Sex, Violence, Racism: Are Games the Next Moral Battleground?

Now look, I'm not saying that there is much of a battle to be had about racism. Instead, I would like to say that Games are beginning to become the medium of choice for people to read racism into. This is also not to say that there haven't been racist games in the past, as Custard's Revenge is clearly racist. I would instead ask why those who cried racism have never cried out about the eradication of Germans over the years, be they Nazi or otherwise. Yes, I understand that WWII shooters kinda need to use Germans in some way, but what about Italians or Japanese, or encountering Spaniards or Norwegians working in German manufacturing plants or actively fighting? These games could be an avenue of teaching for this genre, instead of rehashing the same battle for the now hundredth time, as I actually had to look up other Axis allies on wikipedia. I have always found it intriguing that white people can seemingly be slaughtered wholesale in Games without anyone batting an eye, but if you make a palette swap it suddenly becomes racist. However, having said all of that, I can understand the feeling of the article about Resident Evil 5, as the original trailer definitely had a "travel to Africa, kill the poor" vibe, as opposed to looking like it was about zombies.

That really doesn't segue well into anything, but let's say it goes to violence. Most games contain violence, whether this is for the better or worse I leave as an exercise to the reader, and as an industry there seems to be an economic incentive to go as violent as they are comfortable. This has resulted in games which go over the top into satirical territory, such as the Mortal Kombat or Gears of War series', and some which avoid violence as much as possible, such as Little Big Planet or Bejeweled 2. Of course, like any other medium, there are a great number of variations between these extremes, some of which are cartoony (Smash Bros.), and some of which are serious and realistic (Manhunt). Interesting, it seems that the only times violence is objected to by many of the press, and therefore the public, is when it is treated in a serious, thought-provoking way. In this way Games are already being treated much like Film, except in the latter case it is sex instead of violence that is found repugnent.

Sex is, in America at least, a taboo topic in media, no matter the medium. Sadly, most Americans would be more offended by a female nipple being shown in a game than a person being shot in the head at pointblank range. Sadly, I can't help but agree to an extent with those people, as the use of sex in games is basicaly fan service(BMX XXX), instead of being used for any coherent reason (God of War, because it's basically a send up of male fantasies). If sex can be used in Games like it is in Film (think art movies, not porn), then I would be less uncomfortable about the inclusion of it in a piece of entertainment, but until then I think there needs to be better restraint when it comes to its use.