next »

[KennEH!]

I know most of you will go make some sort of sex joke, but I hope to get some semi serious replies form this.

Should a game with sex/nudity be automatically given negativity? Like if the actual game part is done really well, but sex and co. are added to the story, should it loose points just because it has scene lie that?

Do you think that any game with sex/nudity and the like can be done tastefully? If so how?

I hope for somewhat of a discussion here.

[The-Imp]

It's only frowned upon because there are alot of people into those, don't find good ones, and will place the stereotype that they are all bad.

I'm sure there's a good one out there.

... I'm just waiting for Rinkuhero to jump in and give is long post/explanation.
 

[brog]

I found the title of your post a bit strange.  If sex is done tastefully, I wouldn't call it hentai/porn.  Pornography is, by definition, intended to arouse the viewer.  Tasteful sex scenes are there to develop the story, show you something about the characters and their relationship to each other (although they may arouse the viewer as a side effect, it's not their main purpose for being there).
So I mean, if you're trying to do this in a game's story, that's all good in my opinion.  But if you start out by referring to it as porn, I'll think you have something quite different in mind from a rich story with detailed characters which happens to contain tasteful sex scenes.

[Nitro Crate]

shock value gets the views and posts

[The-Imp]

shock value gets the views and posts

[KennEH!]

I found the title of your post a bit strange.  If sex is done tastefully, I wouldn't call it hentai/porn.  Pornography is, by definition, intended to arouse the viewer.  Tasteful sex scenes are there to develop the story, show you something about the characters and their relationship to each other (although they may arouse the viewer as a side effect, it's not their main purpose for being there).
So I mean, if you're trying to do this in a game's story, that's all good in my opinion.  But if you start out by referring to it as porn, I'll think you have something quite different in mind from a rich story with detailed characters which happens to contain tasteful sex scenes.

I agree with you there totally. The problem is that the games get that label given to them no matter how tastefully it's done. Though if you can think of a better topic title I'm open.

shock value gets the views and posts

[mrfredman]

This discussion happened just a little while ago in the Playstation Home thread, but I've got some mature thoughts on it most of which are just a summarized version of what people said there.

So there are two issues here:

1) Can sex/nudity be incorporated tastefully into mainstream games?
My answer: Yes, I don't think its really been done well yet. If it were the culmination of a long romantic relationship between two characters or even as a reward for building relationships with NPCs it would just be a logical part of the game world. In a case like this it would most likely ruin everything if you could see every moment of the sexual act, because it always looks ridiculous to have two avatars humping, and it would also probably shatter the reality of the fantasy world unless done flawlessly. There are plenty of other ways it could be implemented, and I'm sure sooner or later it will become a regular part of sandbox rpgs where building relationships is important. I think the fable games were kind of a step in this direction, although I only played the first one and never spent much time trying to build relationships.

2) How would you make a good game that was ONLY about sex?
This would be much more difficult as you would probably have to come up with an original and fun game mechanic to hook a player rather then just controlling virtual dolls and telling them how to interact with eachother. I think one example of a game in this direction is Orgasm Angel, I saw it on newgrounds a few years ago, I'm not really sure what its history  is, but essentially you have to figure out how to touch a girl to give her an orgasm. It was very important what parts of her you touched and in what order, and as you got closer to the end of the game you got visual rewards (boobies, wet panties, etc.) as well as new tools to play with her. I think that to make a good porn/hentai game first you have to come up with a fun game mechanic and then add sexual visuals instead of the other way around. All of the sex games I have ever played just tried to show you naked ladies as fast as they could to try and hook the player that way, rather than trying to be a fun game with rewards of nudity/sex.

[GregWS]

shock value gets the views and posts

Well, that's accurate.

I guess my take on it is that for video games to have any maturity as a medium then they need to be able to include/reference sex in a non-juvenile way.  So serious mature content, not fap-fap-fap hentai fest.  Books and movies are fine example where sex can add meaning to a work, instead of just being a lark.

[Zaphos]

I do think it's probably hard to bring interactivity to a sex scene without trivializing it ...

I agree with you there totally. The problem is that the games get that label given to them no matter how tastefully it's done. Though if you can think of a better topic title I'm open.

Hmm, I didn't see anyone labeling God of War or Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy) in that way, so, I disagree?

Wouldn't it just be, "Games with Sex Scenes"?

[The-Imp]

I agree with you there totally. The problem is that the games get that label given to them no matter how tastefully it's done. Though if you can think of a better topic title I'm open.

Hmm, I didn't see anyone labeling God of War or Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy) in that way, so, I disagree?

Wouldn't it just be, "Games with Sex Scenes"?

... Does God of War, or God of War 2 have any sex scenes?
I just got God of war 2, and saw a bitof nudity in the beginning... I hope no one walks during one of those.
 

[GregWS]

I do think it's probably hard to bring interactivity to a sex scene without trivializing it ...

Solid point.  Yeah, I think sex in games would have to be non-interactive for it not to be a joke, because I don't think it's possible (at least for a few decades) to bring non-cheesy interactive sex into games.

EDIT: Good topic change KennEH!

And I'm actually thinking that super-abstracted sex could be interactive in games; like The Marriage or something, but sex.

[Lucaz]

Games with sex can be as good as any other. Right now I'm playing DiviDead, which is basicaly a hentai game, although with less sex than most, and it's good.

But as I said before, games lack in this area, and show a requirement to grow more.

[William Broom]

I agree with you there totally. The problem is that the games get that label given to them no matter how tastefully it's done. Though if you can think of a better topic title I'm open.

Hmm, I didn't see anyone labeling God of War or Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy) in that way, so, I disagree?

Wouldn't it just be, "Games with Sex Scenes"?

... Does God of War, or God of War 2 have any sex scenes?
I just got God of war 2, and saw a bitof nudity in the beginning... I hope no one walks during one of those.
 

You've probably missed the interactive sex scene then. It's hidden in the first level.

[Pishtaco]

It worked very well in Sands of Time, since the building relationship was a big theme of the game.

In God of War it kind of fit, but I was weirded out by the inconsistent quality of the 3d boob models. They tended to be better on the monsters than on the humans.

[William Broom]

I remember the sex scene (such as it was) in Baldur's Gate II was handled really well. As usual, it was the culmination of a long in-game relationship. You could even have a baby IIRC.

[Movius]

tasteful nudity/sex? Thats when theres fat or ugly chicks right? or when the chick rapes the guy?

Don't blame me. I'm just asking the questions

On topics like this I like to refer to the

for an example of how to handle these topics with sensitivity.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

... I'm just waiting for Rinkuhero to jump in and give is long post/explanation.
 

This was already discussed quite a bit in the Playstation Home thread, not sure what else I can say that I didn't say there.

tasteful nudity/sex? Thats when theres fat or ugly chicks right? or when the chick rapes the guy?

Tasteful and fat/ugly/rape don't really go together.

[Craig Stern]

The classic way of depicting sex in video games is not to depict it at all, but rather to imply it. Golgo 13 is the example I always think of. If you're concerned about being tasteful, it's hard to go wrong leaving things to the player's imagination.

[Zaratustra]

the tasteful way to depict sex in videogames is as a series of wario ware-like microgames

[KennEH!]

Games with sex can be as good as any other. Right now I'm playing DiviDead, which is basicaly a hentai game, although with less sex than most, and it's good.

But as I said before, games lack in this area, and show a requirement to grow more.

I find a lot of game in this category are visual novels. Not to say that's bad, I love them.

The classic way of depicting sex in video games is not to depict it at all, but rather to imply it. Golgo 13 is the example I always think of. If you're concerned about being tasteful, it's hard to go wrong leaving things to the player's imagination.

Golgo 13 had a game? Wow, I need to play that.

On a side not: Golgo 13 needs to end. Forty years is too long.