Brenda Brathwaite has the distinction of not only knowing gaming well, but also sex in games. And she's got the nickname and a closet of naughty games to prove it. Dubbed the "Sex In Games Lady," Brathwaite was the lead designer on Playboy: The Mansion, recently wrote a book on the subject and is chairing a Sex in Games Conference this June.

"I believe it's not fair to be forced to have a Disneyesque palette for your games," she explains. "If somebody said to an artist you couldn't have any nudes in a museum, you have to take them all down because kids might see them, then artists would be in an uproar. If that happened to the movie industry? Actors would walk. Everybody would. But when that specter is raised in games it doesn't make the news."

With parents worrying about adult content in games, Brathwaite makes clear games are not just for kids. They are not even for women, apparently. "I'm out there saying that games aren't just for kids," she continues, "they're for the average 29-year-old male — and he has a healthy sex drive." So does that mean more and more developers are catering to hornball men?

"There are many companies and individuals working on adult content and afraid of being blackballed," says Brathwaite. "Yet we're seeing more mature themes integrated into regular games. People don't have to like sexual content, and not every game should line up and have it. But don't tell me or any other developer we can't have it. It's about censorship."

She's right. There is a time and place for everything, however. Now it's a matter of appropriately handling sex in games, making sure that over-age customers who want that content can get it and keeping those titles away from minors and disinterested players. Easier said than done.

Sex In Games [Wired]