Videogame Sex

[Doug]

So this is why they made it possible to play Bayonetta with one hand!

Wait a second...Bayonetta is a game?!

 

[Silva]

Sex can be tastefully done, or tastelessly done. If it's tasteful, I support it, even in games. If not, then I don't. Simple.

Won't somebody please think of the children!

I presume you missed the 80% of the population who apparently can think of nothing but the children. Which, I don't want to think about overmuch.

I'm amazed nobody (of i missed it) mentionned the Witcher

Don't worry, someone mentioned it about three posts in.

 

[Grahav]

There is so many ways to look at sex that it could have many game genres for each of them:

Intimacy, reward, storyline, porn, violent, tender, love, pleasure, commitment, no-commitment, etc.

 

[A Weary Exile]

I think it should only have something to do with the narrative, the sex as a reward thing seems like a shallow "Carrot on a stick" Approach to get gamers to play.

 

[Asparagus Brown]

Firstly, I don't think Valve having a well-developed female character should be considered as them screaming out for attention, so much as them just having a well-developed female character. Bioware, on the other hand, perhaps is a bit like that. They have well-developed and interesting characters, but it's not really a mature approach, and it all seems very calculated.

I also think perhaps it might be worth mentioning Fable 2 and The Sims in regards to this. Both of these you can get your character (or characters, in The Sims) to have sex, but it impacts your little sandbox, because it affects the relationships of the parties involved can be used to have children. If you choose to play that part of the game, sex is suddenly part of the gameplay and has consequences.

You have to remember that it's always going to be difficult to have sex thrown into traditional game types feel rewarding. The reason everybody's spent hours on trying to get their Sims to sleep together is because the gameplay is based around building relationships, and so sex becomes the sign you've reached the highest level of the relationship. The reason it doesn't work in Mass Effect is because that's a game primarily about saving the universe by shooting robots.

I know this is an oversimplified view, but I hope it pushed my point across easily enough.

 

[ohgodalex]

John Tynes is added to the list of people who will never be attending one of my parties.

 

[JediMB]

Have to say that I adore the way Dragon Age: Origins handled sex, and general character interaction. In many aspects it was a great improvement over Mass Effect, taking in some elements I missed from KotOR2.

First there's character interaction in general. I love talking to every one of the characters I've invited to go with me... well, except for the brutish Sten, since he barely has anything to say. But even Sten is amusing from time to time. But, yes, I do enjoy talking to the characters, and I'd do it even if a romantic relationship with one of them wasn't possible. The one thing that I sort of dislike is how formulaic the advantages in gaining the their friendships are, since I think I saw it done much better in the various unlockable abilities of previously mentioned Knights of the Old Republic II.

Then there's sex. When I started playing the game I really had no idea what the options for romantic interests were, besides Morrigan. And since I prefer to play as female characters, as well as having a preference for female love interests, it also becomes relevant that I didn't know anything about what characters could possibly be bisexual. As it turned out, talking to the various party members quickly got me attached to them, and some more than others. I found Leliana, with her story about the Maker, her cute accent, and other quirky behavior genuinely interesting and charming, so I subconsciously started focusing more on her than the rest of the characters. And, yeah, after the climax of the romance subplot with her, my character's been returning to camp regularly to "go to bed". (Just because it's cute.)

 

[Goronmon]

From my perspective, I've yet to see sex used in a game in a way that actually made me enjoy the game more. Sure, it games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, sex is used to add some weight to the relationship side of things, but when it comes to it, it's such a small part of the game that it doesn't really matter. Though, it's worth mentioning that you can visit a brothel in Denerim and get your pick of men and women to sleep with if you so choose. Sure, not long cutscene with emotional music, but it's a video game, the implied sex works fine.

I don't know, I guess I just don't see sex in games/movies/tv/etc as a big enough deal to warrant all the attention it gets in the media. Whether because it's too prevalent or because it's avoided. I can't think of a single sex scene in a game or movie that actually made a difference either way towards my enjoyment. All you get to do is watch, and if you really want to watch something to get excited about, there is plenty of porn out there.

So I guess my conclusion is that sex is irrelevant to the quality or playability of a game in general, aside from if something is terribly awkward or poorly done, which you can say about most aspects of a game.

 

[SpaceGhost2K]

Gratuitous:

1. Given or granted without return or recompense; unearned.
2. Given or received without cost or obligation; free.
3. Unnecessary or unwarranted; unjustified

I'm assuming if we're talking about sex, we're talking about #3. But if we're playing a video game for ENTERTAINMENT, than isn't anything entertaining automatically justified? Violence, bad language, racial stereotypes... heck, racial political "correctness" are all unnecessary, unwarranted or unjustified.

Sex in video games is like sex on NBC. You know, no matter how hot it gets, that sheet isn't coming down. Sex in real life is like sex in The Sopranos. The people involved aren't always a "10" but they're almost always really naked. And they really appear to be having sex.

How could someone feel "dirty" playing a game where you perform sex, and not feel "dirty" shooting a person in the face or chainsawing them to death? It's either "a game" or it's not.

I think people are afraid of feeling something. Take the Modern Warfare 2 Airport scene, for example. Wanna know what's got people all riled up? That scene is not more violent than anything in Gears of War. What's unnerving is that you don't really feel anything sawing a Locust in half, but shooting unarmed innocent people (that you're supposed to be protecting) makes gamers uneasy. You're not supposed to feel. What if someone did a really, really good sex scene... and you got a boner? What, would you have to get in a car and go straight to confession?

Sex deserves to be in games every bit as much as violence, and developers are never going to be any good at "developing it" if they don't start somewhere.

 

[John Scott Tynes]

Fascinating responses. I haven't played The Witcher and it does sound like they're doing what I suggested. Although as I noted in the article, I'm partly joking in my recommendations since the chance of this idea catching on is approximately nil. It just seems odd to me, in the abstract, that games have so many mechanisms to reward the player but we haven't really embraced this one.

My beef with both Bioware and Valve in this regard is that I think they're straitjacketing sex into their storytelling agendas. You can kill things with impunity, but sex is Something Special Worthy of Respect; human life, however, is apparently not. I'd really like just a little less of the solemn good intentions and more of the "sex is joy" aspect. They have all the vigor of a public service announcement.

For what it's worth, my philosophy of game design is "break big, tune small". I start by pushing a feature very, very hard even though it breaks everything because it's like turning up the contrast knob: extremity clarifies impact. Having broken the game by pushing something big, I then walk it back in small steps until the feature actually reaches its appropriate form. If you instead were to start off by making small adjustments, one after another, you would spend a great deal of time without really seeing what you're doing.

In this article and in the Far Cry 2600 one, I'm just exploring the "break big" part of this because "tune small" does not make compelling reading. What happens if we push something to the nth degree? To me, these explorations clarify issues and also open new lines of inquiry I wouldn't have come to had I not done the exercise.

They also make for lively discussions. Thanks for participating.

 

[Markness]

Dragon Age sex is no diffirent than eroge sex. You talk right, gain points and score sex. Nothing emotional there.

Have you considered you may be doing something wrong? The attitude in which you approach a story is more important than the content of the story.

In my opinion this article is stupid. It makes no sense to get rid of the meaningful romance and replace it with interactive off-screen pointless flings. They serve no purpose. Gamers aren't looking for reward in the form of sex. You can get that anywhere and much better quality. What movie's can't do is put you in the romance and integrate your feelings into the story. Eg Dragon Age where you choices not a directors choices effect how characters perceive you.

I think the sex scene in God of War etc was put in more for humour and to establish character, It just wouldn't work in games like Gears of war. To say that Bioware's method is wrong and with minimal justification is pretty poor writing in my opinion.

eroge games has story and drama too, so dragon age is an erogo. A good one infact, you can score women, men, bisexuals even goats.

honestly, you are scoring sex. How lame is that

You might as well say movies with sex scenes in them are porn. There is a difference.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

I actually like the way BioWare handles sex in video games. With its two most recent entries, ME and Dragon Age: Origins, it treats sex as one more facet of the narrative and characterization. What's so wrong with that? Then again, I'm female and asexual to boot, so the amount of time I think about sex is pretty minuscule compared to that of the averaged teenage boy. Which apparently is the demographic games like God of War cater to. At least BioWare is fairly respectful to the women involved. They're always treated as actual people instead of simply sex objects.

Which is why I like their games but I can also see the author's point. It is a game. For a Bioware game, the characterization makes sense and is fun though I am with him with the quirky nature of how it was used in Mass Effect. In Dragon Age, it made more sense to faff about since you needed to travel on foot and check into a lot of things. Mass Effect, you are given essentially a prototype awesome ship and then let loose to dick around the galaxy and hopefully save the day.

But there is also the exaggeration point, if we are going to have a game where we have achievements for thousands of kills, we shouldn't shy away from sex. A full spectrum, if you will. Everything from casual to serious sex. As long as both genders are equally respected as well as equally objectified, then why not? If you don't like a certain game and how it treats everything, don't play it. The joy of freedom and all that.

Hmm, sorry about that. I went into rant mode and you didn't even do anything to be ranted at. But yea, those are my quirky views on the matter to add to yours.

 

[high_castle]

I actually like the way BioWare handles sex in video games. With its two most recent entries, ME and Dragon Age: Origins, it treats sex as one more facet of the narrative and characterization. What's so wrong with that? Then again, I'm female and asexual to boot, so the amount of time I think about sex is pretty minuscule compared to that of the averaged teenage boy. Which apparently is the demographic games like God of War cater to. At least BioWare is fairly respectful to the women involved. They're always treated as actual people instead of simply sex objects.

Which is why I like their games but I can also see the author's point. It is a game. For a Bioware game, the characterization makes sense and is fun though I am with him with the quirky nature of how it was used in Mass Effect. In Dragon Age, it made more sense to faff about since you needed to travel on foot and check into a lot of things. Mass Effect, you are given essentially a prototype awesome ship and then let loose to dick around the galaxy and hopefully save the day.

But there is also the exaggeration point, if we are going to have a game where we have achievements for thousands of kills, we shouldn't shy away from sex. A full spectrum, if you will. Everything from casual to serious sex. As long as both genders are equally respected as well as equally objectified, then why not? If you don't like a certain game and how it treats everything, don't play it. The joy of freedom and all that.

Hmm, sorry about that. I went into rant mode and you didn't even do anything to be ranted at. But yea, those are my quirky views on the matter to add to yours.

I get what you're saying. And actually, Dragon Age probably goes the extra mile into having both the meaningful relationship style sex along with meaningless, casual flings in the form of a brothel. Not being particularly motivated to see copious amounts of digital flesh, I stuck with the character-based encounters that contributed to the story, but the brothels definitely had that option for gratuitous, objectifying sex with both genders. So really, the freedom of choice is intact.

 

[ethaninja]

The best sex I've seen in a game, is undoubtedly in some Neverwinter Nights modules - specifically 'Arandie'.

Its treatment of sex works very well in what is essentially a non-linear game. Arandie's strength in that it presents a very well-written depiction of a world (medieval going on modern) and the character's life in that world. Some of the sex is more gratuitous than other parts, but it fits in well, because you get a good sense that this is what that person's life is like.

Unlike most games, Arandie offers a very wide gamut of experiences. Just because the main character is an assassin, doesn't mean that the bulk of the gameplay is sneaking around and kiling people. In fact, there is overall very, very little combat at all. Instead, the game spans every face of the protagonist's life - her friendships, her relationships, the death of a loved one, her work, her ambitions, her awkward reunion with her parents, her one-night stands, her triumphing over her enemies, her failing miserably against her enemies etc. In a sense, it is almost biographical, yet as the game is non-linear, you have a lot of freedom as to what you want to do and gain a better understanding of the character. As such, the sex is present, but optional - as is much of the rest of the game. It's neither reward nor gameplay, it's flavour and it's characterisation.

Agreed.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

But there is also the exaggeration point, if we are going to have a game where we have achievements for thousands of kills, we shouldn't shy away from sex. A full spectrum, if you will. Everything from casual to serious sex.

"If there is violence in the game, there must also be sex" is a non sequitur. The two are not related to each other.

You mean like how comparing Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan to video games is a non sequitur? But you did do that one... A movie is about two hours of a straight and linear path, even if the story isn't linear. It ends in the same place every time. A video game can be anywhere from 10 hours to over 100 hours, yet you still bothered to try and compare apples to assholes.

The statement is that if we have room in our social consciousness to include huge body count achievements, then we have room in our world for games with sex included. All types of sex, from casual to intimate, without having to constantly cloak things to avoid being stabbed by the "For the children" crowd. We aren't saying that every game with violence needs sex, we are saying that we shouldn't be shy about sex. See the difference? It is huge, don't strawman the argument.

I get what you're saying. And actually, Dragon Age probably goes the extra mile into having both the meaningful relationship style sex along with meaningless, casual flings in the form of a brothel. Not being particularly motivated to see copious amounts of digital flesh, I stuck with the character-based encounters that contributed to the story, but the brothels definitely had that option for gratuitous, objectifying sex with both genders. So really, the freedom of choice is intact.

Oh definitely, I am actually on my third playthrough and I love the character based sexual interactions. The scenes are a bit laughable but still felt like an accomplishment and helped get me attached to the characters. I also found the threesome you can do to be very funny.

 

[cantdoright]

I would not want sex in any more games many because parents seem to love not caring what their kids play and that may lead to my 6 year old cousin learning about something I did not find out till age 11 (Still think that is even too young). If people really need to "release there valve", than go look towards the internet to solve that problem.

 

[Maya877]

Man, I am honestly sick of hearing so many complaints about sex in videogames, I'm a 13 year old girl and it doesn't bother me, so why should it bother an adult like you? (and no my mind isn't being "warped" by the game makers.) Yeah, maybe some of the girls they put on there are over exaggerated and maybe just "eye candy" but does that really harm anyone? It may be offensive to some sensitive people but it doesn't actually do any harm. Society is growing, so shouldn't we grow with it? If we're stuck being at the stage of "you're polluting my child's mind with sex" then we haven't really advanced....
Oh well, what do I know I am afterall "just a kid."