Doin' it and doin' it and doin' it well!
So, I read a news article today castigating the XBox 360 game Mass Effect as marketing porno to children, because of the mild (and optional) sex scene towards the end of the storyline. The scene that the story describes as "explicitly graphic sexual intercourse", and "a cutscene in which the characters copulate in full digital nudity", but which does not present any more skin than you can see by going down to your local beach. I'd hardly call that full nudity. The characters themselves are naked, but that doesn't qualify when the camera angles are specifically blocked so the naughty bits are way out of view.
The article says the game has been marketed to kids, even though it has an M rating. I know, that doesn't guarantee anything, but let's look at some hard facts from this report from the Entertainment Software Association:
The average age of a game player in 2007 was 33. 71.8% of all gamers are 18 or older. More women age 18 and older (31% of the gaming population) play video games than boys 17 and younger (only 20% of the population). The average number of years the average gamer has been gaming is 13 (14 for men, 11 for women). 46% of all gamer parents have been playing for 10 years or more.
The average age of a game purchaser in 2007 was 38. Only 15% of games bought were rated M. Only 9.5% of video game sales were RPGs.
Regarding sales to children, 91% of children polled said that parents were present when they bought a video game. 86% received their parents permission before buying a game.
So where's that put us (for you math nuts out there, this is going to be quick and dirty... please don't berate me too much)... 29.2% of the gaming population are kids. Of that percentage, 9.5% of them bought an RPG. Of that percentage, 15% of them bought a rated M RPG. Of that, 14% of them did not have their parents' permission, but only 9% of them didn't have a parent around when they bought it.
So basically, this article is complaining that the game, which was rated M (for Mature, if you haven't been following) and marketed to a population of people whose average representative has kids and has been playing video games since getting the Invincibility cheat in Goldeneye was sierra hotel, is somehow getting into the hands of 0.005% of the gaming population that should not be watching it. That's far less than the amount of kids whose parents don't supervise their gaming activities.
I'm pretty sure sex in a video game isn't the end of the world. Parents, talk to your kids about sex. Problem solved.
The article says the game has been marketed to kids, even though it has an M rating. I know, that doesn't guarantee anything, but let's look at some hard facts from this report from the Entertainment Software Association:
The average age of a game player in 2007 was 33. 71.8% of all gamers are 18 or older. More women age 18 and older (31% of the gaming population) play video games than boys 17 and younger (only 20% of the population). The average number of years the average gamer has been gaming is 13 (14 for men, 11 for women). 46% of all gamer parents have been playing for 10 years or more.
The average age of a game purchaser in 2007 was 38. Only 15% of games bought were rated M. Only 9.5% of video game sales were RPGs.
Regarding sales to children, 91% of children polled said that parents were present when they bought a video game. 86% received their parents permission before buying a game.
So where's that put us (for you math nuts out there, this is going to be quick and dirty... please don't berate me too much)... 29.2% of the gaming population are kids. Of that percentage, 9.5% of them bought an RPG. Of that percentage, 15% of them bought a rated M RPG. Of that, 14% of them did not have their parents' permission, but only 9% of them didn't have a parent around when they bought it.
So basically, this article is complaining that the game, which was rated M (for Mature, if you haven't been following) and marketed to a population of people whose average representative has kids and has been playing video games since getting the Invincibility cheat in Goldeneye was sierra hotel, is somehow getting into the hands of 0.005% of the gaming population that should not be watching it. That's far less than the amount of kids whose parents don't supervise their gaming activities.
I'm pretty sure sex in a video game isn't the end of the world. Parents, talk to your kids about sex. Problem solved.