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A few weeks back I was reviewing Simon & Schuster's Outlaw Volleyball for the Xbox, and it got me thinking about sex. Not in a men-think-about-sex-every-six-seconds kind of way, but in regard to the way sexuality is portrayed and marketed in the context of video games. It's not my intention to go on moralizing about the objectification of women here, though I may end up doing a little bit of that anyway. To be as trite as possible, sex sells. It doesn't really matter what medium, and I don't particularly mind that. I'm not above a little titillation--after all, I'm only a man. But man, do they have to go and make it all dirty?
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This is about as subtle as Outlaw Volleyball gets. |
I guess my fundamental problem with the way most video games portray sexuality is that it seems the designers who decide to focus on the sex have no respect for the intelligence of the audience. Sex is almost always delivered in an incredibly idealized, exceedingly shallow fantasy context. If a female character is going to be sexy, every facet of her design will be executed to service an overall air of lust. The female form is an amazing thing, but contrary to what some men's lifestyle magazines might lead you to believe, they're not all slinky sex kittens, all the time.
Since Outlaw Volleyball helped prompt this column, let's take a look at the characters in that game. The guys are a mix of the muscular male model types and some really gross caricatures, like Country Clem, the mullet-headed toothless bumpkin. The ladies, however, are nothing but bad stereotypes wrapped around sex objects, whose speaking parts are essentially clearinghouses for sexually charged double entendres. I know that it's rare for any character to be portrayed in a deep, realistic fashion in video games, but at least the guys are getting some variety. My note to the developers--OK, they're sexy. I get it. I don't need it shoved down my throat.
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Nothing sells games like thinly veiled lesbianism. Just ask Eidos. |
Considering how the subject matter has been handled by developers thus far, I can understand why some might argue that sex has no business in video games. Up to now, it's primarily been a cheap, exploitative crutch that works wonders for distracting you from crappy graphics, shoddy gameplay, or just an overall dearth of quality. Using it as a blatant device instead of a way to help enhance the overall attitude and atmosphere of the game just isn't as effective. Like Jack Horner said in Boogie Nights, it doesn't make sex look sexy. But, I'm tellin' ya, it doesn't have to be that way. The market for video games has gotten broad enough that I'm surely not the only person who can appreciate a little skin but doesn't need it delivered in such a sophomoric fashion.
A game that I feel is a great example against Outlaw Volleyball is Sega's Beach Spikers for the GameCube. Like Outlaw Volleyball, the game is populated with a bevy of female volleyball players. And, yeah, the women are attractive--you'd have to go out of your way to make a well-toned young woman in a bikini unattractive, really--but they're not constantly behaving like vampy sex kittens, striking naughty poses and firing off risqué one-liners. The sex isn't the crux of the game, the gameplay is. And from what I've seen of it, I kind of like the way Final Fantasy X-2 handles the sex appeal. The story revolves around three attractive young women out on an adventure, kicking ass and fending for themselves. The game puts the focus on this exciting adventure instead of the fact that they're attractive young women, though it does acknowledge this obvious truth. Personally, I think that the personality and the strength of the girls of X-2 make them far more alluring than just their dimensions alone. Some of the more elegant examples I could come up with are games that basically use sex appeal as window dressing; they're just not being as coarse about it.
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Sexy, not smutty. |
I do dream that some day, hopefully sooner than later, we'll see the subject of sex being approached in a more mature manner in the realm of video games. I accept the reality that captivating the young male audience is paramount to success in the world of electronic entertainment, and a little T&A is just about the easiest way to move a couple of extra copies of your game. But publishers and developers alike should recognize that the horny teenagers of today will be the young adults of tomorrow and will likely continue to play games. And as they mature, so will their tastes. Hopefully the entertainment will be able to keep up.
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