Wait, Canada blocks MTV? Uh....ok?

On topic..good for them. They're right. It is appropriate for the crowd they intended.

Sounds almost vain when they say it like that.

I bet they're especially proud of creating an alien that can and will bang literally anything/anyone (one that has human boobs no less!).

Totally agree. Unlike GTA or other games, which for the most part tend to be tasteless (which im not saying is bad, as GTA etc have sexuality for a sense of authenticity), where as the "sex" in Mass Effect was no different from a mature movie and was very well done.

BTW, Mass Effect content is out.

I dig the idea of romance based on characters. Bioware did this well in KoToR. In ME, it was a little clunky to me. The romantic conversations often felt a bit forced, as if the women were moving really fast (I know, I've dealt with women like that in the real world, but considering the setting of the game it felt ... forced).

The controversial part, though, is not the romance but the love scene with nudity. I still think they could've accomplished everything without the nudity (I'm sorry, but digital nudity just looks SILLY to me), but I'm all for them developed complex relationships between characters and including romance in them.

I liked how they said it's about characters and story, not an agenda. Pushing the envelope just for the sake of it is everything that's WRONG with 'Mature' gaming ...

@Eville1: Yeah. They (along with most American networks) can't show content in Canada or other countries due to international copyright garbage.. .or something like that.

Can someone post a transcript? Being in the UK I can't watch it, and I'm interested in what he has to say.

I agree with him though, the nudity/sex in this game was perfectly framed for the audience and setting for which it was intended.

@Eville1: The other way around. MTV blocks Canada. Probably to protect their programmings resale value to Much Music or to avoid the dreaded "Canadian piracy". Mostly due to our IP laws currently being more sane.

Well anyone outside of the US I can tell you..you're not missing a damn thing. MTV doesn't cater to my age and I'll be damned if I'm going to watch VH1. I try not to watch to much tv any way.

I just hope this starts something. Other studios take this as a cue of, "Hey, it's okay to make games with serious themes and you don't have to apologize for it."

Honestly, I think the 'sex scenes' in Mass Effect were very well done, considering the context and the implications. I much prefer actual seeing what I did to having the screen fade out, it gave the bit a lot of credibility. You know when the screen fades to black and then it skips to the morning after? I always get the sense it might as well be going, "Teeheehee! You know they did IT! *nudge wink nudge*" and that's just juvenile.

Instead you had a scene that didn't pull its punches but remained tasteful in the process, instead of the childish giggling and nudges it was, 'these are adults, this is how their relationship has developed and adults have sex.' You had no reason to be smirking about it like it was something naughty, because... it wasn't. It was well done.

It's just a shame that so many people are willing to take these things out of context and run with them.

Big kudos to BioWare for being proud.

I don't want to say but the DLC has been out for like a whole day. I think it could have been mentioned at same time :P

That is, unless you are setting up a review for it.

ahhh MTV.

nothing like watching some barely 20 year old host on MTV talking/reminiscing about the days when led zeppelin were in their prime...MTV went downhill when they started hiring Carson Daly like ass kissers and when they stopped showing MUSIC even MTV2 is filled with MTV reality show garbage.

@james castle: Yeah. I love this inversion of juvenile fantasy that is *so* awkward and juvenile that it actually comes back round in a circle and becomes mature because, at its root, the artists/writers/whatever who are putting together the fantasy are actually afraid of upsetting the *imaginary* women they create.

On the plus side; odds of these traits breeding true in the next generation? Low.

I think that the us should adopt a system like the one over here in the UK.
If you're 14 you can't buy a 15 game, simple as.
We never have anything like this, Just mothers that are convinced a game there child owned made another kid kill her son.

Canada doesn't get MTV? Lucky

@DARTH_TIGRIS: The game is not only about choices and building relationships, its also about the EXPERIENCES from these forumlated relations. Was it possible for the game to be made without such a sex scene? sure. but its also completely possible to play passed it:)

"You prefer Alien Love!"

@Marcus Fenix: No, we do. Sadly, we do, except you have to pay extra for it. Not a whole lot missing if you choose not to pay for it.

So much hate for MTV. Even though we give you such fine gaming coverage to all but three nations of the civilized world.

@Fabrice:

Yeah, I beat it already. Took perhaps an hour, hour and a half.

I didn't like the same old go to Mako drive around to reused buildings bit. I want to rag on the dlc more but I won't because I don't want to release spoilers.

I'd probably give it a C, not bad for like five bucks but didn't blow me away. I like how they did certain things, and not other things (TURRETS)

Sadly, putting Sex in the game turned it into less of an addition and more of a goal; plenty of people played the game with the intention of getting to the sex scene, rather than it being a surprise after building a relationship with one of the characters. I wasn't fully internet connected at the time, so I can't say how big the hype was, but the Bastila kiss in the first KOTOR really struck me as an intense moment in the game; it's too bad the sex in Mass Effect couldn't really do the same because of the exposure.

@StephenTotilo:

No offense bro, but when they change their name from Music Television to "Pop culture TV" I'll stop the hate. Doesn't mean I'll watch it, but I'll stop the hate.

Its about time they started to defend their own game.

@StephenTotilo: No offense, Stephen, but it almost seems as though you want praise for MTV almost everytime you post. Perhaps you can't understand the disdain people have, and if it actually needs explaining than you never will. I have no problem with MTV because I simply don't watch it. Why would I?

I'm sure you guys do some nice work over at your site, but I'll stick with Kotaku, and not a clone.

Oh and in my opinion, with all due respect, if you're going to post here then post. No need to solicit your site. Just relax and have fun.

I have a dream.
Oprah will start an
"Oprah's Game Club"
where about once a month,
she'll showcase some new
videogame. And it will
sell scads. And she will
praise Mass Effect for its
maturity and integrity.
And once that happens,
people will shut up about the
sex. I kind of think that that's
what it will take.

Games are like movies these days, whats wrong with a lil dash of spice here and there ;)

hmm... sex with Ashley, she's stern but it's possible, sex with blue feminine genderless aliens, thats doesn't make sense, except in a bestiality sense, but that is kinda worse then

@Sullyville:
God forbid...but you're probably right.

I always wondered how much she could recommend and get away with...like, what if she put "Mein Kampf" on her book club? Would people still go apeshit for it?

@VileMethoD: Oh, but I understand the hate. It's part of the fun of working here and I have a sense of humor about it.

I've been relaxing and having fun with Kotaku for years. No solicitations needed...

@StephenTotilo: Glad to hear dude, it almost seems like you feel a little uneasy here haha. I'd give you a hug, but that would be creepy, huh?

Anyway, I will be sure to check your site from time to time. As long as you keep me entertained! Find me a scoop on Dead Rising 2! haha.

Sorry if I came off a little... blunt. At work right now, you know how it is.

@Peronthious: " Sadly, putting Sex in the game turned it into less of an addition and more of a goal; plenty of people played the game with the intention of getting to the sex scene, rather than it being a surprise after building a relationship with one of the characters. I wasn't fully internet connected at the time, so I can't say how big the hype was, but the Bastila kiss in the first KOTOR really struck me as an intense moment in the game; it's too bad the sex in Mass Effect couldn't really do the same because of the exposure. "

Are you sure it's Bioware's inclusion of a sex scene (the natural conclusion to a romantic pursuit in this case) and NOT horny gamers wanting some kind, any kind, of sexual depiction in any game they play?

That, I believe, is the difference between including a possibly necessary intimate sequence as a natural progression of a mature plot involving romance, and taking advantage of that same sequence as someone who plays the game just to get off. After all, Bioware has ultimately no control over how we gamers react to such scenes, no matter tastefully and artfully they may present it.

Well I suppose it's better late than never. Where were they when this was an actual issue?

you can use hotspot shield as a VPN to watch US-only content online

[anchorfree.com]

@DARTH_TIGRIS: I think you're exactly right here. I don't think anyone has a problem with mature relationships and romances in games, and I would certainly like to see more of them. But I'm not interested in seeing sex scenes (in any media) unless they do something to further the narrative or deepen our view of the characters.

@Tocsin: I think you have to ask what the sex scene achieves from a narrative standpoint, and assess the benefits in light of what it costs in terms of the tone. If a sex scene tells us something about the characters or the story then I personally don't think there's any problem with it. If it's just moaning and tangled sheets then it's better off left out.

As gamers are maturing and growing up we need games that relate to us and mature as well. Yes, there should be games for kids but also for adults and mature teens.

The sex thing was such a minor part of that game. But a friend of mine didn't get it. Finished the game, but never got the "Paramour" achievement. Says he ignored the female characters, and took it for granted that he'd get some. And so a lesson is learned. Whether my friend learned to treat women respectfully or whether I learned that my friend is a misogynistic jerk, a lesson was learned.

Am I the only one who felt utterly let down by ME's romantic sidequests? You invest so much time in this guy/girl/pansexual alien, and the payoff is a 5-second sex scene that's never followed up upon at all.

I hate the puritanical crazies of America.

@Superawesomerad: " Am I the only one who felt utterly let down by ME's romantic sidequests? You invest so much time in this guy/girl/pansexual alien, and the payoff is a 5-second sex scene that's never followed up upon at all. "

What exactly were you hoping to see?

Wish I could watch this. I really want to know what else is said. Glad he's standing up for sexuality in games though.

@Intrepid_Homoludens: I guess my comment wasn't very clear. My point is, the sex scene is treated as the culmination of the relationship. You bang and that's it, which anyone who's been in an adult relationship knows is unrealistic. In ME, if your significant other isn't on the squad you bring on the final mission, you never see them again at all, not even one lousy "Hey, we made it" scene at the end of the game.

For a game that ostensibly cares so much about character development and interaction, I have to say that the romantic subplots felt kinda rushed.