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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.
Mass Effect allows lesbian alien sex, men remain vanilla
A British Board of Film Classification description page reveals some potential sexual prejudice in Mass Effect, although it's not the type you might expect. According to the description, players using a female character can initiate a sex scene "between her and male human or a female humanoid alien." Male characters, on the other hand, can only initiate sex "between him and a human woman or a humanoid female alien." If we're reading that right, it means the game allows for alien lesbian sex, but not any type of male-on-male sex. Furthermore, all non-alien sex has to be heterosexual.The same-sex love issue is by now well-tread territory for BioWare -- most fans know by now that Juhani from Knights of the Old Republic is a lesbian and Jade Empire allowed same-sex romance for both genders. So why should it be different in Mass Effect? Does BioWare think that their audience will clamor for girl-on-alien-girl action while recoiling from man-on-man love? And why is lesbian sex only OK if it involves another species? Is this some sort of compromise to avoid a Bully-style controversy?We'll have to wait until the final version of Mass Effect to see if the BBFC description is accurate, but as it stands now this odd double standard makes us wonder if the game will be a step forward or back for sexual politics.[Via ProG, GayGamer]
Are gay characters becoming a 'non-troversy'?
For the second year GLBT members of the gaming industry had roundtable discussions to explore their place in the business. Issues like an International Game Developers Association special interest group were discussed, along with establishing Human Rights Campaign corporate equality index numbers for all game companies. The developers who didn't have domestic partner benefits at their companies believed that it was a simple oversight, not a decision point, by their employer. One of the stand-out moments was the discussion over the 'non-troversy' of gay game characters.Designer Jeb Havens who led the roundtable sessions coined the "non-troversy" phrase to explain the Bully boy-on-boy kiss. An incident that many believed would blow up, but ended up being a bullet point. The non-troversy continued last week with Peter Molyneux's announcement that gay relationships would be allowed in Fable 2, even though it was an "accident" in the original Fable. As the roster of gay characters increases, which according to a recent study are wanted much more in RPGs, could gay characters become non-troversies in games like a Gears of War sequel? The film V for Vendetta was used as a prime example of how the gaming industry could incorporate gay issues that don't distract from the game's story, but actually help propel the plot.
Joystiq interviews Brenda Brathwaite about sex and games
One could say Brenda Brathwaite wrote the book on sex in games -- and they'd be right. She is the author of Sex in Video Games, lead designer on Playboy: The Mansion, founder and chair of IGDA's Sex Special Interest Group and professor of game design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Brathwaite spoke with Joystiq about next week's Game Developer's Conference, how to keep sexual content under control and the story of the year that really got her blood pressure elevated.At the Game Developers Conference this year you'll be talking about the business end of designing erotic games. What does that mean?We're doing two roundtables this year at the request of previous attendees: designing erotic games and, second, the business end of erotic games. This will give attendees a chance to really get into each issue deeply. When it comes to designing erotic games, I expect we will probably cover such things as appealing to a diverse sexual audience, incorporating fetish play, MMO design, and pitching games to existing adult stars and publishing powerhouses. There's also interest from many people in solving that M-rated issue: how can we maturely incorporate mature themes into the narrative of the play – the same stuff you'd see in an R-rated movie – without being locked out of retail? Games have certainly done it, and as our ability to tell stories in games increases, figuring out how to do it well is becoming more an more an issue. The average gamer is a guy in his 30's, you know. Shows from Lost to Grey's Anatomy feature mature storylines that we, in games, feel at risk to take.
Who are the gender-benders?
Academic MMO weblog Terra Nova is looking at gender-bending in cyberspace at the moment, delving into the phenomenon by asking the simple question "Who's doing it?". While many men who play female characters use the "nice ass" line--if they're going to be staring at a pixellated posterior all day, it might as well be a pretty one--Terra Nova tries to go beyond this by looking at the personalities of gender-bending players.The comments on the post are also interesting, covering identity tourism, transgender and GLBT issues as well as adding several more accounts of gender-bending (or not) into the mix.
