20. Hot Coffee's Lukewarm Exit

In June, the epic three-year Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas hidden sex scene debacle ended with a whimper, when--of the millions that purchased the blockbuster game--just 2,676 people filed claims under a settlement that would refund $5 to $35 each.

Take-Two had to pay out less than $30,000 for the claims--hardly a bank-breaker. The publisher also agreed to pay $860,000 to charity following the settlement. We suppose the general public wasn't as offended as some lawyers assumed.



19. "Sexbox" Uproar

About 40 seconds of footage in 2007's BioWare RPG Mass Effect featured a PG-13 love scene with a blue alien, showing an amount of skin about on par with some evening network TV dramas.

But that didn't keep Fox News' "The Live Desk With Martha MacCallum" from bringing poorly-informed author Cooper Lawrence on the air in January to deride the game as a piece of trash entertainment that teaches young boys to objectify women.

The segment, titled "'Se'Xbox?", made the Internet rounds easily drawing the ire of gamers. Internet-goers quickly jumped to the Amazon.com entry for one of her books, spammed the comments section and gave her work one-star ratings.

Shortly after her appearance on Fox News, she admitted to The New York Times that she had no clue what she was talking about regarding Mass Effect, or as she put it, she "misspoke."

The further-reaching impact of the "Sexbox" fiasco is how games and gamers are portrayed outside of our close-knit circles. As big as the industry has become, we still cross paths with the few grandstanders who take pleasure in relegating game makers and players to sex-starved basement dwellers.



18. LittleBigPlanet Delayed on Muslim Tune

In October, one of the most important PS3 games of the year suffered a short but anomalous setback when Sony Computer Entertainment delayed the release of Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet, just prior to the game's scheduled launch.

Sony moved fast to hold the game back after realizing one of the licensed songs in the game contained references to the Qur'an, which offended some Muslims. Sony initiated a recall and also issued a patch to remove the lyrics.

At the time, Media Molecule said it was "shellshocked and gutted" at the delay.

Sony's decision sparked debate amongst gamers who questioned whether the move was necessary, or if it was a case of knee-jerk political correctness. It also prompted a response from the Islamic Forum for Democracy, whose president said, "The free market allows for expression of disfavor by simply not purchasing a game that may be offensive."



17. Virtual Musicians Outnumber Virtual Jocks

A poll whose results released in October found that the music game genre is now the second-most-played, bumping sports games down a notch. The bulk of the share gain can be attributed directly to Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

The poll, conducted by research firm Odyssey, found that 50 percent of U.S. gamers played sports games and 58 percent played music games. Action games were the most popular with 65 percent.

Much has been made about the "battle of the bands" between Activision's Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises (Guitar Hero alone surpassed the $1 billion mark at the beginning of the year), but the truth is, both have played an astounding role in opening up gaming to a demographic typically averse to anything involving a D-pad.



16. Achievement Unlocked: First Console to $199.99

A year head start is good for a few things, one of them being beating competitors to the mass market sweet-spot of $199. Xbox 360's low-end Arcade SKU was the first "new generation" console to reach the sub-$200 mark, to the delight of Microsoft, game publishers and late-adopting consumers alike. The September price drop across the three models ($199-$399) boosted Xbox 360 sales in the U.S. and Europe, putting more pressure on Sony to trim the price of the $399 PS3.

For now, Sony says it won't budge, with profitability being CEO Howard Stringer's primary focus. Nintendo's $250 Wii is outstripping the cheaper Xbox 360 in near-astronomical volumes, so pricing isn't everything, after all. But Microsoft is still happy to lower the barrier of entry for high-def gaming.