In the sixth episode of Meaningful Play, we discuss sex and romance in video games. We discuss our experiences of romance in video games, and the difficulties in portraying a believable romantic experience. One interesting aspect of this is procedural rhetoric, which Ware (2015) touches on in his discussion of how video games can encourage ‘Nice Guy Syndrome’. We also briefly outline the history of controversial sex in video games, including Custer’s Revenge, and the proliferation of visual novels.

Games:
Bayonetta, Custer’s Revenge, Dead or Alive, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Duke Nukem Forever, Far Cry 3, Fatal Frame, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Heavy Rain, Night in the Woods, Overwatch, Persona 5, Resident Evil, Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

References:

Bogost, I 2007, Persuasive games: The expressive power of videogames, MIT Press, Cambridge.

Payne, MT, Alilunas, P 2016, ‘Regulating the desire machine: Custer’s Revenge and 8-Bit Atari porn video games’, Television & New Media, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 80-96.

Taylor, E 2007, ‘Dating-simulation games: Leisure and gaming of Japanese youth culture’, Review of Asian Studies, vol. 29, pp. 192–208.

Ware, N 2015, ‘Iterative romance and button-mashing sex: Gameplay design and video games’ Nice Guy Syndrome’, in M Wysocki & EW Lauteria (eds), Rated M for Mature: Sex and sexuality in video games, Bloomsbury, New York & London, pp. 225–239.

Visual Novel Database: https://vndb.org/

Credits: 
Artwork created by Amber Collins.
Music created with Per Nyblom’s Abundant Music