In a story about the increased acceptance of sex and sexuality in video games, the Calgary Herald got EA spokesperson Colin MacRae to draw the line between those who get it — and those who don’t.

The confusion around mature content in video games typically starts with the over-40 crowd, who just don’t understand the medium. They think video games are Pong and they should be seeing the Friendly Giant, and that it’s a kids medium,” says Macrae. “There’s still a large chunk of the population that doesn’t get it. Today, the audience for video games is as diverse as the audience is for TV, is as diverse as the audience is for movies.”

Ever meet anyone under 40 who doesn’t understand that games are capable of including mature subject matter? Or did MacRae get it right?

Sex grows up in gaming world; As technology has improved, attitudes have matured [Calgary Herald]

You have the option to click play on the video below and completely spoil your sexual experience in Dragon Age: Origins, or you can simply turn away and go about your business. The scene below came after hours of my City Elf rogue wooing and coddling the human rogue Leliana.

Considering the amount of crap BioWare caught for Mass Effect’s sex scene, one can’t blame them for leaving the tops on. Besides, once the PC version hits tomorrow I’m sure some enterprising modder will figure out how to get their tops off, as it’s probably easier than removing a real bra. That’s why I keep scissors on my bedside table.

Again, spoiler! Don’t blame us if you click the shiny, candy-flavoured button. And if you want more Dragon Age: Origins, be sure to stop by tomorrow for our full review of the PlayStation 3 version.

Demian Linn at Bitmob worked all the angles with every potential partner in the party, telling us what goes down when you get down with Morrigan, Leliana and, yes, even when you eff the elf – as in a gay hookup. An encounter with a dwarven tranny is also mentioned but it’s not part of the analysis. (I think it’s just one of the smirky cathouse cutscenes)

The only spoilers in the writeup concern characters and, of course, descriptions of the sex itself. It does not give up any plot spoilers. In summary, here’s what the sexytime does, or doesn’t do, for Dragon Age: Origins.

So what’s the point of all this? Good question. Sex is a very difficult game design challenge, no surprise there, and Dragon Age does it right when it incorporates sex directly into the narrative (the aforementioned spoiler I don’t want to reveal). But the casual sex, which could be used as a tool to deepen your understanding and empathy for the other characters, tends to reinforce the idea of women as alternately jealous, catty, smothering, and weak-willed (easily taking back a lover that has strayed), while perpetuating the stereotype of the promiscuous gay/bisexual man. I guess what I’m saying is… the sex could be better.

Yeah, but so could a pizza. Bottom line, it’s still a pizza. I mean sex. You get the idea.

Sex and the Single Dragon Age Hero [Bitmob]

Writing for PopMatters, G. Christopher Williams picked up on an interview with Quantic Dream, the developer of Heavy Rain, in which the writer confessed he felt uncomfortable being forced to perform the striptease. “Fantastic,” Quantic Dream’s David Cage tells Game Informer. “You know what? That is exactly what we wanted. … Yes, it’s a strong moment for the character. But if we managed to make you feel uncomfortable it is because at some point we made you believe you were Madison.”

This is a departure from other gameplay-based depictions of sex, Williams argues, where the object was either to reveal skin or engage in a mini-game that “reduces sex to the stabbing motions of button mashing.” He says the breakthrough lies not necessarily in a mature depiction of sex, but in delivering a new perspective on how it is understood, even if it means forcing someone in an opposite gender role to see its more degrading side.

The Gleam of Electric Sex: What Video Games Might (or Might Not) Teach Us About Sex [PopMatters, Oct. 14.]

If I am interpreting Cage’s thinking correctly, he seems to be suggesting that Heavy Rain is moving beyond the voyeuristic simulations of sexuality offered by countless other forms of more passive media and also beyond simply making a participatory simulation of sexuality into a mere simulation of the “‘ol in-out, in-out”. Instead, what seems to be offered here is a potential simulation of some of the psychology of the sexual experience.

In this particular instance, the psychology is particularly fascinating as it is likely a rather novel experience for the largest demographic of video game players, males. If feminist theory concerning the tendency for women to become the object of the male gaze holds any credence, the experience of being made object to that gaze may be an entirely new experience for many players. Indeed, it may also be an uncomfortable one as traditional gender roles and perspectives may be tested and reversed as a result of being made to “believe you were Madison” because players will participate in this humiliating act rather than merely view it.

Certainly, Cage and Quantic Dream’s efforts are not entirely new. Many video game players have toyed with gender bending experiments such as playing avatars that represent themselves as the opposite of their own gender. I have played female avatars in online games and have noted differences in the ways that I am treated when playing as a female character as opposed to a male character. Largely, my own experience had led me to observe that I seemed to receive a lot more gifts from other players when playing as a female (which may suggest something about cultural norms and expectations concerning male-female relationships).

However, this limited sort of experience was not placed in the context of a story or a character whose entire personality is coded as female (my avatar was always driven by my own personality as I am not one to play “in character” in games, not attempting then to specifically act like the character that I am playing in the context of the gaming world). Adding layers of storytelling and the more objective, dramatic qualities of scripted and directed behaviours into this mix may produce more focused statements on sexuality than we have seen in gaming thus far and may push this participatory art in directions that the passive arts are limited in exploring. Because we may have to reconsider who we are as we play out the experiences of someone else. Games have the potential to create empathy with characters rather than the sympathy that film or books might evoke in watching someone else suffer or experience pleasure.

- G. Christopher Williams

Weekend Reader is Kotaku’s look at the critical thinking in, and of video games. It appears Saturdays at noon. Please take the time to read the full article cited before getting involved in the debate here.

Eros LLC of Florida, which produces the popular (or so I am told, anyway) SexGen line took Linden Lab to federal court this week, on a claim that the Second Life operator refuses to take action against users who custom-rig their own sex machines (more or less, they’re code that facilitate boinking animations) and then slap the SexGen brand on ‘em.

Sounds funny, but microtransactions are no joke. Some $US600 million in in-world sales are expected this year, with Linden Lab taking a cut of that. It gets a cut of anything that changes hands for virtual buxx, black market goods or no. And on top of this, Eros does maintain an in-world store, so the virtual ripoff is very real to them.

Eros successfully sued some black marketeers two years ago; this suit represents an escalation. They seek class action status for other merchants who are getting bootleged. Their allegations will also challenge the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which protects Web sites from legal action if they’re responsive to rights holders’ takedown notices. All of this because people are selling counterfeit f–k coffins.

Linden Lab Targeted in Second Life Sex-Code Lawsuit [Wired]

This particular love hotel has costume rentals (hope they’ve got dry cleaning!), a fizzy “Welcome Drink” of your choice and Nintendo Wii rentals. There are also games players can check out as well. If gaming is not your thing, you can rent a DVD player — which sounds like a supreme hassle in this age of on-demand viewing.

Of course, the availability of these types of game consoles at love hotels are not new. The original Famicom (NES) was found in love hotels throughout the 1980s — heck, Nintendo tried its hand at running love hotels during the early 1960s before concentrating on children’s toys and games.

Love Hotel Cosplay [Kirainet]

That’s because it perpetuates a transactional model of sex, argues Alex Raymond at GameCritics.com. When you think about it, pursuing sex with an NPC in that game is fundamentally no different from C.J. bedding women in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Sex is presented as a reward, a result only, something won only by making correct choices attenuated to a woman’s shallow preferences, and it’s certainly not shown to be part of the process of a relationship.

The “Ladies Man” achievement in the upcoming Alpha Protocol spy action game—have sex with every woman in the game—really set Raymond’s teeth on edge. This essay focuses not on sex objects, but on sex as an object—a goal only, a commodity, and the damage done by video games reinforcing such concepts.

Women Aren’t Vending Machines: How Video Games Perpetuate the Commodity Model of Sex [GameCritics.com, Aug. 26, 2009]

This design approach is extremely simplistic and perpetuates the commodity model of sex-the player wants sex, they go through certain motions, and they are “rewarded” with what they wanted (like a vending machine). Furthermore, when sex is included in a game, it is generally framed as the end result-the reward-of romance, rather than one aspect of an ongoing relationship/partnership. For example, one gamer commented that the romance in Mass Effect seemed like the romantic interest was really saying, “Keep talking to me and eventually we’ll have sex”. The relationship is not the goal; the goal is the tasteful PG-13 sex scene. The NPC’s thoughts and desires aren’t relevant; what matters is the tactics you use to get what you want. This is a boring mechanic in games and dangerously dehumanizing behaviour in real life.

Where the simplistic relationship mechanics really get problematic is when someone makes a game where your protagonist is a James Bond-wannabe and there’s an achievement for sleeping with every woman in the game. I am talking, of course, about Alpha Protocol. The quotes in the linked MTV Multiplayer article are infuriatingly sexist (as well as displaying insultingly limiting definitions of masculinity), but the relevant part is the bit about the “Ladies’ Man” achievement.

It is seriously problematic to have a game where the male player/avatar can have sex with any and every woman in the game. On top of reinforcing the commodity model of sex, it is desperately heteronormative. For all the player’s “choice” of with whom to engage, there’s no possibility that the player might want to have a relationship with another man. It also shows that lesbians just don’t exist in this world, if every single woman is open to a sexual encounter with a man. In addition, it perpetuates the narrative of the Nice Guy (described in Millar’s essay, and elsewhere): that men are entitled to sex from women if they follow the rules and do the right things, or in the case of Alpha Protocol, “select your responses wisely.”

- Alex Raymond

Weekend Reader is Kotaku’s look at the critical thinking in, and of video games. It appears Saturdays at noon. Please take the time to read the full article cited before getting involved in the debate here.

The costume contest, much like the opening ceremonies earlier yesterday, was completely packed with Blizzard fans eager to see women painted blue, and the event did not disappoint. Drenai, Blood Elves, Night Elves, Gnomes and the odd Dwarven female paraded across the stage, along with a handful of enemies from World of Warcraft, Space Marines from StarCraft II, and a couple of concept art Wizards from Diablo III.

The star of the show, however, was host Jay Mohr, working a bit dirtier than the audience might have expected. Along with jabs at jocks (”I’m a gamer and a jock. I lose fights”), Canada (”America’s Hat”), and the odd Christopher Walken impression, Mohr’s best bit involved a running theme at BlizzCon—having sex with women painted blue.

Mohr joked that every man at the convention dreamed of sleeping with one of the “blue elf chicks”, though only under the condition that they never break out of character. “You don’t want them breaking into a Minnesota accent after you’re done,” he teased. “No no, you’re a blue elf girl tonight. I want to wake up with blue paint on my stomach thinking, ‘I wonder if she was real?’”

As for the contest itself, it was a pretty standard parade of Blizzard characters, reproduced with varying levels of proficiency. The three finalists were a rather well-done Kel’Thuzad, a human paladin played by a guy named Guido, and the Mistress of Pain, whose costume was clearly the winner, with her spider body and spiky teeth, which caused Mohr to question whether or not it was right to be turned on. I can completely see how he could be confused.

Alpha Protocol, the spy-themed role-playing game from development studio Obsidian Entertainment and publisher Sega, once expected many months ago, is finally close to release. It’s set for fall, that same season that brought Mass Effect and Fallout 3 to gamers in the last two years.

In theory, Alpha Protocol should seem quite different. It is neither set after an apocalypse nor in space. But a demo of the game I witnessed yesterday showed the kind of shooter-centric gameplay and deep, interactive dialogue exchanges that might make a gamer see much Mass Effect in it, despite its trappings in a world of spies, e-mailed assignments and James Bond-style villains.

Alpha Protocol certainly won’t be confused with either of those other games, even though its gameplay style may satisfy the same itch.

A few things, though, stood out in the demo that are stark differences from those other two games. One of those would be sex, but hold on a second.

The Sega producer showing me the game showed a dialogue system that could feel more consequential than those of the other games mentioned here. Conversations are interactive, as in Fallout and Mass Effect, but remarks throughout the conversation trigger statistical changes and adjustments in character relationships.

Key decision points trigger auto-saves, in a manner similar, of all tings to the immediate saving of the Fire Emblem series. Dialouge and mission choices are designed to enforce consequences on players, though the path those choices might lead is intended to be obscured by what Sega is promising to be a more varied spectrum of moral alignments by its characters.

Some of the dialogue sequences will be so lengthy that there are missions unto themselves. The Sega producer described them to me as interrogations that could last 10-15 minutes, full of choices not just about what to say but whether to, perhaps, hit the person being interrogated with a bottle. In the interrogation described, violence squeezes accurate information out, but causes the player’s victim to alert his friends and make a subsequent mission harder. Being smoother with the same guy will allow the player to make a pay-off and face lesser opposition later.

But what about the sex? After witnessing a flirtatious exchange between the game’s male hero and the blonde commando lady Z who wielded a big machine gun and a visible bra, I inquired about romance possibilities. I was told we can expect as many as four love scenes. I inquired how they compare to Mass Effect’s infamous sex scenes. They’re on a spectrum, I was told, one of them being “pretty racy.” Oh, and pretty “unexpected” too, in terms of when it happens and the “choices you make in it?” Sounds like an interactive sex scene, but the Sega producer said I might be getting the wrong idea. He didn’t want to give more away.

So, if this game seems a bit Mass Effectish to you and maybe even Fallouty, these are some differences. Otherwise, expect a deep, combat-heavy, dialogue rich RPG. It comes out in October for PC and consoles.

By Edge, anyway. They’re saying that an underworld Overlord II foursome takes the cake, precisely for what it does not show.

Overlord II’s “foursome” scene is the best of the year. Yes, it’s a scene where you, the hero, have a foursome. And yes, it’s juvie wish fulfillment. But it’s also a smartly done and properly incentivised scene that in two minutes, gets everything right.

In the video above, you see how your three evil mistresses have chosen to call a bedroom truce, leaving everything and nothing to the imagination of course. I did like the gratuitous booting of the imp midway through. Like, come on bro, didn’t you see the tie on the doorknob?

Two things: One, it’s interesting they award this now, when we haven’t seen all that Dragon Age: Origins has to offer. And that has demon tits. And implied bestiality. I get that Edge wanted to reward a creative depiction of sexuality, but seriously, you think Dragon Age isn’t gonna pack some titillation?

Overlord II: The Best Sex Scene of the Year {Edge via Joystiq]