"Adults Only" in Online Gaming

Anyone that knows me well enough will tell you that I absolutely love to mess around and have a good time. I'm very fond of being entirely random and crazy wherever I go. However, some things deserve serious consideration; one such thing is detailed in the following essay. If you don't agree with my stance, that's absolutely fine--I'm not trying to start an argument or say I know exactly what's right and wrong--simply my opinions. I am not trying to judge anybody in any way; I can't stand judgmental people and I know I've done too much wrong in my life to even consider placing myself on that high and mighty pretentous throne from which I can cast icy glares of condemnation. Hehe--I just got a sweet mental image of me on a throne... and the throne is made of the bones of all my fallen enemies... hehehe... K, anyway, here's my opinion.

A recent CNN news article[1] discusses a relatively new trend in gaming that has been slowly emerging to the masses over the past few years. Online “games” such as “Naughty America: the Game,” which is set to launch early this summer, revolve around individuals interacting via the internet and a simulated three-dimensional, cartoonish environment to flirt, date, and even have virtual sex (or, more accurately, to watch their computer-generated counter-parts flirt, date, and have sex) all without leaving the comfort of their computer screen. The article states the following:

Flirting and dating have been rife in online games like “Everquest” and “World
of Warcraft”—even leading to marriage between players—despite lack of romantic
or sexual features in the games. On the other hand, sex-oriented games like
“Playboy: the Mansion” and “VirtuallyJenna” have been single-player games with
no online component, and thus no interaction between players. This new crop of
adults-only games would combine the player-player interaction of the online
games and the graphic sexuality of the single-player games.[2]

The website for the game “Naughty America” urges players to “throw off inhibitions” and “be the wild child you always dreamed of.”[3] It even provides the capability to not only see the computer rendered version of your internet play-partner, but the real flesh-and-blood person as well, if they choose to take advantage of the webcam ability. This, coupled with the profile builder (where one can lie about their appearance and personality as much as they like in order to seem desirable), seems like it will make the game an absolute haven for internet predators and stalkers.

The game will undoubtedly receive a rating of “adults only” by the ESRB[4] which will likely deter most retailers from carrying the title; most venders refuse to sell any game with an AO rating. However, the game can still be sold online and at some other locations (companies are currently looking into the idea of selling games at outlets that already card consumers, such as liquor stores).[5] No matter where the games like “Naughty America” are sold, however, there is no way of absolutely ensuring that they will not fall into the hands of eager and clever enough minors.

The media already often portrays relationships (and all that they include) as nothing more than a game; now sex is truly becoming nothing more than that—just a game to be played on a computer screen for pleasure. This mentality rips apart the conventional view of marriage and commitment and causes such things as multiple partners and cohabitation to be viewed as socially acceptable, and even “beneficial” in aiding in the finding the “perfect” mate. (In actuality, there is a 40-85% increased risk of marriages preceded by cohabitation ending in divorce.)[6] The mentality that this escalating trend perpetuates is nothing less than devastating, whether America realizes it or not.

Pornography and its associates have long been sewing seeds of destruction throughout the lives and relationships of individuals. Now, taking the guise of games like “Naughty America,” they are becoming even more socially acceptable, domesticated, and “tame.” The mindset proposed by such “games”—relative morality, selfishness, lust, absence of social and physical repercussions for “sleeping around,” and the ever present voice proclaiming “if it feels good, do it”—brings society ever closer to the inevitable bitter murder of the traditional, commitment-honoring values people were once raised to respect. This tainted view of love is absolutely sickening, yet so appealing to the masses simply because it seems so harmless; this is what makes it so destructive—the ability to crawl with unobserved blood-stained claws right into a person’s home and poison them to death without them ever noticing. The band Staple declared quite poetically, “Thinking of you…. Amazed by your disguise, you look so beautiful with death in your eyes.”
After all, it is only a game, right?

Notes:

[1] Associated Press, “Video games get very, very naughty.” CNN 7
April 2006, 10 April 2006 http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/fun.games/04/07/online.sex.games.ap/index.html.

[2] Associated Press.

[3] Naughty America: the Game, 11 April 2006 http://www.naughtyamericathegame.com/html/about/.

[4] “The ESRB is a non-profit, self-regulatory body that
independently assigns ratings, enforces advertising guidelines, and helps ensure
the responsible online privacy practices for the interactive entertainment
software industry,” according to their official website. http://www.esrb.org/.
Current game ratings
are as follows: EC (early childhood), E (everyone), E10+ (everyone ten years and
older), T (teen), M (mature, ages 17+), and AO (adults only, ages 18+). Valid ID
is required in most (but not all) states to purchase M and AO rated games.

[5] Associated Press.

[6] “Correlations of Divorce rates with other factors.” The
Divorce Reform Page, 28 September 2004, Americans for Divorce Reform. 12 April
2006 http://www.divorcereform.org/cor.html.