If there were any two features in any given videogame that's caused enough controversy that even people who haven't already jumped into the hobby know about, it's sex and violence. Now, in my eyes, this is a situation that neither side is is actually right or wrong, generally speaking (more like being melo-dramatic). Simply because on the gaming side, I have to admit that some studios do push the limits on what should be deemed acceptable between art and just cheap pornograhy, as well as blood and gore that sometimes just feel so tacked on just for the sake of being "mature" that would've been more logical to make a T rated game and still be as captivating. On the other side, there are times that the media just makes a big deal out of nothing (like Mass Effect's "controversial" love scene that was basically kissing for a few seconds before you see a black screen) and their accusations really contradict what the ESRB lists (if a game says "sexual content" or "violence," no s*** there will be sexual content and violence in a game :|).

The thing is, videogames should be viewed with the same standards and restrictions as movies. I mean, obviously a rated M game is equivalent to a rated R movie, so adjust your expectations accordingly (just like in rated R movies, you should always be open to things like graphic violence, nudity, drug use, etc. I mean, let's face it: if you're watching something made specifically for adult viewing, you shouldn't be the type to be mortified about these scenarios). I mean, if a mere movie can get away with things like over the top sex scenes (which I'll have to admit...I've seen some movies that I think should've toned it down because it was borderline porno), the kind of blood and gore you see in Hostel, Saw, or Touristas, much less show the limelight on drugs like New Jack City, Blow, Traffic, or Scarface, I don't see what the problem is with videogames striving to have the same kind of freedom, presuming they make it perfectly clear that their product contains this kind of material (which, like I've said before...isn't that what the ESRB is for?). And as consumers, we shouldn't be forming a circle around the studio holding pitchforks and torches because we have the mindset of "I know it was violent, but didn't know HOW violent it was." I mean, Terminator 2 and Hostel are both rated R movies that explicitly say "violence, blood and gore." Obviously Hostel is much more violent than Terminator is, and I've yet to hear about someone trying to ban the movie because the ratings give a fairly general term for its contents.

At the same time, I don't appreciate developers assuming that gamers are a bunch of blood thirsty savages who feed on that craving of graphic violence to satisfy the urge. When I shoot someone in a videogame, I expect to see a little blood, maybe a missing limb or two. I don't need to see a shower of blood and guts on the screen if all I did was fire a couple bullets. More specifically, if it adds to the atmosphere, I don't mind a game crossing the line (for example, if I'm investigating a murder scene, I don't mind a half naked mangled corpse, because it makes sense. More sense than decaptitating someone with your fist :?). In other words, the more realistic a game strives to be, the more realistic violence should be. I mean, obviously stabbing someone with a knife in a videogame isn't going to result in chopping the guy in half. If you're going for the fantasy, cartoony violence, then maybe mindless violence will be easier to stomach...see what I'm saying? Sort of like how I can picture Mass Effect being a T rated game, by only altering a few things. The violence is, in my eyes, Star Wars caliber (you shoot lasers, and people disenegrate. The only graphic images I've seen were people impaled on the spikes that turn them into Husks). The "controversial" parts, I can comfortably let a kid watch me play and not worry about sending any impure thoughts. The only thing that would truly bother me is the language (a few F bombs, but nothing too ridiculous...depends on how sensitive one's ears would be).

Like I've said earlier, videogames are a lot like movies: there's something for everyone. We're not restricted to one genre, one rating. Buying something made for an older audience is like signing the subconcious contract that this game may or may not have bouncing breasts or a brain hitting you in the nuts if you kick a dude in the face. If you're not the type to watch a rated R movie with a child, you shouldn't be playing a rated M game around a child. Or at least get the information about it first before you do it (you know, how a DVD case labels the contents of the movie, the ESRB states what you should expect in a title). In today's world, I find it rather ironic that Comedy Central has free reign to advertise Girls Gone Wild on commercials (much less those call girl hotlines), but it's offensive for a videogame to include sex, drugs and violence in general :roll:.

The sad part is, most of the people who point these things out aren't even gamers. Know what that means? It means that while something that wouldn't phase us because we got far enough in a game to know that it fits into the concept, or why it's happened. It's not fair to judge a game because someone picked out the bad part of a game and assumes the game's focus is on that little thing. Nine times out of ten, a game is "bad" because of the ten second clip someone saw, not the rest of the game that obviously doesn't focus solely on one of the seven sins. People take things out of context. It's like knowing what the movie Showgirls contains, but not even bothering to watch the movie to understand it was merely a drama about a woman's quest to find a better job as a stripper, and just how demanding the life of a stripper is (no, it makes more sense to point out that the woman from Saved By The Bell is flashing her breasts in a movie, right? :roll: ).

The point is, what is "offensive?" I mean, violence in general is offensive. Drugs, nude dames, all offensive. So does it really matter that knowing that these are offensive, it goes a little further? You see a line of cocaine on a table, you already know what's going to happen. Merely having a scene of someone snorting it is just stating the obvious. If you're offended by seeing drugs, you shouldn't even be playing the game in the first place, because the ratings don't hide its contents. If someone is really that insecure about a game taking control of someone and altering their actions to copy what they do in a simple videogame, then I'm afraid to say, that hobby is definately not for him.