In today's main Gamasutra feature, and as part of coverage from the recent Sex in Video Games conference, Gamasutra contributor and 'Sex, Ethics, and Video Games' panelist Ren Reynolds gives his own intriguing perspective on the panel's subject: the responsibility of developers.
Reynolds notes provocatively in his introduction:
"Not only are there ethical issues to consider but there are good business reasons to consider them during game development. Here I am referring mainly to matters of that we might term practical ethics or ethical intuition – things that give us a strong indication about the public mood in respect of a subject that suggests that there might be legal, political or public relations reason why one might want to consider an issue with some care.
Much of the popular debate about the goods and ills of video games center on children, so let's jump into the deep end and consider issue of children and sex. The position that seemed to be put to the panel at the recent Sex in Video Games conference was that: just so long as we keep kids out of adult games and keep government out of regulating them, there are no real moral issues to consider.
This is wrong on all counts."
You can now
read the full Gamasutra feature on the subject, including more on this hot button issue (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).
