Who hasn't bumped into these kind of games these days? Every now and then there will always be a game controversial enough to piss someone off, then the news media causes moral panic, then politics later plays a role in what to do with these controversial games. Personally I believe that videogames and politics just don't and shouldn't mix, but that's my opinion.
Sometimes, worse case scenario, a game causes so much controversy that it could end up banned in several countries(depending on their laws) due to the game's depiction of either gory violence, racial profiling, satanic references,profanity, high sexual content,rape, bullying, defamation, the list goes on and on.
Even NG had it's share of controversial games too over the years, believe it or not. (The Torture Game, V-Tech Rampage, just to name a few)
Interestingly, Even the most controversial game can be the most desirable, even if it is out of curiosity. Sometimes it isn't even the game that causes controversy, it's the Obsessive players who attempt to recreate or reenact events that are seen in the game for some random reason AND THEN the victims start playing the blame game with the videogame industries. There are even games that, even though they're "historically accurate" they're portrayed in an extremely negative light.
In wikipedia there's a good list of controversial games as well as a list of banned games that's interesting to read up on if you're curious. I should also point out the games that got my attention the most because of how shocking they are or how laughable the excuse to ban a game is.
Mortal Kombat: From day one this was the game that popularized blood and gore in a fighting games. It has received several lawsuits about kids killing others because they saw it in the game. And now the latest game was banned in Australia for its content. It's because of this game That the ESRB rating system was born on the 90s.
GTA: The game that has often been dubbed as "The Terrorist Simulator" and is responsible for several Deaths and lawsuits over the years. It has been condemned in several countries and banned in Brazil.
DOOM: The Game that popularized FPS and introduced Satanic imagery. The game was somewhat responsible for the Columbine Massacre in 1999 and other school shootings, but there's no proof to this matter.
Resident Evil 5: Unintentional Racial Profiling. A white Guy killing people in Africa. Self explanatory (I'm not racist btw).
Rapelay:A Hentai game where you're objective is to rape a mother and her two Daughters. This game has no happy ending. you either get run over by a subway train or get stabbed by a revengeful schoolgirl while you rape her. This caused controversy after someone tried to sell a copy of the game on Amazon.com in and since then has been banned in several countries because of women's rights.
Dead Or Alive Dimensions: A Fighting game that has ""three underage Characters" in skimpy outfits and a free range camera. The game was banned in Norway, Sweden and Denmark because they consider 17 year old girls as "child pornography"... Really?
Mad World:A beat-em-up Sandbox game dubbed "The most Violent Videogame Ever" and it's on the supposedly "family friendly" Wii. Banned in Germany.
JFK Reloaded: A historical reenactment of the John F. Kennedy Assassination. It's a FPS where you play Lee Harvey Oswald armed with a sniper rifle. WTF? That's all I can say.
I can go on and on with this, but I'll leave the rest to you guys. If you know any other controversial games, feel free to mention them. .
If you decide on playing these kind of games, well, play them at your own risk.
Gamer discretion is advised... :P