History Main / TheMostDangerousVideoGame

** The ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' season one episode "A Taste of Armageddon" revolved around the most dangerous FourX game. Two neighboring planets, Eminiar and Vendikar, were fighting an entirely simulated ForeverWar to preserve their infrastructure. However, they [[AMillionIsAStatistic had no regard for the actual lives involved]] and mutually agreed to kill everyone that died in ''simulated'' attacks, with casualties chosen semi-randomly via a LotteryOfDoom. Everyone had such a fanatical devotion to this plan that it went on for ''500 years'' before the ''Enterprise'' showed up and they're SavedFromTheirOwnHonor.
** The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' season one episode "Move Along Home" ''seems'' to feature one of these, a game called Chula, belonging to a race of aliens from the Gamma Quadrant obsessed with games called the Wadi. Sisko, Bashir, Dax, and Kyra find themselves transported into the game world to serve as pieces while back on the station, Quark is forced by the Wadi to play to get them back (The Wadi had been winning too much at dabo, so Quark had ordered the games fixed, which the Wadi discovered). It certainly seems like a dangerous game; one of the challenges Sisko and the others are subjected to involves poison gas, for example, and when Quark makes a desperate gamble to end the game quickly and get the crew back, he ''loses'', and Sisko and his crew seemingly die...only to reappear back in Quark's, no worse for the wear, because, as the Wadi leader Falow points out "It's just a game!"
** Though not deadly by itself, a virtual reality game in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Game" caused its users to become highly addicted, to the point of not wanting to do anything else, and also become extremely open to suggestion at the same time. It was planted by a woman seeking to gain control of the Enterprise by controlling her entire crew, and spread through the ship due to peer pressure and, eventually, crewmembers forcing it on the few individuals who refused to participate.
* In ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "First Person Shooter", co-written by Creator/WilliamGibson, a virtual reality game becomes haunted by an AI that kills players in real life. [[CowboyBeBopAtHisComputer The episode gets virtually nothing right about programming or gaming.]]

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* In one episode of ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel'', the MonsterOfTheWeek distributes an addictive video game that makes him stronger the more people play it.

* ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'' uses the same premise as its source material, with one key distinction: [[spoiler:the whole "players dies when their avatars do" deal is actually a GameBreakingBug that came up with ''SAO''[='s=] designer was [[ChristmasRushed rushing to finish the game in time for the NerveGear's launch.]] By the time he found out about the glitch he'd lost his mind from sleep deprivation, so Kayaba decided to [[IMeantToDoThat double-down]], lock everyone in the game, and present himself as a nefarious mastermind rather than a colossal fuck-up.]]

** The ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' season one episode "A Taste of Armageddon" revolved around the most dangerous FourX game. Two neighboring planets, Eminiar and Vendikar, were fighting an entirely simulated ForeverWar to preserve their infrastructure. However, they had no regard for the actual lives involved and mutually agreed to kill everyone that died in ''simulated'' attacks, with casualties chosen semi-randomly via a LotteryOfDoom. Everyone had such a fanatical devotion to this plan that it went on for ''500 years'' before the Enterprise showed up and they're SavedFromTheirOwnHonor.

* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' season one episode "Move Along Home" ''seems'' to feature one of these, a game called Chula, belonging to a race of aliens from the Gamma Quadrant obsessed with games called the Wadi. Sisko, Bashir, Dax, and Kyra find themselves transported into the game world to serve as pieces while back on the station, Quark is forced by the Wadi to play to get them back (The Wadi had been winning too much at dabo, so Quark had ordered the games fixed, which the Wadi discovered). It certainly seems like a dangerous game; one of the challenges Sisko and the others are subjected to involves poison gas, for example, and when Quark makes a desperate gamble to end the game quickly and get the crew back, he ''loses'', and Sisko and his crew seemingly die...only to reappear back in Quark's, no worse for the wear, because, as the Wadi leader Falow points out "It's just a game!"
* Though not deadly by itself, a virtual reality game in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Game" caused its users to become highly addicted, to the point of not wanting to do anything else, and also become extremely open to suggestion at the same time. It was planted by a woman seeking to gain control of the Enterprise by controlling her entire crew, and spread through the ship due to peer pressure and, eventually, crewmembers forcing it on the few individuals who refused to participate.

** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1590 SCP-1590]] is a mobile game created by the MadArtist clique Are We Cool Yet? that taunts players with intimate details of their lives before trapping them in an EldritchLocation.

* In ''Literature/TheCaliforniaVoodooGame'', a game arcade becomes possessed by the loa Oggun, who conjures up a horde of holographic game avatars to attack the Gamers and some dogs they're protecting.

* In Joseph Locke's ''Game Over'' [[{{MeaningfulName}} Hades Video Arcade]] is full of nothing but violent games -- violent games where some of the enemies take on the features of the player's worst bully. Enough time spent playing and the victim eventually commits real-life violence against the person(s) depicted.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

* [[UsefulNotes/OculusRift Oculus]] founder Palmer Luckey has [[https://twitter.com/PalmerLuckey/status/1589391326118039552 created a VR headset]], in honor of ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'', designed to [[InvokedTrope invoke this trope]] in the most literal sense. If you get a game over at any point in a game, three explosive charge modules shoot off that ''[[YourHeadASplode completely obliterate your head.]]''

* Subverted in ''LightNovel/SevenSensesOfTheReUnion''. While the game advertises PermaDeath as a main feature, it's only towards the players' ''account'' and not the actual players themselves. The only character to have died in real life is Asahi via a heart failure and as the show's plot thickens, [[spoiler:it's heavily implied that the game didn't kill her, rather a group of people who wanted to use her [[RealityWarper powers]] for their own gain. And that they possibly haven't killed her, but rather kidnapped her.]]
* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':
** In the first StoryArc, ten thousand players can't log off from the ''Sword Art Online'' VR game and must WinToExit. If a player dies in-game then the [[TechnoBabble microwave scanner]] in their [[DeepImmersionGaming NerveGear]] game interface will overload and destroy their brain. The game and interface creator's simply wanted [[GodhoodSeeker to play God in his virtual world]]. Two thousand die in the first month, with four thousand gone by the time the game is beaten two years later. Since towns are safe zones many players choose to hole up in a city rather than work on beating the game, except [[PlayerKilling PKers]] figure out how to challenge sleeping opponents to a DuelToTheDeath. The whole process from sending the duel request to killing the target takes 2-3 minutes, longer if the victim is significantly stronger than the attacker. Here's hoping you wake up before that happens.
** By the third story arc, the [=NerveGear=] has been replaced by the [=AmuSphere=], which omits the brain-frying microwave system exploited in the first story. The plot therefore revolves around figuring out how one particular player in the VR game ''Gun Gale Online'' is able to murder opponents in real life by shooting them in-game. [[spoiler:Technically, he isn't - he works out his target's RL location, and has an accomplice kill the player in RL at the same time as he kills their VR avatar.]]
** ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline'': Pito escaped the SAO death game by sheer dumb luck, since she had another engagement on the day it went live. Unlike a sane person, she was ''upset'' that she wasn't trapped in a death game, and decided to invoke this in GGO. If she dies in a tournament, she plans to commit suicide after. Therefore, the only way for her to survive is for LLENN to kill her, since Pito promised LLENN earlier that they'd meet up in the real world if LLENN killed her.

-->-- '''Kayaba Akihiko''', ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''

* ''Destroyer of Worlds'' from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow''. Plugging it in (you don't need to play) unleashes an enormous, pixelated devil face with intent to, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the name implies]], [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]]. The characters eventually resort to summoning another game’s hero, a lemon headed creature made of and able to shoot hamburgers, to defeat the Destroyer.

* ''VideoGame/SadSatan'', a video game found on the deep web, is also a real life version of this trope, taken UpToEleven. The supposedly original version contained images and audio from killings and child abuse as [[JumpScare jump scares]]. It really doesn't help that the music is distorted, the visuals are monochromatic, and there's unexplained child figures and a woman screaming. Mutahar (WebVideo/SomeOrdinaryGamers' host) became physically ill from both the music and the aforementioned images, and he quickly removed the link to the game from the video description and reported it to the [=FBI=] for its illicit material. It came to the point where Mutahar's viewers became ''worried'' about his health, but luckily he posted [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCjkgTnKT20 a follow-up video]] confirming that he was alright.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' special "Dance Pantsed", after the girls get a hot new dancing game, Mojo Jojo sends them a fake sequel that turns them into evil cyborgs. This being Mojo, he also outlined his plan on the back, which is how the Professor finds out what happened when the Girls are gone.

* The ''entire plot'' of ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' is an inversion of the Trope. While the VR world is deadly, the BigBad would rather the heroes ''stay out'' of it; they have to go there to stop him every time he launches an attack.

* ''Destroyer of Worlds'' from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow''. Plugging it in (you don't need to play) unleashes an enormous, pixelated devil face with intent to, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the name implies]], [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]]. The characters eventually resort to summoning another game’s hero, a lemon headed creature, to defeat the Destroyer.

* ''Destroyer of Worlds'' from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow''. Plugging it in (you don't need to play) unleashes an enormous, pixelated devil face with intent to, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the name implies]], [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]]. The characters eventually resort to summoning another game’s hero, a lemon headed chef, to defeat the Destroyer.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E5SoosAndTheRealGirl Soos and the Real Girl]]", Soos buys a Japanese dating sim that's possessed by a {{yandere}} {{AI|IsACrapshoot}}.

* One episode of the ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack'' cartoon revolved around Jay entering [[VirtualTrainingSimulation a virtual shooting range]] to improve his poor accuracy score, [[HolodeckMalfunction when something goes wrong.]] Kay has to go in after him because getting shot by the simulated hostiles will not result in the simulation [[GameOver ending/reseting,]] but in death.

* ''Destroyer of Worlds'' from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow''. Plugging it in (you don't need to play) unleashes an enormous, pixelated devil face with intent to, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the name implies]], [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]]. The characters eventually resort to summoning the game’s hero, a lemon headed chef, to defeat the Destroyer.

* ''Destroyer of Worlds'' from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow''. Plugging it in (you don't need to play) unleashes an enormous, pixelated devil face with intent to, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the name implies]], [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]].

* ''Franchise/TheMatrix'', technically.

Lurking in the realm of {{urban legends}} as well as that of out-and-out fiction, the most dangerous video game occasionally finds its way into {{real life}}, in the form of outcries from concerned citizens and {{moral watchdogs}} [[MurderSimulators who claim that real video games incite violence, antisocial behavior, and other ills on those who play them]]. Be that as it may, most of these theories are of the "fringe" variety.