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Recommended Reading: inside a sexcam studio, the death of a content farm
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books dealing with the subject of technology that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. I spent a month living in a Romanian sexcam studio (3,434 words) by Jack Davies, VICE Pocket When it comes to sexy cam shows, Romania is pretty much the undisputed capital of the world, with an estimated 2,000 studios. VICE's Jack Davies spent a month inside one such complex on a backstreet in Bucharest, where up to 11 "models" can stream themselves simultaneously to lonely viewers around the globe (but mostly in the US). While there is certainly some stigma still attached to the idea of taking your clothes off for money in America, in this Eastern European nation it's widely accepted. In fact, one of the two owners of this particular studio claims this is as an opportunity to better himself as a person, not just make a boat-load of money.
Venus Rising to feature sexual PvP, 16 positions
So, Venus Rising. Would you like to know more? If so, check out an interview with FoxySoft CEO Alex Allen at MMORPGItalia. Recall that Venus Rising is the adult-oriented title formerly known as Orgia Romanus that has caused something of a stir in the MMO community due to its unapologetic portrayals of sex, nudity, etc. Allen's interview touches on the three paths available to players (Merchant, Politician, Soldier), but that's not what you're really interested in, is it? "Sexual activities are very much a part of the player's character development. You can't run around having all the sex you want just like you can't run around killing everything all the time," Allen explains. "Players can progress through 10 levels of expertise to eventually have 16 sexual positions to choose from during an encounter. Players will be able to invite other players into their personal home or a game-provided room to engage in sexual activities. Or players can visit any one of the game-provided brothels to learn from an NPC and gain experience that way." Venus Rising's PvP will also pertain to sex, though how is not exactly clear other than that both the sex and the PvP will be "consensual." The game will feature a freemium business model with a "low monthly subscription" unlocking the adult content.
Breakfast Topic: What rating would you give your guild chat?
Here in the US, the Motion Picture Association of America assigns ratings to our movies. A quick summary of each: G Suitable for all audiences PG Parental guidance suggested PG-13 Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13 R Parent or guardian must accompany those under 17 NC-17 Too adult for 17 and under, so they aren't even admitted In It came from the Blog, the rule for guildchat is that it must be PG-13. In the Sex Talk edition of Drama Mamas, the guild's forum chat seems to be closer to NC-17. Now, I don't think that talking about sex necessarily means that the chatters are immature. Mature people can have very mature conversations. But the R to NC-17 chatter in trade chat and battlegrounds is from immature people. There is a huge difference between inappropriately sexual and maturely sexual. But I digress. Many family guilds will keep it from G to PG, but some stronger language and more mature topics are often allowed at night. It came from the Blog can't do that because we have Australians and other international folk whose days overlap with our nights. We don't want people to be wary of letting their kids play with us because of time zone prejudice. What rating would you give your guildchat?
Drama Mamas: Sex talk
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. Sex. Hello Ladies, I am not sure if you can publish this as it's very adult themed but I am hoping you can because I really need your help! I honestly believe that if I was a man, this wouldn't even be an issue but for now this is really pulling me down. About three months before the new expansion, I came back to WoW and joined what I thought was an awesome guild. I've been through my probation and for the most part it's been great fun. The thing with this guild though is that it's very... sexually charged. Most threads get hijacked by something sexual and they even have a NSFW section that is filled with more naked photos than all the men's magazines combined. Even new members are greeted by sexual questions in their application thread. How you response to these questions seems to almost dictates how the guild will receive you.
Orgia Romanus renamed Venus Rising, demo coming in December
What's better than an orgy-filled MMORPG? How about an orgy-filled MMORPG that doesn't have orgy in the title so that you can keep the fact that you're playing it on the down-low? FoxySoft wants you to know that it has re-christened the game formerly known as Orgia Romanus. The new name is Venus Rising, but there's still a focus on adult content that the firm's press release likens to that of Red Light Center and portions of Second Life. A playable Orgia Romanus demo is coming your way on December 1st. The build will feature "inter-character relationships, economy, combat, and sample quests." More info is available via FoxySoft's website. [Source: FoxySoft press release]
The Daily Grind: Would you play an adult MMO?
Yesterday we told you about an adult MMO called Orgia Romanus that's causing a stir due to its focus on sexual content. While the game is certainly taking an over-the-top approach, it's by no means the first MMO to walk this path. Indie titles like Sociolotron and portions of virtual worlds like Second Life are renowned for their focus on various taboo topics, while more traditional titles like Age of Conan and Mortal Online have dabbled in avatar nudity and adult-oriented quests. But what if an MMO came along that managed to incorporate adult topics in a manner devoid of sensationalism? Sure, it's a tall order, but let's assume it's possible. Would you play it, or do you steer clear of anything with the "adult" label? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Orgia Romanus MMO looks to 'facilitate sexual interactions between players'
Sex in MMOs isn't particularly new, especially given the titillating ad campaigns that accompany your average fantasy title. Orgia Romanus is new, and it's aiming higher (or lower) than scantily clad elven babes. One of its gameplay goals "is to facilitate sexual interactions between players," according to a FoxySoft Gaming press release. FoxySoft is the brainchild of Alex Allen, a former artist and project director at Acclaim and Sony Online Entertainment. In mechanical terms, Orgia Romanus looks to marry traditional merchant-, politician-, and warrior-centric play with sexual content. Gamers will become "engaged emotionally as they are allowed to build relationships with other players that help them advance through the game," FoxySoft says. Full development on Orgia Romanus will commence after a crowdfunding campaign scheduled for next month. A playable demo is expected this fall. [Source: FoxySoft Games press release]
Hayashi: Team Ninja taming its 'sex and violence' image in DoA 5
Team Ninja boss Yosuke Hayashi says the studio's perspective has changed since Tomonobu Itagaki left in a huff in 2008, and even though most of its 200 staff are original team members, Hayashi is calling them his "new team." The most obvious shift is the new team's focus on creating an emotional experience, rather than eye candy, Hayashi tells Gamasutra."The old team was known for making games that just had two primary elements: Sex and violence," Hayashi says. "It was very obvious. The new team, we want to take it to a new level -- to a direction that contains emotional experiences that can move players."That's right -- Team Ninja wasn't emotionally invested in all the sexy gameplay you had together, and now it's looking for something more meaningful. Hayashi may find his new, more mature gaming experience in a Dead or Alive crossover with Virtua Fighter, a la Street Fighter X Tekken, Edge reports."In terms of collaboration titles, there are staff on our team who just love fighting games and if there was any chance to do that we'd actively, possibly do that," Hayashi says."The first 3D game I played was Virtua Fighter; that's the IP I respect most. Virtua Fighter was the father of 3D gaming, so it's very well respected."For now, one thing's certain: The women in Dead or Alive 5 will be more respectable, well-rounded (emotionally) than in previous titles. "We've always had the sex factor in the game; in the past, the female characters had to have big breasts, they had to have scanty dress," Hayashi says. "In DoA 5 especially, we're trying to focus on the real women that surround us: the voice of a female, the mannerisms. We are being realistic about it."
Study: iPhone users would give up their toothbrushes before their devices
A survey by GPS mobile apps developer TeleNav reveals that 40% of iPhone users would rather give up their toothbrushes for a week than their iPhones. That number compares to 22% of total smartphone owners (Android, BlackBerry, etc.) who said the same thing. What does that mean? Either iPhone users care less about personal hygiene or they really love their iPhones. The study, which was done for no other reason than so blogs could quote it and mention TeleNav's brand, also reveals that among iPhone users, 35% believe the iPhone reflects their sense of style, 45% have never paid more than a buck for an app, 28% would rather go a week without seeing their partner than their iPhone, and 18% would rather lose their wallet and its contents than their iPhone. Among total smartphone owners, 70% of people would rather give up alcohol for a week than their smartphone and 33% would rather give up sex. Still not disturbed? You can check out all the obsessive results of smartphone love in this handy infographic. [via GigaOm]
Breakfast Topic: How do you respond when others misrepresent WoW?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. A few months back, my wife and I were watching television, when suddenly my ears perked to the sound of a familiar phrase. The Big Bang Theory was talking about our beloved game! I had heard that this show employs people to keep its science talk somewhat authentic, so I listened curiously to see where they were going with this. Unfortunately, it appears that they don't exercise the same level of care when talking about video games. "You know World of Warcraft?" Wolowitz asked Penny. "The online game? Sure," she replied. "Well, did you know you that the characters in the game can have sex with each other? Hollywood has always treated video games more like a prop than a real live hobby, obviously. You're usually lucky when gaming characters actually continue mashing on buttons while they deliver lines, so an inaccuracy like this isn't exactly a surprise. Moments later, though, our phone started to ring. My wife picked it up and I faintly heard my father-in-law asking in his heavy Oklahoma accent, "What does Brian do in that game he's always playin', anyway?" She explained that -- despite tales of Moon Guard -- there is no mechanic in the game to have sex. Still, though ... to this day, when he asks about our "raider game," I swear I can see an incredulous eyebrow rise ever so slightly. Society and the media haven't always done their best to paint the MMO genre positively or accurately. News stories constantly highlight the worst-case scenarios, and innocent jokes like this can send the wrong impression to the uninitiated. Is there anyone in your life who is convinced that these stereotypes and falsehoods are true? Did you ever try to educate them, or do you just nod your head and laugh to yourself when they mention the game?
British government wants all porn filtered out of the web, all fun sucked out of life
You can't be surprised at developments like these when you elect a political party whose very name is Conservative, but it's still rather sad to hear that the current UK government is putting pressure on ISPs to "protect children" by universally blocking access to porn websites. It's not outright censorship, you'll be able to "opt in" and restore your freedom to explore adult content (or anything else that's been inadvertently blocked), though it's all a rather misguided effort in our eyes. Claire Perry, one of the leading voices behind this push, cites stats noting that 60 percent of nine- to 19-year olds have found pornography online, yet she fails to elaborate on what's been so traumatizing or debilitating about the experience -- or why violent content is getting a free pass. We still think good parenting -- say, by using the local controls built into your OS or search engine -- is a much cheaper option than some complex censorship wall, but that won't prevent the Conservatives from pursuing legislation over the next couple of years if broadband providers don't figure out blocking mechanisms of their own. For shame, Britain.
OkCupid: iPhone users have more sex
I've been a huge fan of social dating site OkCupid's OkTrends blog for a while now. They're constantly sharing data (anonymized, of course) from their social site about what people find attractive and interesting in each other. The latest post has some fun information about cameras -- specifically, the perceived link between what type of camera OkCupid's patrons use and successful relationships. All of the data is fascinating (as usual), but there's one little note of potential interest to iPhone fans. Apparently, when compared to users who post pictures from other smartphone brands, users who reported using iPhones for their profile pictures tend to identify more sexual partners over all. As you can see in the chart above, male and female iPhone users (at age 30) report higher numbers of sexual partners to OkCupid. In fact, across all ages, iPhone users reported having more sexual partners than those who used Android or Blackberry smartphones to take their profile pictures. Of course, OkCupid is just having fun here. Maybe iPhone users are actually more inclined to lie about their amorous conquests, or maybe there's a higher likelihood that Android or Blackberry users have reason to report a lower number. But then again, we already know that iPhone owners tend to be rich, engage in vigorous activity, and like to be outspoken about their buying choices and preferences. And aren't those the kind of people who end up going home with the girl (or guy) from the bar anyway?
Motion capture game teaches tween girls to avoid the come-ons of boys from the Metaverse
The University of Central Florida has been awarded a $434k grant to develop a video game for tween girls. The game, which is still in development, is apparently designed to allow girls to "practice" rejecting peer pressure from boys for sex and make outs. Of course, the only natural way to immerse the player in such a game is to put her into a motion capture suit, where her jittery marionette of an avatar is surrounded by the most diabolical 3D models of teenage males obtainable on that $434k budget -- if it was paid to Neal Stephenson in 1992. "It's a place to practice where there aren't any social consequences," says Professor Anne Norris, who is heading the project. But who will protect them from the psychological consequences, Anne? And will there be any escape from the meta-virus? Check out the unintentionally hilarious video after the break.
The worst app name. Ever.
Sometimes app developers will send me PR releases hoping I review their apps (thus increasing their sales). If I think it's a good app, or that my readers would like it, I do. Many times I don't, however. But I couldn't resist sharing this app with the rest of the world. Why? Not because it's a good app (I haven't even tried it), but because it is the worst-named app in the history of apps: Touch Teen Patti. When I first read the name images of an app that featured photos the young and innocent teen Patti popped into my head. I imagined the Pedobears on the Chan sites going crazy over this app as they used their fingers to pinch and squeeze young teen Patti's various body parts. It wasn't just the name that caused me to shamelessly snicker like a thirteen year-old either. The PR release went on to contain a number of inadvertent, though sexually ambiguous, double entendres: "Teen Patti recently featured in a movie of the same name." "Teen Patti can be played with a minimum of 2 players but it's more fun with 4 or more players." "The AI will challenge the players to an extreme and test not only your luck but your skills on the table." If you don't know (or haven't guessed) by now, Teen Patti is actually an innocent Indian card game that's similar to poker. When the devs made it into an iPhone game they decided to (appropriately enough) throw "touch" into the title -- probably much to the alarm of Chris Hanson and to the hopes of Pedobears everywhere. To the dev who wanted me to do a review of this app -- sorry, but I'm not into card games. However, with a name like "Touch Teen Patti," if you want to increase your sales, all you have to do is post a link to your app on 4Chan and your numbers will go through the roof. Commenters note that "Teen Patti" in Hindi translates as "three cards."
University of Central Florida's abstinence edu-game is just the best thing ever
Look, we really wanted to write a harsh diatribe about the University of Central Florida's federally-funded game development project: An Avatar-esque edu-game that teaches young girls to ignore the sexual advances of their contemporaries. We wanted to talk about all the things that $434,000 of taxpayer's money could have been spent on, or how silly of a concept a motion-controlled abstinence game really is. Unfortunately, our spite turned to pure, unbridled glee after watching this Fox News Report on the project. Between the news-friendly gaming lingo ("digital puppetry," "jumping into the skin," "interactors," etc.) and the contorted, soulless husks that comprise the game's cast of sexually aware characters, the video -- posted just after the jump -- is a comedy goldmine. Dig in, gang.
The Virtual Whirl: Ill-repute
Virtual environments have a generally poor reputation in many quarters, particularly in the mass-media. Much of that reputation is ill-deserved, and some of it is entirely fabricated (eg: by the mass-media). I have to ask, what's the big deal?
Game Boy condom concept helps you level up
Just like the iCade, this is one of those "just for fun" ideas that actually seems to make a great deal of commercial sense. Think about it, Nintendo has sold bajillions of handheld consoles in its time, and it keeps churning out sequels that mean even newer followers are familiar with such classics as Donkey Shlong. And Mario's mushroom-related growth spurts? Marketing gold! So why not capitalize on all that brand awareness with this selection of cheerfully colored condom cases? Designed by Ben Marsh and Julia Roach, they aim to "create a desire to purchase the product for aesthetic reasons," and quite frankly, they do succeed. This certainly puts a whole new spin on the idea of power-ups, though.
The Virtual Whirl: The secret sauce
Virtual environments evince a significant lack of mainstream adoption. Relatively tiny percentages of the world population are involved in them in any way online. There's something clearly missing. At the present time, virtual environments simply lack any compelling reason to exist that motivates mainstream users and might drive mainstream adoption. There's no killer app, or secret sauce that gets large numbers of people thinking "I want to get me some of that!"
Make babies with a co-op partner in Fable 3
Still not sold on Fable 3 as an iterative improvement over the last game in the series? Well, you might just change your mind when you hear about the game's latest feature, which was recently revealed in the latest Official Xbox Magazine: When you're not busy building a monarchy and roaming the wild landscape of Albion, you'll "be able to enjoy, ahem, intimate moments with your co-op friend and eventually produce offspring together," according to the mag. We hope this isn't another one of those "no, really, the trees will grow" scenarios, because this is quite possibly the sexiest thing we've ever heard. Sure, it might lead to some horrifically awkward Xbox Live voice messages, but its raw sexiness is undeniable. %Gallery-85302%
TUAW Talkcast live tonight at 10pm Eastern
Sunday night means it's time once again for a TUAW talkcast, in which your favorite TUAW bloggers and readers all get together over on Talkshoe and chat out the biggest Apple happenings of the past week. This week, we'll be talking about that mystery key on the iPad keyboard and what it might be for, Apple's "sex apps" issues, tips for switchers (and why they're so popular), and that file that could very well be the first list of books on the iPad. We'll also be chatting live with you -- you can call up during the show, and while you're listening on your phone, you can hit *-8 to chat live with us on the air (which is why we call it a "talkcast" rather than a podcast, don'tcha know). So if you find yourself coming down a little hard after the Olympics this evening, jump on in to our chat and we'll cheer you right back up. To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (take advantage of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Gizmo or X-Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk with you then!
