Lau and Sebbe having fun with our new favorite “erotic” game.
At one point in the collectives history we were quite keen on erotic games. Ever since some of us created the Dark Room Sex Game we saw the potential for intimate, sensual and erotic content as an interesting mechanic for social interaction in games. However most erotic games are in fact not erotic, but are with blatant graphics, feels like adolescent pandering and mostly fall into the “nerdy teenager appreciation” category. This became evident when we did research in this area for content we could use in our – at the time – bi-weekly erotic game tip. The goal was to give a tip about some interesting or novel ways erotic themes had been used in games, every other week. However, as I mentioned, there just was not enough content to do so. So we quickly abandoned this idea. But that shouldn’t stop us from giving a tip of our hat to a studio for actually creating a game in this area that accomplishes the goal of being “erotic”, when we encounter one.
The game I am talking about is called Fingle and the company behind it; Game Oven Studio. They do not promote it as an erotic game per se. However, it is evident after playing the game and talking to Bojan Endrovski, one of the creators behind it, that intimacy plays a huge role in the game. At the nordic game jam Bojan was giving a lecture about his game and at the pre-party for the game jam, which the collective held, we got to play his game with him and talk to him a bit about the game.
While everybody was at the Game Developers Conference in SF, having fun and receiving awards, we were also having fun with a talk about prototypes and experimental games. We were invited by Shareplay to give a talk about our work. The talk was titled “from protoype to production”. Shareplay is a transmedia venture interested in the development of the future media sector. That means they have some capital for thing like this. Which is pretty good for Northern Jutland and the gaming scene there.
The actual location for the talk was in a bar called Viva La Revolution. It was kind of a small and cozy setting, which led the mind towards a small smoke filled underground NYC comedy club. Perfect setting for showing experimental and ridiculous games. And of course, there was beer, which also helps to set the mood. In that sense, it really differentiates itself from the Copenhagen version of the Spilbar, which is more geared toward formal talks and professional networking. The Spillbar 9000 takes another approach and creates a more casual environment that should help the networking. It was even more evident, since, as mentioned, it was during GDC. So they audience was mostly students and less people in the game industry.
Last September, we rolled through New York City to throw our Brutally Unfair Game Bash at Babycastles. While I was in town, I stopped by ITP (Tisch School of the Arts, NYU) to give a talk to a “Games-Art” class co-taught by my friend Zach Gage.
The talk was about abusive game design, so of course I had to do the obligatory live demo of Dark Room Sex Game. Apparently, somebody caught the moment on video. Enjoy!
Last month, I did a long interview with Leigh Alexander for Gamasutra. We talked about the collective, abusive game design, B.U.T.T.O.N., broken games, and more. Read it here.
Here’s an excerpt:
At its best, abusive game design can create a kind of playful meta-game — a battle of wits and willpower between designer and player. The kind of abusive game design that interests me most is “dialogic,” in that it facilitates a back-and-forth — maybe not a literal back-and-forth, but something that feels like it, as if you and the designer were “in each other’s heads,” so to speak. [...] Thus, counter-intuitively, I think abusive game design can help humanize gameplay. It confronts the conventional and reminds us that play is something deeply personal.
So we went to America. The first stop on our trip was New York City, where our games were shown at a Babycastles party in Queens. The place was a venue called Silent Barn, which is mostly known for hosting concerts. The Babycastles Arcade started out with a couple of guys showing weird games at the bar during concerts, and people that were normally not playing games really got into it. By now their Arcade has moved to Manhattan, where they’re set up in the Showpaper Gallery on 42nd street. So if you’re visiting New York, go there!
We’ve planned the event together with our friend, NYC-based game artist Zach Gage. I’m very happy to announce that both Katherine Isbister and Frank Lantz are going to kickoff the event with two game talks. Lau and I will also join in on the speaking fun – I’ll be speaking on deliberately “broken” games, and Lau will be talking about our efforts to push indie gaming out into the living room, beyond the screen.
After the talks, we’ll be throwing a party! Knife City from Anamanaguchi will be on hand to perform some live music, and we’ll be showcasing a number of our games, including B.U.T.T.O.N., Dark Room Sex Game, Rückblende, Fuck You It’s Art!, and several other projects. Actually, we’re going to run the official 2010 World B.U.T.T.O.N. Championship.
Here’s the details again:
Saturday October 2 @ Silent Barn (915 Wyckoff Ave, Queens NY)
Potluck at 5pm
Talks from 7-9pm
Party 9pm till late!
$5 door charge for the musicians
Dark Room Sex Game is going to be on exhibit at the “Playful and Playable” showcase in Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain. The showcase is organized by Proyecto Amarika Proiektua, and takes place from June 24 to September 15.
This is of course exciting news, but to be honest we’re also a little apprehensive. We never quite finished the game. In particular, it’s very difficult to get the Wiimote mode working reliably (we built the game on a somewhat unstable, now-defunct Wiimote API). Well, we hope it works!
For years now, we’ve been meaning to polish the game, or at least make it easier to play it with Wiimotes. Beyond that, we’d like to return to erotic game design some day. We’ve always wanted to re-design Dark Room Sex Game for mobile devices, and we have a number of other crazy ideas. Problem is, it can be difficult to imagine a stable future for such games, at least commercially, when adult content is so frowned upon in these kinds of distribution channels (e.g. Apple’s iTunes store).
Still, immediate sales opportunities or no, it’s clear to me that erotic game design deserves further exploration, especially in non-commercial contexts like game jams, museums, and festival exhibitions. Here’s hoping we find the time – sooner rather than later!
