On December 9, 1993, and March 4, 1994, members of the combined United States Senate Committees on Governmental Affairs and the Judiciary held congressional hearings with several spokespersons for companies in the video game industry including Nintendo and Sega, involving violence in video games and the perceived impacts on children.

In 1982, the Surgeon General C. Everett Koop asserted that video games may be affecting the health and well-being of young people and were potentially addictive.

[8] Subsequently, a strong rivalry between Nintendo and Sega was formed, referred as the "Console Wars", which continued through the next decade and into the Sixth generation of video game consoles, after which Sega dropped out of the hardware market and became principally a game developer and publisher, and at times working collaboratively with Nintendo.

Entering 1993, the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Better Business Bureau had heard rumblings from politicians that the content of video games was under scrutiny, and sent word to its board members, Sega and Nintendo.

[11][10] Nintendo did not have a ratings system, but as it had control over the cartridge manufacturing process, it would only publish games they felt appropriate for a family console.

[12] Fighting games had become a lucrative property after the release of Capcom's arcade Street Fighter II: The World Warrior in 1991, which established many conventions of the genre.

[2] Greg Fischbach, the co-founder and CEO of Acclaim Entertainment, the company that had secured the license for home console versions of the game, said that while the negative press attention helped to boost the game's popularity, "[w]e didn't want that press or publicity", and recognized that the industry might need to take steps to quell similar problems in the future.

While the Genesis version of Mortal Kombat as shipped eliminated the blood and fatalities, they could be activated via the use of a well-published cheat code.

Night Trap is presented as an interactive movie, using full-motion video to show scenes and allowing players to choose their next option, creating divergence in the story.

[17] The game's narration centered on the disappearance of teenage girls (starring Dana Plato) at a winery estate, tied in with the appearance of vampire-like beings that feed on young females.

"[12] Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com noted that "its game objectives were mischaracterized either through ignorance or deliberate obfuscation, transforming it from bland and barely titillating FMV adventure to child-corrupting sexual boogeyman.

[20] In the months prior to the hearings, there had been a small moral panic in America on gun-related crimes, which fueled the concerns related to violent video games.

One of Senator Joe Lieberman's former chief of staff, Bill Andresen, had been asked by his son to purchase the Sega version of Mortal Kombat for him.

[12] By December 1, 1993, Lieberman held a press conference alongside other children's advocates including Bob Keeshan, the actor of "Captain Kangaroo".

Lincoln rebuffed these claims, telling White, "I can't just sit here and allow you to be told that the video game industry has been transformed from children [as primary consumers] to adults.

[28] Sega's White countered that Nintendo had a similar light gun product on the market, the Super Scope, that was shaped after a bazooka.

During the hearing it showcased a Sega television advertisement where a school-aged child wins several video games over others, and then makes the other students obey his commands.

[24] By the end of the hearing, Sega and Nintendo said they would commit themselves towards working with retail outlets including Sears and Toys 'R' Us to create a voluntary content ratings system to denote any violence or sexual content in their games, to be modeled after the film rating system created by the Motion Picture Association of America.

This commission would then have coordinated with the video game industry to develop a ratings system and method of disseminating information related to violence and sexually explicit content to potential buyers.

According to Digital Pictures founder Tom Zito, "You know, I sold 50,000 units of Night Trap a week after those hearings.

[12] Bill White, Sega Vice President of Marketing, stated that Night Trap was pulled because the continued controversy surrounding it prevented constructive dialogue about an industry-wide rating system.

Kohl stated "Let me give you my honest perspective on this issue: Violent video games that degrade women are harmful to our children and are garbage...But we live by and cherish a Constitution that prevents government from censoring material.

[36] By April 1994, the coalition of companies represented by Heistand established the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), with Acclaim's Fischbach serving as its initial CEO.

While Sega offered their existing VRC as a basis, Nintendo, among others, steadfastly refused as they did not want to have to deal with anything created by their main competitor.

[32] The ESRB was formally introduced to Congress in July 1994 to show that they had met Lieberman's goal, and the Board became officially active on September 13, 1994.

[12] id Software's Doom, a first-person shooter where the player fought hellish creatures and included graphic violence, was released on December 10, 1993, the day following the first hearing.

As a result, Doom is frequently classified along with Mortal Kombat, Night Trap, and Lethal Enforcers as early examples of violent video games highlighted by the media.

[49][50][51] In a landmark case in 2011, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association that video games are an art form, protected by the First Amendment.

[52] One of Howard Lincoln's statements during the first hearing was "Let me say for the record, I want to state that Night Trap will never appear on a Nintendo System."

The statement was jokingly referred to in 2018 when a remake of Night Trap for its 25th anniversary was announced for release on the Nintendo Switch among other systems.