The weird thing is that violence, including hyper, ultra macabre and sinister violence, is routinely expected and accepted in video games while the mere presence of sexuality causes the entire conglomerate of Wal-Mart to universally ban any game that includes the slightest whiff of penis and vagina.
Part of this could be because people still consider video games to be toys. However, the majority of video game players are adults between 18 and 49 years of age. What’s more, is there is a growing number of female gamers breaking through the normally male only ranks of gaming. These new gamers come seeking a story that they can lose themselves in and not points or new weapons for their characters. Sexuality in new games need not be the juvenile discovery of hidden breasts in some secluded area of a dungeon but rather can be as complex or at least as seemingly complex as real human sexuality.
Take for instance the character of Morrigan in Dragon Age. This is a character that uses her sexuality to manipulate your character in real terms during the game. While you develop real, legitimate feelings for her she begins to use this weakness to her advantage. Well, whether it is to her advantage or is legitimate love is up to you as the PC, however this type of role-playing with another character is almost unheard of in video games. This is a shame because the exact same questions of love, betrayal and lust are all over the pages of popular fiction, sci-fi, fantasy and great works of dramatic plays. Why is there a sudden drop off of human experience when it comes to video games?
One of the reasons is that many players seem to think that the inclusion of sexuality in games is lame. My question to them is why is violence OK when sexuality is not? Perhaps it is because of some residual puritanical upbringing that equates things related to the body with with sinful acts. Most gamers, who spend the big bucks, are all adults and these gamers appreciate some elements of romance in their quests. This is fully supported by the sheer number of romance and sexual mods for open ended games like Oblivion, Morrowind, Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, Dragon Age and Fallout 3. Game makers can either address this at the conception of the game or risk a “Super Blow Job Mod” for Fallout 3.
And my question is “Why not?”. If these adult themes add to the storyline then they are by definition not gratuitous. An erotic plot-line can only be offensive if it is out of place and unexpected and that is entirely left to the writers of the game. I think, personally, it is high time that people stop being afraid of a little sex in a game that features realistic collision physics for splattered organs and chill out for two seconds. Think of each game as a virtual novel and perhaps we can advance video games beyond Grand Theft Auto and Madden 10. Of course, then again, I am just a perv.
-Andrew DeWitt
Now, we seem to be approaching some amount of maturity concerning sex in video games. Games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age treat sex in video games with a certain amount of reverence. And I ask why shouldn’t they? If sexually charged themes are enough to motivate entire plays of Shakespeare like Romeo and Juliet, Othello and even the hilarious and bawdy Mid Summer Nights dream (and keep in mind Midsummer is a play where a Fairy Queen is broadly hinted at being fucked by a dude with the dong of a donkey) , then why can’t a video game, with its cast of SAG/AFTRA voice actors, writers, programmers, story board artists and producers not treat sexuality with the same amount of respect as a 1400’s sitcom writer?
