The most shocking moments in video game history

by Blake Snow on Nov 16th 2005 5:45PM

My Gadget Bag has posted what they believe to be the most shocking moments in video game history. Here are their rankings:

The death of Aeris
Lord British dies by Firewall
The end of Hyrule
The unveiling of Samus Aran
Hot Coffee Mod
Mortal Kombat fatalities
First time your family died while playing Oregon Trail
First time playing Doom

What would you change on the list? What's missing?

[Thanks, anonymouse]

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Reader Comments (106)

When Mario and Luigi came out of the closet as an homo-insestuous couple.

Getting to World 7-4 and the princess STILL being in another castle!

The princess is in another castle!
- Super Mario

Finding out for the first time that Samus is really a chick!!

HOW IS THIS VIDEO GAME NEWS?

Arghh.

I think that the unveiling of Samus out of her suit for the first time should have been in the number one spot. Then the number 2 spot should have been the first time we saw Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog for the Dreamcast. A thing of beauty I tell ya.

hey nyc,
this is a blog, we talk about all things video games... jerk!

Ghosts and Goblins

"Whoops! That was just practice. Do it all again, please! To Save! Princess!"

bleeeeeh

also, before there was Hot Coffee, there was Golgo 13's psychadelic sexcapade.

Eww, Cherry Grace.

Finding out Metal Gear Solid: 2 was not only a bad game, but also a TERRIBLE story.

#1 the unveling of Samus out of her suit for the first time.

#2 The first time we saw Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog...for the Dreamcast.

Loved FF7, but am I the only one who wasn't shocked, at all, by Aeris' death?

the princess is in another castle at #1. remove aeris, who cares? ;P

Posted Nov 16, 2005, 5:46 PM ET by mat
"When Mario and Luigi came out of the closet as an homo-insestuous couple"

in�ces�tu�ous

adj.
1.Of, involving, or suggestive of incest.
2.Having committed incest.
3.Improperly intimate or interconnected: �Press-politics relations are notoriously incestuous� (Boston Globe).

'mat', if you're gonna make a stupid comment, at least make sure your spelling is correct so you don't come across any more stupid then you already are.

Half-Life, crawling through an air duct and turning a corner, only to illuminate a head crab that screams and jumps straight for you.

I think Mortal Kombat fatalities should be higher up on that list.

For me they are, personally.. I remember when I was a kid and seeing Mortal Kombat for the first time in the bowling alley by my place.

I saw a guy do a fatality (Scorpion's) and I was shocked.. it seemed wrong and disturbing and I remember thinking about it for the rest of that day.

Came to love to series and now i'm so desensitized that nothing phases me.

first time my head was cut off in Resident Evil 4 on the GC.(I stress Gamecube)

I was shocked, personally I never expected it would go that far, brought a whole new fear to me. I had never seen such a graphic beheading in a video game...or movie really

I've had the Aeris thing spoiled for me, I swear, THREE TIMES, since I got that far in the game A MONTH AGO.

It's got to be some sort of MIRACLE that I didn't get spoilerized before then.

Is it just assumed everyone has allready played that game? That's a pretty silly assumption to make I think.

The death of aeris really wasn't that shocking. I was more pissed off that i actually tried to train her as a strong character, then all that training goes to waste with her death.

Cyberclaws wrote: 'mat', if you're gonna make a stupid comment, at least make sure your spelling is correct so you don't come across any more stupid then you already are.

Cyberclaws, if you're going to point out spelling errors, then at least use correct punctuation. It's a run-on sentence, buddy. And "gonna"? Come on. Just wanted to point that out since you seemed to be such a stickler.

"Posted Nov 16, 2005, 5:46 PM ET by mat
"When Mario and Luigi came out of the closet as an homo-insestuous couple"

in�ces�tu�ous

adj.
1.Of, involving, or suggestive of incest.
2.Having committed incest.
3.Improperly intimate or interconnected: �Press-politics relations are notoriously incestuous� (Boston Globe).

'mat', if you're gonna make a stupid comment, at least make sure your spelling is correct so you don't come across any more stupid then you already are."

shut the fuck up, you assclown. so he got one god damn letter wrong. he completely understands the meaning and some of us happened top think that comment was at least slightly humorous. what business is it of yours to come in here correcting other people's spelling? fuck off.

3D monster maze on the sinclair ZX81, bumping into the t-rex when you went around a corner caused major heart attacks I seem to remember. :)

Duke Nukem 3d: That first experience downloading and playing the demo from a dial up connection before the whole game came out.

"The death of aeris really wasn't that shocking. I was more pissed off that i actually tried to train her as a strong character, then all that training goes to waste with her death."

I actually believed the whole rumor that you could resurrect her and I actually tried to do everything I read on the net...lol...

will:

While Cyberclaws's comment was a stupid one, I'm afraid that you are very incorrect in accusing him of creating a run-on sentence, as he did not. However, one error you did fail to mention was his use of the word "then" rather than "than" in his last sentence.

If you guys insist on having a pissy grammar war, at least make sure you can swing it with the big boys. Don't make us send you back to grade school.

Aeris dying?

That wasn't shocking...

I actually saw Aeris die in the commercial for FFVII. lol.

Before Aeris died in FF7...Nei died in Phantasy Star 2. It's not a direct ripoff or anything, but it's not the first time something like that has happened.
Personally I'd have to include the first time you saw an FPS game running on a 3d accelerator card. Quake looked so-so in software mode, but the accellerated version was almost like a new game. Pretty jaw dropping IMO.

get that hot coffee bs out of there! that shit doesn't deserve to be on any list. also, death of aeris shouldn't be number one!
anyway, i'm with innovative me.

#1 the unveling of Samus out of her suit for the first time.

#2 The first time we saw Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog...for the Dreamcast.

"Is it just assumed everyone has allready played that game? That's a pretty silly assumption to make I think."

That's like saying it's silly to assume you've seen Star Wars to a bunch of Sci-Fi fans. Please.

"Before Aeris died in FF7...Nei died in Phantasy Star 2. It's not a direct ripoff or anything, but it's not the first time something like that has happened."

GASP!!! Wha? That's like saying "a character died in _________" so it's not original.

Are you the same Domingo from Warp2Search?

Ugg, dog through the window in Resident Evil?

Yeah yeah yeah I know, I mean the FIRST time. As in, back in 1996.

Crying Game.... when the dude pulled off his pants and wasn't a chick.

...

I HADN'T PLAYED IT UNTIL A FEW MONTHS AGO.

I may only be one person, but especially considering a new Square movie directly pertaining to it is out in Japan and will be out here very soon, it can be assumed there will be a large number of people picking it up for the first time. And having plot-pivital spoilers plastered all over the internet like it came out 20 years ago instead of 7 is not really the best practice. In a few years, sure. Pretty much anyone who will have wanted to play it will, but right now is the WORST time to be indifferently informing people of that little event.

"Ugg, dog through the window in Resident Evil?

Yeah yeah yeah I know, I mean the FIRST time. As in, back in 1996."

Oh man...I never played the games (I hate any game that shares the same control schemes as those games) but man I was watchin my friend play that part and I jumped and fell on the floor.

hahaha!

For me it was finding out you play as raiden in mgs 2 for the first time I played, I didnt check the reviews or anything, but I guess he grew on me.

Silent hill 2 finding out James strangled his wife, the guy seem too nice to do that.

Playing as the artbitur in halo 2, I was wondering, why they did that and end up killing half of my comrads in the 1st battle. But second time I got use to it, and didnt mind him.

Beating the guy on metal gear solid where you had to put the controller in the P2 port...

I agree with both "Bloo" that Aeris's death wasn't shocking at all, and also with "Robert" that the total crap that was MGS2 should be on the list. It should be listed as number 1 probably; I can't describe feeling so lied to after I realized the money induced reviews I read in print and on the net were total BS.

Serious damage was done to the franchise by that sequel that can probably never be made up for. I feel bad for Sony going to bat with MGS4 as the system seller for PS3. It still may appeal to select hardcore gamers, but it just comes off as a dead horse to those of us who crave something new.

I don't think anyone can deny the thrill of playing Wolfenstein 3d or Mario 64 for the first time either. They should rank high.

-Ric

The first time you run into the flood in Halo.

I wasn't reading any hype before playing it. No reviews. No commercials. I thought the bad guys were just guys with guns.

Then the room filled up with hundreds of flood.

I think i screamed.

I'm one and the same.
Do I need to draw other parallels...Mmmkay.
Both Nei and Aeris are main character pseudo "love interests" from RPG's that go into a major battle and die and cannot be resurrected about 1/2 way in. They both mysteriously power up really quickly all of a sudden (moreso than the other characters) and the entire plot centers around them prior to their death.

It was something that HAD been done before. For something supposedly SO shocking, I wasn't shocked in the slightest bit. I'm not saying that it's a rip or anything...but it wasn't new or shocking in the slightest bit. Killing off a main character with a shocking amount of parallels to a character from one of your main rivals should be noted.

It's like saying that Fatal Fury wasn't taken from Street Fighter because "the moves aren't the same!"

It was a clear "borrow" move from Square that 90% of the audience won't notice or remember.

Ganondorf turning into ganon, great moment right there.

How come no one mentioned that?

I say,
1) Samus unveiling
2) End of Hyrule (Zelda fanboy here, ill admit it)
3) The ending on Zelda: Wind Waker, stabs Gannondorf directly in the top of head, i would have never thought that would happen, but i liked it

Gonna Gonna Gonna Gonna! =P
I have to agree with Perri on the RE4 (GC). I have never felt so 'pwned' by a monster in my video game life. Absolutely shocking!

Hmm....

Will Wright unveiling Spore?

A note on the FF7 spoiler issue:

7 years is entirely enough time to stop using spoiler tags, especially in the world of gaming. It's on an outdated console with outdated graphics. It's old news.

Aeris dies, Vader is Luke's father, Old Yeller has to be shot.

LOL, to tell the truth, i have RE4 and im afraid to play it, i have had it for a few months and still have yet to fight a zombie

I would swap #2 and #1.

That's probably the single coolest thing ever to happen in an MMO, and it was all legal. No hax, no script...it was just a guy who took a stupid chance, and bam. Invincible no more, Lord British.

The best part was reading Garriott's reaction. Where he's like, "My screen turned a color I hadn't seen before, and I saw the message on my screen telling me that I died."

You know that had to be the mother of all WTF moments for ol' British.

Don't worry Drew you'll get over it.
Anyway, I do think Mario 4 should have been on the list.

However, Mortal Kombat should have been #3. The fatalities should have socored it in the top three.

can someone fill me in on #2? or a link maybe?

Here is my top 10 list, it blows your Gadget bag away!
1. Seeing King Koopa (Bowser) for the 1st time in "Super Mario Bros" for NES.
2. Fleeing to the escape pod before the timer runs out and sets off the bomb at the end in "Metroid" for NES.
3. Facing Dr. Robotnick in his Death Egg, the final stage of "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" for Genesis.
4. Encounter a Pinky for the first time in playing "Doom" for PC/Jaguar/32X/SuperNES
5. Seeing blood in "Mortal Kombat" from the Arcade, and the use of the unlock code to get it on the Genesis and GameGear.
6. Playing the full fledged "Bram Stoker's Dracula" on the Sega CD
7. The mature content and profanity brought to you by MA-17 rated (before the ESRB) games like "Rise of the Dragon" for Sega CD.
8. Nintendo breaking their clean cookie cutter image in the mid 90s, teaming with Rare to release Killer Instinct for Arcade/SuperNES/Nintendo 64.
9. An inspectors journey alone, remember when Wesker sent you to go investigate the gun shot noise heard far off in the Mansion at the beginning of Resident Evil for PlayStation.
10. Seeing the exagerated breast in Dead or Alive, it was first ever, and a true shocker to 3D head-to-head fighting seen first on PlayStation.

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The most shocking moments in video game history

Reader Comments (106)

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