Bioware and the Art of Sex

The problem with sex in video games is that more often than not it reinforces stereotypes about gamers.  Despite all the claims of maturity, sex is still primarily presented in an exploitive manner meant to titilate the prepubescent boy within.  I say 'boy' because games are still primarily marketed towards the male consumer (unless the pale skin of Kratos get you excited, I suppose).  Even when men are presented as objects of desire, the element of attraction is usually grounded in some aspect of the personality rather than physical appearance.  Look at the perspective male romances in Mass Effect 2: Two of them are aliens and, depending on your tastes, not particularly attractive ones at that.  Whether you find Jack or Tali attractive, it's hard to deny that their character designs have some degree of sex appeal.

RPGs are the one genre where the playing field should be equal.  Players are able to choose their gender and have the opportunity to pursue a relationship with a team mate if they so desire.  Unfortunately, these 'relationships' are little more than stepping stones to the real goal of all the talking: sex.  Take Mass Effect , there's no challenge in successfully establishing a relationship with one of the three romantic choices, all you have to do is spam the paragon dialog options in the conversation, and once you've consumated the relationship it's effectively over.

The same is true of Mass Effect 2 where I inadvertantly romanced the three female romance options just by being a nice guy.  It's impossible to build a relationship based on friendship without defaulting to the neutral dialog options.  By the end of the game I had three crew mates whose only dialog dealt with having to choose a partner, even after I had already chosen to pursue Miranda.  It's only when it comes to crew mates of the opposite sex that the player can pursue the paragon dialog tree without fear of romancing them (which is another problem entirely).  Placing the emphasis of the romance on the sex means that the "relationship" has no meaning.

Interestingly, another Bioware venture, Dragon Age, takes a different approach to sex and relationships.  Sex is not the end result of the relationship, it's just a part in the machine.  In fact, sex in Dragon Age doesn't even have to go hand in hand with a relationship, it can be a one time thing.  Most impressive is the fact that dialog trees don't suddenly stop after characters have sex, they actually have more to say.  Imagine that, two people actually talking about something after having sex.  This may be a sign of the end times.

However, a problem for both games is  the sex itself.  Ever since the Mass Effect contoversy that once again claimed video games were "corrupting our youth" subsequent games have shyed away from being "explicit."  The sex scenes of Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 have characters clothed to some extent while the player is treated to cheesy music and awkward fondling.  How can we expect sex in video games to be taken seriously by others when the developers themselves don't?

Developers in general need to back away from this idea that sex somehow automatically makes games "mature" (the same can be said about swearing in video games).  There's nothing wrong with including sex in video games, but it needs to be handled in such a way that the game industry doesn't look as though it's embarrassed.  It has to make sense within the context of what is happening.  Relationships can be more than roadmaps to awkward sex, and to suggest otherwise demeans not only the games, but the people playing them.

[Originally posted  in response to Destructoid's Monthly Musing]