Live Magazine February Issue February 2014 | Page 26

“IT’S AS THOUGH
SEX IS THE
ELEPHANT IN THE
ROOM BUT NO ONE
IS WILLING TO
ADDRESS IT..”
Whenever this question floats around the first thing that
comes to mind is why do we find sex worse than violence?
Even staunch R18 supporters who want to tear the spines
out of their victims in full HD with all realistic blood spatter
can get a little squirmy when sex is proposed and this seems
even more perplexing when you consider how sexualised
video games tend to be. With boobs and butt at nearly every
turn, it’s as though sex is the elephant in the room but no one
is willing to address it, as though we are all too refined and
are averting our eyes.
I personally like sex in video games, I find it adds depth, can
make characters more believable, and when done well can
even teach us something. As long as sex is represented
in a realistic and mature manner, with their influence videogames can help to reinforce healthy sexual attitudes, and at
the core of this they must show that there should always be
choice. This is for the player as well, if someone should prefer to play a video game with no sexual context or interaction
then these options should be well within their reach. Both
video games and sex often undeservedly cop a bad wrap
for being obscene or unhealthy, so perhaps it is in their best
interests to work together in changing such perceptions.

HOPE CORRIGAN (WWW.XXPGAMES.COM)

To me, the question is not whether video games, a
relatively new form of media, have gone too far in their
portrayals of sex, but whether sex is being included in
games in a way that will allow the industry to grow into
a more complex form of storytelling, just as in books,
movies and television. Often, when I have encountered
graphic sex scenes in games - one in Red Dead
Redemption, one of my favourite games, springs first to
mind - they seem utterly unnecessary, a tacked on bit
of scandal to shock and amuse. All too often they add
nothing of value to the narrative, and I think that this,
rather than the portrayal of sex in games, is the most
prominent issue. The more recent, and very similar,
scene found in GTA V suffers in the same way; it is a
crass display included to add to the shock value of the
game. While this portrayal has its place, it is tiresome in
its repeated use of sex in gaming to show the bestial side
of human nature - why not use it to show gamers how
good a character is, instead of how vile?
As video games become more accepted as a mainstream
form of entertainment for all ages, sex will become a
larger part of gaming for adults, just as it is in TV or
movies. As a part of adult life and a prominent feature
in general media, it seems inevitable that sex will appear
more and more often in games. What is important to
ask is not whether or not this should be allowed, but
whether or not it is handled in a way that will enhance the
rich culture of gaming, or restrict it to base comedy and
adolescent yearnings.

MEGHAN COLES (WWW.XXPGAMES.COM)

“..SEX WILL
BECOME A LARGER
PART OF GAMING
FOR ADULTS, JUST
AS IT IS IN TV OR
MOVIES.”