The Internet buzzes with the inclusion of a sex-chat phone number in The Last of Us. The buzz results from a subversion of expectations rather than the actual inclusion of the number. We didn’t expect a game with lofty storytelling ambitions like The Last of Us to house smutty Easter eggs. Truth is, video games have a long and filthy history of containing hidden moments of perversion. Naughty Dog’s accidental dirtiness pales in comparison to the mountains of mud oozing off of games past.
Most people think of Rockstar when they think of video game naughtiness. Some people still define Rockstar by the creation of a mini-game in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that depicts the main character CJ having sex with one of his girlfriends. This mini-game created enough controversy to compel politic heavyweights like Hillary Clinton into action. But Rockstar doesn’t really count. Grand Theft Auto, like other pieces of media that constantly push the envelope (such as South Park), would create a larger controversy by not including taboo subjects like sex. Smut in games has derived from many more inconspicuous sources.
Kirby’s Dream Land 2, for instance, contains a level design that looks like a naked woman. Yoshi’s Island also contains a piece of a level designed to resemble a birthday-suit-clad lady. Even a game as innocuous as Wii Play acknowledges the dirty side of life: moving the cursor over your Mii’s privates will cause him or her to jump back in surprise. Although not all games contain moments of perversion, the plethora of sexy content that can be found in the most unexpected of places makes it appear that any game, from any company, can contain smut.
A spellbook enemy in the game Secret of Mana will occasionally flip to a page that has on it a nude woman. Even a game as simple as FrontierVille references the dirty side of life. The text in these game updates are easily mistaken (as they are probably meant to be) for innuendos. If I spent enough time scouring the internet for dirty Easter eggs in games, I could construct you a list that would make any self-respecting person weep for the condition of the human race.
Alas, I’m not going to do that. I could be making a couple of different points with this article. I could be saying that Naughty Dog’s mistake isn’t a big deal, but from what I can tell, no one really thinks it is. I could be saying that many people in the games industry have a smutty mind, but really, many people have a smutty mind, so the assumption that some gaming-industry people are smutty isn’t a very bold statement. I guess what I am saying is that there are sure a lot of pervy things going on in games. I wonder why that is?
Feel free to discuss below. Who knows, we might even come up with some brand-new insights on the human condition.