I'd like to clarify, my position at least, for all you people out there saying sex is unnecessary in games. To an extent, I agree with you. When it comes to gaming for the fun of it, there are some fantastic games out there, and our current methods of game creation and development work fine. There are times when I just want to have pure, ridiculous fun, and in such instances sex can be a totally pointless addition, done badly, and barely above the level of pornography insofar as it's sex for sex and nothing else.
However, 'just for fun' is not my only reason for getting involved in media forms, but in games it's the only one that's catered to. If I see a game out that looks like a barrel of fun, I'll get it; I might look up some reviews, ask my friends, wait for a price drop (maybe), but it's fairly reliable that I'll get it.
The reason to include sex and 'maturity' is for the other (or one of the other) reasons to play games; storytelling. It's a good indication if I see or hear about a game that sounds fun that I will buy it. But if I saw a game that looked like a fantastic story, good immersion, character design and development, even adequate gameplay, adequate graphics, I would be on it so fast you'd think I wasn't a near-broke uni student.
So, sex. This is the point:
Deviluk said:
If it follows the same lines as the other types of censorable material in games, i.e. violence or swearing, as soon as the floodgates open on sex then there will be manhunt esque games with the option of rape! Which is probably more sick than grisly murders. This is because sex is connected to very strong emotions in us humans, unlike captain price topping a bad guy.
The difference between sex and violence and why violence is out running the streets while sex is locked in the cupboard under the stairs (metaphorically, of course) is because of the emotions involved. It's probably to some extent to do with desensitisation, but what do we think of killing an enemy in a game, or seeing one killed in a movie, or reading it in a book?
Remember on Austin Powers when it showed the families and friends of those two killed henchman receiving news of their deaths? This exemplifies my point because we have to have the consequences of violence made explicit like this for us to begin to care about murdering nameless henchman #782 as we climb the pile of bodies to victory.
On the other hand, sex is an emotive subject, a very emotive one. In terms of censorship it's probably as much if not more the fault of the shut-in religious fundamentalist types who demand sex be done within marriage, once, with the lights off and you aren't allowed to enjoy it either, but in the category of its relevance in games is when the emotional connection comes to the fore.
As has been stated several times, it doesn't need to be a full-on sex scene; the implication of it is enough. And the implication of the inclusion of sex in such a way is that videogame characters are (at fucking last, speaking as a member of the halo generation) beginning to have enough depth, and the stories are becoming involving enough that the inclusion of sex can not only be relevant, but used well.
It's not the fault of the gamers imo, it's the devs and the moron shutins who spend all day plastered to fox news waiting for the slightest glimmer of sex in videogames so they can complain about it.
People here say sex is unnecessary for games that are just pure mindless fun? You're absolutely right and more power to you.
But what sex IS relevant to is the type of game (sadly only hypothetical at this point) that is more than either mindless fun produced by indie devs or mindless copy-pastes of successful formulas produced by companies who sell their ingenuity and 'mature' (in this sense) content for (somewhat ironically) 'guaranteed sells'.
Finally, and totally irrelevantly, would you believe this is my first (that I can recall) comment on the escapist? But I gather that in cases where comments extend more than two paragraphs it is customary to finish up with the phrase 'wow. long rant is long'. So congratulations if you made it to the end, go and get yourself a biscuit or something.
