Ben-DutkaThese days, when a game is rated "M" and there is sexual content, you can usually expect some form of nudity. But if you hadn't noticed, Bioware passed on that idea for the recently released Dragon Age: Origins .
In the game, you can sleep with members of your party who have come to really appreciate your main character, and you can also score a few easy prostitutes. However, despite some cheesy music and a few brief glimpses, you never catch any real nudity on the screen. According to a VideoGamer interview with Bioware co-founder and CEO Ray Muzyka, this was "an artistic choice" by the development team. It all depends on how you wish to approach the romance and sexual content in any piece of entertainment and in this case, Bioware simply didn't see the need for nudity. Said Muzyka:
"We don't constrain what they do. We don't strive for gratuitous content. But we also ask the teams to choose a direction and then run with it. That was their choice. That's how they wanted to depict the romantic liaisons in the game, so that's what we did."
This is in contrast to other titles, like the future Heavy Rain , which features a full topless scene and other sexual situations where nudity is plain. But developer Quantic Dream defends their decision in much the same way: it was an "artistic choice." We have to agree that maybe we should just let the designers do as they see fit; if they screw it up and critics and gamers see nudity and sexual content as gratuitous and unnecessary, that's their problem. But if it works with the story, go for it.
However, I must say that I was a trifle disappointed to learn there was no hope of seeing Morrigan without any clothes on…really, the only downside of the game so far. 😉 (oddly enough, the fact that she's a cold-hearted bi*** only makes her more appealing)
Related Game(s): Dragon Age: Origins
