There's more sex everywhere, not just in games
The Kaiser Family Foundation has surveyed television programming and
determined that that there's lots more sex on TV than there used to be, and much of it's embedded in teen-focused
programming. According the report, 70 percent of TV includes some sexual content (with a sex scene occurring every 12
minutes, on average). Popular teen programming that contains sexual situations is even steamier, with a sex scene
occurring every 9 minutes. Pop quiz: how many sex scenes do most popular video games feature per hour?
(A quick aside here. Why do teens get more sex in their programming? A marketer would respond that if you want to shill products to horny teens, you need to be where their minds are. A biologist would note that it's because teens have shorter mental and physical refractory periods.)
We highlight this because it's important to understand the context of the cultural wars that now buffet the games industry and threaten our favorite hobby. Plus, it puts all the "Sex in Games? OH NOES!" alarums in perspective. With sex becoming more prevalent in our most popular form of media, is it any wonder that typically prudish Americans are pressuring politicians to enact silly laws that infringe on first-amendment rights? Stop scapegoating games!











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JpOoP @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Its like baywatch lololol
osrevad @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
O RLY?
boneyard @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
with sex they also meaning simple kissing i take it? because else they aren't watching the shows i am.
Sockatume @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Without their definition of what consititues a sex scene, the statistics are pretty much useless. I wouldn't be surprised if they defined it as "kissing or greater".
Matt @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Hhhmm... Sex/Steamy scenes in teen programming every 9 minutes is fine, but the controversy over 'Hot Coffee' almost brought the world to halt. Methinks there is a little imbalance here.
DG @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
"Sex Is Comedy" was such an awful movie. However, I am EXTREMELY surprised to see it on the front page of Joystiq.
GlitchCog @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Know where else sex is? It's in our heads. Every last human over the age of 13 wants to screw. It's built in. That's where it comes from. If media didn't exist, we'd still want to fuck.
The problem arises when insecure people in large religions, which all basically say anything fun is evil, start bitching about it. If your stupid god didn't want me to screw he should have made it less enjoyable, so piss off.
meatmcguffin @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
YA RLY
zero2dash @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Breasts...yummy
CW @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
A local radio station was talking about this study yesterday and yes, it does include a single kiss or greater. Pretty lame, IMHO.
Google Nazi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Well technically sex starts as little as kissing or "innapropriate" touching. Hell before it used to be pr0n if you saw a little bit of leg lol
Americans are too uptight about these things and people need to just get over it. Sex is the biggest part of life (reproduction) and its okay to be horny when your young. It comes with the pubes lol
Most of the people who complain are religious *coughbaptistscough* and claim things that are from the bible which are not.
If you don't like sex scenes or anything sexual or violent, or anything that will stimulate your mind then go ahead and cancel your cable/sattelite program, don't buy video games and dont rent/buy/see movies. There is always board games and card games to play to amuse your self.
Also fill in the blank: Go _ UCK YOUR SELF _ _
(from family guy XD)
Arcon @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
"I still can't believe we didnt get 'My Hairy Aunt'"
The whole media watchdog is so full of double standard. We couldnt say Fuck or Shit on TV a few years back. Now it's so commonplace we dont even raise an eyebrow. Society evolves and people getting hot under the collar about sex in the media are just those who think it should stay a taboo, behind closed doors and not talked about. Whilst sex for sex's sake is just a waste of a good show but having sex at appropriate parts of the story helps continue along credible lines and i hope that it coninues to help push back boundries.
Sex in games will be quite cool, if only to see the new types of story we get offered up.