My Sim character would prefer that you remove your hand from underneath her dress
For many people, myself included, video games are not only a form of entertainment, but a safe outlet to carry out virtual behaviors that might otherwise be viewed as unacceptable or irresponsible. While for most gamers, their game of choice centers around violent conquests or aggressive pursuit of opponents, my game of choice revolves entirely around the most mundane tasks such as using the toilet and paying bills.
That’s right. The Sims.
The game is perfectly suited for someone like me – a control freak with unrealistically high expectations of herself. In my Sim world, I seem to be able to manage everything. And when you factor in cheats that provide you with unlimited funds, the ability to move backwards in time, and the power to make people fall in love with you, well now that’s a game I can really sink my teeth into.
The interpersonal aspects of the game are actually the most compelling for me. There is something about being able to control both sides of the interaction that I find exciting and rewarding even when the exchange results in the two Sim characters becoming red-faced and smacking each other. In fact, I find simulated social interactions that are uncomplicated or easy, least remarkable.
As a result of reading more about the movement in the video game world to develop and market games that center around sexual activity, I have been thinking more about the nature of gaming and social interactions.
The new wave of video sex games provide for multiplayer interactions. Instead of sitting alone in your room, making first one simulated character take his/her shirt off, and then another take his/her shirt off, these games would allow another gamer, anywhere in the world, to virtually flirt, pursue and ravage you. I imagine the appeal is similar to sex talk in chat rooms – lowered inhibitions, anonymity. Multiplayer video sex games certainly have their place, I suppose. And for some, it may be a safe outlet for exploring sexual interests. I doubt, however, that it will be a forum for practicing romantic or emotionally intimate exchanges.
In my Sim world, there is a blending of reality and fantasy. I can do things that I would never do in real life (like spend $2,500 for a flat-screened tv when I’m unemployed). My choices about how to carry out tasks or activities in the game also reflect my real anxieties, insecurities and ambitions (like the fact that I choose to swim in a conservatively-cut one piece bathing suit, despite the fact that my Sim's body is smokin’.) When I imagine introducing another live person into my Sim world, where s/he could impact the environment and the character that I created, I do not imagine myself feeling freed up, excited, my inhibitions lowered. Instead I picture myself feeling self-conscious and irritated. I’m less likely to engage in provocative sexually play with the other character and more likely to chastise them for putting their feet up on the sofa and for leaving an empty pizza box on the floor.
My Sim and my sex lives are already complicated enough.
Posted by Jenn on April 7, 2006 9:06 AM
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