Why Do Videogames Struggle With Sex?

brumgrunt writes "Why do videogames still treat sex in such a two dimensional way? Why do they snigger at it, or treat it as a reward? Den Of Geek has been taking a look." I always figured it was some combination of games being made by our inner adolescent, marketed to the outer ones, and getting banned whenever they take sex seriously.

Not just with video games, but in general

[devxo]

In videogames, even ones that handle the subject deftly, sex is almost always a reward. Take the Mass Effect series, for example. Here, you can indulge in interspecies sexual relations, if you see fit, but to get to the point where a character is willing to bump uglies with you, you have to have followed the correct series of dialogue prompts. There's a veneer of freedom, but the relationship you're creating with the character you want to sleep with is a shallow one. Fail to perform one action, or choose incorrectly on one dialogue tree, and they'll lose interest in you. Sex becomes an achievement, a notch on the bedpost of your high score table, instead of being the physical expression of an emotional connection between two consenting individuals.

Not just with video games, but in general Well, it looks like the author thinks sex must only be some kind of expression of true love. What he is writing here is directly what happens in real life - you choose your words or actions badly and even one bad choice ends up to you not having sex with the girl. This seems to be more of a problem with the way US thinks about sex, while we here in Europe can just have it casually and not make a big deal out of it. Sure it might be shallow relationship, but so what, sex is fun, feels good and there really isn't any reason not to enjoy it.

I wonder why religions even have made sex to look like a bad thing. When you ask about it from someone who believes in god, the only responses usually are something like "because god said so", "that's just how it is" or "it's a special thing between a man and a woman". No actual answer. Sure, sex feels great with a person you love. But so does many other things, and you can also just have sex that feels physically great with no bigger emotions. It's nice to be close to someone, feel their skin and feel how you're inside them. Be it with love or not.

Re:Not just with video games, but in general

[NoSig]

Rape is not a common thing and is a non-issue for normal, balanced people of both sexes. Men are much, much more at risk in the nightlife than women are - from other men. Physical risk of being coerced has just got nothing to do with why women have different wishes on sex. If you are honest you'll realize that woman-on-man violence is much more common than the other way around. One main effect that is actually real is that almost all men desire young women physically while women want same-age partners. This means that young women experience tremendous demand from men so they can afford to be very picky. This gives them excellent training for playing games on men without investing any real effort so that they are skilled at forcing situations of them being in control even when they get older and are not as much in demand.

Re:Not just with video games, but in general

[mdielmann]

And what do you do when there's no obvious connection between a certain act and it's consequence? How would you explain to someone about covering your mouth when you sneeze if you couldn't explain microbes and the germ theory? The common one is, "It's gross," which is a societal conformity response, much like what religions use to promote their edicts ("You'll go to hell!").

It's been known for a very long time that St. John's Wort has anti-depressant properties, rivaling modern pharmaceuticals. I guess they were fools to believe it too, since they had little means to determine why.

Don't take your great vision compared to people ages ago for granted. We all stand on the shoulders of giants, many of whom merely stood head and shoulders above their peers at the time.