Bisexual extraterrestrials steaming up Mass Effect

  • By thorsen-ink, GameSpot
  • Posted Sep 18, 2007 5:42 pm PT

Nowhere is the cultural divide between Europe and the US more visible than in entertainment. Traditionally, the US frowns upon frank descriptions of sexuality while remaining indifferent to violence. Across the Atlantic, it's just the opposite, with governments dropping the banhammer on gore while...

Nowhere is the cultural divide between Europe and the US more visible than in entertainment. Traditionally, the US frowns upon frank descriptions of sexuality while remaining indifferent to violence. Across the Atlantic, it's just the opposite, with governments dropping the banhammer on gore while letting sensuality flow unfettered.

The lastest example of this schism can be seen in two ratings of BioWare's forthcoming Xbox 360 role-playing game Mass Effect. In the US, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board slapped the game with a M for Mature rating for "Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, [and] Violence"--meaning that no one under 17 should buy or rent the game without parent approval.

Although the ESRB didn't elaborate, the British Board of Film Classification--which recently banned Manhunt 2 outright--explained that the American board's lascivious labels stem from a single sequence depicting a risqué encounter.

"[Mass Effect's] single sex scene is brief and undetailed, although there is breast nudity in one version of the scene," read the board's summary. "The sex scene is triggered by the player making a series of choices about becoming more than friends with a colleague. If playing as a male character the scene can take place between him and a human woman or a humanoid female alien. If playing as a female character the scene can take place between her and a male human or a female humanoid alien." (Emphasis added.)

On its surface, the mention of extraterrestrial bisexuals raises the specter of an interstellar version of the "Hot Coffee" scandal sparked by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas two years ago. However, any controversy will likely be allayed by the fact that the BBFC gave Mass Effect a "12" rating--meaning that it deems the content in question to be perfectly suitable for unsupervised preteens.

It's also worth noting that Mass Effect isn't the first BioWare title to involve bisexual romance. The PC and Xbox martial arts fantasy Jade Empire features several nongraphic, crossgender love subplots, including one storyline that leads to an implied three-way liaison between a male hero and two non-player characters, Silk Fox and Dawn Star. The choice of having a female or male character could also lead to some same-sex crushes in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games.

374 Comments

  • rosvo

    Posted Jun 18, 2008 3:37 am PT

    By the way,juhani is a finnish guys name.Thought i mention that

  • rosvo

    Posted Jun 18, 2008 3:33 am PT

    shame PEGI rated it 18+

  • aragorn2353

    Posted Nov 27, 2007 1:46 pm PT

    Wow. Bisexual aliens... o.0
    i find this disturbing....

  • Sammojo

    Posted Nov 19, 2007 4:20 pm PT

    I don't remember anything about that in KOTOR, but then again I only played a male character lol. I'm guessing it was to do with Bastila...

  • Harden_hawk

    Posted Oct 30, 2007 9:47 am PT

    Alien chicks are hot!

  • brendan_o

    Posted Sep 30, 2007 9:46 pm PT

    It seems weird that female characters can have their choice beween either sex while male characters are limited to simply one.

  • TheoleDominion1

    Posted Sep 22, 2007 3:04 am PT

    Maybe Bioware has this content in their game to get a higher rating to target the adult market. Why they would want to do that, who knows.

  • IguanaBob

    Posted Sep 22, 2007 2:04 am PT

    One of the most difficult aspect to master in a intergalactic RPG is balancing the interspecies relationships. Specifically: love. I am looking foreword to play this game with great anticipation.

  • blargon66

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 2:04 pm PT

    hmm im gonnabe a female and get in2 another female
    bet u every1 else will do the same

    lol

  • grantiscool10

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 1:25 pm PT

    what? gay brutes in halo?

  • ek_Theos

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 2:53 am PT

    What no regular alien sex where you have no idea whats going on???

  • catdadanddog

    Posted Sep 21, 2007 2:30 am PT

    Didn't Jade Empire have the same thing?

  • chicken_123_pie

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 4:59 pm PT

    Thankyou BioWare. Once again, you have created a must have game.

  • rockstarrem

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 3:55 pm PT

    Rofl.

  • djman24us

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 2:09 pm PT

    They need to have Jenna Jameson as a character in Mass Effect.

  • Xendercide

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 1:13 pm PT

    I can see it now; Jack Thompson crying that it's bestiality and that it'll lead to all sorts of depraved goodness... Five bucks says he milks the media with something along those lines. I just don't understand why the industry blows up things like this when it should be up to the consumer to make the decision just like it is with everything else.

  • Azhar85

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 12:52 pm PT

    What the heck....anyways i'll still waiting for this game to coming out...

  • CaptCheeseGuy

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 11:13 am PT

    Mass Effect just keeps getting better and better.

  • Cloud737

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 9:59 am PT

    Meh, the world is full of taboos. However, if you come down to it, everything is normal and, frankly, should let people do as they please.
    People still keep to their taboos like their religion and lives will end if it breaks. However, convince them the world will end tomorrow and see how easily they give up on them.
    Meh, humans are silly creatures that don`t think much. They don`t want people to see them naked or doing something with someone, yet they don`t seem to care about spirits or invisible presences. Why? Because others have built this trend and they must continue it. I wonder, what if humanity didn`t had these taboos, maybe you would have seen explicit scenes freely and could even run up to someone on the street and started to have fun right then and there.
    In other words...forget the f**king taboos! Let people (and I think underage teenagers apply here as well) see everything the world is about with no f**king restrictions!

  • mahbar

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 7:34 am PT

    simply stunning

  • Wardenb

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 5:40 am PT

    Hurra For Boobies

    and im sure every 12 year old knows what they are, BBFC made a good choice here

    as for the USA raiting, i think its a little over the top

  • SalarianChemist

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 4:47 am PT

    Mass Effect has an amazing story and plot with revolutionary Communication...this is a perfect example of just how many options and possibilities there are in the game, depending on what you do and how you choose to communicate.

    Reasons like this are why Mass Effect has completely dominated the Awards at all the trade shows, along with Gears of War, and Bioshock, since the three of them were first shown at the 2006 E3.

  • SalarianChemist

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 4:46 am PT

    Mass Effect has an amazing story and plot with revolutionary Communication...this is a perfect example of just how many options and possibilities there are in the game, depending on what you do and how you choose to communicate.

    Reasons like this are why Mass Effect has completely dominated the Awards at all the trade shows, along with Gears of War, and Bioshock, since the three of them were first shown at the 2006 E3.

  • thesaxmaniac

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 8:08 pm PT

    I'm buying an xbox 360 for this now.

  • Pablo620

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 7:48 pm PT

    Lets not forget Halo's Man Cannon. Or is that just a really old joke that should be forgotten

  • okassar

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 7:20 pm PT

    Let's see how many little 10 year-olds "magically" turn perverted after playing the game.I don't think this should happen, however much surprised you are.Games are for playing,not...bisexual romance...

  • kave-man007

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 6:17 pm PT

    i am now going to stop tracking this game

  • evolutionex

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 6:12 pm PT

    lol

  • Hydro_68

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 6:09 pm PT

    seems like they keep nip picking everything now. OMG PARTIAL BOOB M FOR YOU LOL PWND! no but seriously is sex really such a serious issue to where the mere mention of sex is wrong. I mean for story sake it may be needed.... in some way.

  • ou661

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 6:04 pm PT

    whats up wit rpgs and sex

  • badpeq

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 4:30 pm PT

    interstellar sexxx.......hot lovin on a spaceship with zero gravity...
    Im sold for this game

  • QIsForDrTran

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 3:29 pm PT

    Someone might have already brought this up, but if this involves an Asari does it really qualify as homosexual / heterosexual / bisexual? I seem to remember that the Asari have no concept of gender and are simply feminine in appearance by human standards. So it would sort of boil down to how the player (and by extension Shepard) views this kind of relationship since it is something that would have no real equivalent in purely human terms.

  • curua02

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 3:10 pm PT

    As a supporter of homosexual rights, I would like to say I'm very pleased about how open-minded many game developers have proven themselves to be.

    And as a guy, I would like to say "WOOO! LESBIANS! WOOOOO!"

  • hair001

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 3:06 pm PT

    17. To see breasts. Wow thats one messed up system. As long as the scene isnt too interactive, 12 seems fine

  • Delongman

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 2:44 pm PT

    Guess my siblings won't be spectating

  • carrierj1

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 2:43 pm PT

    What's next? Anal?

  • ebookerd1

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 2:40 pm PT

    No matter what this game will rock!!

  • aldrenar47

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 2:25 pm PT

    This game might be even better than KOTOR!

  • KrueLnMe

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 2:24 pm PT

    Oh BioWare you are a silly b1tch

  • JonnyNemesis

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 2:19 pm PT

    Bow-chikka-wow-wow.

  • ShweyGamer

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 2:12 pm PT

    yummy, very steamy. intergalactic interacial chica bow wow,... im done.

  • Alice-Creed

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 1:58 pm PT

    So there's two gals going at it in this, but not two guys? How disappointing.

  • FLzthvikings87

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 1:46 pm PT

    Halo has gay Brutes?

  • jjmullen763

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 1:17 pm PT

    you should read the article properly first . . .
    i believe that the rating system works well in england, just 18 rated games should be monitored more carefully. nudity and sex whether humamoid alien or just human can't be more harmful as actual gore.
    i love gears of war and manhunt and they are great games i just think younger kids from under 16 should really be exposed to such things or kids should be monitored. i do believe that gun crime can be linked to it, but ratings should be monitored better

  • 26rf5

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 1:15 pm PT

    man hunt was baned because of people copying it like the plastic bag kill was copyed and killed a 10 year old by acadent so england ban it ,

    americans cant understand this cus they have 1000s of murders and killings a year but in ireland any way most ever in 1 year was 32 stupid americans with guns

    u wouldnt need guns to pretect yr self if they were baned because no one would have them(some might get ilgaly but that happins hear too and if u get robed last thing u want to do is take out gun cus then robers will defnly kill u) oh and sex in videosgames baned cus loads of rapeings happin in america too but if u were satisfied by game then u no need to rape some one i think

  • WeWerePirates

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 12:51 pm PT

    I don't see how this is like "hot coffee" at all. The issue there was graphic content not normally available in game and not submitted as part of the classification. But any way my main point is...

    "The choice of having a female or male character could also lead to some same-sex crushes in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games." It won't because it is a Star Wars product and it wouldn't be allowed. Bioware would do it, it's not a censorship issue (they did it in Jade Empire and the world didn't end), it's a franchise thing.

    Any way same sex romance path is no surprise, Bioware like to stick to their formula so if it was in Jade Empire then it would likely be in this. What is a bit of a surprise is the inclusion of a sex scene. Jade Empire has same sex romance path for male characters. If there is one in Mass Effect then it seems Bioware have chosen not to give it a sex scene.

  • Citan76

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 12:48 pm PT

    They rated it okay for preteens? Well whatever with the bisexuality but you think the breast nudity would do it.

  • Leick3

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 12:48 pm PT

    Why?

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