Sex games, (and games about sex, and sexual devices with gameplay elements, and so on), certainly have a ways to go before they become “mainstream” in any real way, if they ever do at all. Perhaps that’s a large part of the appeal – attending Arse Elektronika – particularly the opening ceremony – felt like an introduction to gaming’s most truly subversive and “underground” space, a sort of heady, sex-positive mirror universe to the goings on of say, PAX, where the mobile design track is entirely focused on optimizing the engagement loops of a new social casino. Far removed from those corporate metrics, these folks are innovating the medium – one dirty little demo at a time.
