Sex and Video Games [NSFW Subject]

[someonehairy-ish]

I like hentai games and eroge VNs.

You think Steam would start selling Hentai Games and eroge VNs? Seems like an untapped market.

So you're saying they should... tap that?

 

[MeatMachine]

I don't doubt that sex in video games can be done just as well as sex in other art mediums, but... I don't know. I'm just not interested. Should it happen to be part of a story, yeah, fine, I don't mind it being there, but there are no examples that come to mind where it isn't just shoehorned in or made to be a bigger deal than it really should be.

Then again, I haven't exactly been LOOKING for a good example, so maybe I just haven't experienced something that many people would argue portrays it well.

 

[RICHIERICAN]

I remember really hard up dudes buying AO games from japan!

 

[TheArcaneThinker]

The day Corruptions of champions comes to Steam shall be my favourite day in all of human history !

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Sex is a beautiful and important aspect of the human experience. So are many other things that video games handle poorly. I really don't think the "insert compliments for sex" mechanic is any more disingenuous than killing droves and droves of henchmen without the supposedly sympathetic protagonist giving two shits about all the carnage they are responsible for. Sure, there's plenty of objectification going on there, but I think the crux of the issue is simply lazy story telling.

I love Mass Effect A LOT, but the way it handles certain story elements (like sex and killing thousands of mercenaries with no qualms at all) is pretty laughable.

I think one of the most mature and intelligent ways you can use sex in video games is to avoid treating it as a goal or reward.

To be fair, I think it would be hard to fully systemize the actual human interactions and social constructs around sex and relationships. It doesn't help that the reality of relationships can conflict with standard conventions of games.

See, in a game, a player has to be given incentive to do things and since the topic at hand stems from relationships, a player has to given a reason to talk to other people or NPCs in the world. One method is investment in personal struggle, Persona 4's method in which each of the party members have their own personal issues and your interactions and friendship help them overcome it. While this is further incentivized with stronger personas, the writing of each of the characters is compelling enough that you want to continue it of your own volition. The issue with that is that it requires strong writing and a lot of time on the development to make it work which may be difficult because, and lets be frank here, the level of writing in the majority of games is a b- at best. The other option is pure incentive via rewards and this is where the issue of relationship mechanics and sex arises. A player would not feel as rewarded to be just a very close person to an NPC or character in the story so the alternative is to provide something to cap the relationship and sex is an easy way to do it. The issue is that it removes almost all humanity from the interactions and sets what is normally a solidification of a relationship as a final end goal which can cause difficult relationships in the real world.

The only ways I think we currently have is to have an outlier in the quality of writing to make the entire game almost focused on human interaction and relationships. The second option is what visual novels do but a good chunk of them can be seen as very much vapid self-insert.

I guess we still have a way to go.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

a) Sex scenes with animated polygon characters and the uncanny valley tends to look horribly awkward. If they can't animate it properly I really would prefer they just fade to black or whatever.

b) Sex in games tends to suck because most game writers couldn't do decent character interactions if their miserable lives depended on it.

c) Sex in games usually involves the player character. Since way too many games focus on making the player feel like like a badass at the expense of all else, this in turn tends to take the focus of sex away from character development, character dynamics or plot advancement and move it towards fellating the player by proxy.

d) I would personally wouldn't mind seeing more romantic relationships in games, as opposed to love-em-and-leave-em sex scenes. This isn't due to some sort of puritanical bullshit, but simply because I think it makes for more interesting storytelling. A one-shot sex scene a la The Witcher is just... kinda there. It happens, it's over and it never comes up again in any capacity. Potentially titillating I guess, but otherwise utterly uninteresting. I think, say, an action-RPG which features two characters (allowing you to switch between them at will) who are a couple, or married, could actually be pretty damn cool. Or an action-adventure game with an AI companion similar to The Last of Us. That could actually make for some fun an interesting character dynamics as opposed to just showing the player some tits and then shunting them on their way.

Thus concludes Zhukov's Thoughts on Sex in Games.

To address points

Anime sex scenes avoid the uncanny issue due to their distance from reality but it can cause other issues. Most people joke about how young some of them look but I can defiantly see people being very turned off or even gagging at it.

I definitely agree that writing has to improve but the issue is that I'm not sure how to do that. I love Persona 4 along with a good chunk of other people but it seems almost an anomaly of writing quality in the top 0.0001% percentile. I'm not sure how to get game writing up to that level or if it can be easily integrated into an interactive media like games without causing conflict of player incentive vs thematic purpose.

 

[grassgremlin]

I like hentai games and eroge VNs.

You think Steam would start selling Hentai Games and eroge VNs? Seems like an untapped market.

So you're saying they should... tap that?

Get out . . . get the fuck out!
Step away from your computer.
Open you front door, walk outside.
Catch a bus or hop into your car.
Go to the airport, book a ticket to Washington D.C.
Find Nasa. Become a astronaut.
Hop into a space ship and get off this planet.
Find a new home in space . . .

. . . that was just, too much for this planet to handle.

 

[grassgremlin]

Sex is a beautiful and important aspect of the human experience. So are many other things that video games handle poorly. I really don't think the "insert compliments for sex" mechanic is any more disingenuous than killing droves and droves of henchmen without the supposedly sympathetic protagonist giving two shits about all the carnage they are responsible for. Sure, there's plenty of objectification going on there, but I think the crux of the issue is simply lazy story telling.

I love Mass Effect A LOT, but the way it handles certain story elements (like sex and killing thousands of mercenaries with no qualms at all) is pretty laughable.

I think one of the most mature and intelligent ways you can use sex in video games is to avoid treating it as a goal or reward.

To be fair, I think it would be hard to fully systemize the actual human interactions and social constructs around sex and relationships. It doesn't help that the reality of relationships can conflict with standard conventions of games.

See, in a game, a player has to be given incentive to do things and since the topic at hand stems from relationships, a player has to given a reason to talk to other people or NPCs in the world. One method is investment in personal struggle, Persona 4's method in which each of the party members have their own personal issues and your interactions and friendship help them overcome it. While this is further incentivized with stronger personas, the writing of each of the characters is compelling enough that you want to continue it of your own volition. The issue with that is that it requires strong writing and a lot of time on the development to make it work which may be difficult because, and lets be frank here, the level of writing in the majority of games is a b- at best. The other option is pure incentive via rewards and this is where the issue of relationship mechanics and sex arises. A player would not feel as rewarded to be just a very close person to an NPC or character in the story so the alternative is to provide something to cap the relationship and sex is an easy way to do it. The issue is that it removes almost all humanity from the interactions and sets what is normally a solidification of a relationship as a final end goal which can cause difficult relationships in the real world.

The only ways I think we currently have is to have an outlier in the quality of writing to make the entire game almost focused on human interaction and relationships. The second option is what visual novels do but a good chunk of them can be seen as very much vapid self-insert.

I guess we still have a way to go.

Maybe games can have doing it be, well . . . like doing it.
I'm under the opinion that sex is a pretty minor experience at best.
A minor arousing and sometimes mind-blowing experience depending on the situation, but it's really is just a base human carnal action.

The problem might be we put so much stake into it. More so then murder, which is odd, sense sex is more common then murder . . . it's a harsh comparison, but it adds fuel to the event, at the very least.

Like, why is murdering someone in a game easier then sex?
Murder is minor in games for something that is a crime . . .
. . . but Sex is still a huge deal and hard to obtain.

That's probably the best comparison I give but it opens up a whole new can of worms of why Sex and Violence are compared in the first place. The main draw is that sex is somehow a taboo thing, when almost every human being will experience it in some life time. Not talking about just the act, but porn and masturbation.

I think it might just be the idea that Sex is somehow . . . sacred, when in reality, you're just well . . . doing it.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I think sex in games will only be worth while if they deal with the relationship part as well. Mass Effect did ok but most of it was just talking to character you liked again and again. Witcher 2 was just fucking anything woman with a pulse. Was so laughable in the same way the Ride To Hell game treated woman. Sex just for the sake of it just doesnt work, though if its a Hentai game of dating game where the idea is screw the most then its fine i guess. I thinks its the medium that makes it difficult. Look at Witcher 2, there was no emotionally connection to the sex scenes - it was boring. Or do you use a more interactive method of press A to thrust and wiggle the joy pad abit - again that just silly. Sex in games has always been a pointless experience being that it mostly just puts the game on hold for a bit.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Oh god tell me about it. Shepard is a walking sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. People don't...talk...like that.

They don't?

Dammit, maybe that's why Garrus kept avoiding my advances for "calibrations."

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

I'm a bit sad to see people dismiss The Witcher 2 out of hand like that.

The first thing to note is that every sex scene in that game is optional. All of them; to some extent or another.

If anything, I think the game has quite a mature outlook on sex. Sex shouldn't be some sacred thing between two people; it's a component in a relationship, sure, but society has a problem with purporting a simple biological interaction between two adults to be something completely different.

The game states that sex is just something two people can do together for fun. It has no obligations or illusions. Both parties can enjoy it, and do it just for the hell of it. The reason why Geralt loves Triss is not because of the sex, but its because of their relationship; how much they mean to each other, and that they are one of the few truly moral people in that game.

I'd go even further, and say that the game outright judges general attitudes towards sex; the fact that Saskia is interchangeably referred to as the Virgin of Aedirn, as if it were some sort of additional layer of hatred applied onto her by Henselt's men, or even more worryingly, as if her virginity is something to be taken for winning the war. It shows the obsession with virginity as really creepy; as if it somehow represents innocence that is taken by men.

The sex(and the gender politics) is also used to contextualise the low-fantasy setting, the same way as Game of Thrones does it. The fact that all the women in the game live under a glass ceiling. A comment is briefly made that the reason for Saskia's success as a commander is because she is beautiful, that the men "have a nice arse in front of them to keep them motivated". The fact that all the sorceresses have their gender used against them in persecution(which also happens all too readily, leaving to a sub-plot of sorceresses trying to establish their own nation away from the others) also shows how fucked up the Witcher 2 universe is.

More importantly, the sex scenes between Geralt are Triss are almost symbolic; its them getting away from all the bullshit of the world; just having an intimate moment of passion without any politics or importance. It's their escape from that world, in a very simple manner.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

I'm quite simple when it comes to this..I like my sex in my video games uncensored and mature. Doesn't mean I don't like being pandered now and again (I like ecchi anime so give me all the fanservice!).

When it comes to romance that leads to sex however...Bioware's attempts at it pale in comparison to the Witcher games both from a visual standpoint and how you get to it (the sex).

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Sex is a beautiful and important aspect of the human experience. So are many other things that video games handle poorly. I really don't think the "insert compliments for sex" mechanic is any more disingenuous than killing droves and droves of henchmen without the supposedly sympathetic protagonist giving two shits about all the carnage they are responsible for. Sure, there's plenty of objectification going on there, but I think the crux of the issue is simply lazy story telling.

I love Mass Effect A LOT, but the way it handles certain story elements (like sex and killing thousands of mercenaries with no qualms at all) is pretty laughable.

I think one of the most mature and intelligent ways you can use sex in video games is to avoid treating it as a goal or reward.

To be fair, I think it would be hard to fully systemize the actual human interactions and social constructs around sex and relationships. It doesn't help that the reality of relationships can conflict with standard conventions of games.

See, in a game, a player has to be given incentive to do things and since the topic at hand stems from relationships, a player has to given a reason to talk to other people or NPCs in the world. One method is investment in personal struggle, Persona 4's method in which each of the party members have their own personal issues and your interactions and friendship help them overcome it. While this is further incentivized with stronger personas, the writing of each of the characters is compelling enough that you want to continue it of your own volition. The issue with that is that it requires strong writing and a lot of time on the development to make it work which may be difficult because, and lets be frank here, the level of writing in the majority of games is a b- at best. The other option is pure incentive via rewards and this is where the issue of relationship mechanics and sex arises. A player would not feel as rewarded to be just a very close person to an NPC or character in the story so the alternative is to provide something to cap the relationship and sex is an easy way to do it. The issue is that it removes almost all humanity from the interactions and sets what is normally a solidification of a relationship as a final end goal which can cause difficult relationships in the real world.

The only ways I think we currently have is to have an outlier in the quality of writing to make the entire game almost focused on human interaction and relationships. The second option is what visual novels do but a good chunk of them can be seen as very much vapid self-insert.

I guess we still have a way to go.

Maybe games can have doing it be, well . . . like doing it.
I'm under the opinion that sex is a pretty minor experience at best.
A minor arousing and sometimes mind-blowing experience depending on the situation, but it's really is just a base human carnal action.

The problem might be we put so much stake into it. More so then murder, which is odd, sense sex is more common then murder . . . it's a harsh comparison, but it adds fuel to the event, at the very least.

Like, why is murdering someone in a game easier then sex?
Murder is minor in games for something that is a crime . . .
. . . but Sex is still a huge deal and hard to obtain.

That's probably the best comparison I give but it opens up a whole new can of worms of why Sex and Violence are compared in the first place. The main draw is that sex is somehow a taboo thing, when almost every human being will experience it in some life time. Not talking about just the act, but porn and masturbation.

I think it might just be the idea that Sex is somehow . . . sacred, when in reality, you're just well . . . doing it.

I can agree to the more casual interpretation of sex and that making it less of a taboo would be better for games but we should also consider that some people, such as myself, still hold romanic ideals of sex and view it as not the end goal of a relationship but the crystallization of one.

Regardless, both views are interesting for themes and story telling but I still think that we just need better writers for sex in games to actually have some weight to it

 

[sebashepin]

Does anyone here remember Farcry 3's sex scene?

I actually found it awesome! Not only does it have gameplay around it (even though it is a metaphor) but it works perfectly with the plot as a way to initiate you into the tribe. Yes, it was cheating but it felt more of a power thing than anything else.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The God of War sex games are hilarious. Does anybody remember the dialogue that goes on between Aphrodite's maids in God of War III, and how it pokes fun at the ESRB?

 

[clinicalPsychologist]

As a ... well maybe not GOOD but certainly not-that-lame example like Mass Effect... I kinda liked the sex scene in Heavy Rain and Beyond Two souls. In both instances you could choose if you wanted to have it and in beyond it even depended on the characters history which gave it a bit more meaning.

Spoiler for Beyond two souls:
There is a scene where you can get sexually assaulted by grown men in a bar, while you are a teenager. If this happens to your character, later on when you date someone you really like, your character will stop when it's getting hot because she can't cope with the nasty bar-feelings it seemingly triggers in her.
If you didn't have that bar scene, you can have sex with your date.

Heavy rain:
It is a moment when the protagonist is really emotionally drained and you can decide whether having sex right now to maybe feel a bit better is something that you would do or something that you find inappropriate right now.

None of this scenes felt like just a "reward" for the right button mashes.
That's more meaningful than anything else I saw in a game till now.
Still, only a small feat and it still looked really akward, uncanny valley etc. but yeah, at least a step in the right direction imho.