M is for Mature gaming

Now I’ve been on this beautiful planet Earth for 52 years. I’m married, have a daughter and I live in the Netherlands. A country that is known for it’s liberal views all over the world, known for condoning soft drugs, euthanasia and abortion, and  being the first country to allow same-sex marriages. So I assure you, I know about the real world. Still, I had a surprise moment a couple of weeks ago when I read the blog of a fellow gamer.

Rebekah is an avid gamer, has been since she was young. She plays all current gen consoles and although she and I mostly play different kind of games, we get along very well in our views. At the moment she is trying to finish the Witcher 3, a console game that seems to be super awesome and very, very long. So, back to a couple of weeks ago. There I was in my overcrowded commuter train, surrounded by people, reading her blog on my phone: The Witcher 3, Geralt of Rivea, Rebekah wrote a very entertaining blog there, still smiling at her story I commented on her blog:

I’m being very naive here I guess… Can you believe I didn’t even know there were games with actual sex scenes in there? Lol, even the picture of Geralt in his birthdays suit on the unicorn made me cringe! Fun post, Rebekah! You made me smile during my commute in an overflowing train. Now I hope nobody was reading over my shoulder!

You can see too that even though Rebekah had vowed that Geralt would abstain which would lead to his tactical advantage in the game, it seems that even the pixilated characters on screen have a will of their own, lol. I know a Gerald in real life, and I can honestly say I will never be able to look at him again without thinking of unicorns!

Really, I never realised that video games had actual sex-scenes in them. References, yes or language that I guess you don’t want young children to see or violence. And I sure have never seen a scene like that in a game. Apparently I’m used to the kind of courtship and marriages like in Rune Factory or Harvest Moon, where people get married and have children that just appear out of nowhere. But then I guess that’s what the parental guidance rating are for. And I do see why the Witcher has an ESRB rating M for Mature!

How about you? Are you as naive as I am in this? Or have you seen much more in the world of gaming then I have? Witcher_3_cover_art

18 comments

  1. Hm… I wouldn’t say you’re naive. Sure, there are a few games I myself know have sex scenes, but that’s only three: “The Witcher 3 (As you mentioned in the article), the “Mass Effect” series, and “Hunniepop”. But, the sex scenes in “Mass Effect” are kind of known to be really boring. As for “The Witcher 3”, I don’t really know. I’ve never played the series before, so there’s that. Hunnipop, being a PC puzzle/dating game, actually works the sex scenes into a game mechanic. Yeah, I know, weird.
    But most of the time, sex scenes in video games aren’t really worth your time. They have to make sure it doesn’t get an AO (Adults only) rating for just showing a man or woman’s genitalia.
    And then there’s otome or visual novels that may have sex scenes if you have a mature version. A famous example of a visual novel that has a few sex scenes is “Katawa Shoujo” (Or, “Cripple Girls”. It’s actually a pretty good visual novel, despite the sex scenes. WARNING: IT’S REALLY DEPRESSING AT TIMES.).
    I wouldn’t say you’re naive because of this. Only so many games have sex scenes you know? There are only a handful that I can think of that AREN’T visual novels after all.

    1. A puzzle/daring game that manages to work sex scenes into it? That’s weird! I guess it makes sense that they don’t want to limit their audience just for the sake of getting sex scenes into the game.
      Nah, I know I’m not overly naive, but it was just something I’d never even considered. I mean, I’m used to the way most games handle relationships and courting, so it was a bit of a shocker. Got a good chuckle out of Rebekah’s post, and we had fun discussing it too.

  2. Amusing post, and I don’t think it’s prudish. I remember my shock at a PS2 game with an explicit, interactive sex scene, Fahrenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in North America). Reading about it afterwards the scene in question was actually removed in the US version, but it’s in the version released here. And, oddly enough I just checked and the game was given a 15 rating in the UK, not an 18 which is the highest age rating.

    That’s the only explicit sex scene I’ve ever come across in a game, so it was quite a surprise, not to mention weird and embarrassing! I was also surprised at the nudity/sex in GTA V, although it wasn’t as explicit as Fahrenheit. I have to agree with what other people have commented – there are only a few examples of this out there. Given the recent success of games like Mass Effect which do have these scenes though, it seems reasonable to expect more sex in games going forward.

    1. Nah, I’m not a prude or anything, but like you described, it was just a huge surprise. It had never even crossed my mind! We had a good chuckle out of the fact that I came across the picture of Geralt in his birthday suit on the unicorn ( talk about itchy!) with loads of people probably looking over my shoulder in the train!
      I can’t imagine it adding a lot to a game, I just think it would be very awkward and weird.

  3. Yeah, I knew some games had such content. Personally, I have never seen such scenes, though. I am under the impression that, given how videogame characters are still far away from looking truly realistic, those scenes must be rather awkward.

  4. One: I love your banner! I really do. Yes, yes.

    Two: Thank you for the shout out on my experience with the awkward sex of the The Witcher.

    Three: I still remember the first game I saw an actual sex scene in. It was Heavy Rain and I was like…is this really going to happen? OH GOD THIS IS REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN! And I couldn’t look away because it was basically a quick time event. As much as I love David Cage and Quantic Dream, he does have some strange proclivities.

    Four: I don’t think it makes you naive that you didn’t necessarily have a direct awareness of sex in games. Until I wrote that, I didn’t know there were actual porn games. Yikes.

    1. Can you image real porn video games? I think I’d collapse laughing if I had to watch that. Awful! Who would really want to see that, I ask you!

      All this reminded me of Love Actually, have you seen the movie? There’s a rather explicit scene featuring Martin Freeman as a porn actor at work, and that scene always makes me cringe. And I’ve never seen the Hobbit in the same way again. I suspect you kinda felt the same about Geralt!

      1. I can actually NOT imagine that, and I have a pretty decent imagination! I mean, what do you even DO in those cases? Press X to thrust? It just seems so bizarre.

        I’ve heard good things about that movie, but I’ve never seen it myself. Now I may have to. I can’t imagine him in that kind of a role. I just picture him in Sherlock.

        1. You’re in for s shocker then. I was filmed years and years ago of course, but I didn’t make the connection at all until much later. By then I’d enjoyed his acting in the Hobbit and of course Sherlock ( love that series!)

          1. He’s such a wonderful actor. I’ve not seen the Hobbit films, but I’ve enjoyed him in everything I’ve seen him in. But, for me, Sherlock takes the cake.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *