Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games - Sex, Violence, and Videogames on Nerve

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Water Cooler Games

Water Cooler Games served as the web's primary forum for "videogames with an agenda" — coverage of the uses of video games in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment.

The site was maintained at watercoolergames.org from 2003-2009, where it was edited by myself and Gonzalo Frasca. It is now archived here in full.

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Sex, Violence, and Videogames on Nerve

by Ian Bogost December 15, 2005

categories: Social Games

Nerve magazine is running a special video games issue this week, which includes, among other things, a review of Façade and a "panel of experts" discussion on sex and violence in games. I'm one of the participants in the panel, along with Steven Johnson, Eric Zimmerman, Henry Jenkins, Brenda Brathwaite, Rob Levine, and Katie Salen. Followers of our previous discussions on sex and games might be interested in the conversation. There are five questions:

Question 1: Is the sex-and-violence content of video games a legitimate social concern? Or are Hillary Clinton et. al. criticizing games for easy political points? And why is there so much more violence than sex? Read the discussion

Question 2: If the average age of a gamer is 30, when did video games become more for grownups than kids? (Was there a Gladwellesque tipping point?) Did the Nintendo generation grow up without growing out of games, or was there a latency period in between? Is it attributable to regression or midlife crisis?

Question 3: How will video games affect the future of online social interaction? Will they develop into an extension of online dating and IMing?

Question 4: As video games' interactive worlds become more complex, what ethical issues might arise that need regulation? What about commerce in gaming - do you foresee it?

Question 5: What is the future of sex in video games, and where does the 20th-century idea of virtual reality fit in?

Discussion for the first question is already up, and others will follow this week and early next.

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