Defining Sex

04595_01_ch01_p001-024 8/11/06 12:57 PM Page 1 1 Defining Sex In This Chapter Defining Sex So What Is Sex in Games? Sexually Themed Content Sexy Images & Avatars Sex in the Industry Sex in Marketing & Advertising Sex in Spite of . What Isn’t Sex? DEFINING SEX The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines sex as “1 : either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male, 2 : the sum of the structural, functional, and behavioral characteris- tics of living things that are involved in reproduction by two interacting parents and that distinguish males and females, 3 a : sexually motivated phenomena or behav- ior, b : sexual intercourse and 4 : genitalia. [Webster01].” Not exactly a definition for sex in games. SO WHAT IS SEX IN GAMES? It should be an easy question to answer. Yet listening to participants at the “Sexu- ality in Games: What’s Appropriate?” roundtable at the 2005 Game Developers 1 04595_01_ch01_p001-024 8/11/06 12:57 PM Page 2 2 Sex in Video Games Conference, it’s clear that “sex in games” means a great many things to a great many people. “Can you show masturbation in a game?” asked one. “Is kissing all right in an E-rated game?” “How does one handle reproduction in a game like Zoo Tycoon®?” “I’d like to talk about the portrayal of female characters in games.” “What about the booth babes?” In its first session—roundtables run once a day for three days—the roundtable raised more questions than it answered. It also expanded the definition of “sex in games” to include more than just physical intimacy. Sex in games includes everything from flirting to hard-core sexual simulators. It occurs when characters kiss or people “hook up” in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Models that parade the show floor at the Elec- tronic Entertainment Expo (E3)—particularly those who appeared prior to E3’s 2006 enforcement of its attire restrictions—are as much a part of sex in games as the avatars that walk through game worlds. The sexual content found in video game advertising has as strong a place in the discussions as the sexual content that happens quite by accident. So what is sex in games? SEXUALLY THEMED CONTENT Sexual content in video games ranges from the completely abstracted to the explicit. With such an array of material, how does one categorize sexual content in video games? There are several ways to look at it: by use, by range, and by purpose. Sexual Content by Use When sexual content appears in a game, it’s there for a reason, whether to carry out a specific gameplay mechanic or to convey an aesthetic, a particular feeling, to the player. In general, there are three specific uses for sexual content in games. How is sex used in games? Sex as Mechanic A gameplay mechanic is a rule of a game. A barrel that blows up when it is hit is a mechanic, as is a floor pressure plate that causes a secret door to open. Throwing a die, taking a card on your turn, or advancing three spaces on a board are all me- chanics of board games. For some video games, particularly those in the hard-core market, sex is a mechanic. In the online game VirtuallyJenna, for instance, players use a variety of tools to bring a virtual version of porn star Jenna Jameson to climax. 04595_01_ch01_p001-024 8/11/06 12:57 PM Page 3 Chapter 1 Defining Sex 3 In Playboy™: The Mansion™, characters who develop a sufficiently high relationship with each other might also “get it on” in the Grotto. When sex is used as a mechanic, it can be employed actively or passively. An active sex mechanic allows the players to directly control the action. The controver- sial mini-game revealed in the infamous Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas™ “Hot Cof- fee” mod allows players to control the avatar’s thrusting. By timing the avatar’s thrusts properly, the player can please the woman. Other games like Roboho or 3D Sex Villa allow the player to insert sex toys into virtual characters or, in the case of hard- ware-enabled virtual sex simulators, like those designed to work with the Interactive Fleshlight, allow a male player to insert his penis into a sleeve hooked up to a com- puter’s ISB port. The Interactive Fleshlight is designed by Sinulate Entertainment. By contrast, a passive sex mechanic puts the game in control of the actual sexual content. For instance, DreamStripper (Figure 1.1) lets the player choose the clothing and moves of his stripper, but he cannot actually control her body directly. Likewise, in The Sims™ 2, the player can do all kinds of things to bring two characters together, but ultimately, when they have “woo hoo,” if they have “woo hoo,” it is up to them. FIGURE 1.1 Ensign Games’ DreamStripper. © 2005 Ensign Games, Inc. Reprinted with permission. Sex as Reward There are dozens of strip poker games available online, and it’s in these games that sex used as a reward is most obvious. In the first such game of its type, 1982’s Art- worx Strip Poker, when a player wins a hand, his or her virtual opponent removes a 04595_01_ch01_p001-024 8/11/06 12:57 PM Page 4 4 Sex in Video Games piece of clothing, gradually revealing more and more. Whenever a game awards or makes sexual content available to the player as a result of his or her actions, sex is being used as a reward. The Guy Game™ used a similar tactic, but instead of cards, its mechanic is trivia questions. Players begin by selecting a sexy co-ed avatar. Then, players watch brief film clips of women being asked trivia questions. The player must guess the answers to these questions, and further, guess whether the women will answer them correctly. The better the player does, the more his in-game avatar reveals. The amount of nudity the player sees in the video clips within the game is also tied to his performance. The game initially pixelates topless nudity, allowing only top-performing players to see nonobscured video clips of the women. The Guy Game was eventually removed from the market when it was revealed that one of its participants was 17 when she agreed to participate. As a minor, she was legally in- capable of giving her consent. Sex as Aesthetic Sex is an incredibly immersive experience that affects all the senses deeply. Games that hope to fully simulate this experience must affect as many senses as they pos- sibly can to recreate a sexy aesthetic. Devices such as the Sinulator™, Interactive Fleshlight, and SeXBox allow players to feel sexual stimuli while playing a game. The Sinulator is a vibrator that can be controlled over the Internet, while the SeXBox is an Xbox controller whose vibration devices have been removed and inserted into sex toys. Both are covered later in this chapter. The Scent Dome™, a device that emits smells as directed by a program, could be used to convey the scent of a woman or a man. Visually, computers and consoles are easily capable of recreating the sights and sounds of sex, too. Video, live streaming images, and high-polygon renderings of virtual characters are all commonplace (www.renderotica.com) as are soundtracks, sound effects, and chat and voice between systems. While this tech- nology currently exists, none compares to that of a real human being. In some cases, that’s actually key. For those who desire sex with things that are impossible on this earth, computerized images and the artists who create them are a proverbial saving grace. In online worlds where anything goes, dragons can have sex with foxes, and people can pleasure themselves while on fire...or dead. Of course, most of today’s games, particularly the mainstream ones, don’t go that far. Instead, they use sexual content to make the game more appealing to convey a somewhat sexy aesthetic. The aesthetic the developers wish to convey often reveals itself even before the game’s opening screen. Games with names like Roboho™, Rapture Online™, and Do You Like Horny Bunnies? suggest the game to come. The aesthetic can be carried out into the game’s interfaces, HUD (“heads up display,” the interface that overlays the main gameplay screen), options, mini- games, animations, and even the loading screens. For instance, Leisure Suit Larry: 04595_01_ch01_p001-024 8/11/06 12:57 PM Page 5 Chapter 1 Defining Sex 5 Magna Cum Laude™ features a conversation mini-game in which a sperm attempts to avoid obstacles in a side-scrolling maze of sorts. 7 Sins is also full of similar sexually themed mini-games. Playboy: The Mansion features Playboy trivia and quotes on its loading screens, and unlockable centerfold photos. The way a game’s camera is used also reveals its aesthetic. Games occasionally zoom in on a particular character or show him or her from a sexually flattering angle that accentuates some feature of the character’s body, like the buxom bar- maid in Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. Some games even allow players to control the camera. Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball features a voyeuristic mode that lets players watch the women from multiple angles and zoom in for a closer look. As an aesthetic, sexual content also appears as “window dressing,” whether it’s the breasts of a bartender, the relationship between in-game characters, or the set- ting of the game.

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