More Choice in Video Games

There is a trend in video games emerging toward having role-playing game-like structures.  Take, for instance, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.  The player can build up C.J.'s marksmanship in specific weapons; also, the player can make C.J.'s driving skill with cars raise.  Furthermore, by wearing certain clothes, one can raise C.J.'s sex appeal.  In short, the player has many, many ways to enhance C.J.  Then there are the two recent Spider-Man games: Spider-Man: the Movie 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man, where the player built up Spider-Man's combat and swinging abilities.  More stereotypical examples of building up a character's attributes would be "true" R.P.G.s, such as the arguably most well-known Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior lines.

On the whole, I for one don't really mind such "building up" of a character; it can be interesting and fun, if done right.  Games like San Andreas have the player building up "stats" by simply doing what the stat concerns; I.E., to build up C.J.'s drive skill, the player simply drives a car often; to build up his pistol skill, the player simply uses a pistol more often.  "True" R.P.G.s tend to have one obtain "experience points" in any number of ways, most often through combat, and sometimes those experience points can be alloted by the player, but not often.

I got to thinking about this trend, specifically where it concerns, for example, C.J.'s sex appeal.  What I want in a future video game that's based on what I like to call "enhanced reality"--that is to say a game that tweaks believability relatively little (and Carl Johnson is more believable than, say, Cloud Strife)--is a truly open-ended sex appeal element.  By that I mean that the player can not only enhance the character's sexual appeal, but also decide on what the character's sexuality is.  I would like for the player to have the option of having their character be attracted to either gender, or both genders (I'm not going to get into the numerous ways gender can be defined or looked at; that isn't the purpose of this entry), or whatever.  I would like for the player to decide that their character is homosexual, or heterosexual, asexual, and so forth.

I realize that with multiple-user games such as The Sims, Everquest, or whatever else, people can do whatever they want, just about literally.  That's fine for those games, but I'm talking about single-person games.  I want such things to be built into the story, if not directly then at least allowed by the game's creators in the mechanics they designed for the game.  Just so we're clear, let's use some specific examples.  In San Andreas, the player can have C.J. date up to six women, their reactions and such depending on a number of factors, but mostly on C.J.'s sex appeal.  What I would like in a future game is the player having the option of dating up to, say, six people--period.  No genders automatically specified.  Instead, through decisions and actions of the player, the character can date exclusively one gender or another, or both.

I realize that I might not see such a thing in my lifetime.  It would need--yes, need--a radical shift in the general paradigm of the United States for such a game to be allowed here (I can't, and thus won't, speak for other countries, but I'd be surprised if such a thing couldn't also be said for them).  There is evidence of that shift happening, but it won't happen any time soon.  I won't let this turn into a political/religious debate, but suffice to say that the way things are now, it won't happen anytime soon.  Look at the furor that came about from the Grand Theft Auto line, especially the infamous "Hot Coffee" example from San Andreas.

I hope I do see such a thing in my lifetime, especially in a genre or line that I already enjoy.  It would, I think, make the game accessible to more players, which would thus mean more revenue for the makers of the game.  On top of that, it would let the player truly decide what they want their character to do, to be.  I think that is something most gamers would want.