The ESRB does exactly what the name suggests; rate games.  A game is sent in for certification and after having volunteers play through the game, it is given a general rating which is elaborated on by content descriptors.  For example, a game might be rated 'Teen' because of mild gore, mild violence, foul language, and so on.

Some example ratings.

Retailers began building policies around the ESRB rating system.  Unrated games would never be sold.  Games rated 'Adults Only' would also not be sold in most stores.  As a result, most game developers try to avoid the 'Adults Only' rating and in effect censored themselves in order to sell through brick-and-mortar stores.

Other countries also followed suit.  Germany and Australia in particular expanded government regulation to games shortly after the United States hearings on Mortal Kombat and Night Trap.  Australia in particular can ban games by simply refusing to classify them.