# How come there aren't any porno video games? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299 "2004-07-22T03:46:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/21 "2004-07-22T17:34:42Z")
> [@Major Tom](#): > > I may be a Science Idiot, but I DO know a lot about Gaming, having been in the business for over ten years as an artist, programmer and designer. Cool, another game designer. Mind if I ask who you’re with? We might even know each other … . Good post, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/22 "2004-07-22T20:09:39Z")
> [@AtariGuide](#): > > Don’t forget [Bachelor Party](http://atariguide.com/3/318.htm) and the worst [Beat 'em and Eat 'em](http://atariguide.com/3/319.htm). I didn’t forget them, but **Custer’s Revenge** was the title to get the whole “Play a game where you get to rape a Native American” controversy going for it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/23 "2004-07-22T21:11:13Z")
I’ve seen a game called X-Tris in wich the little blocks are replaced with people. Get a pair lined up correctly and they’ll have sex, then disappear. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/24 "2004-07-22T22:12:39Z")
> [@Major Tom](#): > > **Most folks like to seperate their Gaming from their Masturbation.** What about AIF? ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/25 "2004-07-22T22:18:37Z")
> [@Achilles](#): > > Yeah, it was Wired news - I posted the link. > > The problem with the OP is that the Game Industry (capitals) is made up of a few major players - Rockstar (the GTA franchise), Electronic Arts (All those sports titles like FIFA 200x, F1, Baseball, Basketball, Rugby - you-name-it…), Activision, and about maybe 10 others. GTA played it safe? Didn’t you have to take someone to get an abortion in one of those games? ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/26 "2004-07-22T23:30:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Hardcore porn addicts are not a profitable gaming market. This game wouldn’t need to be marketed to porn addicts (and it’s not as if anyone who consumes porn is an addict, anyway.) > [@](#): > > My personal opinion is that as a person matures, they lose a lot of their fascination in sex for sex’s sake. Most adults are having sex, so they don’t need to giggle and obsess over it. This game wouldn’t be marketed to adults. It would be marketed to young adults (as demographics go this is an important distinction. And, this game wouldn’t be made to be giggled and obsessed over. It would be made to masturbate to (and to stage elaborate, wildly interesting porn scenes, which I wouldn’t describe as boring.) I don’t know what this Virtual Valerie thing is, but it sounds lame as hell. When was it made? Graphics have made strides even inside of the last year. If you played PGA 2004 you’d know what I meant if you spent a second customizing your character. The urge to speculate is irresistible. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/27 "2004-07-22T23:38:08Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Here’s an [article](http://www.retrocrush.com/archive/atari/) by the guy who was interviewed on the show. He shows dirty, dirty close-ups of 2-bit genetalia! 🙂 Man, those screen shots need a “WORK WARNING!” ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/28 "2004-07-22T23:54:19Z")
I seem to remember somebody showing me a Flash-based game featuring John Holmes. As ladies drifted by on the screen, John would wank furiously, trying to hit them with, well, spooge…anyway, they get hit, then fly off the screen with a little “ooo!” John also has to dodge hypodermic needles, which cause him to lose his wood, and grab bottles of spanish fly for rapid-fire mode. All in all, pretty inane. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/29 "2004-07-23T00:28:56Z")
Some very good points have been raised so far. Another point- it’s also highly important to know your target audience. I’ve heard it bandied about countless times that porn drives technology- porn sold the VHS, porn sold DVDs, and porn sold the Internet. One would assume, then, that porn would drive the video game market. But remember that the _perception_ of the video game market is that of 8-16 year-olds. Even after 20 years of home game systems, it’s still a general assumption that it’s kids that use the stuff. And, quite frankly, kids make up a much larger preponderance of the audience. Given the American attitudes towards sex and violence, the idea of children seeing violent behavior and action doesn’t raise the uproar that the idea of children seeing sexual behavior does. And heck- there isn’t even a lot of non-cartoony violence in most game systems. Rockstar and ID are exceptions, not the rule. So for as long as “video games” are seen as children’s games, porn games will be seen as being marketed directly to children. I think the reason Japan has so many more hentai-style games isn’t just that Japan has looser taboos on sexuality (in fact, in some ways I’d argue that they have more, or at least just as convoluted ones). It’s that there’s a stronger attitude that adults can enjoy video games as much as children, and so there’s less concern over adult titles appearing in said market. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/30 "2004-07-23T00:37:29Z")
> [@John Corrado](#): > > So for as long as “video games” are seen as children’s games, porn games will be seen as being marketed directly to children. This is a good point. We have the same cultural myopia with respect to animated films. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/31 "2004-07-23T05:09:02Z")
> [@John Corrado](#): > > porn sold DVDs, Way off topic, but I wonder if this is true? My local video store has gone over to DVD almost completely for regular movies. But the porn room is still 90% VHS. However, on porn DVDs you’ll frequently find (I know Vivid used to have them) some lame attempts at pornographic games. They’re lame. ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/32 "2004-07-23T05:30:04Z")
I’d guess that most video stores that only sold porn in the shadowy corner all the way in the back, or behind the beaded curtains or some other such setup probably don’t keep up with the latest in porn technology the way, oh, say a porn shop would. The porn shop here has at least as many DVDs as videos; the DVDs are expensive as hell but hey, quality is everything. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/33 "2004-07-23T16:52:39Z")
There’s some kinky stuff going on at [SecondLife.](http://secondlife.com/) It’s a virtual reality world where you can create your own character to the finest detail as described in the OP. You can get fully functional genitalia and whatever your heart desires. It’s not totally a porn game, there are PG and Mature areas, but it can be shocking sometimes when you stumble into a _particularly_ mature area. There’s all sorts of strip clubs and sex clubs, some of which amounts to digital prostitution, since other characters can charge for their services. 95% of the female avatars there are drop-dead gorgeous. I’ve gotta say, there’s something disturbing about getting turned on by a digital character, but it’s easier than you might think. I’m not on there much, but my character is Byron Byrne if anyone wants to look me up. Tell em I sent you, I think I get some credits for that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/34 "2004-07-23T18:35:11Z")
So I guess we can say: Porn video games exist they just … wait for it Suck! ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/35 "2004-07-23T18:48:20Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve gotta say, there’s something disturbing about getting turned on by a digital character, but it’s easier than you might think. Hey, if it’s wrong to be attracted to Lucca, OoT Zelda, White Mage, Marle, Samus, and Sheena, then I don’t want to be right! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/36 "2004-07-23T18:48:44Z")
Another point is that the technology isn’t necessarily there, yet. In most video games, a human(oid) character has two different models: The apparent model and the “physical” model. The apparent models are very detailed nowadays, as the OP notes. But the physical models are generally just cylinders. To illustrate: Grab some object approximately the size of a sniper rifle, and hold it like you’re about to use it. Back up against a wall as far as you can. Now, turn around in place. What happens? Why, your “rifle” hits the wall, of course. But now try the same thing in the first-person shooter of your choice. The rifle doesn’t hit the wall, nor does your shoulder, nor your extended punching arm. Whichever way you face, you can still get the same distance from the wall. You can try this with another character, too: You will get to some certain distance between the centers of the two characters before they bump into each other, regardless of which way the characters are facing. Compare this to what you’d expect to see in a porno. There, you’d expect to see a fairly large area of skin-to-skin contact between two or more characters. Parts of another character’s body must be able to pass just below the breasts, say, but not through the breasts. There must be a gap between the legs, but the legs themselves must be solid. And whenever body parts contact anything (other body parts, a bed, the floor), they must deform in a realistic manner (think of lifting breasts, for example). With the technology you see in your golf game, the most you could do would be separate models posing, without doing anything or touching. ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/37 "2004-07-23T19:07:04Z")
Lord, how true, Chronos. I did some messing around with a 3D game engine here a while back, and intended to do some nifty stuff using animated objects. I ran into the very thing you are talking about. The objects have a simple, fixed geometrical bounding box that is often just a cylinder or a box. That works fine for simple stuff, but the objects I wanted to deal with were more complex. Imagine an animated door. When closed, you can use a simple box to describe the boundaries and do collision detection. With it open, you’ve got one box for the door itself, and another for the door frame and then another for the door opening. That’s a lot of crap to keep straight. You have to special case the whole mess. What I wanted to do was to be able to create my animated object in a 3D editor, and then just have the script in the game cycle through various parts of the figure for the motion. Can’t do it, though. The motion works just fine, but collisions can’t be easily dealt with. Using OpenGL, you can ask for the distance to the next polygon from any point in a given direction. I thought of using that for collision detection, but not all cards/drivers give correct answers. That’s out. The only reliable way to do it would be to project from all points on the moving object and see if the projected line crosses a polygon of one of the objects. Can’t do that, though. The simple objects have only a few hundred polygons. An animated human may have thousands. It’d take just too long for all of the calculations. Granted you only have two people, one bed, and some walls you could probably do it. I’m not sure it’d be worth the effort, though. Think first person shooter and ask yourself what you’re going to see while plugging away. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/38 "2004-07-23T21:14:42Z")
Well, there’s [this](http://www.stileproject.com/flash/squish.html), which is DEFINITELY NOT SAFE FOR WORK. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/39 "2004-07-23T21:20:55Z")
A title in the vein of the OP would probably sell well in the first 2 or 3 months, and then cliffdive into obscurity. My brother gave me a copy of this PC-based “game” with Jenna Jameson. It was little more than video clips shot show you as the person attempting to sate her. It was interesting for about an hour just for the sake it was a novel idea. However, it went the way of BMX XXX, as it was, in the end, a mere novelty. I’d probably still buy it though if they used the graphics engine of the XBOX to it’s full potential. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299/40 "2004-07-23T21:33:12Z")
Oh, and don’t forget Porky’s. Shower scene and all. I actually loved this game when it came out. [http://www.atariguide.com/menu/Alphaframe.htm](http://www.atariguide.com/menu/Alphaframe.htm) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-arent-any-porno-video-games/256299.md?page=3)