11.10.2006 SEX IN VIDEO GAMES DEBATE

Brenda Brathwaite, a game designer and professor at Georgia's Savannah College of Art & Design, has a lot to say about sex in video games, and when she says "I probably have more porn than all the guys in this room added together" at one of her recent speakings, well a lot of guys are going to listen. Listen to what she has to say:

"In any other medium, if they said 'you can't have sex,' artists would be outraged. They would stand up and say 'To hell with you ... don't tell me what I can do. This is my creative freedom.' If Brokeback Mountain went through video gaming's rating system, it would be two guys sitting on a bench talking about how they possibly liked each other and it would still be rated M (for Mature)."

It's about time someone started bringing this up. If video games are serious enough to be giving out tax breaks as certifiable art forms, then it's about time people start mentioning that part of art is expressing ideas. Obviously it's extra touchy since the target gaming audience is children - oh wait, the average gamer age is 33 years old - fuck that. It's time for the industry to start changing up and not throwing a fit over games like God Of War that openly have sex in their games. I'm not saying I want to see homosexual Mario and Luigi games, I'm just saying that there's tasteful movies out there with sex in them, and video games shouldn't have any character or plot limitations.

I think we'll start seeing a lot more controversy with the PS3 and 360 though, since we can finally make games realistic enough to interest the sex entertainment industry. Mark my words - porn businesses will start making millions in the next decade by making actual porn games for the 360 and PlayStation 3.