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All the World's a Stage: Delicate subjects, handle with care
When you decide to roleplay, a whole new world of imagination opens up to you -- soon you realize that all the World of Warcraft is a stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. Michael Gray fills in this week for David Bowers to talk about how you can handle delicate subjects while achieving your roleplay goals.I can't speak for anyone else, but one thing Momma always warned me about is that there are a few topics you just don't talk about over dinner or in polite company. Sex, drugs, money, politics. If you're like me, your sweetheart gives you that look if certain subjects are brought up. "Don't even get started," that look warns me. I admit, I can be a powderkeg about feminism, racial equality, and general "do the right thing" subjects. But these issues do come up during the course of roleplay. There are more than a few victims among WoW's characters, and there are certainly some bad guys who'd do despicable things.If you're going to play with hot-topic issues, there some things you can do to help keep everyone's sensitivities in mind.
Japanese adult film takes Brain Age approach
We're not ones to peruse the seedy underbelly of the adult film industry (hard to believe, with us working on the internet and all), but this story is too much to pass up. Does the above cover remind you of anything? Well, if it doesn't, you probably never played the Japanese title Brain Training (also known as Brain Age). Look at the game's boxart. See what we mean?If you want to know more, you can check out Hikaru Wakana's blog (NSFW linkage), who is the film's star.
Robots to be our lovers by 2050, not just in Massachussetts
Remember when you were a kid and you told your friends that you totally loved your new computer, and some little luddite looked at you and said, "So why don't you marry it?" There was that brief moment when you thought your Commodore 64 could, in fact, make a nice spouse. If not, move along. If so, David Levy told participants at a conference last week that we would all be having loving relationships with robots by 2050, not just trysts in Massachussetts. He predicts that we'll have robots as sex toys within five years and true, deep relationships later on. Some robots already kiss, some seem to hate, but Levy says we'll have emotional relationships based on conversation by mid-century. Until that time, remember your C64, your first true love. She / he remembers you, you selfish jerk.
Player vs. Everything: Online Games and Sex
As humans, sex is something that plays a very important role in our lives and personal experiences. It's a pretty universal and emotionally charged topic that can dramatically influence how we think of ourselves and how we view our relationships with other people. Even outside of the act itself, ideas about sex and human relationships shape the way we act, the way we dress, the way we live, and the people we associate with. Dealing with the complicated issues surrounding sex is part of the human condition. It's not at all surprising that sex is frequently portrayed in all forms of media which attempt to explore that human experience. However, are video games (and specifically online games) really ready to examine this topic? There was a really interesting lecture posted by the videogame news blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun a few days ago in which Daniel Floyd discussed the topic of sex in video games. His key point is that if video games are going to attempt to explore the topic of sex effectively, they need to portray it in a way that ties it to relationships and intimacy. Watching the video made me start thinking about how sex is portrayed in MMOGs, especially with the recent launch of Age of Conan, a game that sold itself as a "mature title" with strong violence and sexuality. After a lot of reflection on the topic, I really don't think that mainstream online games are ready to explore sexuality, nor are they even capable of portraying it tastefully with their current limitations.
Everything you wanted to know about gaming and sex (but were afraid to ask)
The use of sexual content in video games is not exactly the industry's proudest bullet point. Daniel Floyd, a student of Savannah College of Art and Design (home of noted game designer Brenda Brathwaite), has produced a nine-minute video that lays out sex's relationship with video games pretty well. Floyd covers the history, the current state of affairs, and how we might progress as an industry in incorporating sex in a mature way. Admittedly inspired by Zero Punctuation, the video is very entertaining and easy to follow. Check it out and get educated.[Via Rock Paper Shotgun]
Playboy hints at creating their own virtual world
Sex sells, as they say. For this reason, it makes perfect sense for Playboy to create their own branded virtual world. They already lay claim to one of the most popular company-sponsored islands in Second Life, so why not branch off and create their own virtual world?Playboy chairperson and CEO Christie Hefner recently discussed the company's plans for the future, indicating the possibility of their own virtual world. We think this is an inevitable step in the direction of social networking and virtual worlds in which many major companies are recently realizing the possibilities. This, of course begs the question: do we really need separate virtual worlds for each major company, or is a one-stop-shop a more viable alternative? With the advent of MetaPlace approaching, and the wild success of Second Life, it will be interesting to gauge the market trends in regards to businesses populating established virtual worlds, or creating their own.
Late-night Wii Fanboy: why the Wii and sex don't mix
Here in the UK*, the nation's favorite one-handed newspapers regularly contain relationship advice that is portrayed in picture form. Obviously, these hilariously scripted columns are simply another excuse for tabloid editors to meet their monthly quota of exposed female flesh, and would usually line our cat's litter tray as a result, but this recent column from the News of the World made us chuckle, as it heavily features the Wii and Wii Sports.Anyway, the story so far: we've learned that young couple Ash and Mel are in a crisis. Young Ash up there is apparently declining Mel's amorous advances in favor of boxing on the Wii, so Mel did what any rational individual would do with their relationship on the rocks: she wrote to a national newspaper to explain her problem and have it presented to millions of readers in pictures.Want to see how they ended up and what conclusions agony aunt "Jane" reached? Then click the image above or hit up the "Read" link below (it's NSFW, naturally), and see for yo -- you've already gone, haven't you? Hello?* From what my colleagues tell me, U.S. papers don't carry such features. But then they read nice, respectable newspapers.
The week in Massively features
MMO Mash-up: Age of Hello KittyWelcome to a new column here at Massively, where I'll take two massively multiplayer online games and chop them up into little pieces, so I can put them back together with electrical tape and staples. This is the MMO Mashup, where you can expect to see everything from the startlingly strange to the ubiquitously unusual. Lets get straight into it then, with the pink-yet-dark world of Age of Hello Kitty. Massively goes hands-on with LotRO Book 13 videoWe could write reams of text that describe in loving detail all the features that await you in Lord of the Rings Online's Book 13 content patch. We could lay out screenshot after screenshot that could perfectly capture the chilly northlands that are being introduced, the eerie agent of Angmar who is tearing apart the land or the monstrous beasts that roam the wintry tundra. MMOGology: Sex gamesWhat are the risqué features in Age of Conan and what will their implementation mean for future MMOGs? If Age of Conan is successful can we expect other developers to push the envelope further, or has someone already beaten them to the punch? If you're easily offended you may wish to skip what follows after the break. Massively Speaking Podcast Episode 2Massively Speaking Episode 2 runs down news and features from Massively.com for the week of April 14th-20th. Shawn and Michael are joined by blogging regulars Akela Talamasca and Jonathan Northwood to talk about the next LOTRO Book, the Epic Villain Archetype video, and (of course) Age of Conan! The next EverQuest 2 expansion is ...So what is the Shadow of Odyssey? There are so many unexplored plot threads in the Norrath of EQ2, and the title is so vague, that it could be almost anything. Still, we have a few good ideas. If we had to put money on it, we'd bet that the shadow in question has something to do with the Void, and the mysterious Shadowmen. Or, Odyssey could refer to the long-lost homeland of the Erudites, the magic-weaving spellsmiths of yore.
MMOGology: Sex games
Can you feel it coming? With less than a month until Conan's release, the pressure cooker of excitement building for the new MMOG by Funcom is about to blow its load. At least part of this excitement stems from the fact that Age of Conan deals with mature themes. Unlike the cartoony World of Warcraft and cutesy Hello Kitty Online, Age of Conan is embracing what they call a "dark, decadent, twisted and corrupt version of Euro-Asian history." Aside from the prominent head lopping and blood letting we're also getting a side dish of sex; something we haven't really seen before in a prominent, commercial MMOG.The idea of sex in video games is not new. You can go as far back as text based adventures like Farmer's Daughter on the Commodore 64, crude, arcade-style games like Custer's Revenge for the Atari 2600, or the multi-platform adventure game series Leisure Suit Larry that first kicked off back in 1987. Many early titles were so graphically crude that they left absolutely everything to the imagination. But as technology has evolved, so have the dirty minds of developers. And where dirty minded developers have come up short, many gamers have created modifications to fulfill their fantasies. Would you like some hot coffee while you wait to download the Lara Croft nude patch?Given the heavy censorship present in the games industry it's actually surprising that Age of Conan will ship with a few lewd features in tact. With an M rating, Conan is one of the first MMOGs that's pre-screening its playerbase and tossing out the kiddies (along with the associated revenue stream from their parents). So what are the risqué features in Age of Conan and what will their implementation mean for future MMOGs? If Age of Conan is successful can we expect other developers to push the envelope further, or has someone already beaten them to the punch? If you're easily offended you may wish to skip what follows after the break.
New TCG wallpaper is putrid, but in a sexy way
Blizzard has released a new wallpaper featuring exquisite artwork from the "Mias the Putrid" card from the WoW TCG. The work is just as fantastic as it was with previous TCG-themed work -- maybe even better. Well, nothing is gonna beat the Stefen Colbear thing, but still. It's fabulous.I say it's "putrid, but in a sexy way" with tongue in cheek, of course. This evil Mias lady is half-naked. She's in chain-slave-bondage. Oh, and ... I'm not one of those guys who has all the cup sizes memorized, but I'm pretty sure that proportionally this is on the higher end. No, I'm not gushing; I actually have a point! WoW Insider has talked about sexism in WoW before, but usually we've focused on the actions and words of some male players, and not so much on things like the art style of the game or the TCG. I'm not making a judgment here; I'm just pondering. See, when I saw this new image, I thought of a conversation I had with a friend of mine a couple weeks ago. She long since quit WoW, but she said that as a female gamer it's always a little frustrating when many of the female characters are half-naked elf-slaves with huge breasts. What a standard! But then, doesn't WoW's art style exaggerate the male characters' muscles and such, too? Ah, well. It's food for thought. Type up your two cents if you want. Or just download the wallpaper.
Study shows men's brains hard-wired for games
When it comes to gaming, the popular perception is that it's a man's domain. (Of course, you'd be hard pressed to make that point around Massively HQ, as many of our most prolific writers and senior bloggers are of the fairer sex.) Traditionally, this has been pinned on sociological factors that discourage women from developing as close a relation with computers as men. While there is still probably a kernel of truth to that, a new study out of the Stanford University School of Medicine points to biological factors hard-wired into the brain as the cause. Reportedly, MRI scans taken of both men and women while playing a simple game showed a marked difference in the areas of the brain responsible for feelings of reward and addiction. Men simply got more of a buzz out of games than women, by and large.What amused me was the description of the game they used in testing, which they described as having no real prescribed goal -- the test subjects simply clicked a series of images depicting balls as they slowly approached a wall. The more quickly they clicked the images, the more ground they gained. Without any instruction, the men in the study "appeared more motivated to acquire terrain." No real prescribed goal? Players motivating themselves to acquire terrain? Feelings of reward and addiction? If I didn't know any better, I'd swear they were using an MMO for that study! At the same time, short of casual Popcap-style games, MMOs probably enjoy one of the highest female to male ratios in the industry, so I'd stop short of saying that sociology has nothing to do with it. Still, very interesting stuff.
Survey sez Brits would give up nearly anything for a 50-inch plasma
We already knew that one in eight blokes would swap their significant other for a swank new piece of kit, but apparently, the Brits have no qualms giving up other luxuries in order to satisfy their electronic cravings. According to a survey pushed out late last month by Comet, nearly half (47-percent) of British men surveyed would do without sex for six whole months in exchange for a shiny new 50-inch plasma, while 35-percent of women said the same. Furthermore, 24-percent claimed that they would ditch smoking for the luscious PDP, while a quarter of participants stated that they would cease eating chocolate. Of course, talk is cheap, and we've serious doubts that these folks could actually keep their promise if put to the test.[Via Times Colonist, image courtesy of CorrieBlog]
NSFW - The ladies still love Kratos
If you ever bothered playing the first two God of War titles, you'd know Kratos' skills with the ladies. And despite Kratos getting anatomically miniaturized in God of War: Chains of Olympus, this video proves he still has certain needs no matter how small he is. There's not much more to say other than: "Rock on, Kratos. Rock on."
Today's least safe for work video: Chains of Olympus sex game
After offending the easily offendable with slightly off-screen sex in God of War and God of War II, it seemed like a no-brainer that the somewhat adult mini-game would making a return for the PSP's Chains of Olympus. Well, that mini-game has now been revealed through an NSFW video posted of GameTrailers.This time around, the urn and peeing statue that maintained the camera's focus in games past have been replaced with a deliciously suggestive candle (pictured above), which we have to say is an improvement. We can't help but wonder, though, where they'll go next for their suggestive imagery. Rock formations? Vegetables? A lighthouse? Hmmm, they'll probably be OK.Warning: The below video contains adult content.
Today's most satirical video: Loading.Ready.Run tackles 'Max Effect'
It's been a week since Fox News ran a largely ignorant news segment on the the brief, minor and optional sex scene found in Mass Effect. The crew of Loading.Ready.Run have produced a satire of the news segment for our enjoyment. All the important interview tactics are present, from the gaming supporter being frequently cut off mid-sentence, having his mic turned off, and the host giving loaded questions and descriptions ("full on hardcore porn sex ... with freaky alien chicks"). The acting may not be top-notch, but the snark is. For a summary of events surrounding Mass Effect so far, including head-turning comments by Jack Thompson, check out this post. Video embedded after the break.[Thanks, Pattmyn]
All the World's a Stage: If looks could kill
All the World's a Stage is a column for inquisitive minds, playing with roles every Sunday evening. The media usually portrays WoW as a "boy's game." That's not to say girls don't play too, of course -- just that the game is basically about qualities such as aggressiveness and violence, and our culture expects males to be interested in that sort of thing. Whether such a designation is true or not, the "masculine equals violent" stereotype is very pervasive, and it is natural for many male players to begin the game with a powerful and intimidating character in mind. The player may imagine that his avatar is warm and kind-hearted inside, but outwardly, his character looks as though he could rip out your throat with a flick of his pinky finger.But there are many men out there who don't like such exaggerated manliness in their characters, just as there are many women who don't want their character to look like a dainty barbie doll. Being a person isn't just about just one gender attribute, after all. Indeed, female characters in WoW can achieve a full range of human attributes in their appearance; they can look friendly and intelligent, yet lightning quick and deadly at the same time. However, the appearance of male characters is often so filled to the brim with "strength and honor" that there's not much room left for any other human quality.
Bunny girls sell Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 in Japan
Humor has played a big role in Ubisoft's marketing of Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, but sex? Erm ... not so much. It's a different story in Japan, however. There, models dressed in midriff-baring outfits and bunny ears are recruited to sell the game to the public in shopping malls.Tottering on their high heels, they watch over a (admittedly very impressive) kiosk dedicated to Ubi's game, complete with Wii demo units, and tons of awesome Rabbids merchandise, including postcards, hats, and some too-cool-for-words Rabbids tote bags that WE MUST OWN.Plunge(r) past the break for more snaps.
Behind the Curtain: Sex sells
Sex sells. This is one of the most basic premises of advertising. Sex is used to sell a truly unbelievable amount of products. Sex is even used to sell computer games, so what would happen if we were able to sell sex?Prostitution is called 'the oldest profession', so what if we treated it like any other profession in MMOs and started charging for it? The amount of people in MMOs today is truly mind-blowing. With a combined player-base of that size, you can be sure that a good few people are cybering in-game at any given time. I'm not saying that everyone, or even most, of the people playing an MMO right now take part in cybering, because that's simply not true. Plenty of people rely on simple IM clients like AIM or Windows Messenger to find cyber-sex partners. But what if your game had licensed, regulated, well-run brothels staffed with reputable players? You might just find that people fall over themselves to start playing your game.
Singapore un-bans Mass Effect
The Singapore Media Developmental Authority has reversed its decision to ban Mass Effect from the country. The game will go on sale next week and have an M18 rating. According to The Strait Times, the Board of Film Censors will selectively use game ratings on high-profile games until January, when they expect to initiate a game classification system.The decision to ban the game earlier this week spurred from a lesbian love scene found in BioWare's anticipated RPG. The Strait Times also noted that Assassin's Creed was released this week with a rating for graphic violence.
Mass Effect banned in Singapore over lesbian scene
If a human female and a humanoid alien who is classified as female want to express their love in a physical manner, who are we to interrupt the natural order of the universe? According to Singapore newspaper The Straits Times, the government's Media Development Authority has banned BioWare's Mass Effect from sale in the country.As reported by Reuters, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, "the city-state should keep its conservative values and not allow special rights for homosexuals." The lesbian scene was posted on GameVideos earlier this week before Microsoft asked them to remove it. [Thanks, Mitchell]
