160: Pressing the Right Buttons
- Thread starter Michael Deneen
- Start date
It's interesting that people keep bringing up Mass Effect as an example of how it was done "well". I suppose it's a difference in how one chooses to play the game, but I was focused on completing the mission. When the Asari chick kept telling me she had "feelings" for me, I almost laughed. It seemed so out of place. (It didn't help that I found Shepard's male voice to be rather flat and uninteresting in his line delivery.) I just wanted to get back to exploring planets and fighting bad guys.
I also knew, from reading around the internet ahead of time, that the upcoming scene in question wasn't going to be an interactive pornanza. Maybe that colored my expectations a bit, that seeing "it's not that big a deal" made me care less.
But in any case, I didn't get anything out of the relationship scene. I felt more emotionally torn deciding to let the Rachni queen live or die.
Although I also remember feeling a little more emotion trying to decide between the pilot and the porn star/mechanic in Wing Commander III.
I also knew, from reading around the internet ahead of time, that the upcoming scene in question wasn't going to be an interactive pornanza. Maybe that colored my expectations a bit, that seeing "it's not that big a deal" made me care less.
But in any case, I didn't get anything out of the relationship scene. I felt more emotionally torn deciding to let the Rachni queen live or die.
Although I also remember feeling a little more emotion trying to decide between the pilot and the porn star/mechanic in Wing Commander III.
A sex mini-game is like Wii motion control, without some sort of phyiscal feedback it's fairly pointless.
I actually managed to try the infamous "Hot Coffee" mod in GTA:SA to see what the fuss was about. The game didn't actually work but it looked like it used roughly the same mechcanics as the Low rider/Dancing minigame. (Rhythm-based quick time events)
Sex, as "mainstream game play" only works if you have some desire to be a Porn director. I think there was a game called "Playboy: The Mansion" that tried this but it wasn't executed very well.
I actually managed to try the infamous "Hot Coffee" mod in GTA:SA to see what the fuss was about. The game didn't actually work but it looked like it used roughly the same mechcanics as the Low rider/Dancing minigame. (Rhythm-based quick time events)
Sex, as "mainstream game play" only works if you have some desire to be a Porn director. I think there was a game called "Playboy: The Mansion" that tried this but it wasn't executed very well.
Your suggestions just appear crude and tasteless. What would be the point in the game, you'd simply be taking a type of 'Rythm matching'/RPG and 'applying' it to sex.Michael Deneen said:
You are also failing to address the broad spectrum of sexuality and behaviour from destructive relationships to invigorating and empowering flings. Why should everything be about a developed relationship and "both" parties. What about homosexuality, onanism, gender and all the other subjects that don't fit in a nice little typecast box of 'Sex'? What you suggest just doesn't represent life and the complexities of sex.
Well, button-mashing silliness aside, I think sex could be an interesting gameplay mechanic. Or rather the games we play around sex.
In an RPG I can certainly imagine seducing an important character and giving her (insert him as you wish) the "right stuff" in an interactive R-rated kind of dialogue/cut-scene. Maybe she likes it a bit rough, if you want some controversy and news exposure. Perhaps a way of solving a particular quest would be to seduce a character and sweep her off her feet. Bioware seem to talk about making choices that matter and having consequences. Admirable as that aspiration is, I rarely seem to actually find those in games. An ex-girlfriend. How's that for consequences? Maybe an angry ex-girlfriend that looks like Carrie Fisher. With a flame thrower.
Among other things, sex in real life is used as a means to power and that certainly is something that could become a gameplay mechanic. I'm thinking Fable 2 but without the sword/gunplay action, where the seducing and marrying would be the gameplay (and wouldn't involve simple bribes). Maybe some political intriuge on top of that. Screw your way to the top in a court of nobles. Kind of a different type of conquest than gamers are used to, hehe. Could work if someone was crazy enough to do it, no?
In an RPG I can certainly imagine seducing an important character and giving her (insert him as you wish) the "right stuff" in an interactive R-rated kind of dialogue/cut-scene. Maybe she likes it a bit rough, if you want some controversy and news exposure. Perhaps a way of solving a particular quest would be to seduce a character and sweep her off her feet. Bioware seem to talk about making choices that matter and having consequences. Admirable as that aspiration is, I rarely seem to actually find those in games. An ex-girlfriend. How's that for consequences? Maybe an angry ex-girlfriend that looks like Carrie Fisher. With a flame thrower.
Among other things, sex in real life is used as a means to power and that certainly is something that could become a gameplay mechanic. I'm thinking Fable 2 but without the sword/gunplay action, where the seducing and marrying would be the gameplay (and wouldn't involve simple bribes). Maybe some political intriuge on top of that. Screw your way to the top in a court of nobles. Kind of a different type of conquest than gamers are used to, hehe. Could work if someone was crazy enough to do it, no?
I didn't think it would be possible to make sex sound like it wasn't fun but... this approach to sex sounds boring.
Might as well complain that the average game seems to sidetrack the issue of "eating", whereas with proper thought about the gameplay we could have a wonderful cooking simulator that involved whipping cream, battering up fish, and smoothly spreading thick bechamel sauce over meaty lasagna.
And then onto the actual eating, where you have to find your mouth with your fork, while maintaing eye contact with whoever you're talking to. And then move your jaws in a manner that will grind down the food, but without applying too much pressure to the teeth or the food, and keeping the tongue out of the way of the teeth. With force feedback. And a health bar for the food, teeth and tongue. And the ability to squirt saliva so that the food get mushier. And then a timing mechanism for swallowing, allowing you to get the food down the right hole.
Frankly, I don't want a mature approach to sex from games. I want a mature approach to people and relationships. The rest is just organics.
Might as well complain that the average game seems to sidetrack the issue of "eating", whereas with proper thought about the gameplay we could have a wonderful cooking simulator that involved whipping cream, battering up fish, and smoothly spreading thick bechamel sauce over meaty lasagna.
And then onto the actual eating, where you have to find your mouth with your fork, while maintaing eye contact with whoever you're talking to. And then move your jaws in a manner that will grind down the food, but without applying too much pressure to the teeth or the food, and keeping the tongue out of the way of the teeth. With force feedback. And a health bar for the food, teeth and tongue. And the ability to squirt saliva so that the food get mushier. And then a timing mechanism for swallowing, allowing you to get the food down the right hole.
Frankly, I don't want a mature approach to sex from games. I want a mature approach to people and relationships. The rest is just organics.
