Why Is Sex In Games Bad?

IncGamers poses this very question, using the Mass Effect “SeXbox” fiasco and the romance options in Dragon Age: Origins to prove particular points within the editorial.

As I mentioned earlier, your favourite soap, weekly drama, blockbuster films they all feature sex from time to time, there’s no escaping it. The best way to avoid a game that is completely unsuitable is to check the ratings that’s what they’re there for. As for fear of dodgy online activity, you’d have to take away all access to the internet to be sure your child was completely protected. Bebo, Facebook, instant messaging software, even mobile phones, they all have the ability to show children a lot more about sex than a single-player game that’s been put through the ratings board.

On the flipside, as adults, we’re all partial to some raunchy content from time to time. It’s present in other forms of entertainment almost every film has some romance or sexual references, and erotic literature dates back to the days of the bible. For games that are aimed at a mature audience, such as BioWare’s recent Dragon Age: Origins and Sony’s God of War II, sexual content adds another side to the experience. When making games, developers aim to invoke an emotional response from the players, whether it be elation, fear, happiness or grief. Adding sex or romance to games is just another way to draw us into the story.

It’s a shame that tasteful sex scenes within any organizationally rated form of entertainment is cause for any sort of publicity.