How SHOULD sex scenes in games work?

[Android2137]

I've slowly started to 'yawn' at Bioware's style myself. The whole idea of flirting at random intervals, followed by a sudden 'quick lets hump!' scene just feels weird. They are meant to be romances but generally start with mad sexings, instead of ending there.



All in all, I honestly don't want explicit. And I sure as heck don't want 'fake explicity' aka dry humping. But I would like to feel my character/avatar was in a PASSIONATE relationship.

...I thought the romance scene with Garrus was pretty moving and funny. In spite of having such witty lines during missions, he's tripping all over himself and trying to figure things out in a romantic setting. I thought it was cute and felt very real to me. So what if it wasn't PASSIONATE? I found the subdued nature of it sweet.

But then again, I feel uncomfortable with watching sex scenes even in movies. It's like I'm intruding on something, but am forced to watch. If the camera fades out before things get started, then I feel like I've left the room. I personally believe that sex scenes in video games should be implied, not seen. But that's just my opinion.

 

[MagnetoHydroDynamics]

Extra Credits: Sex In Games [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2505-Sex-in-Games]

The explicit act should be downplayed as it is in most movies. I play porn games for interactive sex with game mechanics.

 

[Lacsapix]

Like God of war with a quick time event!

 

[Terminal Blue]

And men who do the same thing NEVER get called nasty names buy ANYONE?

It's funn7y how women are always victimized in social conflicts, but when men get shit thrown their way no one really cares or pretty much just expects them to "suck it up".

Here's a lesson on the world for you: All your actions will have consequences, and some will not sit well with others. THat goes for both men and women in equal measure. So one can either deal with it, or sit around crying about details...

Well, thanks for reminding me that for all of the great social advances of the 20th and 21st centuries, there will always be people determined to be blind to privilege.

It's also funny how often it tends to be the people who possess such privilege themselves.

 

[teknoarcanist]

To my mind, there seems to be this invisible barrier of how much design thought they're going to put into a sex-scene; the idea being that if you cross that line, suddenly you're becoming perverted and designing a 'sex game'.

This seems like a strange perspective, considering how often we hear 'games are art'.

 

[experiment0789]

Quick time events. lol!

"Hold both shoulder buttons and gently lick the Home/XBox button in a gentle circular manner"

"Press X not to be premature."

Hahahaha

I'm slightly more concerned with how they'll manage to do sex scenes in games with Kinect xD.

Regarding the OP's point, I can't really see much of a problem with having sex scenes themselves, they can be useful for story-telling just as they are in films, books, and so on. But I don't think we really need to see anything, I agree with some others in this thread who say it should be implied. If the sex is there in the game, whether interactive or in a cutscene, then we need to make sure the technology is actually able to handle it, otherwise we'll simply see more of what we get in Heavy Rain/Dragon Age/Mass Effect/etc... which frankly looks like a bit of a mess graphically speaking. Maybe in a few years time, when graphics technology is even better than it is now, and after we've passed the 'Uncanny Valley' stage, then we can start exploring ways of making sex scenes work in games. For now, it's good to have them, but better to keep them implied and off-screen. Plus, the parents can't complain then about their little 12-year-old seeing 'graphic carnal imagery' in games that are meant for ages 16 and up...

But I would like to feel my character/avatar was in a PASSIONATE relationship.

I agree on this though, I don't mind explict.
After all, from time to time I do play around with Artificial Girl 3.
But discussing sex in games is.. I think a lot of it depends on the characters themselves.

* Are the Characters mischevious?[footnote]Just for giggles, I'd personally end up here X3[/footnote]
- Then make it look playful with giggling, hugs and cuteness.

* Are the characters innocent goodie goods?
- Make it looks very romantic, very sensual and very loving.

* Are the characters jerks or otherwise, decisive?
- Make it look rougher, like one of them is taking command over the other and deciding it.

If you have a character who goes around and glares and in general, acts like a jerk - Would this character really giggle in bed?
That's my reasoning for this.

You All bring up good points (except Jelly ^.^ and arcus_angelus,your ideas are just hilarious).

I agree that We don't really need to see anyone half naked if the romantic/sex scene is done right. One game that I can remember that tried to have a "sex scene" was mass effect, and there was a lot of things that I thought were wrong with it.

1. It was so bland, even in books and movies sex scenes have some life to them.

Also if your like me I replayed the game to see if it would be different with each player,which brings me to reason #2

2. everyone is not supposed to be the same

I would think a alien blue chick would not be exactly like a human chick.
Not just physically,they have different personalities, and skills, they even had different jobs on the ship.
At least everyone had different dialog...

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

Well, thanks for reminding me that for all of the great social advances of the 20th and 21st centuries, there will always be people determined to be blind to privilege.

It's also funny how often it tends to be the people who possess such privilege themselves.

Yeah, that old feminist myth that men in industrialized nations today are somehow "priviliged" just because they are men. It's kind of cute, but holds very little merit.

For one thing no one has been able to actually come up with any sort of PROOF that men are priviliged, but the myth persist stubbornly, thanks to equally stubborn feminists.

Too bad they didn't spend all that energy they spend on being stuboorn into perhaps... You know, doing some sort of actual RESEARCH that will find EVIDENCE for this supposed "privilige" that men enjoy and women are supposedly kept away from.

Then again, it's pretty hard to PROVE something that's nothing more than a myth.

 

[Zechnophobe]

Sex in general should always be good..

I think it'd be hilarious if your 'partner' had an opinion on the events. Like, mage with low constitution and dexterity? "Uh, last night was... well, I've had worse. or at least I could imagine worse. Possibly."

 

[Zyphonee]

Because it took over your lives. Humans are so centered and driven by reproduction. You don't think that kind of obsession is harmful?

I do, I absolutely do; we all have reproductive urges and impulses, and if we all lived by them, we would live in a doomed society, but there's a big difference between following an instictive drive and being entirely manipulated by it.

If anything, in most cultures, sex is attributed an atmosphere of intimacy, from monogamy to the very abstract and subjective definition of love. Yes, there are people who have their brains between their legs, and listen only to such impulses, primitive would be the most accurate word, but still, it's not like sexuality should be an rejected, it should be acknowledged with a sense of maturity and emotional intimacy, while the ideo of subjecting all your thoughts towards sexual relief should in my opinion vanish, even for hormone driven 17 year old idiots.


On the other hand, just because you find something to be an embarrassment to society doesn't mean it shouldn't ever be appointed through a message. Racism, drug abuse and paedophilia have all been pointed out on various forms of media, furthermore allowing people to see the truth that the author decided to convey, be it under a positive or negative light, depending on the views of the writer.

 

[ashrossy]

If they're explicit, no interaction, not for any reason than it degrades the game in most reviewers eyes so is a bad choice (unless it's that kind of game of course)

If it's not a very explicit scene (eg: The one in heavy rain), then maybe some interactivity, but just having different things happen based on different choices (say in fallout, based on charisma and endurance skills), Heavy rain kinda did it right, it was supposed to feel awkward (like many people would watching a couple have sex infront of them whilst essentially ording the guy what to do)

I think Heavy rain did it the best, but was marred by bad voice acting and models that were far into the uncanny valley. The character's didn't seem to be enjoying it at all.

I'm also a fan of the fade out and imply when it's done in games like Fable (at least 1+2) and such. The hardest point from a design point of view I suppose is trying to steer away from the Narm

 

[Tsuki Akechi]

i dont know how to make the images show up when posted, thanks for helping

 

[springheeljack]

If its going to be done it should be done right in a subtle and adult manner
though I dont know exactly how

 

[Nexoram]

Quick time events. lol!

QTEs or button mashing would be GREAT! Right trigger to spank ass and left trigger to snort the love-stains. Or maybe not, but in all seriousness just show them doing it without a lot of nudity (conveniently placed flowers, chocolate bars etc) It's all right for a film to have sex; critics don't bat an eye but if a game has kissing in it then it will destroy the minds of our children.

 

[Bobbity]

I think implication is fine, although Assassin's Creed handled it pretty well, I must say.

 

[Wintermoot]

like in movies but with QTE,s

 

[Biosophilogical]

Quick time events. lol!

"Hold both shoulder buttons and gently lick the Home/XBox button in a gentle circular manner"

"Press X not to be premature."

Hahahaha

I'm slightly more concerned with how they'll manage to do sex scenes in games with Kinect xD.

I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but this is exaclty what I thought when seeing the thread title.

OT: Sex scenes in a game can be just crass additions to appease the 'horny/immature teenage demographic', or they can be used for story purposes. I mean, sure, Dragon Age: Origins wasn't great with sex scenes, but they added to the relationsip depth between the characters (at least, that's how I viewed it). If they'd just gone 'fade to black', then sure, you get the 'well they had sex', but by having that one time visual you get a glimpse as to how they interact, rather than just 'they did it'.