Sex & Games

Considering the Hot Coffee scandal - this only lends further feul to people like Jack Thompson, who is adamant that this kind of gaming should never happen. As a gamer - I can see where you are coming from - and can understand your position on the issue - but can also see that gaming will not be disadvantaged by the non-inclusion of nudity and/or sex. Considering the current backlash against gaming, especially in the mainstream press - you have a hard time ahead of you if you think you can make people change their minds on this hotly contested issue. Good luck on that.

I understand your concerns, Sagacious Tien, but please understand that this SIG is reaching out to everyone concerned, including people like Jack Thompson. I would love to sit down and talk with him, with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and with anyone who doubts the beneficial qualities of socially-responsible erotic gaming. My company, Black Love Interactive, is involved with entertainment titles that don't just titillate- they educate. They help people enjoy, explore, and celebrate sex in positive healthy ways. Some of our projects take the fun of gaming and use it to deliver critical public health statistics and knowledge about safer sex and sexual consequences. Some of our game features are designed specifically for couples to enrich their sex lives and bring them closer in their relationships. Even a purely entertaining game like Leisure Suit Larry can do wonders to promote healthy attitudes and open dialogue of sex in repressed cultures. It's high time people got a grip: sex = healthy. And btw, the backlash in mainstream press (and amongst mature, thoughtful people- who are not represented too well in the game enthusiast press) was against Rockstar/Take Two for making poor decisions that caused a scandal like this and tarnished the ESRB's reputation. The backlash was not against sex in games. That's a not-so-subtle distinction which was lost on most gamer-press writers and sadly, the mainstream picked up some of those threads of misdirected anger (no one was trying to censor anyone- they simply wanted adult games to be labeled responsibly and sold to the correct demographic).

I'm sorry, Kelly, but I don't buy it.

I've played the latest Leisure Suit Larry game (the reviews said it was funny. It wasn't). There was nothing healthy about it-- the main character is a seriously damaged individual with a "do anything to get laid" attitude that certainly shouldn't be lauded.

And even if the game were intended to educate, rather than titillate, how do you explain the upcoming release of the "uncensored edition?" What purpose-- other than titillation and crass commercialism-- is served by allowing gamers to see computer animated genitals?

With regards to the game being used to "open dialogue of sex in repressed cultures," this falls back to an age-old canard that is employed against people with standards. Namely, that just because someone thinks that sex shouldn't be everywhere, then they must think it shouldn't be anywhere.

Of course sex is healthy-- within certian bounds (Obviously, jumping into bed with anything remotely willing isn't healthy, but that's beside the point). And of course it's natural.

But sexual video games are neither healthy nor natural. You can say you want to educate all you want, but the consumers of these games are in it for the titillation plain and simple. (Sadly, I thought the game was going to be a baudy comedy, not the random boob-fest it actually was. Live and learn, I suppose.)

Gamers aren't exactly known for their good social skills anyway, and this sort of thing just contributes to their asocial nature. In the first place, it fools them into thinking they're meeting a fundamental human need for human interaction alone. It strips sex of any emotional component, and turns it into a hedonistic concept. Love never enters into it, and in fact it's treated as some concept secondary to the physical activity.

In the second place, the way women are rendered in games (such as LSL) creates just one more unrealistic expectation of what makes an attractive woman. Even the most surgically enhanced Maxim girl won't exceed 10% silicon.

This is healthy?

Finally, I'll agree with Sagacious Tien." There is no good reason for explicit sex in games. Hollywood used to make all kinds of good movies, telling all kinds of good stories, without it. Movies like "Casablanca" and "Gone With the Wind" addressed relationships and sex without getting sleazy, and with no nudity whatsoever. The movie "Grumpy Old Men" managed to address sex between the main characters tastefully, and never showed a thing.

Movies like Sideways, on the other hand, threw sex scenes in pell nell and never came close to being a good movie. (I don't care what the critics say: Watching a loser and a letch bum around wine country and hurt everyone they sncounter isn't entertainment)

Game developers can tell a good story without nudity and sexually explicit material. The fact is that it's just easier to sell games with nipples in them, which brings up the biggest problem with the sexualization of games: The commercialization of sex. Surely, this wouldn't be the first industry to turn sex into a commodity, but why contribute to the problem? Why not serve as an example that it's possible to be entertaining and fun (and profitable) without taking the low road?

Oh, it's certainly possible to be entertaining and fun, and even profitable, without bringing sex into the equation. Shigeru Miyamoto is living proof.

But does that mean that the medium should limit itself? There are plenty of movies that have no sex in it at all, that are artistic and profitable; does that mean that "A Clockwork Orange" should never have been made? Because after all, for every Clockwork Orange, there's some poorly-done sex comedy or porn flick.

I'm afraid, Greg, that by limiting ourselves to nonviolent nonsexual games we'd be throwing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater.

Hi, I just wanted to give a heads up to the "Games and Sex" blog, which I think is a wonderful way to open constructive, honest dialogue on the topic, that I currently run a blog, howevever humble, called Heroine Sheik (www.heroine-sheik.com), which specializes in gaming and sexuality, both within games and within the video game community/culture. It may qualify for today's list of links; feel free to check it out.

There is nothing wrong with sex in games as long as there are certain regulations set in place. The arguement should be about HOW to set regulations. There have not been issues with game downloads, but the day will certainly come.

Pardon me if my posts seem rather NOOB, but I'm not a developer, designer, or writer. I'm a 48-year-old gamer. However, I've been searching the internet for over a year, for an explaination as to why there isn't any nudity or sex in computer games. Finally, I have found a place discussing it. Good for you.
If it can't be introduced in mainstream games due to legislation, then maybe there should be a genre for it. I'm all for it, and I'm convinced that there is a good market for it.
Just so you know a little about me, I own Poser 4, 5, and 6, I use Bryce for atmospheres, and I'm learning 3D design at home. My main goal for learning these softwares was so I could develop animated music videos for my songs (I have a home recording studio), and to one day be a game developer down the road. Of course, my games would be along the same lines as the discussions going on here.
Thank you for starting the SIG, and for all of the info on the IGDA website.