More sex please: why video games need better sex and more of it (NSFW)

As a 26-year-old, sex is never too far from my mind. Yet it seems to always be quite far from my games, and that’s a damn shame. I realize that sex is a controversial topic, and that many would rather stick their fingers in their ears, cover their eyes, and try not to think about where babies come from, but let’s face it: that’s no longer an option.

Sex is explored everywhere these day. It’s in Oscar-winning movies like The Wolf of Wall Street, in indie films like Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, and in popular books like 50 Shades of Grey. If gaming is going to stay relevant, or (dare I say it) become progressive, then we need more sex in video games

The current situation

I don’t need to tell you the current situation, because you probably already know it. Games are usually designed with guys in mind, and when thinking about guys, most developers seem to have come to one conclusion: guys are dumb.

Sexuality in computer games is less complicated than the magazines I hid beneath my mattress as a teenager; at least those were honest in their crudity. Most games prefer to hide sex behind revealing costumes and ever-increasing bra sizes. Just look at 90s-era Lara Croft and Dragon Crown’s woefully-disproportionate sorceress. Shooting at wolves or casting spells with serious back pains must be terrible!

Some games go one step down. Lollipop Chainsaw springs to mind as the best example of a highly-sexualized game that steered clear of actual sex. In Lollipop Chainsaw, the characters make constant innuendos and the camera angles encourage upskirt peeping, but the game never dares to actually talk about sex, let alone discuss its worrying obsession with schoolgirls.

The same is true of Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars; a game which features high school students “classmating” to create “star children.” Lots of metaphor with no real discussion. In short, today’s games focus on titillation and avoid encouraging anything more meaningful than an erection.

(See: Conception II could be the perfect example of everything that’s wrong with Japanese gaming culture)

What about Japan?

Well, what about it? Sure, Japan has more sexual content in its games than any other country, but it’s not exactly quality content. Japan has an unhealthy obsession with the kawaii teenage girl, who appears in almost every sexually explicit game. This creates a dichotomy for developers, because how can someone be both cute and adorable, and yet engage in sexual acts? There are two methods of doing this: one is you rape her, the other is that she engages in the act without full understanding. In both cases she is as a toy for male players, and has little agency.