10 Video Games Banned For Ridiculous Reasons

Whether or not you agree with them, some video game bans are at least understandable; Manhunt, Postal, Hatred, GTA, and so on. However, occasionally a seemingly innocent game will be banned for totally unexpected reasons. From Pokemon to Splinter Cell, here are 10 video games banned for ridiculous reasons.
VO: Peter Austin (@ThatPeterAustin)
Script: Cat Elliot (@arrrrghzombies)
Video Editor: Lean Bacalzo (@LeanBacalzo)
#BannedVideoGames #Pokemon #SplinterCell
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[@SoSickRick]

Banned in Brazil sounds like a 80’s/90’s action movie

[@bewd4310]

A straight to TV movie.

[@gfear24]

To be fair, they're still making Sega Master Systems and games in Brazil.

[@Tom-us4lr]

O pior país de todos. Cheers.

[@reesealva5295]

For the Pokémon ban, one of the reasons was due to the colorless energy symbol (used for normal, flying and dragon types) in the tcg being too similar to a Star of David

[@dylanogg347]

I'd say "you're kidding". But Saudi Arabia banned Pokémon TCG Cards in 2001, due to "promoting Zionism". So this kind of nonsense in relation to Pokémon is nothing new. Heck, I think a pastor stabbed a sword through a Pikachu plushie around a decade or more back due to some bizarre religious reasoning.

[@arturoreyes2119]

....that's it? That's the reason Pokemon is "promoting Zionism"? Wow, I never would have called it.

[@DogcrotchHell]

I would love to see the dudes who are playing the game in order to decide if it should be banned

[@chrisb6939]

Counter Strike was really banned in Brazil because it never got a Master System port.

[@darthconquerus]

I wondered why playing Pokémon gave me a pressing need to support Israel

[@em_birch]

Having not yet watched the video, this is a wonderful out-of-context statement.

[@mariano3716]

...but then I remember Nahkba and the slaughter of the palestine people and it goes away very fast...

[@shaun1230]

@Trojansfan shhh don't tell the Israelis that, they're sleeping

[@em_birch]

Saying Wonder Woman's costume in that game was "revealing" and insinuating that it was meant to be titillating is a bit far fetched for me. She doesn't even have any real cleavage going on. It's all sternum and collarbone.

[@OfficialFingazMC]

Dead or alive jiggle mechanics needed!

[@Tatokat]

You can see her shoulders. And everyone knows you are only allowed to see a woman's shoulders if you're married to her (or was it the knees?).

[@em_birch]

@@Tatokat You jest, but it's crazy to me to think that, not so long ago, showing ankle was considered indecent.

[@Looby_Lake]

I was thinking that too

[@Gilhelmi]

@@em_birch.................. I have some bad news for you. In some places this is still true. Mainly the middle east and parts of Asia.

[@willcooper5389]

Getting Up is really difficult. Never played the game.

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Needlessly long game titles needs to be a list on its own soon. A suggestion: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army

[@Se7en2107]

Summertime High School: A Young Man's Notes-How a New Exchange Student Like Myself Ran Into His Childhood Friend on the School Tour, Then for Some Reason Became Super-Popular with the Girls for His Daily Scoops on the School Photography Club Even Though He Only Takes Panty Shots, and What He Thinks as He Goes on Dates During His Summer of Island School Life.

[@Se7en2107]

Yes, that was one title.

[@ladydrace]

OMG I'm Danish and I had no idea we banned games for this. I knew about the laws against advertizing certain addictive/damaging substances - especially to kids, but it never ocurred to me that this might include product placement and such. Huh. The more you know.

[@tahirski]

Ironically enough these days we cannot watch a two min video these days without a Rockstar advertisement 😅

[@beashnpull]

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory was banned in South Korea only because it featured a war between North and South Korea in one level.

[@Shelley444]

15:34 looks like that character is in sync with what you're saying lol!

[@yahyamoustahfid1373]

That wasn't actually Saudi Arabia's flag though .

[@lilsunny7399]

This list reminded me of something. I'm not sure if this was an injustice thing of "change the name or ban" but the original PS2 release of Bully was renamed Canis Canem Edit (Latin: Dog eat dog) in The UK. Which is weird because the scholarship edition re-release on Xbox 360 and PC was just called Bully: Scholarship Edition

[@softcuddlydragoness]

far cry 3 one make no sense at all,it setted on a completly fictional island setting that isnt specified which country it belong to

[@thedeepfriar745]

You could do an entire video on the exploits of American former lawyer Jack Tompson

[@nicolevarnam2290]

Awesome list video! Thanks❤ Oh in the last entry, was that a shot out to Nirvana? Probably not but had to ask💙😂

[@unHumam]

11:31 - 11:33 Says Saudi Arabia *shows UAE flag*

[@elmastershakeo]

Peter Austin is a bit of a muppet :D

[@elmastershakeo]

@matt fahringer I'm going to need some ice for that year one burn

[@razieltalos]

whats the difference really, a sandbox is a sandbox

[@elmastershakeo]

@matt fahringer Thanks 😊

[@mboettcher349]

Getting Up is an underapppreciated gem.

[@omaro5203]

Yes it is!

[@truejoker1211]

Yeah but with Def Jam around it didn't stand a chance.

[@mboettcher349]

@@truejoker1211 I feel like the similarities between those games is pretty superficial.

[@k1ngk4gl3]

Deserves a reboot/sequel

[@mapoosianmakrak1487]

It introduced me to the artist Eddie Kendricks with the song "My People"...

[@grahamwebb1367]

pikachu all about zionism i frickin knew it not this time pikachu

[@michaelowen4331]

GTA IV was banned in the UAE because of line in the game where Playboy X mentions building a skyscraper in Dubai.

[@TyphonJRT]

Spec Ops The Line was banned in the UAE for having a destroyed Dubai as the setting.

[@LobsterPuncher]

The Zionist mix-up in Saudi Arabia was due to a translation issue. The religious order was quoted as saying "Ohhhh you said PikaCHU. I thought you said PikaJEW lmao! Fatwa lifted bro." And then everyone had a good laugh.

[@mapoosianmakrak1487]

Everybody: "Coo•wait" (Kuwait) Narrator Peter: "Q 8" 🤷🤦

[@gregoriovieira7806]

CS is not banned in Brazil anymore. And the reason was that it incentivates policial agression (at least this is what I know about it). Amazing video! Loved that you said a case from Brazil!

[@bensonsj98]

I have also been banned from several countries for ridiculous reasons.

[@bennelson-taylor4901]

Apparently from what I can find the reason why Pokemon was seen to have a link to Zionism was that the TGC normal type card looked to much like the Star of David

[@TvTrollByIvy]

I do believe the ban on Counter Strike was lifted in Brazil, seeing as we have a big CS player community here... -i could be wrong, tho-

[@TvTrollByIvy]

@AMphv eu sei.

[@ibrahim_bond]

The new videogames are not banned In Saudi Arabia I’m a Saudi Arabian but the cards are not sold locally I wish that the show aired in Saudi Arabia and they sold Pokémon cards

[@HanDaimond]

I'm really wondering where do you get all those stock clips.

[@LilleyComix97]

Loved that Nirvana Territorial Pissings reference at the end lol Also when talking about my favorite Splinter Cell game ever!

[@YuubiTimberwolf]

Manhunt & Manhunt 2 is still a game that is banned in several countries including germany even when its pretty harmless compared to GTA or Dead Space nowdays but the ban was never lifted

[@craiggibbs9888]

Shame that the Brian Butterfield reference didn't lead to a crispy hoi sin owl / Hoothoot joke

[@AlexTenThousand]

I remember the Zionism argument being tossed against the Trading Card Game - that the symbol for colourless energy was a Star of David.

[@Wokerz92]

Please can someone tell me the background music used during the countdown ???

[@reagandow850]

Great episode boys!!! 💪👍

[@ThisCharmingMan1984]

I don’t know why Ubisoft didn’t fight Monster Energy; countless other games, films, TV shows, novels, etc, have used the word “Monster/s” in their title, including before they even existed as a company. I mean, there was an actual film, called ‘Gods and Monsters’, which starred the likes: of Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, and Lynn Redgrave. It was released in 1998- 4 years before Monster Energy existed; was a partial biography of the last days of James Whale, before he committed suicide; he was the legendary director, responsible for such horror classics, as: ‘Frankenstein’ (1931), ‘The Invisible Man’ (1933), ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ (1935), etc. There’s no way that Monster Energy would have won the lawsuit, if Ubisoft had just refused to go along with their complete bullshit; I know lawsuits are an expensive business, and a lot of hassle, but it’s not like Ubisoft doesn’t have the cash, and resources, to fight such a legal battle. And now, the next time someone uses the word ‘monster’ in the title of their game, film, novel, etc, Monster Energy is gonna feel emboldened, and will try to intimidate them, with the threat of another frivolous lawsuit; I just hope that, the next time they try such a ridiculous thing, the creators of the project fight back, and give them the fucking spanking they deserve. 🤞😀🤞

[@kassandraodessa2633]

Not necessarily a ban but cowboy bebop for ps2 was canceled because the series wasn't popular in Japan even though it was MEGA popular in the us!

[@roryk101]

Thanks Cat and Lean and Tiny Peter

[@ciaranlongbow2071]

These videos are great to just have on in the background but the stock photos are a bit much for me. Peter’s cadence being so similar in all of these videos is hilarious to me too 😂

[@ciaranlongbow2071]

Also, including the sentence “neary an eyelid was batted” probably isn’t the best choice to be inclusive to all your fans of different intellect levels 🤣🤣 made me stop and think and I’m born and raised in London

[@em_birch]

@@ciaranlongbow2071 The more I think about it, the more meaning "bat an eye" loses. It gets progressively more nonsensical. It sounds so outdated at this point, and yet it's still very much in our modern lexicon.

[@mariano3716]

@@em_birch bat comes from latin languages, bater in portuguese means hit, strike. English English (LOL) is way more latin-based than American one, so it makes sense

[@em_birch]

@@mariano3716 Yeah, I wasn't...questioning it's use. Like, we use it in the US too. But lots of reactions to things don't directly involve the face (or movement in the eyes), so it's a weird saying to think about. ...I think too hard about dumb things sometimes. XD

[@mariano3716]

@@em_birch hehehehe that's normal...but how can a facial reaction not include the face?

[@robsiddall9731]

I'm going back to the 90s for some pumps "no wait hang on "pumps are trainers

[@mintyninja6418]

I mean I could understand the whole thing with the hot coffee but wasn't that actually like not even in the game wasn't it like hack back then by somebody and that's how they found out which if that's the case that's incredibly incredibly stupid

[@Linscass]

Dear triple jump could we get a video regarding the current s**t storm surrounding watch dogs legion on the Xbox and the whole it doesn't work etc...

[@raphaelcalado4335]

As a brazilian | can assure you guys, the same leniency our government show about our social problems are displayed in our banned videogame cases. Counter Strike was played in every lan house around here, and the game was very easy to find. Brazil as many countries have laws, the thing is, but we apparently can't enforce the law in any capacity. Which is fortunate when talk about game bans. Many bans are proposed by religious congressmen and always are empty as these parasites morals, so to get bans so easily ignored here is a good thing.

[@zevfeitelson]

Could you guys rank every handheld console ever?

[@JustGoodGames.]

I love how crazy this request would sound on any other channel.

[@zevfeitelson]

@@JustGoodGames. yep, but the did it in the end and it's great, even though the DSi should clearly be number one, jk

[@frederz6]

7:46 wow, I rented this game as a kid and enjoyed it but could never remember the name...understandable now...Thanks, Triple Jump Also fun story because of this game I wrote the TRANE on a train thinking I was so cool. Young me was a moron

[@vittorCovolan]

I'm Brazilian and I've always played CS, I don't remember if that game was really banned.

[@vittorCovolan]

@polichedconspiracy I played on this map

[@mariano3716]

Being Brazilian, I think the issue with violence in favelas is that drug trafficking/police militias presence there and the rampant police forces' incursions, so violence is normal unfortunately, with many poor (and black, as both are strongly connected in Brazil) people caught in the crossfire. The idea of invading there, where people live, is a little bit of a fetichization of the violence that happens there. Also, the complex, intertwined relationship between the 'factions' involved tends to be emptied. Don't think it's a matter of banning, but creating a discussion on the idea of shooting bangbang shenaningans on an exotic, poor backgrounds as something fucked up.

[@googleyoutubechannel8554]

"fav-ehh-luhs" - Let me guess, you have never left England?

[@xavierjohnson2321]

I feel like number 9 should be possibly/maybe 1/4 of the games made banned or censored in Australia

[@maximillianmarcosebastian880]

6:41 - 🤣 Ada Indonesia coy! (There's Indonesia in here!) 🤣 14:35 - Nice to see a pouty image of our 6th president here on this vid 🤣

[@AdamKyles]

I'm curious: Max Payne 3 doesn't paint a flatting picture of poverty in Brazil, or Brazil in general. Does anyone know if it was banned or censored in Brazil?

[@ViniLdCff]

No, it wasn't. It was even localized and dubbed in portuguese. I don't recall counter strike being banned here either. The only ones I recall being banned were Bully and Everquest online, by a crazy judge in the state of Goiás (bully because of the controversy surronding it, and everquest because he heard that kids were spending too much time playing it), but nobody cared and still imported/pirated/played/whatever the game. It's very common saying stuff were banned in Brazil when in fact it never was. I remember americans saying that the Rio episode of the simpsons was banned here, but actually people were REALLY looking forward to it. I remember a major TV channel promoting the hell out of it before premiere. Definitely, they just invented those rumors to hype the thing in US.

[@JcHellspawn]

@@ViniLdCff É mas counter strike foi de fato banido por um tempo em 2008, se vc pesquisar rapidinho vc acha. A questão é que brasileiro ta nem aí se e proibido ou não kkkk, ainda mais numa época em que a pirataria de jogos era bem alta. Então bans como esse provavelmente passaram despercebido pelas pessoas. Não sei se há pessoas que inventam bans igual vc disse, mas nesse vídeo em particular o cara não estava errado.

[@GhostRoasterDrankAllTheMilk]

For a person who is part Danish, in full honesty I was quite surprised to find that we don't like to market energy drinks. Now I know why there is barely any energy drinks in my local Kvickly or Netto store

[@badnewscrew8826]

damn if monster is actually pissy about a video game using the word monster in the title then they really dropped the ball when they let monsters inc slip through the cracks and i don’t even wanna know there thoughts on monster jam.

[@greenhowie]

To be fair I wouldn't put it past Ubisoft to incite a coup for market leverage.

[@themushroom_dude]

6:30 Quoting and old Brazilian meme "Aqui tem coragem"

[@basitsnake]

I believe the zionism thing was because of one of the pokemon sporting a star of david. Alakazam i think

[@DBoy38]

@houdini2233 It was Kadabra not Alakazam.

[@DBoy38]

There's also Staryu and Starmie ss well.

[@PANDORAZTOYBOKZ]

For the record, his name being Trane is probably not to be edgy, but rather an homage to legendary Jazz Saxophonist John Coltrane, who was known as Trane by most, given that the context involves a street artist. Seems a little rude all things considered.

[@StageRight123]

A Love Superme!

[@Juice8767]

I’m not sure if that February 29th joke is the worst or most tasteful thing I’ve ever heard.

[@OfficialFingazMC]

I think it will pass most people by tbh. So for those of us that spotted it, I think it's tasteful :)

[@markfromhungary3022]

Im love favela map in mw2's multiplayer

[@adammckay3299]

14:26 Was... Was that a Nirvana reference? Or is that just a regular saying?

[@ComXDude]

Pretty sure it's just a regular saying, though it's also entirely possible that they intended it as a Nirvana reference as well.

[@ourwritercat]

It is just a regular saying, but I definitely had Territorial Pissings in my head writing it 😂

[@kattekaren]

I did not know about the Danish ban O.O .. how come we can play Death Stranding then? That's odd

[@captaindreadnought212]

just out of interest was destroy all humans ever banned in Australia?

[@k.roberts8541]

there was a stir about the probe originally but nothing became of it

[@joelmccracken7642]

Starmie could be mistaken for the star of David... possibly? I dunno.

[@VisualGourmet]

There is a videogame Ben in the Spiderman games.

[@adamcowood7553]

Oh yeah here we go...

[@briancorvello3620]

3:50 Uhm.... Technically it does.

[@beyblademaster2473]

Getting baned is dumb😒.

[@espurious]

Batman agrees with you

[@mistermack4987]

Trane was short for his real name : Coltrane. You yob

[@granzert1711]

Like John Coltrane.

[@laberintos]

You sound like one of the guys of WhatCulture Gaming.

[@thecrowngaming2869]

Inquisition doesn't get the love it deserves, so so good

[@johncarey2480]

Sorry, how is the first one any more ridiclous than banning a game for depictions of alcohol and drug abuse?

[@huntertomblin1946]

Manhunt, GTA, and Postal are not understandable just because of sex and violence. Nitpicking AT THE BEST

[@Googaliemoogalie]

hmm a law banning things in India passed in 1891....I wonder if someone else wrote that law on their behalf maybe

[@onvasean2485]

I have no idea Pokemon is turning me into a zionist

[@BeniaminZaboj]

Very good that promoting degenracy was banned in India

[@aidandegg4176]

Pokemon = Zionism? What is wrong with this world? I can understand being critical of it when it comes to issues like Palestine for sure, and from a cultural point of view I can get the issues with the very mild "gambling" aspect of the capture based gameplay and the evolution thing I can certainly see, and I'd possibly even understand the concerns (if any were had) about the battling promoting violence in a very socially conservative society but to ban a videogame based around going on adventures with your growing party of creature chums on the basis of the game somehow relating to Zionism seems a bit......well I'm completely nonplussed by that.

[@mamailo2011]

It does have a 5 star star in the cards and have the same proportions and orientation as the Star of David

[@androidoficeandfire9667]

I read somewhere the explanation given (sit down this one's a doozy) is that Pokemon means I am Jewish in Arabic (it doesn't by the way)

[@eddiehimself]

Didn't the Indonesian government notice that all the cars in Far Cry 3 are left-hand drive? lol.

[@GNorton]

you guys rule

[@Macephtopheles]

The inner child in me is amused by the video URL for a video about ridiculous reasons for games being banned ending in "Fk"... If only there were a 't/T' between the "wFk" it could have been all the better.

[@alexandernichols413]

There was a Pokémon that resembles the Star of David ✡️.

[@DBoy38]

Starmie, i presume?

[@joaopaulohoppe1543]

@@DBoy38 Perhaps Cryogonal

[@DBoy38]

@@joaopaulohoppe1543 The ban was around the time of Gen 2, so no.

[@joaopaulohoppe1543]

@@DBoy38 ah, true.

[@tallguy-gaminguk1316]

Man Hunt

[@poop24]

Diarrhea?

[@SinCity2100]

I live in the middle east, and I was a diehard Pokémon player until they banned everything Pokémon because of the Zionism stuff, even thought this game is Japanese... they misinterpreted the Pokémon meaning as : "I'm a Jew" and Pikachu as :"Be a Jew"! and I believed it until years later I saw a kid wearing a shirt written as Pocket Monster as a short for Pokémon ... and wasted years of my childhood I'll never get back.. whoever made this ban was clearly a dumb person and completely ruined my childhood for no reason....

[@arlynnecumberbatch1056]

I feel so bad for gamers inside the sac-religious countries unable to experience awesome stuff the rest of the world has. If i was living anywhere in the middle east im outta here (that is if i was not forced to be brainwashed by the so called allah himself for whatever reason)

[@SinCity2100]

@@arlynnecumberbatch1056 it wasn't because of the "sac-religious" countries, it's because whoever caused this whole thing was so stupid that he didn't conduct any searches to make sure that the information they got is correct..

[@arlynnecumberbatch1056]

@@SinCity2100 oh shoot. Sorry for sounding a bit hostile there. Cant get over the fact most of the reasons in this video are related to it

[@SinCity2100]

@@arlynnecumberbatch1056 I guess..

[@speedwaynutt]

Banned for Double Jumping and not Triple Jumping?

[@AquilaFawkes]

I sware to god I've seen this list before... I remember because I commented about your pronounciation on Darah dan Doa. It's better now, still a bit butchered tho.

[@Yaakov567]

It’s funny because I played Pokémon all the time when I was a kid and I ended up immigrating to Israel in my 20’s, so I guess it worked on me 😅

[@A.GAMING1]

I heard pika in Jewish means independence and chu means land correct me if I’m wrong from this statement

[@Yaakov567]

I live in Israel and I’m Jewish. Those translations are totally incorrect. There’s no “ch” sound in Hebrew

[@A.GAMING1]

@Jacob Fein Sorry about that

[@Yaakov567]

@@A.GAMING1 don’t be sorry! It’s simply some misinformation I’m correcting, no worries

[@OfficialFingazMC]

00:06:54 am I the only one that would buy those trainers...? Good Lord, I really am a chav aren't I

[@theMan1068]

@teamtriplejump Release the trainers!

[@simplyhuman3982]

I don't know what a chav is, but you probably are.

[@OfficialFingazMC]

@@simplyhuman3982 Council. House. And. Violent

[@simplyhuman3982]

@@OfficialFingazMC and that is supposed to make sense?

[@OfficialFingazMC]

@@simplyhuman3982 Read the first letter of each word and what does it spell? I'm guessing you're not from the UK. But if you also need to know what a council house is; it's the equivalent of the projects or ghetto.

[@OV3RLORD1751]

to be honest if your from the perspective of the countries banning these games I understand their reasoning

[@ajmccorristin1125]

Well the gen 3 legendries are based on 3 biblical legends. That could be it if you squint really really hard. Maybe. No no this is just silly

[@bigboimackenzie5836]

Love you TP

[@ComXDude]

India is Tevinter confirmed?

[@LordmonkeyTRM]

Hang on I thought you guys liked hot fresh science facts, not cold hard ones?! o_0 p.s it's ok to like both.❤️👌

[@cc3230]

What is stinky Steve and why did that look like blackface?

[@cpt_nordbart]

Where Germany? Seriously we can't buy sexy games on steam. Also don't mention the war. Though they have been a bit more relaxed towards Wolfenstein. Since the Nazis are always the baddies.

[@FirebombFritzz]

No bad Japanese inappropriate game or tf2 for you

[@platypuspigeon3103]

Bon Bon Bon Bons

[@DogcrotchHell]

You know that Taiwan's own constitution says it is a part of China right? There is even less of a debate about Hong Kong and Tibet, this is both domestically and internationally recognized. Clearly not. If you want to understand why all of this talk of sovreignty is important, you should go study some of the history of where the UK did to China before the founding the PRC, and then maybe you will get a clue. The Opium Wars might be a good starting point.

[@omgHeadshots]

Why have an ESRB rating if your still going to ban things that are edgy, no one is forcing you to play it lol

[@ElNinoDeLaFrontera]

Based India

[@doopercooper1136]

What I’m pissed about is that a band Mortal Kombat 2011 in Australia so that sucks