I know it wasn't GTA, but I'm having trouble remembering older games where your goal wasn't saving the world or a princess. Help me out duders, I ain't writing no research paper, I'm just curious.
What was the first game where you actively commited crimes?
http://www.giantbomb.com/keystone-kapers/3030-4423/
i think this might be the first one in video games, but could be wrong.
Death Race in 1976 technically had the player committing vehicular homicide.
"technically" yeah....but it says gremlins, does that really count as a crime? Good answer though, thanks for the reply.
http://www.giantbomb.com/keystone-kapers/3030-4423/
i think this might be the first one in video games, but could be wrong.
Yeah running from a cop is a crime I guess....I never played it, is there a reason you're running? Do you commit a crime beforehand?
@vinny_says said:
I know it wasn't GTA, but I'm having trouble remembering older games where your goal wasn't saving the world or a princess.
Every sports game? Puzzle games?
As far as actually "committing crimes," the old adventure game Gold Rush! had a few different crimes that you could commit (trespassing, stealing, and apparently claim jumping, which I don't remember) that would result in you being hanged from a gallows on-screen. (The same thing would also happen if you failed the copy protection check!)
@cmblasko: THIEF!
http://www.giantbomb.com/keystone-kapers/3030-4423/
i think this might be the first one in video games, but could be wrong.
Yeah running from a cop is a crime I guess....I never played it, is there a reason you're running? Do you commit a crime beforehand?
Description's wrong. You play the cop in Keystone Kapers, chasing the robber. At least on the 2600.
The Legend of Blacksilver on the Commodore 64. I either stole from a shopkeeper or killed him (can't remember which) and I had the entire town guard after me. It was pretty scary. That's the first "crime" I remember committing in a game.
BTW, check out this ballin' box art. I love old video game art that looks like it should be painted on the side of a van. :)
I remember playing Daggerfall as a little kid and i ran around hack peoples doors down and stealing all their stuff. If i got caught i'd fight and kill the guards and run away.
By "actively committed crimes," we are apparently not talking about murder, running from the cops, or basically anything besides stealing?
Bonanza Bros. is probably what you're looking for.
Spy vs. Spy came out earlier, but doesn't seem to fit your very specific definition of crime.
Paperboy, you were actively destroying people's properties just because they didn't subscribe to your shitty newspaper.
Well in Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the Atari 2600 you play as Leatherface and kill children.
http://www.giantbomb.com/the-texas-chainsaw-massacre/3030-2292/
The Angry Video Game Nerd did an episode about it if you want to see it in action.
Probably something in the 90's era of gaming, but GTA3 was the first ps2 game I ever played and it was absolutely BANANAS to my adolescent mind, in terms of doing wrong things in a game. Putting in the dismemberment cheat code and shooting dudes limbs off has forever affected my gaming mind.
Death Race in 1976 technically had the player committing vehicular homicide.
I don't see any reference to this game existing in 1976, care to provide corroborating evidence.
Death Race in 1976 technically had the player committing vehicular homicide.
I don't see any reference to this game existing in 1976, care to provide corroborating evidence.
Just going off the GB wiki page.
My guess would be Kaboom! from 1981. It is a human character dropping bombs, not a car, not a creature....thus a crime.
@cmblasko: THIEF!
You are filth! I'll have your hand for that!
My first video-game was Tarzan for the PS1 and at one point i'm pretty sure I killed some endangered stuff.
Final Fight. Self-defense may not be a crime, however breaking phone booth, benches, crates, and signs is considered vandalism and property damage. ( Apparently Mayor Haggar don't give a shit as long as it's your tax dollars paying for the damages. )
Do you mean crimes in an environment similar to the real world? Because yeah, people are listing off a bunch of early games where your main action is something that would be considered criminal (dropping bombs on stuff or whatever), but the setting is so fantastical/post-apocalyptic/undefined that it doesn't feel like a crime in the same way as GTA. Are goombas people, in the Mario universe? Is stomping on them murder?
As far as committing a crime in a game that can be replicated in the real world the only memory I've got that is the earliest for me was the first GTA on the PSOne, maybe BlackThorne on the SNES though if you consider turning the shotgun on your fellow human slaves.
There was a game for 8 bit home computers called 'They Stole a Million' http://www.mobygames.com/game/they-stole-a-million from the mid '80's. You purchased blueprints for your job, hired experts (eg: getaway drivers, alarm experts etc) then planned the raid on a time-line: at 12:01 disable alarm, 12:02 open door etc, then watched as your crew commited the crime (or failed spectacularily). It was pretty impressive for the time.
Vette! for 80's/90's IBM PC's, Open world racing games were cops would chase you if you ran over pedestrians. Also had a great anti-piracy check, game would call you out saying you are driving a stolen corvette with police sirens.
Vette! was one of the first I played too, at least where I can clearly remember the premise. In David Braben's Elite (1984) there was a lot of ways to break the law too, such as unlawful discharge of weapon while within a space station's docking perimeters, or just trying to smuggle drugs and weapons. You could also fire upon other ships, but I don't remember ever outgunning one.
Also, one of the many varieties of Drug Wars, I guess? I don't remember when the first of those was released though, but I'd imagine it being released in the 80's.
Does Custer's Revenge counts?
Rape and bondage was pretty hardcore for a 82 game...
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