Does Sex Sell Games?

[drizzt]

Something that is well known in the world of entertainment is that sex seems to sell. This can be anything from the act itself to something small; for example, a woman wearing a low-cut shirt, revealing cleavage. Sex and sex-appeal is widely used by countless industries and it seems that video games have decided to dwell into the “Sexual Realm”, if you will. So this causes me to ask the question; is sex-appeal really needed in a game, in order to make sure that it sells?

There are many opinions on the topic; I am here today to give you my opinion on the whole thing. We have already seen a few games that have included sex, such as Heavy Rain or Dragon Age, to name a few. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had to be recalled and re-rated from “Mature” to “Adult-Only” because a sex game (entitled “The Hot Coffee Mod“) had been found in the game code, which hackers initiated. The “Mod” basically allows the player to have sexual intercourse with their in-game girlfriends.

Using the Hot Coffee Mod as reference; sex was used in order to better the relationship with your girlfriend. But, in some games, such as God of War; sex is used as a mini-game that when played, offered the player red orbs that would be used to upgrade your arsenal of weapons and magic. Now, I am a full-blooded male and I enjoy sex and sex appeal; but when sex is used just because it can be, I ask myself “Was this really needed here?”

Let me take you back to the year 2004; I was 15 years old and at that age, I was starting to notice girls. A friend and I went to Blockbuster and rented a game entitled “The Guy Game“. I remember picking this up because on the back; it showed a girl lifting her shirt and like the hormone driven male that I was, I was completely sold on it. Basically, ”The Guy Game” is a trivia game with simply the most outrageous questions. There was also a ranking system of sorts; for each question right, you went up in rank. I believe the ranks were “Soft”, “Chubby”. and “Hard”. After answering a question; if it was correct, it would show footage of the host asking girls those exact questions; which would ultimately lead to them showing their breasts. The ranks determined the type of censor and “Hard” meant that it was uncensored footage. Most gaming sites rated this as a poor excuse for a trivia game but here is the shocker; IGN gave it a 7.7/10. IGN are known to be very critical when looking at a game but yet, something so juvenile was rated so high.

About a month ago saw the release of Lollipop Chainsaw, a game about a super gorgeous cheerleader, named Juliet Starling. Basically, Juliet is what all the boys dream about: She’s a blonde, super gorgeous, zombie killing, ass kicking, chainsaw wielding, bad ass chick with amazing, err, features. The game has received mixed reviews; some say that it sucks really bad, some say that it’s a mindless good time. Here’s where it gets interesting; IGN rated it as a 5/10; they also went on to say that this game was blatant misogyny. I’m aware that the company reviewers change a lot in 8 years; so those that loved the blatant degrading of women in “The Guy Game” might have moved on. But that just further proves that sex does indeed sell; hell, it got a critical and hard-ass site like IGN to basically say “Ouu boobies, 7.7 because they aren’t big enough”

This game was developed by Suda 51, who are known for over-the-top, weird games that are usually just a bloodbath of awesomeness. We knew from the launch trailer that this was going to be no Final Fantasy or Skyrim; yet, people still went out and spent $60+ to add it to their collection. Two live trailers were released for the game as well; which when you see them, will leave you blinded at the sex appeal. Here, watch it for yourselves.

But they weren’t done with Special Edition Lollipop Chainsaw games; no, there’s more…

It’s obvious; these ads are just oozing out sex appeal and Juliet Starling (Jessica Nigri) is gorgeous. Now, I’m not complaining about these ads one bit; in fact, I’m pretty sure that I’m in love with Jessica Nigri now. But, it does make me wonder; have gaming companies chose to implement the sexual aspect into games that may not be as deep as an Uncharted or Final Fantasy, hoping that it will help with their sales? What do you guys think? Give me your opinions in the comments below gamers!

[CloudStrife7x]

yes sex sells, but not for me lol, i like games that dont try to push sex to much, it just lame after awhile, san andreas for example, i didnt play it for the sex part, i played it cause is was a good game, i never even used the hack for the sex part, cause i didnt need it lol, now if we are talking anime girls, that's a whole different story for me anyways lol, i love anime girls, they are hot, so put an anime girl in every game and i would most likely try it out, now would i play $60 for a average game just cause it has an anime girl in it, hell no lol, but that's just me

[LordSoth67]

I guess it does sell, but not for me, I could care less about it being in games, I have a woman and prefer the real thing.

[X360Quicky]

NO! Video games is not a place for sex (obviously lol), Video games is a place for competitive sports or killing. If there's no sport (EA) or blood then I think a game sucks!
I can't think of any exceptions right now so I'm going to stick with that statement. Sport & Blood sells games!!!

[Vincent Valentine]

Leisure suit Lary is what that game is about haha

[XajNyne]

Three things sell games to me.....RPG, Open world and ZOMBIES!!!! If a game has any or all of those elements in it then I'll buy it. Sex plays no part in my purchase decision.

[X360Quicky]

I think sex just plays no part in games at all, I mean films, TV, etc I understand as it is real people but in games it's not real people. Maybe in japan or china where anime is "OMG" but nowhere else.

[CloudStrife7x]

I think sex just plays no part in games at all, I mean films, TV, etc I understand as it is real people but in games it's not real people. Maybe in japan or china where anime is "OMG" but nowhere else.

i love anime and dont live in japan lol, and i love where there is anime cut scenes in video games like Tales of Vesperia, just makes it that much more awesome too me lol