The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Violence is a staple of computer games but sex rarely gets a look in. "Thank goodness", say the moral guardians but as I argue, its absence underlines the adolescence of the games industry.
Considering the demographic of gamers (at least those of the non-Nintendo variety), the lack of sex in videogames is staggering. Males aged 17 to 25 the most sexually active part of the population: their magazines are filled with semi-naked girls, their bedroom walls are plastered with Jordan and Kelly Brook. Movies cater to their hormones with output ranging from the off-colour jism jokes from There's Something About Mary to the gratuitous flesh scenes slotted into James Bond flicks. In contrast, gamers are promised Lara Croft's boobs but all they get is a view of her a**e.
Of course, by its nature interactive entertainment is a different beast to other media. In movies, TV and books, the audience is one step removed from the protagonists - there is a moral distance that is not available when controlling an onscreen character. This doesn't have any impact in terms of how much violence games contain however. Head shots, gore zones, and severed limbs are part and parcel of the gamers' experience and game designers' palette. Extreme violence is a commodity that sells. And while violence is exciting for the player, it makes things easy for developers too. Game pacing can be easily controlled - just vary the number of enemies or their strength attributes to make a game harder. Players don't even have to worry what to do. 'If it moves shoot it' is the order of the day.
Nomad Soul is one of the best examples of the non-exploitative and plot-driven use of sex in a game. Early in the game, the player who has entered the body of Kayl, a man from another time and place, arrives at his home. He discovers that Kayl is married to the foxy Telis, who proceeds to take full advantage of her conjugal rights. This scene had a serious goal to it: build Telis' character and create the relationship between her and Kayl. Later in the game, you will need to save her from death. This initial scene built the player's motivations and reinforces the story.
What some people didn't like about the game was that it showed adults in their intimacy. I think this was more shocking to people than sex itself. Interestingly, both characters remained clothed throughout. Other scenes in the game were set in a red light district, including sex shops and strip bars. These strip bars contained lap dancers who are semi-naked, and just like the Tomb Raider games hackers developed a patch to strip them including Telis in her love scene. Kinky! This simply makes you think that sex isn't the problem, feelings are.
The significant issue is that most of the world has adopted American morality when dealing with computer games content. Violence (to any degree) is totally acceptable but sex, drugs and blasphemy are totally out of the question.
Still, creating games with sexual content is a difficult task for developers. Take Sex N Drugs N Rock N Roll for an example. This was a game which included sexual content and was supposed to be released, but due to gaming difficulties and the lack of effort to create an appropriate look, it was cancelled. Obviously, subtle body movement and language is a lot harder to create than blowing someone's arm off with a Kalashnikov. If you are playing a game where you spend a lot of time chatting up a woman, you have to judge how she is responding to you by the small expression movements on her face. The more realistic the model, the more subtlety our brain will expect.
But as strange as it may seem, perhaps the best hope for pushing the boundaries of the sexual content of games is The Sims. One of the first things you find in the tutorial of the game is that Bella Goth (your character) is rather free with her favours and is easily seduced from her husband. Seeing if you can make the other wives jealous is very much part of the game and this social dynamic was the reason for so many women being attracted to the game.
EA is preparing to release an add-on pack for the game called The Sims' Hot Date in which the standard in game options such as talk, joke and flirt are replaced with those of a more saucy variety. Post-date, the Sims can invite their would be partners back home to experience the joys of cuddle couch, love tub or lover's swing. Sadly, the aim of the pack is limited to getting the Sims to marry or move into together. Procreation remains an unavailable option.
Yet, if computer games are ever going to become a truly mass-market entertainment medium, let alone an art form, developers and publishers will have to radically change their attitude towards sex. And as part of this, they will also have to rethink the importance of the tools of great storytelling such as plot and characterisation. It's significant that many of the games that have been more mature about relationships and sex demonstrate their creators understand the difference between well-rounded characters and those that just have big breasts. Sadly, while its audience grows out of backseat fumblings and one night stands into something more fulfilling, most game developers have yet to make that leap.
Thanks for reading
Rld
Considering the demographic of gamers (at least those of the non-Nintendo variety), the lack of sex in videogames is staggering. Males aged 17 to 25 the most sexually active part of the population: their magazines are filled with semi-naked girls, their bedroom walls are plastered with Jordan and Kelly Brook. Movies cater to their hormones with output ranging from the off-colour jism jokes from There's Something About Mary to the gratuitous flesh scenes slotted into James Bond flicks. In contrast, gamers are promised Lara Croft's boobs but all they get is a view of her a**e.
Of course, by its nature interactive entertainment is a different beast to other media. In movies, TV and books, the audience is one step removed from the protagonists - there is a moral distance that is not available when controlling an onscreen character. This doesn't have any impact in terms of how much violence games contain however. Head shots, gore zones, and severed limbs are part and parcel of the gamers' experience and game designers' palette. Extreme violence is a commodity that sells. And while violence is exciting for the player, it makes things easy for developers too. Game pacing can be easily controlled - just vary the number of enemies or their strength attributes to make a game harder. Players don't even have to worry what to do. 'If it moves shoot it' is the order of the day.
Nomad Soul is one of the best examples of the non-exploitative and plot-driven use of sex in a game. Early in the game, the player who has entered the body of Kayl, a man from another time and place, arrives at his home. He discovers that Kayl is married to the foxy Telis, who proceeds to take full advantage of her conjugal rights. This scene had a serious goal to it: build Telis' character and create the relationship between her and Kayl. Later in the game, you will need to save her from death. This initial scene built the player's motivations and reinforces the story.
What some people didn't like about the game was that it showed adults in their intimacy. I think this was more shocking to people than sex itself. Interestingly, both characters remained clothed throughout. Other scenes in the game were set in a red light district, including sex shops and strip bars. These strip bars contained lap dancers who are semi-naked, and just like the Tomb Raider games hackers developed a patch to strip them including Telis in her love scene. Kinky! This simply makes you think that sex isn't the problem, feelings are.
The significant issue is that most of the world has adopted American morality when dealing with computer games content. Violence (to any degree) is totally acceptable but sex, drugs and blasphemy are totally out of the question.
Still, creating games with sexual content is a difficult task for developers. Take Sex N Drugs N Rock N Roll for an example. This was a game which included sexual content and was supposed to be released, but due to gaming difficulties and the lack of effort to create an appropriate look, it was cancelled. Obviously, subtle body movement and language is a lot harder to create than blowing someone's arm off with a Kalashnikov. If you are playing a game where you spend a lot of time chatting up a woman, you have to judge how she is responding to you by the small expression movements on her face. The more realistic the model, the more subtlety our brain will expect.
But as strange as it may seem, perhaps the best hope for pushing the boundaries of the sexual content of games is The Sims. One of the first things you find in the tutorial of the game is that Bella Goth (your character) is rather free with her favours and is easily seduced from her husband. Seeing if you can make the other wives jealous is very much part of the game and this social dynamic was the reason for so many women being attracted to the game.
EA is preparing to release an add-on pack for the game called The Sims' Hot Date in which the standard in game options such as talk, joke and flirt are replaced with those of a more saucy variety. Post-date, the Sims can invite their would be partners back home to experience the joys of cuddle couch, love tub or lover's swing. Sadly, the aim of the pack is limited to getting the Sims to marry or move into together. Procreation remains an unavailable option.
Yet, if computer games are ever going to become a truly mass-market entertainment medium, let alone an art form, developers and publishers will have to radically change their attitude towards sex. And as part of this, they will also have to rethink the importance of the tools of great storytelling such as plot and characterisation. It's significant that many of the games that have been more mature about relationships and sex demonstrate their creators understand the difference between well-rounded characters and those that just have big breasts. Sadly, while its audience grows out of backseat fumblings and one night stands into something more fulfilling, most game developers have yet to make that leap.
Thanks for reading
Rld
Page:
Kernel32 wrote:
What kind of Kernel are you based on? The kind found in advanced algebra?
What kind of Kernel are you based on? The kind found in advanced algebra?
Hey Mr Snuggly! I see staff get special effects with their tag lines! If you read most tags, you just hear the words, but when you read yours, there is a definite echo effect!
If I paste this into a search engine, will I get results? Will I? Did you copy this?
Violence is a staple of computer games but sex rarely gets a look in. "Thank goodness", say the moral guardians but as I argue, its absence underlines the adolescence of the games industry.
Considering the demographic of gamers (at least those of the non-Nintendo variety), the lack of sex in videogames is staggering. Males aged 17 to 25 the most sexually active part of the population: their magazines are filled with semi-naked girls, their bedroom walls are plastered with Jordan and Kelly Brook. Movies cater to their hormones with output ranging from the off-colour jism jokes from There's Something About Mary to the gratuitous flesh scenes slotted into James Bond flicks. In contrast, gamers are promised Lara Croft's boobs but all they get is a view of her a**e.
Of course, by its nature interactive entertainment is a different beast to other media. In movies, TV and books, the audience is one step removed from the protagonists - there is a moral distance that is not available when controlling an onscreen character. This doesn't have any impact in terms of how much violence games contain however. Head shots, gore zones, and severed limbs are part and parcel of the gamers' experience and game designers' palette. Extreme violence is a commodity that sells. And while violence is exciting for the player, it makes things easy for developers too. Game pacing can be easily controlled - just vary the number of enemies or their strength attributes to make a game harder. Players don't even have to worry what to do. 'If it moves shoot it' is the order of the day.
Nomad Soul is one of the best examples of the non-exploitative and plot-driven use of sex in a game. Early in the game, the player who has entered the body of Kayl, a man from another time and place, arrives at his home. He discovers that Kayl is married to the foxy Telis, who proceeds to take full advantage of her conjugal rights. This scene had a serious goal to it: build Telis' character and create the relationship between her and Kayl. Later in the game, you will need to save her from death. This initial scene built the player's motivations and reinforces the story.
What some people didn't like about the game was that it showed adults in their intimacy. I think this was more shocking to people than sex itself. Interestingly, both characters remained clothed throughout. Other scenes in the game were set in a red light district, including sex shops and strip bars. These strip bars contained lap dancers who are semi-naked, and just like the Tomb Raider games hackers developed a patch to strip them including Telis in her love scene. Kinky! This simply makes you think that sex isn't the problem, feelings are.
The significant issue is that most of the world has adopted American morality when dealing with computer games content. Violence (to any degree) is totally acceptable but sex, drugs and blasphemy are totally out of the question.
Still, creating games with sexual content is a difficult task for developers. Take Sex N Drugs N Rock N Roll for an example. This was a game which included sexual content and was supposed to be released, but due to gaming difficulties and the lack of effort to create an appropriate look, it was cancelled. Obviously, subtle body movement and language is a lot harder to create than blowing someone's arm off with a Kalashnikov. If you are playing a game where you spend a lot of time chatting up a woman, you have to judge how she is responding to you by the small expression movements on her face. The more realistic the model, the more subtlety our brain will expect.
But as strange as it may seem, perhaps the best hope for pushing the boundaries of the sexual content of games is The Sims. One of the first things you find in the tutorial of the game is that Bella Goth (your character) is rather free with her favours and is easily seduced from her husband. Seeing if you can make the other wives jealous is very much part of the game and this social dynamic was the reason for so many women being attracted to the game.
EA is preparing to release an add-on pack for the game called The Sims' Hot Date in which the standard in game options such as talk, joke and flirt are replaced with those of a more saucy variety. Post-date, the Sims can invite their would be partners back home to experience the joys of cuddle couch, love tub or lover's swing. Sadly, the aim of the pack is limited to getting the Sims to marry or move into together. Procreation remains an unavailable option.
Yet, if computer games are ever going to become a truly mass-market entertainment medium, let alone an art form, developers and publishers will have to radically change their attitude towards sex. And as part of this, they will also have to rethink the importance of the tools of great storytelling such as plot and characterisation. It's significant that many of the games that have been more mature about relationships and sex demonstrate their creators understand the difference between well-rounded characters and those that just have big breasts. Sadly, while its audience grows out of backseat fumblings and one night stands into something more fulfilling, most game developers have yet to make that leap.
Thanks for reading
Rld
Considering the demographic of gamers (at least those of the non-Nintendo variety), the lack of sex in videogames is staggering. Males aged 17 to 25 the most sexually active part of the population: their magazines are filled with semi-naked girls, their bedroom walls are plastered with Jordan and Kelly Brook. Movies cater to their hormones with output ranging from the off-colour jism jokes from There's Something About Mary to the gratuitous flesh scenes slotted into James Bond flicks. In contrast, gamers are promised Lara Croft's boobs but all they get is a view of her a**e.
Of course, by its nature interactive entertainment is a different beast to other media. In movies, TV and books, the audience is one step removed from the protagonists - there is a moral distance that is not available when controlling an onscreen character. This doesn't have any impact in terms of how much violence games contain however. Head shots, gore zones, and severed limbs are part and parcel of the gamers' experience and game designers' palette. Extreme violence is a commodity that sells. And while violence is exciting for the player, it makes things easy for developers too. Game pacing can be easily controlled - just vary the number of enemies or their strength attributes to make a game harder. Players don't even have to worry what to do. 'If it moves shoot it' is the order of the day.
Nomad Soul is one of the best examples of the non-exploitative and plot-driven use of sex in a game. Early in the game, the player who has entered the body of Kayl, a man from another time and place, arrives at his home. He discovers that Kayl is married to the foxy Telis, who proceeds to take full advantage of her conjugal rights. This scene had a serious goal to it: build Telis' character and create the relationship between her and Kayl. Later in the game, you will need to save her from death. This initial scene built the player's motivations and reinforces the story.
What some people didn't like about the game was that it showed adults in their intimacy. I think this was more shocking to people than sex itself. Interestingly, both characters remained clothed throughout. Other scenes in the game were set in a red light district, including sex shops and strip bars. These strip bars contained lap dancers who are semi-naked, and just like the Tomb Raider games hackers developed a patch to strip them including Telis in her love scene. Kinky! This simply makes you think that sex isn't the problem, feelings are.
The significant issue is that most of the world has adopted American morality when dealing with computer games content. Violence (to any degree) is totally acceptable but sex, drugs and blasphemy are totally out of the question.
Still, creating games with sexual content is a difficult task for developers. Take Sex N Drugs N Rock N Roll for an example. This was a game which included sexual content and was supposed to be released, but due to gaming difficulties and the lack of effort to create an appropriate look, it was cancelled. Obviously, subtle body movement and language is a lot harder to create than blowing someone's arm off with a Kalashnikov. If you are playing a game where you spend a lot of time chatting up a woman, you have to judge how she is responding to you by the small expression movements on her face. The more realistic the model, the more subtlety our brain will expect.
But as strange as it may seem, perhaps the best hope for pushing the boundaries of the sexual content of games is The Sims. One of the first things you find in the tutorial of the game is that Bella Goth (your character) is rather free with her favours and is easily seduced from her husband. Seeing if you can make the other wives jealous is very much part of the game and this social dynamic was the reason for so many women being attracted to the game.
EA is preparing to release an add-on pack for the game called The Sims' Hot Date in which the standard in game options such as talk, joke and flirt are replaced with those of a more saucy variety. Post-date, the Sims can invite their would be partners back home to experience the joys of cuddle couch, love tub or lover's swing. Sadly, the aim of the pack is limited to getting the Sims to marry or move into together. Procreation remains an unavailable option.
Yet, if computer games are ever going to become a truly mass-market entertainment medium, let alone an art form, developers and publishers will have to radically change their attitude towards sex. And as part of this, they will also have to rethink the importance of the tools of great storytelling such as plot and characterisation. It's significant that many of the games that have been more mature about relationships and sex demonstrate their creators understand the difference between well-rounded characters and those that just have big breasts. Sadly, while its audience grows out of backseat fumblings and one night stands into something more fulfilling, most game developers have yet to make that leap.
Thanks for reading
Rld
Page: