I don't. But the sad thing is that most Americans do, and that distresses me.JaguarWong said:
EDIT: Also, why have there been so many of these threads lately?
Sex and Censorship
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EDIT: Also, why have there been so many of these threads lately?
It's that damn puritan heritage I tell you! Live in a country at least partly founded by religous zealots and you get some strange attitudes toward the world.JaguarWong said:
Dismememberment is fine. Shooting people in the face is fine. Invading another country for some flimsy reason is fine. But the minute you slap in some nudity or sex, THEN you have a problem.
...That's actually a really good argument...Eclectic Dreck said:
The Puritans fucked us up, eh? I would believe it.
If you ask me, games are long overdue for some actual sexual additions to story gameplay. Of course, to make it palatable for most people that would entail creating a romantic, affectionate, or at least seductive mood, which judging by what I've seen so far, most game designers would need a "For Dummies" book to even attempt.
Sexuality and a desire to experience intimacy and express affection for someone is part of being human, so it seems kind of retarded to label it bad and try to get by without it... I mean, it's not quite as dumb as making it a sin to breathe, but it's down the same street.
Sexuality and a desire to experience intimacy and express affection for someone is part of being human, so it seems kind of retarded to label it bad and try to get by without it... I mean, it's not quite as dumb as making it a sin to breathe, but it's down the same street.
Believe it or not not every American man is a cowboy looking to shoot commies and impress their views on everyone else. It really is pretty sad that it is so trendy to hate on America. It speaks volumes on people's ignorance and double standards.Eclectic Dreck said:
The movies "fuck" and "this film not yet rated" deals with this, the later of the two is actually quite awesome.
Personally, i think it's lame, i mean c'mon how many 13 year olds doesn't know how to find all the nudity and sex thay want on the internet? I bet most 15 year olds is already familliar with terms such as gangbang, DP, bukkakke, tentacle-hentai etc. So how can some polygon-titties and penises be a big problem?
In Denmark we only have age limits for movie theaters, and as far as i know, violence gets higher age-requirements than sexual content
Personally, i think it's lame, i mean c'mon how many 13 year olds doesn't know how to find all the nudity and sex thay want on the internet? I bet most 15 year olds is already familliar with terms such as gangbang, DP, bukkakke, tentacle-hentai etc. So how can some polygon-titties and penises be a big problem?
In Denmark we only have age limits for movie theaters, and as far as i know, violence gets higher age-requirements than sexual content
As a life-long resident of the US, I think I have seen as much of the nation as anybody else here. Yes, like any place there are people who utterly defy the sterotypes, and there are also hoards of people who embody them.Powerman88 said:
And at least I offered a theory as to why we have odd attitudes towards sex and violence, and while I'm aware that correlation does not imply causation I would point to the strange notions OTHER countries founded by religious zealots seem to harbor.
That's a breath of fresh air to me. If this is true, I'd love to see more countries follow suit. If more people admitted sex and depictions thereof are not so bad, maybe (just maybe) less of the porn industry would be dominated by low-quality smut made by jerks with no respect for their employees. And wouldn't that be nice?teisjm said:
Game devs should be able to do whatever they want and ERSP should just accept that.
The problem is the parents. They need to take more responbility for their kids and if they don't want their 14-year old son to play GTA IV, they shouldn't let him.
If the parents buy their kid a game that he is not old enough to play according to the ERSP they have no right to complain.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,24493980-5014239,00.html
Yahtzee said it the best.
The problem is the parents. They need to take more responbility for their kids and if they don't want their 14-year old son to play GTA IV, they shouldn't let him.
If the parents buy their kid a game that he is not old enough to play according to the ERSP they have no right to complain.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,24493980-5014239,00.html
Yahtzee said it the best.
Seconded. I was actually thinking about this recently (laugh it up fuzzballs) after watching the horrendous sex scene in Mass Effect which had all the emotional resonance and eroticism of a (insert appropriate metaphorical image here, I personally chose a brick because I have the originality of the aforementioned item, but I digress).HazukiHawkins said:
It wasn't just the fact I had seduced a hot Alien Babe (tm) despite there being absolutely zero chemistry between the two characters, the fact that said alien was a cliche (although with a very nice blue bottom) or even the terrible dialogue (if you've heard it you know what im talking about, I swear she even called me Commander, which maybe for a bit of roleplay, but for the first time?). It was the fact that it felt, well, tacky. I really dont think that games as they are currently can really incorporate sex in a way which is anything other than a cheap thrill except for maybe if games copy cinema (QTE sex anyone?) which kind of seems to be skirting the issue somewhat.
Ramble over, hope people could actually pick something useful out of that!
Agreed. Alot of the games that have any sexuality in them include "Screw Hooker" somewhere in the same sentence. I'm all for it if a game can include a real romantic and affectionate aspect to the game, instead of some simply tacked on addition to the game so you could hang a poster up that says "YOU CAN SCREW SOMEONE" on it so you could generate free press for the game. *looks at rockstar games*HazukiHawkins said:
OMG YES. damn deadbeat parents are so busy shoving ritalin down their kid's throats and letting baby sitters and TV raise them, then when they catch their children doing anything, they try to blame the media and every other damn thing BUT them. And people actually suck up this attitude like a sponge! Its like no one expects parents to actually do some PARENTING anymore.Shycte said:
lol, I got a little excited there. ^__^
Anyway, though I hope it goes without saying that saying something that stereotypical of U.S. citizens is so wrong, Ill say it anyway. I'm an US citizen and I don't like guns. Hell I don't even play shooting games (actually, the exception is mass effect, which i played more for the sci-fi aspect and storyline than for anything else, was not disappointed.)
Well... er... yeah, thats it. ^__^
There's an 18+ label on GoW for a reason. If people payed some attention to ratings for games we wouldn't have this problem.SenseOfTumour said:
It's generally a given that someone won't go on a killing spree unless they're mentally disturbed. Illicit sex? Not so much. It's a more addressable, and more immedient problem, so we see it dealt with more harshly.
Puritan ideas about the evils of sexual pleasure aside, I think that the real fundamental issue here is that the violence (not necessarily the *degree* of violence and graphic blood splatter, but violence per se) is inherent in storytelling and thus is culturally accepted. To have a proper plot, you have to have a conflict, and obvious, life-or-death conflicts make that conflict more universal and compelling. Fierce, dramatic conflicts with stakes like that are going to involve violence. Once you get that much in the door (there's going to be SOME violence), you can make a case for including gratuitous blood-splatter violence.
The sex, however, is *solely* gratuitous, in that it's not an essential part of the conflict. The same would apply for any other topic that's not part of the essential conflict. How many games do you see making outrageous political statements? Directly bashing religions or atheists? These issues aren't brought up because no one much wants or cares about this stuff in games--there isn't one group that wants it, and another group that really, really doesn't.
Sex just gets put in an awkward position because some people (like me) would be quite happy if there was more romance/sex/etc. in games, and some people are viciously opposed to it, but it isn't essential to the existence of the game itself. Thus it becomes a really problematic and controversial issue, and developers find themselves in the position of picking one group or the other. Usually they pander to the "we don't want it!" group to a greater or lesser extent because the people in the "more sex please!" group will still buy the games even if they contain no sex or very poor sex.
I expect the problem will gradually fade as the gaming industry continues to grow and diversify and as market segments become more clear-cut. At the moment, there really isn't a clearly defined market segmentation between "kids who want to blow shit up" and "adults who would like to blow shit up while experiencing a compelling drama" and you don't make your money by picking your group and appealing to their idiosyncrasies. Movies, books, television shows etc. are all diverse in this fashion because they DO have a highly diversified and specified market. Hence you can get your movies, books, and shows that have compelling romance and sex in them.
The sex, however, is *solely* gratuitous, in that it's not an essential part of the conflict. The same would apply for any other topic that's not part of the essential conflict. How many games do you see making outrageous political statements? Directly bashing religions or atheists? These issues aren't brought up because no one much wants or cares about this stuff in games--there isn't one group that wants it, and another group that really, really doesn't.
Sex just gets put in an awkward position because some people (like me) would be quite happy if there was more romance/sex/etc. in games, and some people are viciously opposed to it, but it isn't essential to the existence of the game itself. Thus it becomes a really problematic and controversial issue, and developers find themselves in the position of picking one group or the other. Usually they pander to the "we don't want it!" group to a greater or lesser extent because the people in the "more sex please!" group will still buy the games even if they contain no sex or very poor sex.
I expect the problem will gradually fade as the gaming industry continues to grow and diversify and as market segments become more clear-cut. At the moment, there really isn't a clearly defined market segmentation between "kids who want to blow shit up" and "adults who would like to blow shit up while experiencing a compelling drama" and you don't make your money by picking your group and appealing to their idiosyncrasies. Movies, books, television shows etc. are all diverse in this fashion because they DO have a highly diversified and specified market. Hence you can get your movies, books, and shows that have compelling romance and sex in them.
Zing!NoMoreSanity said:
You see, in the US, sex is seen in a far worse light than violence in media: hence the uproar. In other countries across the pond, such as Japan, sex is ok, but guts? No way.
For example, remember Doki Doki Majo Saiban? The "witch touching" game? It's never gonna come to the US, I'll predict that much.
The christian right in the U.S. believes that sex is the most evil thing on earth (because most of them are either so ancient viagra stopped working years ago or are so inbred ugly they can't PAY for sex) and if they believe (contrary to all scientific evidence) that seeing sex acts of any kind (porn, movies or games) will turn a completely normal child into a drooling sex offender.
Not at all--have you seen any protests organized against movies that show male genitalia? Whereas in Japan, an entire segment of hentai (tentacle porn) arose partly in response to the fact that it's illegal to portray male genitalia in Japan. I've seen at least two movies in the U.S. with live male genitalia in them, and there are probably quite a few more out there. The problem is that people take the ratings on movies more seriously because the market is developed and people have gone to and seen R-rated movies that are CLEARLY not appropriate for children. (I've seen R-Rated movies that I think weren't appropriate for ANYONE, regardless of age!)scotth266 said:
Whereas, people still buy M-rated games for their kids regardless of age because they don't take the warnings seriously (or even know they exist). That, and the groups that do take the age-appropriate warnings seriously are usually obstreperous jerks trying to *ban* mature content rather than just help people stop exposing their kids to it.
Even the movie thing doesn't work perfectly, as evidenced by the 8 or 9-year-old kid I saw at a Watchmen showing. I wonder how the hell his parents explained that movie to him, or if they even tried.
Why is nudity automatically porn or prostitution? Sure that is one side of the spectrum but isn't there another? Can't a game use nudity in a tasteful manner? Look at the GTA DLC, sure alot of people were shocked. They accused Rockstar of putting it in for shock value. It wasn't Rockstar that made it shocking though. It was society.mooncalf said:
What the hell are kids that young doing playing Gears in the first place? What happens when those same kids find a discarded Playboy (or the one in thier old man's sock drawer)? It is not the devs responsibility to protect your kids.SenseOfTumour said: