Loose Threads: What is it about porn and portable games?

Everyone knows that sex sells. Indeed, the porn industry turns over a bigger profit than most other entertainment industries combined and it does so by infiltrating those other aspects of culture. There are films with naked ladies in them, magazines with naked ladies in them, beach towels, pens, toothbrushes, sofa upholstery and, of course, mobile games.

But the mobile game example is in one sense an odd one out. Try to release an openly pornographic game on a home console, and despite the fact that it is perfectly legal, you will have a Florida-based attorney bearing down on you quicker than you can say, 'But it's got an 18 certificate on the box'. And yet, mobile phones, and to an extent the DS and PSP, seem to be happy homes to a wide and varied catalogue of flesh-filled games while nobody seems to bat an eyelid.

Thinking this a little strange, last week we put the question to you lot, which generated a typically brief, but beautifully articulate discussion (you don't have to say it; we already know you're all impervious to flattery).

Kicking things off was the ever reliable danskmacabre:

"Porn and portable gaming, well in general, I don't see what's so great about it, especially if it was on a portable gaming machine, what with the poor graphics quality and small screen. Perhaps it could work if a comedy element was put in, such as a game from wayback called The Leather Godessses of Phobos. I think it was an old text adventure (no graphics). Still whatever floats your boat, I guess, but not for me thanks."

It's true that for viewing pictures of naked people there are perhaps better mediums. And yet, porno games on mobile are still very common. SetsFireToPoshHammer offered a reason why:

"As much as I hate to say it, as I am a big pocket gaming fan, I think that the reason these kinds of games exist on these platforms is because they are more prone to shovelware. It's a symptom that affects any platform that is cheap and easy to develop for. Remember the golden age of pornographic PC games? Mark my words, the Wii's day of naughty games will come, I guarantee it."

Something tells us that Nintendo of all companies might have something to say about that sort thing appearing on its family friendly console. But we're digressing here. Bringing the topic back around to mobiles, Accelorata Jengold had a topical take on the situation:

"Though it's not really my world, there is a very interesting point to be made here. With all of the morally infallible right wing crowd bleating incoherently about how GTA IV is turning newborn babies into bonafide menaces to society, even though they lack the necessary motor skills to wield a rattle, it is funny how mobile games, of which there are many more examples of genuine pornography, somehow manage to fly under the radar. "Okay, granted, mobile porno games don't include that all important hooker murdering, and neither do they enjoy the same level of penetration (arf arf, etc) or sales, but the barriers to access are far fewer than those presented by a game like GTA IV. For a 14-year-old boy looking to get his rocks off to a rough pixelated image of an impossibly busty cartoon, mobile porno games provide an easy option. Surely those morally superior, attention-starved bandwagoneers are missing a golden opportunity to publicly express some outrage and indignation here? "If there any teenagers reading, don't worry, your dirty little secret is safe with me."

True, true. One possible explanation is that mobile phones aren't ever regarded by most people as a games machine and this would inevitably be seen as a different problem to the mind-corrupting ways of dedicated gaming consoles. Still, if every gamer's favourite lawyer, Jack Thomson, is reading, perhaps this will give him a new target (though if it does, please don't blame us!).

And with that, let's move on. Elsewhere on the forum, there's yet another new forum member (with a rather fetching avatar that our avatarless members should take note of), ianpwilliams, that is in need of some help:

"There don't seem to be any commercial Scorched Earth-type games out there for mobile, so does anyone know of any homebrew ones? I've found one called Battlegrounds which is okay, except that the AI players aren't good enough even on hard, and you don't get a nice big selection of weapons. Has anyone else found any others?"

So does anyone know of such a thing? If so you know what to do.

Another week, another question. So, again, our bottomless ideas barrel has thrown up another topic of discussion for seven days' time:

Should PlayStation Home come to the PSP?

Responses, as ever belong in our glorious forum where you will also find some extra details. Click 'Track It!' to be sure not to miss the ensuing discussion in next week's Loose Threads.