There is something that have been thinking about a lot lately. Over the past few years there has been a rise in the number of mainstream games released with adult content (profanity, intense realistic violence and graphic sexual content). I suspect the main reason for this is that technology has increased enough to allow these depictions in games and the increase in age of the average gamer. (I think people who argue moral decay are idiots, this stuff has been around since the dawn of man)

Now let me clear that I have no problem at all that there games like Witcher or Gears of War which is clearly games for an adult audience, and I do not have a problem with people who want to play them I do not believe in censorship and think that developer should be able to create whatever they like and gamers should be able to buy what they like (though I do think that parents (not stores or governments though) have the right to know what their kids are playing and should have the final say in what they think is appropriate or not appropriate for their kids).

However what I find unfortunate is that now-a-days most games with mature storylines or mature topics (think complex characters, thought provoking plots, and life like emotion) also contain adult content. This bothers me for three reasons. First I can remember as a teenager being playing some very complex games that required maturity of the player to appreciate. But today many "mature" games would be out of reach of many young people due to their "adult" themes and many "teen" games are just poorly done. Secondly, as a father I am uncomfortable with the idea having games on my hard drive that I would not want my kids playing when I was not around. Lastly, (and perhaps I am just getting old) but I am not really comfortable with some of the more extreme adult content in some game. But at the same time as a adult I want to play games that are not childish.

So I am kind of stuck. I have not found many games out today that offer a mature gaming experience while still be accessible to a younger audience (or an audience with tamer sensibilities) .

For example today it is hard to find games like Homeworld or Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, which were high quality games that with in-depth plots and though provoking ideas, but had content that would have been appropriate for any age (in my opinion). Or games like Planescape Torment , that had an edge to them would be fine for any 16 year old (or maybe even younger if the kid was mature enough for it).

So what do you think? Do you think that it is hard to find mature games that do not have adult content, or are there any parents out there who, like me, are not sure where to draw the line of what is, and is not, appropriate for their kids (because just because some is younger does not mean that they should have to only play childish or silly games)?

One last disclaimer. If you are a person who does not bat an eye at adult content. This was not meant to be a criticism of your tastes. I think you have the right to play whatever you like. Just as I have the right to choose not to play games with content that does not suit my tastes. But it does not bother me in the slightest that people have different tastes than mine. All I am saying is that I would like to see more games that would be appropriate for a wide audience but still had depth, and maturity, to them and could be appreciate by a more mature individual.

PS I apologize for any typos or grammar issues I was in a bit of a hurry when I type this :)

Hm. As an fan of visual novels, I often find a fair bit of sexual activity in my games. While I don't mind this, the Phoenix Wright series has demonstrated that visual novels can stand on their own, without having to resort to sex in order to sell. For some reason, most videogames either have to possess violence or sex in order to be sold, which I sometimes find depressing, as that implies that these games can't find a good concept by which to stand - an unfortunate reality of any medium, I suppose.

Still, there are plenty of videogames that you can play with your children, because there is something that they have that you didn't as a child: An backlog of good games to play and a parent familiar with the medium. While it is certain that some games have aged badly, there is still a good catalog to play through.

I completely agree. People who *don't* like graphic content play games too!

Even just adding options in to turn things on/off would be great. I'm really interested in The Witcher series, but I'm not comfortable with the graphic-ness of its content. Options to turn the blood spatter & sexual content off would be great. The TES games let mods do this (a no-blood-spatter mod was one of the first for Skyrim, hurray!), which is a large part of the reason I buy TES games but not the Witcher.

I'm also interested in the Gothic series. I tried to ask about graphic content and ways to turn if off in the Gothic forum, but no one has answered yet. :(

Turning off blood could be easily done, but an option to remove all the sex/swearing/etc would probably be harder to implement.

Also imho turning off sex would be just as senseless as turning off killing in TW 1/2....it's integral to the plot/story to depict all the gritty details(racism/sexism/etc) in those worlds.....and to allow players to "turn it off" would go against what the developers intent was. If a parent wants to let their kids play it then they should wait until they feel their kids are old enough to handle it or not let them play it at all.

As an aside: I also don't get why some parents think it's ok to allow children to play games with ultra violence in them but shudder at letting their kids see a little naked flesh. I mean why is one ok but not the other? :\

(Just my two cents.)

The majority of game developers can't tell the difference between "adult" as violence, sex, and amorality, and "adult" as mature, thought provoking, and intelligent. But I think that it also has to do with the fact that the majority of gamers are, in fact, NOT adults. They want titillation on the most basic, animal level...and that's it. Tons of blood, and tons of boobs. The less mental effort they have to put in, the better. Just look at the portrayal of females in videogames. 99.9% of them look like they have flesh colored watermelons strapped to their chests (or, with the more recent advent of breast physics, giant flesh colored water balloons). Do you think the developers did that because it enhances the story or world or themes? No...they do it because 18-year-olds everywhere can't seem to deal with things that don't include gratuitous bouncing breasts. Not to say that "sexy videogames" are inherently bad (although I personally avoid them as much as possible), but it's a little hard to take a game seriously when its entire female cast look like they were ripped from the leather and corset edition of Maxim (does Maxim have a leather and corset edition? And also...why do people find leather sexy? I'd much rather look at a woman who looks soft and curvy...not like she's armored up for training attack dogs). And as far as violence goes...well, there are very few games that even try to give their killing and maiming any sort of gravity, and even fewer that succeed.

Yeah, I don't know if any of this makes sense... I'm kinda zonked out right now.

I don't really see the issue. Yes, there are a lot of games with graphic sexual content and violence, but there are also a lot of games with neither of those things. There is a massive, massive amount of choice when it comes to gaming these days. Even if you only want to play games that include 0 sex and 0 violence, you still have more options than you could possibly need when it comes to choosing a game. Also, they are clearly rated and labeled, so the chances of you accidentally purchasing something you find offensive is minimal.

I know they do it to sell games, but c'mon........boobies. droooooll.....*smacks face*....um, where was I saying?

/silly mode off

But really, I don't see the problem with such games. Theres games for everyone out there, games that are mature and games that are adult, and also games that mix a bit of both or have none of either. Support the games you want more of with your voice and wallet, and have fun, is what I say.

Well, this simply isn't true anymore. I've read lots of different studies into ages of gamers (yes, there are a bunch of studies about it, google them :p), and they unanimously suggest that the vast majority of gamers are adults (32 seems to be the average).

I for one am an adult, and i often like "tons of blood and tons of boobs" in games. Not always, it depends what I feel like playing at the time, but I honestly don't see anything wrong with it. I also don't see the correlation between amount of blood/tits and "less mental effort that has to be put in" that you mentioned. Plenty of games have blood, tits, AND require mental effort all at the same time (try the Fade on DA1 if you don't believe me).

The OP isn't complaining that there aren't any games without sex or violence. He (or she????) is pointing out that the majority of "adult" games come by their label by featuring explicit or offensive content (Dante's Inferno is a perfect example), not by actually presenting mature or intelligent themes/ideas.

Maybe you should clarify what makes a game mature. The closest I got to understanding was and Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds not so much that you want a mature games in general, but you want games with specifically mature stories, minus the graphic content. And to answer this part specifically, I feel there are plenty of games that are available for kids that are not childish or silly and lack adult content (profanity, realistic/graphic violent, and graphic sexual content).
Looking through my Steam games I come up with
AI War: Fleet Command
Dungeons of Dredmor (Humor in it, but wouldn't classify it as silly)
Eschalon: Book 1&2
Frozen Synapse
Bastion
Braid
Trine (not sure if you'd classify that as childish/silly)
Uplink
VVVVVV

Ignored GOG games as you want more recent examples.

Edit: Note a lot of those games don't have mature stories, I was trying for some examples that show games that aren't childish/silly but still lack adult content.

@both of you (Rage and Munch)

The point here isn't to decry games that feature "adult content," it's to point out that there are very few games that actually try to present mature ideas without resorting to that sort of material. It's the default.

To be fair, my post veered a little off topic. Like I said, I'm not it the most clear-headed of moods tonight (it's been a bad couple of days).

Again, i disagree. I think the OP is making the unfair assumption that just because a game has explicit or offensive content, that it's not actually presenting mature themes and ideas at the same time, as if the two were mutually exclusive. I don't think that's the case.

I disagree....Dante's Inferno(never played but seen some videos and read about it and the book it's based on) is BASED on some very mature and thought provoking ideas, iirc. Yes there's plenty of tits and gore as well, but there's also some things to think about as well as you play.

No, it's not the default. There are lots and lots and lots of games out there with no violence or sexual content for you to choose from. That was my initial point.

I think this issue is more then just video games. People are constantly pushing the lines of what acceptable. TV, moves and games it’s all the same. For me it’s not the content that is the problem it’s the accessibility of mature games. I don’t understand why we can have a universal rating system for all publication and entertainment. Nothing controlling what people can see just a way that any random person can look at a game or TV show and know if it is appropriate for there kids.

That being said, before you judge games now remember Mortal Combats fatalities and Duke visiting a strip club. Games have been pushing the issues for content a long time now.


oh yeah and don't forget the WII, most of those games are PG at best