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EDITOR'S NOTEfrom
Jason Lomberg
Nudity in gaming is the next great frontier. While horrific acts of violence are entirely ubiquitous, the amount of skin in most games is no worse than a PG-13 movie. I'd argue that this is inherently limiting from a narrative sense.
If you are playing a game that allows you to blow everybody's head off, what's the harm in flashing a breast or two? One of these taboos is so standard that hardly anybody even thinks about it, while the other gets far more negative attention than it deserves.
Today's games often contain nudity that befits the setting and other examples where it doesn't. It seems appropriate in the God of War series. In Ancient Greece, people didn't find a topless woman to be taboo. It was normal back then.
So guiding Kratos into a bath house to see two women bathing shouldn't be a big deal. But it is.
By contrast, almost every game we have ever played has violence in it. Ever since Mario was stomping on the goombas, our favorite characters have been assaulting and murdering their enemies, whether it's to save a princess or the world.
Lately, however, developers are stepping out of their comfort zone and adding nudity to their games. And sadly, players seem more disturbed by a breast on their screen than the fact that they just murdered hundreds of people. Many developers shy away from showing too much skin in order to minimize the potential controversy.
Think about the violence now. A person can run around the virtual world decapitating people, followed by cutting off the limbs from their corpses, and you get the M for Mature rating; yet if you flash a bit too much flesh, the title gets the Adult Only (AO) rating slapped on it and/or Wal-Mart will refuse to sell the game.
Remember the Hot Coffee mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas? You shoot and kill police officers (and other over-the-top acts of violence) over the course of the game. But as soon as critics caught wind of the infamous sex scene (which was only accessible through the mod and cheating devices such as Game Shark), the game was yanked from store shelves and tagged with an "AO" rating until it was re-released without the sex.
But it's alright. Once the intercourse was removed, it was OK to murder people on the streets again.
Nudity shouldn't just be thrown into a game for the sake of having it. It needs to fit the story and the setting. Try comparing it to an action or horror movie. The main character finds a love interest at some point and eventually sleeps with her. They do this in between the action scenes, generally involving plenty of violence, to advance the story. Why should games be any different?
Is nudity really worse than dismemberment?
It would be nice to see developers not shy away from revealing skin commensurate with the level of violence we see today. The latest Mortal Kombat was pretty close with its gory fatalities and extremely revealing outfits. And why not? Why not explore the limits of an "M" rating?
Perhaps I'm fighting against western society itself on this one and many of you will not agree with me. I just want to get over this whole "violence is good, boobs are bad" mentality. After all, if nudity becomes more standard, people won't bat an eye at it, just like the violence.asdlklklkasdaNudity vs Violence in Games
Let's face it, the M rated industry today is run mostly by men and targeted toward men. We like violence and we like boobs. The problem is, one of them gets far more negative attention than it deserves. If you are going to blow some people's heads off, what's the harm in flashing a breast or two?
In several games today, there is nudity and it makes sense. The God of War series, for example, has nudity because of the setting. Back in the times of Greek Gods, people didn't find a nude woman to be taboo. It was normal back then. So guiding Kratos into a bath house to see two women bathing shouldn't be a big deal. The same goes for Age of Conan, a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. The setting for that game also being a place where not wearing a full set of clothing wasn't a bad thing.
(Insert God of War screenshot)
Almost every game we have ever played has violence. Ever since Mario was knocking his koopa enemies into a lava pit and smashing goombas into the ground, our favorite characters have been assaulting and murdering their enemies, even if it is to save a princess or save the world. Lately, however, developers are becoming more brave by adding nudity to their games. Many players will see a breast on their screen and scream out "oh no, there's a naked woman" yet they are unmoved by the fact that they just murdered hundreds of people just to get to that point.
The part that bothers me the most is how the violence is so widely accepted now that a person can run around the game world and decapitate people followed by cutting off the limbs from their corpses, yet if you flash a bit too much skin, the title gets the Adult Only rating slapped on it or Wal-Mart will refuse to sell the game. Remember the Hot Coffee mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas? You shoot and kill police officers when you played. As soon as it was discovered that a sex scene could be played out, which was only accessible through the mod and game cheating devices such as Game Shark, the game was thrown off store shelves and slapped with an AO tag until it was rereleased without the sex. But it's alright. Once the boobs were removed, it's ok to murder people on the streets again.
Nudity should also have a place in the setting or story of a game and not every game should have it. Try comparing it to an action or horror movie. The main character finds a love interest at some point and eventually sleeps with her. Most of the time, the screen will Fade to Black to censor those scenes but a little peek at the action starting up never hurt anybody. What about shower scenes? Taking a shower is something people do (or should do) every day. So seeing that in a game really shouldn't be a problem as it is part of every day life. Also keep in mind that men and women need to have a moment in the skin spotlight. Men need to bathe too, right?
(Insert Fallout: New Vegas screenshot)
Don't get me wrong, too much of anything can be bad and I'm not saying that I want pornography. There are titles like that in the world and they don't tend to do very well since that is their whole focus. I just want to see games that aren't scared to reveal a bit more skin to match up to the level of violence we see today. If the game is going to be rated M for Mature, then why not take that rating to it's limits.
Perhaps I'm fighting against western society itself on this one and many of you will not agree with me. I just want to get over this whole "violence is good, boobs are bad" mentality. After all, if nudity becomes more standard, people won't bat an eye at it, just like the violence.
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