SCANDAL! MMO “Naughty America” Banned at E3

So far, there have been MMO’s that go from Tolkienesque sword-and-sorcery fantasy worlds to human colonies on far-flung planets on the edge of the galaxy – and everywhere in between.

Given this, it was only a matter of time that sex would come into it.

Naughty America: The Game  has been getting a great deal of coverage in the mainstream media for quite some time, but in case you missed it, its an MMORPG published by Eight Legs, Inc. that combines competitive online gaming with online dating. Like most MMO games, one can create their (anatomically correct) characters. The object here is to get a potential date to invite one to “get naughty” (yet another euphemism for a simple biological activity that goes back several million years). And yes, it is explicit.

It is for this reason that the organizers of E3 have decided not to allow Eight Legs, Inc. to attend. “We’re very disappointed,” says Noah Dudley, president of Eight Legs. He adds: “It’s the next step in social networking and online matchmaking. It’s certainly not intended for everyone, but then again neither are a number of the titles featured at the show.”

To prevent gamers under 18 from accessing the game, NATG uses the Sentry background verification system. Nonetheless, in light of the extreme violence and bloodshed that is the mainstay of most MMORPGs, this writer must seriously question a society that feels that it is well and good for its youth to engage in virtual butchery, yet recoils in horror at the aspect of them witnessing an act of love (or even lust).

Incidentally, NATG is far from being the first video game to deal with sexual themes.  Aside from the “Woo-hoo” of Sims and Sims 2, a couple of other PC games – Singles: Flirt Up Your Life and Singles II: Triple Trouble have been popular in Europe and Canada for a few years now, and also feature explicit adult content. NATG is the first to bring this sort of material to MMO games, however.

So far, there have been MMO’s that go from Tolkienesque sword-and-sorcery fantasy worlds to human colonies on far-flung planets on the edge of the galaxy – and everywhere in between.

Given this, it was only a matter of time that sex would come into it.

Naughty America: The Game  has been getting a great deal of coverage in the mainstream media for quite some time, but in case you missed it, its an MMORPG published by Eight Legs, Inc. that combines competitive online gaming with online dating. Like most MMO games, one can create their (anatomically correct) characters. The object here is to get a potential date to invite one to “get naughty” (yet another euphemism for a simple biological activity that goes back several million years). And yes, it is explicit.

It is for this reason that the organizers of E3 have decided not to allow Eight Legs, Inc. to attend. “We’re very disappointed,” says Noah Dudley, president of Eight Legs. He adds: “It’s the next step in social networking and online matchmaking. It’s certainly not intended for everyone, but then again neither are a number of the titles featured at the show.”

To prevent gamers under 18 from accessing the game, NATG uses the Sentry background verification system. Nonetheless, in light of the extreme violence and bloodshed that is the mainstay of most MMORPGs, this writer must seriously question a society that feels that it is well and good for its youth to engage in virtual butchery, yet recoils in horror at the aspect of them witnessing an act of love (or even lust).

Incidentally, NATG is far from being the first video game to deal with sexual themes.  Aside from the “Woo-hoo” of Sims and Sims 2, a couple of other PC games – Singles: Flirt Up Your Life and Singles II: Triple Trouble have been popular in Europe and Canada for a few years now, and also feature explicit adult content. NATG is the first to bring this sort of material to MMO games, however.