ESRB Dishes on Dragon Age 2 Sex

[Andy Chalk]

ESRB Dishes on Dragon Age 2 Sex

The ESRB has pulled back the covers on all the bumpin' uglies in Dragon Age 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Age-2-Pc/dp/B0047THYWC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1297102437&sr=8-2], including same-sex action and a little something I like to call "the other F-word."

Back in December, Dragon Age Lead Writer David Gaider said that despite the occasional outburst against it, same-sex relationships would ESRB [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106414-Dragon-Age-Writer-Same-Sex-Romance-is-Here-to-Stay], that promise has been kept, and that's not all.

"During the course of the game, characters sometimes engage in sexual dialogue (e.g., 'Why is it always about sex with you?' and 'Sailing is like sex. Do it wrong, and it'll make you sick.')," the Dragon Age 2 rating summary says. "Players can also initiate brief cutscene sequences in which couples (male-female or same-sex) are shown kissing and embracing one another in a bedroom as the screen fades to black."

And then the really good bit: "In one cutscene, a woman kneels in front of a male character and appears to perform fellatio - there is no depiction of the sex act; the camera pans out to the rest of the room."

There's also violence and swearing, neither of which I expect to hear about on Fox News.

I've never really understood the appeal of sex scenes in videogames but somebody must like them because BioWare [http://www.bioware.com] keeps doing them, over and over and over again. Which leads me to wonder: why is it always about sex with you, anyway?

Dragon Age 2 comes out on March 8 for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.


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[ZeroMachine]

I feel like they're just doing it to egg on Fox.

... Pun mildly intended.

 

[Jesus Phish]

Bioware tells stories.

Stories can and do at times have sex in them, because people in the real world have sex and it's something they can relate to.

It's the same as a book or a movie depicting sex in it's story. It's usually used to add to the world or the story.

 

[ZeroMachine]

Bioware tells stories.

Stories can and do at times have sex in them, because people in the real world have sex and it's something they can relate to.

It's the same as a book or a movie depicting sex in it's story. It's usually used to add to the world or the story.

Movies show real people.

Books use imagination.

Sex in the uncanny valley, though, is just strange. That's the only reason I don't enjoy sex scenes in games.

 

[RatRace123]

But are the characters still in their underpants?
I don't care either way about sex scenes, but if you're gonna do it, either show it tastefully with good camera angles or not at all. No underpants hugging.

Though, seriously fellatio? That's different for a Bioware game.
Wonder how long 'till Fox gets their misinformed claws on this.

 

[Tiamat666]

I've never really understood the appeal of sex scenes in videogames but somebody must like them because BioWare [http://www.bioware.com] keeps doing them, over and over and over again. Which leads me to wonder: why is it always about sex with you, anyway?

Because Freud said so!

 

[Lord_Kristof]

Dragon Age tries very much to be a 'mature' game, but it ends up being childish, with its blood splatters and sex scenes... Seriously, BioWare should stop pretending that having a 'sex' scene makes your game more mature. It doesn't. Sex is everywhere nowadays, and the kind of sex that they showed in Mass Effect can be found in most 12+ Hollywood movies.

 

[Who Dares Wins]

Well if it's going to be moddable on the PC, REJOICE pervs of the world. That kind of mods is usually on the "Top Downloaded" lists on The Nexus. On a completely different note : I don't care.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I never understood why they keep having sex scenes, either. Probably just to sell the game or something, because I have yet to see a game with sex where it was actually needed or made the game better.

 

[Cousin_IT]

I for one never tire of imagining how much hair the animators tore out trying (& failing) to make the cutscenes not look like two mannequins trying to dry hump each other.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Ah Bioware you masterful trolls

I choose you Fox News! Fox News used Controversy... It wasn't very effective

Bioware used Free Publicity... It's super effective!

Fox News fainted

 

[emeraldrafael]

Maybe they're doing it for the marketing.

think about it, how much publicity and says to GTA get cause of this kinda stuff.

 

[lacktheknack]

Please tell me it isn't tacked on. If it is, I will be VERY disappoint.

 

[Bloodstain]

Well, considering it's one of our most basic (if not the most basic) urges, I'm totally okay with that.
But for political correctness.... SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN

 

[Therumancer]

I think sex scenes can add a lot to games, but honestly my big problem with them is that I think if they are going to do them, they should do them right. With an "M" rating they should be pushing the material as far as "R" rated movies do. I mean if i'm going to watch an erotic thriller in one of my more low-brow moments, I want decent sex scenes. With video games where such relationships are a big part of the game, and something that are pursued over time, I think there should be a bit more of a show at the end for a payoff. The industry does seem to not have much in the way of guts when it comes to this kind of thing at all.

In some of my more bizzare moods, I've also wondered at what seems to be an almost total lack of kinky people in these games. They go down the same-sex road, but at the same time occasionally I've sat there and thought things like "wow, Morrigan seems like she'd be really wild in the bedroom" and then well... let's just say the payoff wasn't quite what I'd envision.

To be entirely honest, when you get beyond all of the mewling "games as art" stuff and the constant retreads of "the grim adventures of Emo Mcangst", I think what games need to most move forward is to actually start handling sex and adult material properly. That is to say either having no, or lame sex scenes, or a game that is nothing but non-stop porn and has an AO rating. For RPGs with sex in them you have "Dragon Age" and "Lightning Warrior Raidy" at the extreme ends of the sex spectrum, with nothing in between.

While people tend to get uncomfortable with the idea of sex in things, especially in the US, I will point out that books like Lolita, and the writings of people like Desade, did a lot for literature even if people don't want to admit it very often (that is why these works continue to exist, be reprinted, and studied, despite people calling for their ban). Simply put the game industry limits itself far more than writers, movie-makers, and other creators have done, in order to avoid making waves. This as much as anything is what prevents it from moving forward. Games are great with retreading artsy existenstial emo crud and calling it "art", but generally don't do anything else, and if they touch on something that makes people uncomfortable the industry collapses into conniptions since it was a mistake. Look at how quickly the industry backpedaled away from having children killed in games because it touched those buttons with some people (which was a good thing, a strong reaction is what has a medium come into it's own), heck even with "Silent Hill 2" we saw them edit out the flayed children because "OMG, this horror game is actually creeping people out!".

 

[JediMB]

This is what we're talking about. Not necessarily in that order.

 

[higgs20]

"the camera pans out to the rest of the room"

Maybe it's supposed to be first person veiw and your character is desperately trying to find of vase or something to focus on

[sub]"yep good vase... keep thinking about the vase..."[/sub]

.....you're a winner, you know that?