30 Nov 2009 at 12:16:35 by Bill Vaughan 

It really amuses me how, in this day and age, news of a sex scene in a game can make the headlines. It amazes me further that some people still see fit to complain about sex in computer games at all.

Whether you like it or not, sex is part of our culture. It's there on TV well before the watershed, if not in films or programmes then

in the adverts, as well as in magazines and newspapers. Most of us would struggle to go a full day without seeing some sort of sexual image, so why does it draw so much controversy in when it's seen in video games?

A fairly recent example of this was the “SexBox” scandal early last year, when author Cooper

Lawrence appeared on Fox News to declare how disgusted she was with the content of BioWare's Mass Effect. The presenter of the programme incorrectly stated that there was full digital nudity in the game, and that players could take on the role of a man, take his pick of partners, then control how the sexual encounters went. In fact, the scene they were referring to was a two minute non-interactive cut scene, where the infamous alien side-boob could be seen for a split second. Players could chose to be male or female, and they could elect to skip the storyline that resulted in the scene entirely.

However, a panel on the programme discussed the issue, pointing out that parents now actually have to pick up a video game box and check the rating (shouldn't you do this with films anyway?), questioned why the game wasn't given an adult-only rating (for side-boob? I've seen worse on a shampoo advert) and stated that they would definitely not let Mass Effect into their house (seeing as this guy struggled with his six year-old daughter's video game, I'm not surprised).

One of the main issues people seem to have with sex in games is that children have access to them. Adolescent boys, drawn to the type of games that are likely to have this type of content, may be exposed to scenes involving sex, desensitising their growing developing minds to the situation. During the above discussion on Mass Effect, Lawrence said this may lead to young boys seeing women as sex objects.

Some online games also feature sex, and I think this is actually more worrying. Second Life, where players interact with real people, is renowned for hosting adult-only activities. Players must be over 18 to enter, however, the client is free, meaning many under-age people are likely to try it out regardless of the limit. Any games where people mix with others present a risk, even titles such as the 12+ rated World of Warcraft where, on my realm at least, you're a brave person to venture into Goldshire after 11pm.

But this isn't just a problem with computer games. As I mentioned earlier, your favourite soap, weekly drama, blockbuster films – they all feature sex from time to time, there's no escaping it. The best way to avoid a game that is completely unsuitable is to check the ratings – that's what they're there for. As for fear of dodgy online activity, you'd have to take away all access to the internet to be sure your child was completely protected. Bebo, Facebook, instant messaging software, even mobile phones, they all have the ability to show children a lot more about sex than a single-player game that's been put through the ratings board.

On the flipside, as adults, we're all partial to some raunchy content from time to time. It's present in other forms of entertainment – almost every film has some romance or sexual references, and erotic literature dates back to the days of the bible. For games that are aimed at a mature audience, such as BioWare's recent Dragon Age: Origins and Sony's God of War II, sexual content adds another side to the experience. When making games, developers aim to invoke an emotional response from the players, whether it be elation, fear, happiness or grief. Adding sex or romance to games is just another way to draw us into the story.

The presence of adult themes in games is proven to boost sales too, and not just to randy teenagers. It's clearly something gamers accept and enjoy – you can always skip it if you don't - and it's likely to be included more and more in the future, to the point where it's as common as in other media. As long as these titles are rated appropriately, that's fine by me, and I applaud developers who are willing to tackle the minefield of outraged and misinformed politicians and parents.

----Originally from Incgamers