Mortal Kombat (1992)
We will begin with the first game that prompted serious action from the video game industry: Mortal Kombat! For those of you that don't know about the game, it was a fighting game for the Super Nintendo, the Sega Genesis, and arcades everywhere that featured fighters such as Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Raiden, Liu Kang, and many others. These fighters would fight until only one was left alive! Once a fighters health reached zero, the victorious fighter would have the option to perform a fatality, a finishing move that left the depleted opponent a bloody mess. These moves result in death, as the word fatality will tell you. Fatalities can range from decapitation, being burned alive, to complete mutilation of the opponent. One of the most iconic fatalities in the series comes from Sub-Zero where he rips the head off his opponent with the spine still dangling, a move that is simply known as the "spine rip." It is because of this move and countless others in the game that the Electronic Software Ratings Board (ESRB) was created, which rated games based on their content. So we can thank Mortal Kombat and all its gory glory that we now have a ratings system for our games! Feel free to take a look at the game that brought about the ESRB!