GDC's Design Challenge panel tackles sex in games
by Majed Athab 
{ Mar 6th 2009 at 2:00AM }
How does "My First Time" sound as this year's topic for GDC's time-honored Game Design Challenge panel? It may sound like something we cooked up ourselves, but it is, in fact, legit. This year's theme is all about the dilemma of designing games centered on "sex and autobiography." Obliviously, this won't be a discussion on how to peddle porno games; instead, it'll be about tackling the taboo and coming out with something both artistic and unique ... and probably about how to avoid a situation like this.Eric Zimmerman (chief design officer at Gamelab), Steve Meretzky (game design VP at YouPlus), Kim Swift (Valve level designer) and Sulka Haro (Sulake lead designer) will all be speakers at the panel on March 25. Those who are attending the industry-only event might want to stop by Room 135, North Hall at 2:30pm to see what's going down ... no innuendo intended there.
[Via G4TV]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ChiTownRuler23 @ Mar 6th 2009 2:20AM
is it just me or does this chicks jugs seem VERY low?
rTwelve @ Mar 6th 2009 2:33AM
best first comment
Trickob @ Mar 6th 2009 2:42AM
have you ever seen a naked chick before?
joerendous @ Mar 6th 2009 7:36AM
if it's a photoshop touchup or otherwise, it's not a very good one
Alzheimers @ Mar 6th 2009 9:46AM
@trickbob:
Do they feel like bags of sand?
ChiTownRuler23 @ Mar 6th 2009 11:10AM
yes i have seen a naked chick before trickob, thats why im asking where did her cleavage go.
WiredKnight @ Mar 6th 2009 3:29PM
It's just you.
Courtney @ Mar 6th 2009 2:35AM
Good for them on taking on a challenging topic. Hopefully we'll see some interesting games come out of the challenge.
The Baron @ Mar 6th 2009 2:49AM
There already are, you just can't buy them in Gamestop.
Courtney @ Mar 6th 2009 10:28AM
I know that there are some interesting projects out there, I'm just excited that the GDC will be encouraging more of them.
Max Headroom @ Mar 6th 2009 3:19AM
I don't want sex in my video games at all.
Redeye @ Mar 6th 2009 11:40AM
I'm with you. What's with the constant drive of the games industry to aim for the lowest possible, most exploitive stuff? I've been IN the gaming industry for more than a decade, and I find it embarrassing and juvenile.
FemaleOrca @ Mar 6th 2009 12:09PM
The thing is it doesn't have to be lowest-common-denominator style sex. That stuff drives me up a wall as well.
Sex, when handled maturely (Mass Effect for example) can help further a story or develop character. It certainly doesn't belong in all games, very few actually. I think it can have its place in the video game medium though.
WiredKnight @ Mar 6th 2009 3:30PM
Since when is sex exploitative?
sex =/= pornography.
cwj @ Mar 6th 2009 4:05AM
Hey, that's from a stage show here in NYC. The cast rotates and the stories change so you can keep going back and hear something different.
Viva el teatro.
seriousam7 @ Mar 6th 2009 4:14AM
Sex is one of the only reasons that people take a break from gaming. Put it in video games, and the only other thing needed for us to stay in front of the tv permanently (assuming Cartman's mom is available to take care of any toilet needs) is a way for our console to feed us. Then (video game)life will be complete and (virtual)karma will be achieved.
WiredKnight @ Mar 6th 2009 3:31PM
Assuming the people you're talking about are actually having sex with their tv....
Michelobius @ Mar 6th 2009 4:21AM
Ohh! I wrote my senior thesis on this. Specifically the double standard of sex and violence in videogames, and how it's reflected in movies and tv as well.
mike @ Mar 6th 2009 7:43PM
did your thesis happen to surmise that video games were for CHILDREN, and hence, off limits when it comes to DP?
Dan Rabot @ Mar 6th 2009 7:02AM
Yeah her boobs are low if you've only ever seen Lara Crofts! hehe.
I enjoyed the old PS2 playboy mansion game, funny shit. That was silly but the sex scene in Farenheight / Indigo prophecy was really tasteful and was a major part of the development of the story.
No one wants game porn, why bother when there's real porn on the internet, but the tasteful use of sex as a story telling tool is sometimes missing when it could be used to enhance a story.
Sex mini games is a "sticky" situation, vulgarity, although funny, should be avoided - then again in a true "Adult" game should be allowed, but I don't see anything wrong with the sex mini games in those Japanese dating sim games online. Anything can happen in Manga and (with the right, enforced, ratings) games shoud be treated exactly the same. I'm all for "tentacle-rape" in my games. hehehe.
Lord of the Patapons (slycooper_rocker) @ Mar 6th 2009 6:08PM
the god of war series handles the sex minigames PERFECTLY
Foetoid @ Mar 6th 2009 7:03AM
How did it take me this long to find out about the Ms. Cooper Vs Mass Effect nonsense. This is such a classic link:
http://www.destructoid.com/karmic-retribution-fox-psychologist-gets-a-taste-of-her-own-ignorant-medicine-66651.phtml
Some of the posts people have given her book to mimic her speech about Mass Effect are hilarious!:
"There's a new study out of the University of Maryland that says this book sucks."
"Steer clear of this pointless book and save your money, get Mass Effect instead. ;)"
"Sorry darling, I gotta go with the research here, and the research shows - there's a new study off the Internet today that says that middle-aged, attention-craving women writing generic, run-of-the-mill, rehashed self-help books should not be listened to when they offer their opinions about matters they themselves admit they have never engaged or even done any research in."
LOL!
Orginal depressing report:
http://www.destructoid.com/luke-skywalker-meets-debbie-does-dallas-fox-report-on-mass-effect-is-saddening-66295.phtml
jockhotty @ Mar 7th 2009 9:50AM
when a woman pushes her shoulders forward, the breast sink lower, ...we know what happens when a woman pulls her shoulders back and offer the stars
aardvark @ Mar 6th 2009 10:37AM
Sex and violence are not the same.
Children have real-world experience of "violence" from toddler-hood and are fully equipped to distinguish between real and fantasy violence. By contrast, before puberty most sexual content is meaningless to them: it can't evoke an emotional response that isn't there. Because of this they just can't make sensible value judgments about what they're seeing.
If we are to see sexual content in games (and in the current economic climate the industry is lobbying for it), I'd like to see a reform of the ratings system so ratings actually mean something. E.g. the current "M" rating for Halo 3 is a joke. The reason Live is full of 8 year olds playing the game isn't that their parents are all bad, it's that the parents have judged that the game is harmless. There's nothing in Halo 3 that an 8 year old can't handle (emotionally). I'd argue that voice-enabled Live itself should be rated M but that's another story.
Batzarro @ Mar 6th 2009 1:00PM
Full on agreement!