Sex In Video Games Conferenece: Interview With Regina Lynn

The Sex in Video Games Conference: Exploring the Business of Digital Erotic Entertainment held June 8 and 9, 2006 at the Lodge at Union Square, Kensington Park Hotel in San Francisco, California. The conference was the first of its type and will be an annual event. This unique conference focused on the design, development, and technology of sex in video games from a national as well as international perspective. In addition, this conference had a strong focus on business matchmaking and networking. During the conference's two day run, it featured numerous lectures and keynotes, a machinima art show (erotic art and movies derived from video games) as well as panel discussions with leaders in video game and adult video game development.

I conducted an interview with Regina Lynn, the weekly Sex Drive columnist at Wired News and the author of The Sexual Revolution 2.0 (Ulysses Press) who gave delivered a keynote at Sex in Video Games Conference.

Flirting, courtship and sex have been impacted by the Internet, whatimpact do you think video games will have?

I believe it is part of the continuum. Flirting, courtship and sex online have already opened our minds to further possibilities, which leads to developing richer online environments to connect in. And the online environments will give us new realms to explore - sometimes literally! One fun part of chatting, with or without webcams, is that you build a sexual story together. Perhaps you're in a bar, or on a beach. Each participant describes what he or she is envisioning,but you still filter that through your own ideas of what the bar or beach looks like. In a game environment, you see exactly what the other person would describe, because he or she has built a virtual room or nightclub or whatnot, visually.

We have seen the impact of cybersex on the growth of the Internet, whatrole do you see it playing in the gaming industry?

I think the game industry has to be careful and not just think "ooo sex, let's put sex in our games and everyone will flock to us because we did it." I see a definite potential for symbiosis between game environments and sexual exploration, but I also see potential for its going wrong. Slapping porn into games is not a way to guarantee success. What's cool is that people will let you know. If they try to build something or use a tool they expect but don't find, they will contact the developers and ask or demand. The sex-themed multiplayer games will evolve because the members will push for the changes they want.

Do you think studios that develop games and publisher that distribute them will be open to the idea including cybersex in the games the produce?

Some will, some won't. I imagine a lot of mainstream game and entertainment companies are watching the sexy game developers closely. I believe the Sex in Video Games conference is inspiring a lot of wait-and-see, of anticipation. Let the pioneers launch their worlds and see how it goes, what public response is, where the profits are, and then maybe we big game publishers will step forward. With multiplayer games, you can't stop cybersex. Single-player games where you just play with characters (like Virtually Jenna, for example), that's not cybersex.

What major consideration should studios take a close look at whenconsidering producing games that employ cybersex as a feature?

I believe everyone developing environments to encourage sexual interaction needs to spend time as a participant in existing environments -- and a variety of them. Try adult chat. Find out what you like in online sex, and what you don't. Talk to people who do it, who have done it, who plan to try it out in the future. I have found that people who have experienced good cybersex and adult communities immediately "get it" when I talk about what goes on there and how relationships develop. People who haven't been there have a much harder time knowing what's going on, and what participants want or expect. You can't read studies about internet-enabled sex and have any clue what it feels like to the participants -- you need to do it for yourself.

What benefits can studios and publishers expect from including cybersex in the games they develop?

Sexuality is a big part of being human. Games give us a wide range ofexperiences and it's silly to pretend that sexuality doesn't exist.Facilitating flirting and sex makes the game a fuller, more immersiveexperience. Players will keep coming back to hang out with their friends and lovers, so it makes the game sticky. Er, no pun.

What are you hope those attending the conference will take away from your keynote?

I am presenting from a non-gamer perspective. I am going to talk about what it's like to be in an adult community, having sex, falling in love, what people do and what they expect. The game environments are only half of what will bring people. The community is the other half.

A person new to games doesn't have the same instant acceptance orunderstanding of certain metaphors like inventories, moving around in the virtual space, teleporting, building houses and stores, and so on. But they will expect certain tools and opportunities for interaction that perhaps people coming from regular games wouldn't.

I believe erotic-themed virtual worlds and games will need to appealoutside the game world -- appeal to non-gamers and people who don't think of themselves as having time or interest for games -- in order to attract enough members, and enough interesting members. After all, people who already play multiplayer games already have a community, and if it's just going to be all the same people in the new game, why switch?

I am hoping that attendees will learn new things they didn't know about how people interact sexually online. And if they have experienced it for themselves, they will get confirmation that they do know what they think they know. Sexual interaction beween peers is very different than what happens between fans and porn stars, so anyone coming from the porn world who is new to real internet chat will get a good overview.

I'm not going to say "for sure you have to do this and t hat will attract non-gamers" but I am hopefully going to give them enough information about what that audience likes, needs, expects, so they can figure out how to plan for that in their own game development and marketing.