While testifying in 1993 to the U.S. Congress, then Nintendo of America President, Howard Lincoln, pledged Night Trap would never appear on a Nintendo console. In August of 2018 Night Trap was released for Nintendo Switch.
The game was filmed in 1987 and was originally going to be released for Hasbro's NEMO system (which used VHS cassettes). However, the console was canceled and it was eventually released for the Sega CD in 1992.
The Sega CD game was pulled from retail store shelves in late 1993 as a result of the controversy and congressional hearings. However, after the controversy died down and the ESRB rating system became standard use in late 1994, the game was re-released for several systems: Sega CD (with new packaging), Sega CD 32X, 3DO, DOS and Macintosh. The original Sega CD release is now considered a collector's item.
Was later remastered for the Sega CD 32X to have higher resolution video and more colors on screen. It was also re-released around the same time for the original Sega CD system in the newer cases with the updated packaging including the new rating system that Sega developed themselves (V.R.C.- (Videogame Rating Council)). It was one of the first games to receive their MA-17 rating.
One of the first home video console games to incorporate live-action footage, Night Trap was controversial for its violent and risqué subject matter. This game was featured in the congressional hearings in the early 1990s on video game violence and the corruption of society, led by Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl.