Xbox 360 Game News, Reviews, and Columns - XboxFocus

The game industry is one that has, since its humble beginnings, always been one to strive for realism. The realism of a game’s look is always important, and the well established fact is that whoever first conquers the uncanny valley will have a place in gaming history. The realism of authentic military weapons, their response times, reload times, and the way that the bullets pierce a human target is of utmost importance for today’s strategic shooters. Why then, in an industry so obsessed with reality, is sex so uncommon?

The act of sexual intercourse is as human as birth and death, and just as important. The propagation of the species and our very survival as human beings depends on it. Everyone living today is the result of one sexual act or another, yet the act is seen as something not to be talked about. Despite books, movies, and even music being able to tackle the subject, videogames still walk with blinders, pretending that it’s not there.

It can be considered a failure of the industry that sexual issues are never brought up in games. The issue is always skirted around. Characters will fall in love with other characters, and even speak in a manner expressing sexual desire, but the end result is typically Disney like, with a kiss symbolizing true love.

The typical exception of course, comes with games like Grand Theft Auto. A rather juvenile eye is turned towards the subject, though at least players are given some credit. While the fourth iteration has improved in a great deal of ways, the childish pun filled humor and ridiculous sexuality remains. Get your web browsing done at TW@ and go get a bite at Café 69 before picking up prostitutes or hitting the strip club if you have any doubts.

Of course, when a game does attempt anything close to real as far as intercourse is involved, it becomes a problem for conservative bloggers and the pundits on television news. One of the biggest stories this year of course, is the public beating that Mass Effect got in January on Fox News. From the ten seconds of prime time television grade sex shown in the game, over ten minutes of prime time television outrage were generated.

A conservative blogger posted that Mass Effect featured fully customizable rape and sodomy, which Fox News seemed to take as truth without taking the time to learn for themselves. The game was torn apart, and Geoff Keighley, the token videogame defender, was stepped on pretty harshly even after throwing out some reasonable arguments. If this is the treatment that a game gets for putting in a reasonable, not sexually explicit scene of intercourse, it’s simple to see why more developers don’t go after the subject.

In addition to the microscopic analysis of mass media, there is always the dread that a game be tagged by the ESRB with an Adults Only rating, a death knell for any project. A fairly nonsensical rating in and of itself, the AO rating declares that the game is not to be sold to anyone under the age of 18, rather than 17, as suggested by a Mature rating. While this difference may not seem like much, an AO rating ensures that Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Circuit City and most other major chains won’t even think about carrying the title. Additionally, this means the Microsoft won’t publish it, as they have declared that they will not have AO rated games on the 360.

If games are ever going to truly evolve and be respected as much as the mediums of books and film, then they need to stop shying away from sex. The public knowledge of videogaming is growing and slowly people are realizing that all games aren’t for children, just as certain movies or books are not intended for kids.


As always, feel free to leave comments, or contact me at Dick@XboxFocus.com. Don’t forget to visit the forums for more discussion on this subject.