Developer Blames "American Culture" for Greenlight Ban

[laurenhiya21]

Honestly, what did they expect would happen? :/
Even if it stayed on, I doubt it would ever make it though.
The point of this game just sounds terrible.
Bang every lady in sight! Sounds suuuuper fun :/
And I know you can make a little to no gameplay "game" at least entertaining (there are some good visual novels out there...), so if they just wanted to make an erotic game of some sort, I don't know why they had to make it some sort of generic, Hollywood type thing :l Bleh

 

[danon]

Why would you care if this was allowed on steam just don't buy it. No seriously explain to me now why you would care if this was allowed on steam.

 

[Dfskelleton]

I'm sure the game would fit in wonderfully on the indie section of XBLA.
Hey, fun drinking game; go to the Indie section of XBLA, and every game that's either A: A so called "Retro throwback" platformer, B: about zombies, or C: a lame sex game, take a drink.

You may need to make a couple trips to the liquor store, because you'll be out of drinks on page 5.

OT: I think this is less the fault of American culture and more the fault of the developers for thinking that a sex game on Steam would garner even a small profit.
I think that the guys at Steam were doing them a favor; get the game off before it gets greenlit to spare them the embarassment of selling nothing.

 

[Rainboq]

Someone has evidently never taken an anthropology course. Culture is a set of shared symbols across a group of people. Hence the idea of sphere's of culture, every set of symbols has a group who observes it, which fall within its radius.

Clearly, someone has never studied English. "Sphere's" of culture? Also, how do any of the things I mention not involve shared symbols? Since you advocated the idea, please tell me what the shared symbols of US culture are.

And every person subscribes to more than one culture because every thing has its own set of symbols. So some examples of american culture would be their politics, their constitution, their news media. While these examples aren't limited to the USA, they certainly are a part of it.

But you can't offer any specific details on those shared symbols for some reason. "Politics" is not a symbol. "Constitution" is not a symbol. "News Media" is not a symbol. You need to be more specific on what forms those take. What is the "symbol" of US politics, for example?

A typo does not mean I don't know my native tongue. And before I can answer that question, let me break down what a symbol is. A symbol is comprised of, the signified and the signifier. The signified is the thing in question and the signifier is the particular thing used to signify. For example, the signifier of American politics signifies is a wrapper that encompasses things like the Democrats and Republicans, the senate, the house of republicans and the president, etc. So yes they are symbols.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Now, let's at least attempt to be quite honest and frank.

These games are a well-known staple in, say, Japcrap gaming culture. I got a bunch of them, and I love them for their freak value first, and then there's that actual disturbing content and hilarious art to really make them stand out as wank material for freaks or oddities for the collector.

Thing is, there's not much actual 'game' in these things. To blame 'American Culture' for getting the boot is cheap and doesn't really impress me much. Go take that 'game' of yours somewhere else, please move along, thank you.

 

[RoBi3.0]

LOL, culture is not a myth. Google Anthropology and you will find tons of information on the science devoted to the study of culture.

And yet, anthropologists themselves disagree on the basis of culture. I'm not sure why you think that something being a subject of study makes it legitimate.

And to answer Rainboq cultures basic definition is: socially transmitted information that shapes human behavior. It is a complexed concept of a group of people's shared values and beliefs

But my point is that groups of people don't share beliefs. You might think you share a belief with somebody, but dig deeper, and you'll almost certainly find that you disagree with them on some level. This is why we have disruption in society, because ultimately there are people who will refuse to go along with what your "culture" claims. Otherwise, how could we get rid of slavery, fascism, and other cultural impositions?

Culture is not set in stone it is ever evolving just like humans themselves, that is why it is complex. That is why we can get rid of slavery and why languages evolve. Yes in a population as large as The United States you will find varied opinions on what is consider normal or acceptable, but that is where sub-culture come into play. And by no means is culture an exact guideline for how people are going to act, individuals still have freewill after all.

Proof that culture exists is easy enough to find. Travel to a foreign country note how they don't act exactly like the people of your country. They may not speak the same language or have they same manner in which they greet strangers or have a host of various other differing customs then you, that my friend is because they are of a different culture.

Some Anthropologist disagree on the finer points of culture, not on the fact that it exists. That is as humorous as saying that since all physicist can't agree on how every aspect of the universe works Physics therefor must be a myth.

 

[Marik2]

I would love if steam got a ton of VN's translated to it (eroge or not).

I would love to see this little gem be on Steam

 

[danon]

Well didn't really surprise me that the majority seems to think censorship is neat. Not saying that i would vote or buy the game but that is not the point. Greenlight is a huge mess but at least the intent was to give the consumer the power to choose. But it seems that a lot of people only want ideas and opinions confirming to their ideals. That is a sad situation.

 

[PoweD]

From one side, gameplay is just one of those cheap flash games on newgrounds, on the other, it does seem to have a better production quality/design.

If people wanted it, there would be no real reason to exclude it, and add a age barrier (just like with M for Mature games.)

 

[Nurb]

Whoa whoa whoa...

So let me get this straight from some of the comments I'm reading:
-Selling games that allow the (often under-age) player to be an amoral mass murderer that beats hookers to death with baseball bats = A-OK!
-Selling games that have no violence, murder, or death, but allow the (adult) player to engage in consentual sex with a game character = WRONG! Take your sick gaming elsewhere!

Who cares how adult or stupid a game is? The point is that the culture is still too damn prudish about sex

Gamers today are such little conservative whiners. My generation was defending doom and all video games from the censor happy, super prudish soccer moms and politicians, and this generation had the soccer mom rub off on them. Pun intended.

A video game is a video game. you start applying real world logic to fiction you get stupid double standards like the above. Just have an adult section, verify buyer as adult in some way (totally possible with the way steam works) and let people decide what they want to pay for. Sex isn't the most horrible thing you can do in a video game.

Gamers. I am disappoint.

 

[Sean Strife]

While I myself have absolutely no issue with sex games whatsoever, I will not shell out money for said games, which is why I gotta side with Valve on this: why would I shell out money for something that is, essentially, a Newgrounds Flash Portal-quality game. I say Flash Portal because Newgrounds games themselves can actually be really good (Castle Crashers, anyone?).

Also, everybody bringing up the Witcher games, GTA, Mass Effect, etc... I do believe the sexual stuff in those games is a little thing called "optional", whereas in this game, it's the whole point of it. Yes the aforementioned games have sex in them, but it doesn't mean you absolutely have to play those things.

 

[danon]

While I myself have absolutely no issue with sex games whatsoever, I will not shell out money for said games, which is why I gotta side with Valve on this: why would I shell out money for something that is, essentially, a Newgrounds Flash Portal-quality game. I say Flash Portal because Newgrounds games themselves can actually be really good (Castle Crashers, anyone?).

Also, everybody bringing up the Witcher games, GTA, Mass Effect, etc... I do believe the sexual stuff in those games is a little thing called "optional", whereas in this game, it's the whole point of it. Yes the aforementioned games have sex in them, but it doesn't mean you absolutely have to play those things.

So it's ok to ban a game from greenlight because you personally don't want to buy it.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

The game is also kind of sexist. Where's the mode where I can play a generic female socialite and seduce one of four hot men, huh?

Yeah but if they had that then you'd just accuse them of being heteronormative.

 

[Ardure]

It's not my impression this issue is about sex itself... but rather how the characters are shallow stereotypical. The player controlled character seems to be the man who is only interested in sex and the female characters are basically the same way. The game sounds at times to be a boarder line prono.

In general I think this game is detrimental to gamer culture... only confirming all the stereotypes most of us rail against. I mean the sex in Mass Effect (yes they could be much better overall) was no where near as offensive because there was depth to the characters and you knew there was more to them than sex. ME has substance so the romance is just another layer in that game... here not so much the game is really a sex scene with something game-play like thrown in there to make it a "game."

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Offensive content seems to have been breached. If not the actual racy stuff, but the idea that sex is a reward of winning a series of minigames sits quite uncomfortably, as well.

 

[Sean Strife]

While I myself have absolutely no issue with sex games whatsoever, I will not shell out money for said games, which is why I gotta side with Valve on this: why would I shell out money for something that is, essentially, a Newgrounds Flash Portal-quality game. I say Flash Portal because Newgrounds games themselves can actually be really good (Castle Crashers, anyone?).

Also, everybody bringing up the Witcher games, GTA, Mass Effect, etc... I do believe the sexual stuff in those games is a little thing called "optional", whereas in this game, it's the whole point of it. Yes the aforementioned games have sex in them, but it doesn't mean you absolutely have to play those things.

So it's ok to ban a game from greenlight because you personally don't want to buy it.

No, it's okay to ban a game that's a glorified Newgrounds dating sim. If I wanted to play that, I'd swing on over to Newgrounds and play it. I look at Steam for more "legitimate" games, so to speak.

 

[danon]

So shallow stereotypical characters that conforms to stereotypes are grounds for a ban. Well then probably the majority of games ever created and mass effect should be banned.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

So Steam can have games like The Witcher were there's boobs and sex all over the place but not something like this? That's a bit strange. I guess it's because sex is the main focus here whereas it's a side feature in The Witcher but still seems a little strange.

Two different cases. With the Witcher, if you take the whole shagging out, you still got a massive RPG left. The sex was barely part of the game.
In this case, it's nothing BUT that. There isn't even any gameplay, from what I could see. And trying to sell a "game" with nothing but sex in it... well, EVERYWHERE it would have been taken down, I guess. That barely has something to do with Valve but simply with how people react to that topic in general. And I personally would feel offended by such a game.

While I agree with your point that this game comes across as virtually nothing but porn, the fact remains that sex is condemned far more in American culture than things like torture, warfare, and violence in general. Look at it this way - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was a game based entirely around murder and crime. You deal with shady cops, drug dealers, thieves, backstabbers, murderers, con-artists, and other gangs constantly - sometimes by putting a bullet in them. All this got the game a mere M-rating and stores still sold it. However, when a part of the game's code that was completely inaccessible without hacking the game was revealed to contain a sex minigame; the game's rating was quickly switched to the infamous AO rating and stores began to pull the game from shelves immediately. Keep in mind that this minigame was deliberately blocked off by the devs so that people couldn't play it, yet the mere existence of it warranted San Andreas' ban until the minigame was removed entirely.

The question remains: Why was the rest of San Andreas given a pass but the cut sex minigame warranted it to be removed from store shelves? How is it that a game like Call of Duty: Black Ops, with it's graphic depictions of torture and human mutilation, is being sold on Steam but a game about a man getting laid isn't? Sex is a natural part of life (as much as I hate to admit it). Murder and torture isn't. Consensual sex doesn't have victims. War does. Is sex really worse than killing? Most of America seems to think so.

 

[caturdaytimes]

I think it comes down to a form of societal "peer pressure", if you would. It appears that the game tells a story of a male looking to get laid. Nothing new in history. I'm sure some of my male fellows on the forums here has experienced a desire to have sex (like I said, nothing new)..... but, somehow, that is bad. Just think for a minute. Wanting to get laid is wrong. lol Ridiculous, I know, but that is an underlying message within American culture. Now, this message *is not* directed towards females. Quite the opposite. The message of being "sexually aware" is constantly being translated to females: sex toys, abortion rights, artificial insemination. They don't need a man.

Now look to the male gender, starting early as elementary school with the removing of recess. I don't know about y'all, but I can only concentrate on a subject for so long before I need to get up and take a break. Recess is essentially a break. It allows you personal time to recharge your batteries. And should you exhibit any qualities of physically active, they diagnose you as ADD, or (like myself) ADHD and dope you up. Television shows promote violence against men, where both male and female are the aggressor, and tells us that it is OK. But, should a man punch a woman....

Americans live in a culture filled with overt feminist attitudes, and fellas, that is BAD. (No offense, ladies. I absolutely adore y'all.) Estrogen is being pumped into our meat, competition between young boys is frowned upon, males are constantly being told how to be more sensitive, *more males are stay home, taking care of the children!*, and the words like "sexist" or "sexism" are being thrown around to limit speech.

I strongly urge those interested to look into Gloria Steinem, and read between the lines.

 

[Nurb]

While I myself have absolutely no issue with sex games whatsoever, I will not shell out money for said games, which is why I gotta side with Valve on this: why would I shell out money for something that is, essentially, a Newgrounds Flash Portal-quality game. I say Flash Portal because Newgrounds games themselves can actually be really good (Castle Crashers, anyone?).

Also, everybody bringing up the Witcher games, GTA, Mass Effect, etc... I do believe the sexual stuff in those games is a little thing called "optional", whereas in this game, it's the whole point of it. Yes the aforementioned games have sex in them, but it doesn't mean you absolutely have to play those things.

So it's ok to ban a game from greenlight because you personally don't want to buy it.

No, it's okay to ban a game that's a glorified Newgrounds dating sim. If I wanted to play that, I'd swing on over to Newgrounds and play it. I look at Steam for more "legitimate" games, so to speak.

Many of the games on XBLA are games that could have been released on newgrounds. Any game is a "legitimate" game too. This one just involves sex.

Offensive content seems to have been breached. If not the actual racy stuff, but the idea that sex is a reward of winning a series of minigames sits quite uncomfortably, as well.

The reward for a COD level is watching a prisoner being tortured. The reward for winning San Andreas or any GTA is not getting punished for commiting crimes.

It's not my impression this issue is about sex itself... but rather how the characters are shallow stereotypical. The player controlled character seems to be the man who is only interested in sex and the female characters are basically the same way. The game sounds at times to be a boarder line prono.

In general I think this game is detrimental to gamer culture... only confirming all the stereotypes most of us rail against. I mean the sex in Mass Effect (yes they could be much better overall) was no where near as offensive because there was depth to the characters and you knew there was more to them than sex. ME has substance so the romance is just another layer in that game... here not so much the game is really a sex scene with something game-play like thrown in there to make it a "game."

Being a man looking for sex from willing women is real life, not a stereotype, and that's not a negative thing. There's nothing stopping women from having their own dating/sex sim with male characters, and japan even has a few I think.