Not having played any Battlefield 3, I can guarantee you there is no sex being had on the other side of that door.
A couple weeks ago I wrote a short [apparently] piece on violence in video games over at Couchbound.net. It specifically deals with how violence in video games are advertised. By proxy, the article lightly grazes issues of maturity and consumer responsibility.
I put the article up on N4G [among other sites] and some insightful comments where made. This addendum will function as what thoughts and ideas were spawned from said comments and discussions.
Death Matters
What I would like to emphasize is that I've never been a fan of nepotism, especially in the games space. I think the reason we don't see articles questioning maturity and the maturation of games on sites like IGN or Gamespot is because the audience feels compelled to choose a side. Though I, and I'm sure a few of you, may disagree with how sites like these cater to their readers, it should be noted that these readers are what keep sites like these alive.
When I was speaking in favor of violence in video games while chastising the advertisement of violence in video games -- I wasn't trying to be contradictory. Games, for a long time have been labeled as an escape from reality. There seems to be this box, and all arguments about how close-to-realistic any medium tries to portray real-life scenarios, all of which, get put in a box of enjoyable entertainment.
Escapism doesn't necessarily equate to a non-reality of sorts. At least it doesn't in my book. There are plenty of big-budget games being made where you can die several times over and mame and kill. Chances are, I've played and enjoyed a wealth of them. Why not escape to a world that engages the player in thinking about why they're killing? Why not make death matter?
I received a handful of comments and e-mails about player enjoyment and how it relates to killing -- and subsequently, being killed. An easy reference point are games like Heavy Rain or Demon's Souls. Games where if you die the outcome changes, or the game becomes harder. In essence making the character care about their death.
But what about caring for the death of another? Going beyond the CG death of Aeris from Final Fantasy VII or the lonely narrative found in Earthbound, the writing in this generation of games is just now getting there. What I wanted to acknowledge in the comments is that games shouldn't be held to a higher standard than that of movies or literature. Games should be held to their own standard. Bad writing exist everywhere! Games are no different.
In every interview I've ever had to do with someone in the movie industry and in the games industry, both have subtly acknowledged that writing kinda takes a back seat in the "big picture." Which makes sense that most art house movies and indie games, typically have a better chance of exploring more ideas in writing and in other facets of their respective mediums. Getting a player invested in pixels is hard work, especially when they just had a long day of work. Exploding a head is a lot easier than dropping off a Purple Heart to a newly widowed wife. I get it.
I just wished that this push for more was wasn't so heavily reliant on the visual. M-rated games deal more with gore than actual mature topics. Bringing me to my last point.
Sex Kinda Doesn't Sell
There was a reason why I cut the discussion of sex and sexuality out of the original article. I don't trust the community nor do I trust the industry to handle either well. When I brought up the point of nepotism and how people choose sides earlier, I also meant this for the most intellectual-of-readers in the games culture.
Sex can be violent. Sex can be funny. Sex cannot be in big-budget games. In my personal life, I can discuss sex intellectually and within' seconds tell a crass joke relating to sex. Broaching this topic in-game or even on a message board probably just made you laugh out loud [in a very literal sense]. I guess this is where the sex and violence arguments share points of contention.
We can joke about violence. How common is the term "boom headshot?" But switching gears with the same crowd is difficult when you want to discuss something more [like matters of death]. Compound this layer of conflict with the American taboo of the open discussion of sex. Rape. Sex as a means of gratification.
When I initially brought this up it was on Reddit. The commenter personally messaged me about the demographic of gamers and how violence should be kept one-dimensional "for the sake of the teenagers". Violence and sex are anything but. However, it pains me to side with the commenter.* Why?
If I can't trust a game developer to take a chance and hire a decent writer to delve into topics such as these then why would I trust the audience? We are left with mechanically marred games like Enslaved and Heavy Rain as beacons of hope [on the big budget scale].
I think we are getting closer, but it's hard to see the light at the end of our little sex tunnel here, in order to have hope for more diversity in games. And not just the artsy-indie ones. It will take someone who actually cares to push the medium forward narratively pass that of Call of Duty's "No Russian" level or an edited Mass Effect alien makeout session.
-- That's all I have to say on the topic as of right now below are two clips. One from the Escapist's site which I think is relating closer to my point of how we games mismanage their advertisements.
The second is a game called The Hunted. A friend of mine told me he played the game for 15 hours and fired just under 70 bullets, I think there is something cool about that, but I can't quite put it into words currently.
Odds & Ends
footage from The Hunter. A video game centered around taking as few shots as possible in order to attain certain goals.
*Didn't want to belabor the point that if we are so comfortable with the 'idea' of teenagers playing violent video games and that being accepted, why is it not okay for the same teenager to play a game involving sexual situations?