The brouhaha surrounding the mainstream awareness of adult content in computer games has spawned an official forum courtesy of the International Game Developers Association. Their Sex Special Interest Group was launched/announced on 15 August with the following (abridged) opening statement:
Sexual content is, of course, found in all forms of media, from Homer's Odyssey and The Iliad to movies like The Graduate, Sideways and even Shakespeare in Love. It is a valid storytelling mechanic and central to the human experience. As such, the Sex SIG embraces sex and sexuality as a natural, healthy and positive force in our lives.
At the same time, it recognizes several important points:
1. The right of developers to work together to create games that include the full range of the human experience, including representations of relationships, love, intimacy and sexual themes.
2. A parent's need to be informed and oversee/control their children's access to content.
3. The responsibility we as developers have to make sure that the content that's in the game is reflected in its rating and its rating descriptors.
Their blog (the primary window into their world) already features some excellent thoughts from its authors (Console Games that Use Sex or Sexuality as a Reward Mechanism, A Brief History of Romance in Console RPGs, Obscenity in the Digital Age, Games for Couples) and has generated some excellent commentary from Water Cooler Games, which criticises it eloquently:
I think there are interesting and meaningful representations of sex yet to appear in games, but I'm sorry to see the IGDA call the Sex & Games project one of "responsible, age-appropriate content development." It should be one of responsible, motivated expression. The Sex SIG cites The Iliad, The Graduate, and Shakespeare in Love as precursors for sexual content in other media. But the Sex SIG doesn't seem legitimately interested in commercial videogames that hope to make forthright comments on the human condition; rather, they seem interested in facilitating empty titillation through adult content.
Whatever loggerheads these two fora may encounter, it's nice knowing that there are people who are dealing with this issue in a more proactive way.
