next »

[Lance of Longinus]

This is a topic I've been repeatedly thinking about and recently reminded of it again by the news that Cyberpunk 2077 is going to have customizable genitals in the character editor. In video games this seems to be something that is more likely to be controversial than even violence (while not being that much of an issue in movies and literature).

In a survival horror game that I'm currently working on since a very long time, I wanted initially that the enemies would be naked with visible genitalia (as they are supposed to be humans evolving into more simple, less-intelligent animals, rather than some more abstract types of monsters) and some of them would be using large deformed genitals as weapon against the player; and I also wanted to portray occasional sex scenes between enemies before they would notice that the player is approaching them, angrily breaking off their activity and attacking the player. As the initial goal was making a low-res 2d game, this didn't seem to be too much of a problem (and a demo which I released of the 2d version has large amounts of naked guys as enemies and no one who played it seems to be bothered by it, so I assume that the inclusion of further elements in that direction won't have a negative effect as long as I'd keep everything nicely low-res), but as I've been trying in the last few years to move towards making a (more or less) realistic 3d game, I've been regularly contemplating about what to do with the display of sexuality in the game. Presuming that depicting such things won't end up making the game get banned everywhere (which might be one of the bigger problems awaiting this project (other than getting it finished in the first place) - making sure that it doesn't end up too problematic to get rated), the possibility that it might be off-putting to many players seems to be not unlikely.

What do you think about depictions of genitals and sexuality in video games?

[ThemsAllTook]

I've seen it done poorly more often than done well, but I suspect that's largely due to the dampening effect of platform holder restrictions discouraging people from experimenting with stuff like this. I applaud your effort, and hope this sort of thing continues to be explored. The more creators work with this stuff, the more normalized it can become. There's no good reason for sexuality or body parts to be as taboo as they are.

[jbarrios]

When it comes to adding sexuality into games you need to think about your target audience.

Obviously if your audience is children then leave it out.

If your audience is teenage boys, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt the marketing.

If your audience is adults I think the sexuality needs a purpose.  Silent Hill is a good example.  The nurse monsters are very sexualized.  These monsters represent the struggles the protagonist is having in his marriage.  It's a good example of using sexuality to serve the story.

[Suttebun]

I think it's cheap.
Playboy - old military men with magizines - lude anime grips from childhood lingering into the present.



The guy who posts after me is a goober.

[Ramos]

I think it's cheap.

I agree with the weird guy above me

[Lance of Longinus]

If your audience is adults I think the sexuality needs a purpose.  Silent Hill is a good example.  The nurse monsters are very sexualized.  These monsters represent the struggles the protagonist is having in his marriage.  It's a good example of using sexuality to serve the story.

In my case, the purpose is to make the player feel uneasy, disgusted and frightened. Similarly to the rape scene in Silent Hill 2 or the movie Irreversible. Additionally I'm attempting to dissect the act of sexual intercourse in itself by presenting various aspects of it wrested out of their usual context, for the purpose of making the player look at it from a distanced perspective (that is usually hard to achieve for most people, as this is a very desire-driven aspect of life).

[Ordnas]

So I think a rape is a very different issue to represent instead of a sex scene. Of course I believe you when you say that there will be a reason in the story of you want to put that scene, but IMHO I would avoid a such strong image because it is a very delicate matter, and in video games 99% your message will not arrive. I remember Hotline Miami 2 and its rape scene, which if you play the game you know what is happening after that scene, but in almost every news online the focus was "that rape scene" and that's it.

[michaelplzno]

Not the kind of thing I want to do in games, but I like art to be free to be expressive. To me it is ESSENTIAL that you communicate what kind of content the player will expect to see in the promotional material. And to some extent even if that means you have a big online drama, its part of consent to give people an idea of what they are consenting to.

So, go for it, but make sure there is some kind of a warning is my take.

Just as an example, I once watched Handmaid's Tale with someone who didn't expect there to be rape scenes in it. This person didn't care about that part of the show, strangely enough they were so dense that they sort of ignored those scenes. But the explicit content to me was telegraphed a mile away, so if you want to reach a lot of people then you have to communicate very clearly to express what the experience is for the audience. And the art of communicating what you are doing honestly to audiences is very difficult. If you have a long rambling wall of text explaining your content and then right when you open it up, bam there are visuals of something explicit, you might not have told people what they are getting into effectively. If the explicit stuff is in walls of text and you warn people with a wall of text you are probably communicating clearly.

Just to get a bit tangential but still somewhat relevant, in a pseudo prank show Nathan For You he is constantly tricking people, and some of the episodes I can't watch because I really hate the way he is treating people, but when he gives nods to the audience that something is fishy I feel less bad for the poor people he has on his show.

For example in this scene (Which has no sexual content):





I wonder if the people who are buying the items in the store are truly consenting to buy stuff? Its edgy to me.

So circling back: you must truly let people know what your project is gonna be, in some real and meaningful way, that is paramount.

[Tobers]

Yea this doesn't sound sexual to me. Sexual games are meant to titillate, horror games aren't. Reminds me of this I saw recently on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/gnodima/status/1294897730888892416

It surprised me, but it's not meant to titillate. I kinda hope this sort of thing will become more normal, like in Futurama "Gone the way of the poodle and your primitive notions of modesty."

[michaelplzno]

Horror is totally titillating: twilight, Dracula, where a charismatic vampire can control innocent virgin's minds and make them submit, very titillating to some.

Being able to customize your intimates is basically taking character customization to the extreme which as I discussed in another thread, I like having the character made for me. But even then, the idea of being able to change your sexual appearance can be quite titillating to the right crowd.

[Tobers]

Fair point, I guess I'm separating the horror part from the rest. Like you can have horror comedy or action horror or loads of others. But the horror parts specifically I think aren't made to titillate.

Actually, well, maybe it's not mutually exclusive. I'm picking up what you're putting down. I'm mowin' what you're growin'. Like some people are into some really intense stuff; being choked or thrown around or whatever. Stuff that some people might find horrifying could be exactly what titillates someone else.

I gotcha! Good point michaelplzno!

[michaelplzno]

Blessed are those who make a lot of points for they shall be known as pricks!