ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the history of sex and violence in video games, portrayals of gender and race, in addition to major legislation and regulation as “games grew up.” It concludes with subsequent controversy and media coverage, as well as theories and scientific research on the effects of video games on society. Early generations of video games were primarily played by and marketed to males; however, females now represent almost half of the gaming population. Today, US gamers consist of approximately 52% male and 48% female. Sex, nudity, and adult themes in video games have always been more common in Eastern, Asian markets when compared to the West—however, the rest of the world has matured since the early years of gaming. During the early 1980s, most adult games featuring sexual content were released in Japan. The game was not initially advertised by Sierra, but word-of-mouth led to it becoming a sleeper hit, selling an estimated 250,000 copies.
