Rated M for Mature

The word sex has many implications when it is used in connection with video games. As game studies scholars have argued, games are player-driven experiences. Players must participate in processes of play to move the game forward. The addition of content that incorporates sex and/or sexuality adds complexity that other media do not share.Rated M for Mature further develops our understanding of the practices and activities of video games, specifically focusing on the intersection of games with sexual content. From the supposed scandal of "Hot Coffee" to the emergence of same-sex romance options in RPGs, the collection explores the concepts of sex and sexuality in the area of video games.

Expands the area of game studies as a whole

AcknowledgementsNotes on the ContributorsIntroductionEvan W. Lauteria (University of California, Davis, USA) and Matthew Wysocki (Flagler College, USA)The (R)Evolution of Video Games and SexIntergenerational Tensions: Of Sex and the Hardware Cycle.Rob Gallagher (King's College London, UK)Beyond Rapelay: Self-regulation in the Japanese Erotic Video Game IndustryJérémie Pelletier-Gagnon (University of Alberta, Canada), and Martin Picard (University of Montreal, Canada)Assuring Quality: Early-1990s Nintendo Censorship and the Regulation of Queer Sexuality and GenderEvan W. Lauteria (University of California, Davis, USA)The Newest Significant Medium: Brown v. EMA and the 21st Century Status of Video Game RegulationZach Saltz (University of Kansas, USA)Explicit Sexual Content in Early Console Video GamesDan Mills (Georgia Highlands College, USA)Video Games and Sexual (Dis)EmbodimentThe Strange Case of the Misappearance of Sex in VideogamesTanya Krzywinska (Falmouth University, UK).Let's Play Master and Servant: BDSM and Directed Freedom in Game DesignVictor Navarro-Remesal (Centre d¿Ensenyament Superior Alberta Giménez, Spain), and Shaila García-Catalán (Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, Spain)Countergaming's Porn Parodies, Hard Core and SoftDiana Pozo (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA)Casual Sex: Sex as Currency Within Video GamesCasey Hart (Stephen F. Austin State University, USA)"Embraced Eternity" Lately? Mislabeling and Subversion of Sexuality Labels through the Asari in the Mass Effect Trilogy.Summer Glassie (Old Dominion University, USA)Systems/Spaces of Sexual (Im)PossibilitiesPlaying for Intimacy: Love, Lust, and Desire in the Pursuit of Embodied Design.Aaron Trammell (Rutgers University, USA), and Emma Leigh Waldron (Rutgers University, USA)It's Not Just the Coffee That's Hot: Modding Sexual Content in Video GamesMatthew Wysocki (Flagler College, USA)"Death by Scissors": Gay Fighter Supreme and the Sexuality That Isn't SexualBridget Kies (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA)Iterative Romance and Button-Mashing Sex: Gameplay Design and Video Games' Nice Guy SyndromeNicholas Ware (University of Central Florida, USA)Climbing the Heterosexual Maze: Catherine and Queering Spatiality in GamingJordan Youngblood (University of Florida, USA)Assessing Player-Connected Versus Player-Disconnected Sex Acts in Video GamesBrent Kice (Frostburg State University, USA)