Ramblings, just ramblings
Does it really have to come to this?
Published on July 3, 2005 By Amitty In Gaming
Do you remember a little game for the Xbox and PS2 called BMX XXX? Sure some of you do, and most likely, some of you bought it. It was a adventurous romp into BMXing and nudity. Critics held it up as another reason to ban games or kill games all together. After all, if our precious kiddies are exposed to these things in a video game, what will come of them?

Probably not as bad, since they have the playground at school, and television and movies to fill up the space that the occasional lude game would occupy. Wal-Mart made a big fuss with this game, proclaiming that it would not carry the game. PS2 developers toned it down for the PS2 version, making it safe for suburbia.

I don't want ot get off on a tangent here, especially about the effrects of videogames like GTA: San Andreas and the like. I was sick of people picking on the games and got frustrated.

Now the videogame industry is doing it to itself. They know that there is a fillibuster of critics out there waiting to jump on the next videogame that stretches or breaks the moral line, and then they go out and publish some.

Case in point, June's release of Singles 2.
Reading on a site, I saw the phrase " Downright pornographic".
Of course, I deleved a little deeper. It seems that this game is little more than a excuse to watch rendered models of sims get it on. I understand that the game is supposed to be a lot like the dating sims in Japan, but somehow this falls short. When Tom's Hardware ( www.tomshardware.com) says that it's the Sims with debbie does Dallas, that disturbs me. In the consecutive months before, we also saw the release of Leasure Suit Larry: Magna cum Laude, and The Playboy game.

Don't get me wrong. I am red blooded and these things don't bother me. What bothers me is that the gaming industry, who sits back and cries unfair to every protestor out there, then does the irresponcible thing and releases these games on console systems that kids play. Yes, Singles 2 is PC, but maybe not for long. Is it any wonder that gaming comes under fire?

And, sure, there is a rating system for games. I have never experienced a sale clerk at a local store (name withheld) ask a small kid for ID or a parent to purchase these games, and that goes for the biggie games like San Andreas. It is great that there are these steps, but people need to inforce them.

So, it seems like the gaming industry might slide a little to adult games, but maybe it shouldn't.

Comments
on Jul 03, 2005
My husband and children are avid gamers. I get frustrated by the way that otherwise fun, challenging, and decent games are "sexed up."

The majority are just "sexed up" with scantily clad only-in-video-games-could-this-body-type-exist characters that don't contribute anything to the game or the story line but aren't scandalous enough to be more than an annoyance.

This is aggravating to me because I am trying to teach my young sons to respect women and not view them as sex objects and the video games, which are otherwise fine entertainment for them, are trying to teach them the opposite.

It's rare to find a normally proportioned woman in a video game, and even rarer to fine one who isn't wearing a half shirt, a thong, and a pair of boots, even in battle. Sure, the men wear full body armor, but apparently a female doesn't have to worry about protecting her vital organs.

Then you have the games that gratuitously use sex as a draw. A recent example is God of War, which looks like an exciting, creative epic. This game, like many others, is rated "M," and a portion of that rating is due to sex and nudity included in the game. One of the challenges of the game is actually a mini-game where you have to HAVE SEX. I haven't played the game so I can't speak with an authority, but I question how that could possibly have anything to do with the plot.

The thing that bothers me is who the game developers are targeting with this stuff. It's not the adult men...they can buy porn at the store or subscribe to it on the internet, and in most cases, have the opportunity to have a RL sex life. Why work your ass off to unlock a few seconds of a porn video when you can pop in your latest DVD without any effort?

The sex and nudity in games is directed (imo) at the younger crowd to whom these naughty challenges seem exciting and forbidden. While I question the ethics of these tactics, these games are rated Mature, and so technically a child or teen should not be able to purchase them without adult approval.

I realize that gamers have a vast variety of tastes, and the game developers will make games that the gamers will buy, meaning that more than a few someones out there have created a demand for the stuff. I certainly am not calling for censorship or crushing government oversight of the video game industry. However, it would be great to see some balance and some pulling away from the overly sexualized themes that seem to run rampant in the majority of games so that a larger spectrum of games could be available to my kids, and to my family in general.

I guess I rambled a bit, but I do want to say that this is an interesting article, and a topic that I personally find compelling.
on Jul 04, 2005
No, I totoally agree. It makes sense for the gaming industry to point sex into the next generation of gamers, but it is their responciblity to NOT do it. While there is some pressure for gaming companies to draw in a older crowd, I'm not sure console games are the way. While I agree when you say that men can go and buy porn, the reason that they want these same men in the gaming market is pure money. Adults don't have to ask a parent to buy smutt, and they generally have income to spare. I think the PC market would benifit from this, not the console market. Thank you for your reply, I enjoyed it.