Tomb Raider

Platforms: PC, Mac, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Saturn
Publisher: Eidos Interactive, 1996
Developer: Core Design Ltd.

Tomb Raider may seem like a walk in the park next to Mortal Kombat or Doom, but pop culture watchdogs found plenty to chirp about. Actually, relatively few of the complaints wagered by the public were about the game; they were directed more at its adjunct properties, such as the movies and individuals associated with the franchise. But the game itself had its warts, too.

When the first Tomb Raider appeared on the PC in 1996, the biggest shock was that scores of endangered animals were available for the killing. Throughout the levels, Lara Croft encountered tigers and gorillas, for example, both endangered species, and they were targets, should Lara hope to progress through the game. There was also the issue of the enormity of the lead character's breasts, which notably grew larger in subsequent games.

Another exotic locale means another controversy.

Amid the endangered-species complaints and ridicule of the character's independent and self-governing bosom, one of the bigger issues surfaced in December 1999 when the New York Post, Salon, and numerous other publications reported that 28-year-old Kenneth Lockley, a Core Design executive, was arrested in London for alleged solicitation of a 9-year-old girl for an "unnamed" third party to have sex with.

Eidos and Tomb Raider dodged the bullet as this story managed to sweep itself under the carpet relatively quickly. But the controversy started again amid release of the Tomb Raider movies. The first Tomb Raider film, starring Angelina Jolie, received criticism for its naïve and, some critics felt, vilifying view of certain ethnic persuasions. But the second film, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, met a greater challenge when in August 2003 ABC Radio News Australia and other sources reported that mainland China had banned the movie entirely, calling it "anti-Chinese."

Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft

China's government complained that the film falsely portrayed China as "a country with no government and overrun by secret societies," according to ABC News. The BBC reported that same month that a Chinese official said, "After watching the movie, I feel that the westerners have made their presentation of China with malicious intention. ... The movie does not understand Chinese culture. It does not understand China's security situation. In China there cannot be secret societies."

On February 15, 2004, Eidos attempted its first move into the spotlight from the other side of the stage by announcing that it would release a game called Whiplash, developed by Crystal Dynamics and aimed at kids 7 years of age and older. The game's objective would be to free laboratory animals from torture in the name of science, the U.K. Telegraph reported. As noble as the game's premise may be to some, British police and MPs are not happy about it and have called the game "irresponsible," according to the Telegraph. Penny Hawkins, the deputy head of the research animals department at the RSPCA (similar to the US Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), was also critical, the Telegraph said. "Animals suffer when they are used in research, and it's extremely disappointing that someone would see fit to produce a so-called humorous computer game out of that suffering," Hawkins said. "We believe that being violent is not the best way to help animals. What is not needed is a computer game trivialising their suffering," she added.