Welcome one, welcome all, to another edition of “April finds the weirdest stuff to talk about” here at Cheat Code Central. It would seem I’ve been ordained with some sort of special ability to detect bizarre news. I’m certainly not complaining, as it leads to all kinds of fun conversations with you dear readers. Like today, which involves a curious case of an indie game developer and a world-renowned maker of sex dolls.
If you haven’t seen the news yet, the creators of the indie game INSIDE (Playdead) have teamed up with iam8bit to bring the world a collector’s edition the likes of which none have ever seen. The reason for this? It includes an as-of-yet unrevealed creation from RealDoll, the purveyor of your finest sex dolls and other dandy sex related doodads.
The INSIDE Collector’s Edition includes a physical version copy of the game for PlayStation 4 and some “other stuff.” It’s the other stuff that really brings it over to my wheelhouse. According to iam8bit and Playdead, “Maybe it’s what you’re thinking…maybe not.” Many are making conclusions that (SPOILER ALERT) at least one of the (“several”) items the collector’s edition will include is the gelatinous mass of limbs and flesh featured at the end of INSIDE . It would make perfect sense if this is in fact one of the items included in the box, especially considering it’s plastered on the wrapping paper for the listing on iam8bit’s website .
The other reason this makes total sense as one of the items is simply because of who is creating it. While most people know RealDoll for their increasingly advanced sex dolls, that isn’t all they create. They also craft sex toys and any other items that may require an expertise in silicone craftsmanship. I was enlightened on this matter very recently by a good friend of mine who happens to work at RealDoll. I — like many others — assumed that RealDoll only made, well, dolls. But they do in fact do much more than that and have plans to continue to. This collaboration with iam8bit and Playdead is fantastic proof of just that.
As an aside, before anyone asks, no I do not know what the secret items are going to be in the INSIDE Collector’s Edition. The description on iam8bit is not kidding when they say, “No matter how hard you try, we won’t tell you.”
But please allow me to continue on the path we were previously traversing. Many people are looking at the iam8bit/Playdead/RealDoll partnership and assuming a sex toy must be in the works. Others curse that the team-up had to be with “a sex-doll firm rather than, say, high-end action figure firms such as Hot Toys.” I think it’s a shame that so many can’t see past RealDoll’s main money maker and realize that they are leaders in their craft. If you want something created with silicone, why wouldn’t you go with the company that has practically mastered the art? If the gooey mass of body parts in INSIDE is in fact one of the items in the collector’s edition, what better thing to make it out of than silicone? A detailed hard plastic figure of it would be all fine and dandy, but if you want to be true to the source material, only squishy, prod-able silicone will do.
The chance is, of course, always there that this INSIDE Collector’s Edition will, in fact, include a sex toy (or something that could be used as one with a little imagination). To that I say, why not?! This joining of hands across industries might lead to some really interesting alliances in the future. What’s to stop adult games from reaching out to RealDoll in the future now for accompanying toys for their fans? Maybe even further collector’s editions will release for already existing games that include a little something fun for everyone. Imagine a world with collector’s editions for adults. Uncharted could include a Nathan Drake-inspired toy, while Tomb Raider might have something similar with Lara Croft. The possibilities are endless if we only open ourselves up to them.
Personally, I think whether or not the INSIDE Collector’s Edition includes something of a sexual nature, a Pandora’s Box has been opened. It should be interesting to see if any further collaborations are made between a video game developer and a sex toy company. What do you think? Would you buy a video game inspired toy for yourself or others?