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Eek! Games & Collaboration with Our Community

In the gaming community, indie video game companies sometimes find it hard to grow our brands in a market saturated with AAA games. While platforms like Steam, Epic, and GOG allow smaller games access to the market, it’s hard to find a voice in a world overwhelmed by content. However, while AAAs enjoy lots of funding and all the surrounding shenanigans, indie companies can quickly respond to advancements in the gaming community and world at large. Essentially, because indie games often aren’t backed by big investors and corporate entities, they enjoy the freedom of being allowed to take large risks (Wallace, 2022). As an indie gaming company, we at Eek! Games strive to enjoy that freedom as much as possible. We’ve found that collaboration with our community is an excellent way to elevate both ourselves and our fellow creators to new levels. 

We tend to take more of an untraditional approach on taking large risks… Because, you know, the whole sex and nudity thing. And… if you want to read more about our takes on that, feel free to read our blog. Regardless, House Party is unique because of its original combination of explicit content and dynamic story engine, and that is something we’re proud of. 

As the Indie Gaming League argues, it’s entirely possible that the future of video games is collaboration (2020). Namely, it’s cross-game collaboration that allows for indie game companies to reach each other’s platforms and collectively grow. Obviously, there’s a lot that goes into making collaborations work. As with every relationship, there’s a few key things that have to be there for it to be successful. Without fundamental factors like trust and a shared vision (Indie Gaming League, 2020), things just won’t work. That said, when the stars do align, indie game companies may just find their footing in the vast video game market. 

Here at Eek! Games, we collaborate with our community as much as possible. Between guest star appearances in other games, like Frank showing up in Shady Lewd Kart, and the multitude of influencers (like YouTube’s Game Grumps and LetyDoesStuff) we’ve built into House Party, we’re always ready to take on the newest, most wild task. Like the snake in the closet – it’s elusive, but once you get it out, everything falls into place. 

We’ve been collaborating since day one, and some of our best collabs come from within our own awesome community! Our patrons on Patreon, volunteer superusers, and translators have been vital to getting House Party to where it’s at now. We love you all! 

In 2019, we hosted an international music contest where indie artists could submit their songs to be played in the game (EIN Presswire). Texas artist Popskyy’s song “FUNKBOX” won the first place prize, followed up with songs by the talented Fokushi, Treclar, Fletnyx, and Kitanic Demon as the runners up. You can find every one of those songs online, or you could do it the fun way by finding the MP3 player and playing it on Madison’s television. 

More recently, we’ve teamed up with the talented superstar Doja Cat. Famous for songs like “Say So,” “Like That,” and “Juicy,” Doja Cat has made quite the name for herself in pop culture. This made it more exciting when she decided to join our house party and bring her music into our game. As of September, she’s been trying to sneak into Madison’s house via breaking the backyard fence down, and we’re pretty sure she’s offended that you haven’t helped her get in yet. In real life, we helped popular YouTuber Azzyland team up with Doja Cat in a fun playthrough of House Party. The duo share laughs while exploring the game, and it’s certainly an entertaining watch. However, if you watch them play, they do ask why they have to play as a guy. Just know that we’ve since added a playable female character!

As we stumble (Patrick style) into the new year, we’re so excited to continue heightening the collaboration we have with our community. As our platform grows, so too does the amount of opportunities we have to help other indie games, content creators, and artists grow. And while Doja Cat was a big feat, we have more crazy collaborations in the works… So stay tuned. And… Okay, but seriously – have you figured out how to get that snake out of the closet yet?

 

References: 

EIN Presswire. (2019, October 15). Eek! games announces its new release and Opens House Party game to Independent Music Artists. Newswire. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://world.einnews.com/pr_news/481838277/eek-games-announces-its-new-release-and-opens-house-party-game-to-independent-music-artists 

League, I. G. (2020, October 14). Collaboration: The future of gaming. Medium. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://medium.com/@indy_gaming_league/collaboration-the-future-of-gaming-9bf62841042 

Wallace, F. (2022, January 12). AAA Games vs Indie Games: How their impacts differs. HeadStuff. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://headstuff.org/entertainment/gaming/aaa-games-vs-indie-games-how-their-impacts-differs/ 

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How Video Game Rating Systems Reflect Broken Societal Norms

Video game rating systems reflect broken societal norms. As our last blog post, “Violence vs. Nudity in Video Games,” hinted at, the current Entertainment Software Rating Board’s (ESRB) ratings are discriminatory towards nudity and sex. Obviously, these ratings reflect cultural beliefs that have long paved the way for us to think of nudity and sex to be a bad thing – except, you know, nudity and sex really aren’t a bad thing, specifically if they’re between consenting adults. 

In the E (Everyone) rating, which includes children of any age, mild cartoon violence, and fantasy violence is acceptable. There’s then a natural progression to E10+ (everyone above the age of 10), which allows for more cartoon violence and fantasy violence and approves of “minimal” suggestive themes. What’s interesting is that violence is allowed, to some extent, for every age group, while “sexual content” isn’t allowed until Mature 17+. 

Yes, that aligns with our society. It’s unacceptable to wear a bikini into a grocery store, and it’s unacceptable to walk into a grocery store with a blood-soaked machete. However, one of those things is a lot more dangerous and threatening than the other, and everyone knows what we’re talking about… the bikini. At least, when considering how video games are rated and incorporated by streaming platforms and game distributors, that seems to be the logic. This is where our core argument lies: it doesn’t make sense that nudity and sex, in many cases, are considered to be worse than brutal, unrelenting, and graphic violence. 

American society is hard-wired to think this way. Let’s break it down a bit. In 2021, Texas legalized open carrying and concealment of handguns, barring some restrictions. Also, in Texas, as of 2021, a first-time conviction for solicitation of sex work could result in up to two years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000 (Davis, 2021). Obviously, this is a video game company; we don’t really care if you want to carry a gun with you wherever you go – that’s up to you and your state laws, friends. However, there is something deeply hypocritical about accepting weapons that could potentially hurt someone being toted around freely and the societal disdain for two consenting adults to exchange money for sex. 

Guns (well, actually, violence) and sex (work) both track back for as long as humans have. One of the favored pastimes of Ancient Romans was watching gladiators fight to their deaths against each other (Ancient roman gladiators, 2018). Who doesn’t love a violent, gory fight where someone ends up dead… right? Actually, yeah, although American culture doesn’t quite have that same mindset today, we do still love violent media, as seen in the wild success of every single Quinten Tarantino movie and the entire Modern Warfare game series. 

Likewise, back in Pompeii, before Mount Vesuvius erupted and decimated the entire city, sex work was accepted as commonplace (The brothels of Pompeii, 2020). “Brothels had no stigma within the city,” as they offered services seen as similar to normal shops (The brothels of Pompeii, 2020). Basically – people have enjoyed violence and sex for years, so why is it that today, we find one of those things acceptable and the other unacceptable?

We’re not making any swooping statements about gun rights, or sex work, or anything like that. We’re saying it’s crazy that our society accepts violence openly and shies away from sex like the plague. So, although the ESRB says our base game has a mature rating (which is a discussion in itself; why is graphic violence rated for younger audiences than graphic nudity?), platforms like Twitch are unwilling to allow House Party streams because of the sexual content… Even though it’s consensual… And censored… And pretty much nonviolent… You get our point. 

On the same note, Twitch allows for games like Call of Duty II on their platform. This game, rated T (Teen), features a D-Day Invasion mission where players must storm the Normandy beaches and get to witness stabbings, bludgeonings, people getting shot, and people burning alive (Wallin, 2022). Would we play it? Sure. Would we watch someone play it? Sure. We love to game, which means we’d also play and watch a game like House Party, which doesn’t contain gory violence but does have some censored genitals and consensual, censored sex scenes and therefore isn’t allowed. It just does not make sense; and quite frankly, we’re sick of it.

Eek! Games is determined to change the narrative around sex and nudity in video games. House Party is a player-choice game that will make you laugh. While, yes, there are moments of sex and nudity, there are far more moments of debaucherous shenanigans, like sneaking Doja Cat into the party, breaking into the safe in Madison’s closet, and figuring out how to drink alcohol without Frank seeing. 

It’s an adventure comedy game where you can live out the best night of your life again and again. Now, that’s enough heavy societal commentary for one blog post. Eek! Games, checking out. 

You can buy House Party on Steam, Epic Games, and GOG. 

 

References: 

Ancient roman gladiators. The Colosseum. (2018, April 18). Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.thecolosseum.org/gladiators/ 

The brothels of Pompeii. Pompeii Tours. (2020, May 14). Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.pompeiitours.it/attractions/brothels-of-pompeii/ 

Davis, N. (2021, August 11). Soliciting prostitution is a felony per new Texas law (on Sept. 1, 2021). Neal Davis Blog. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.nealdavislaw.com/blog/sex-crimes/texas-solicitation-prostitution-laws 

Wallin, J. (2022, July 5). 10 shockingly violent moments from T-rated video games. ScreenRant. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://screenrant.com/shockingly-violent-moments-from-t-rated-video-games/

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Violence vs. Nudity in Video Games

I don’t think it’s a stretch to declare that historically most people would rather see a player’s head blown off in a game than a nipple – we wouldn’t want to be indecent or anything, now would we? 

Well, would we? Or is that narrative changing? Are we witnessing a societal shift in these preferences? The answer is: maybe, but the gatekeepers still hold the keys. That is, until gamers and developers alike demonstrate the totally natural fun in creating and consuming games with sex appeal.

Nowadays, violence is widely accepted across the gaming industry. Decapitations and bodies quite literally being torn apart in the “OG” Mortal Kombat game gave way to new gaming “experiences” like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Grand Theft Auto, and Bulletstorm. In this way, violence in gaming became commonplace – and even anticipated. 

We get it – that can be fun in a video game. But what happens if we pit violence vs. nudity in video games? Violence wins. Consider our greater society and its twisted constructs as the final boss. Make love not war, doods! Amiright?

So, what’s the harm in “freeing the nipple?”

The reality is that, as a society, we’ve demonized nudity to an extent that not only defies logic but truthfully, leaves it by the wayside. When did boobs become more stigmatized than riddling a body with bullets? For example, the single-player game Bulletstorm leaves little to the imagination with its title and yet it has captivated well over 2 million gamers (White, 2018).

The truth is that even the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s (ESRB) ratings are discriminatory toward nudity and sex in video games. Of course, regulations for achieving such ratings are dependent on the region in which they’re being issued. For example, the South Korean rating board (GRB) is sensitive to any anti-governmental or anti-societal messaging. In contrast, Iran’s Entertainment Software Rating Association classifies games according to “religious values violations” and “social norms violations” (Greenspan, 2013). What about the United States?

In the U.S. and Canada, ESRB ratings are categorized into six different brackets, spanning from early childhood to adults only. Despite the extreme gore displayed in Mortal Kombat and Bulletstorm, they both have an ESRB rating of Mature 17+. What does this mean?

Well, let’s compare a game like Bulletstorm to House Party. Violence isn’t censored, but nudity is – using black censor bars over genitalia and sex scenes are required if game developers have any hopes of achieving that Mature 17+ rating.

Basically, you can feel free to raise carnage, but make sure you’re practicing abstinence in the process. Yeah… Do hear how ridiculous that sounds?

It shouldn’t be “violence vs. nudity in video games,” it should be “do what you want to do between consenting adults, doods!”

Eek! Games is determined to change the narrative around nudity and sex through its innovative, playful, and downright hilarious player-choice game, House Party.

House Party, as a player-choice game, allows for the exploration of sexuality in a sex-positive space. Our characters allow for creative liberty and personal expression through the different choices made throughout the game. This creates a more engaging experience for gamers of all genders. That being said, each character is well developed and is far more than their appearance, because why limit yourself? Watch your story unfold by celebrating your sexual orientation through your own decision-making. This is an open House Party, and we want you to explore with total freedom! Okay, maybe not total freedom because you’ll never find yourself in an overly violent or non-consensual situation.

Despite these protective measures in our thousands of branching narratives, we still had to split the base game from the explicit version, only to end up with a Mature 17+ rating and Adult Only 18+ rating, respectively. It was a years-long battle that we at Eek! Games were hellbent on winning.

You see, it’s about more than freeing the nipple – it’s about destigmatizing nudity and sex in the face of extreme video game gore. Does that mean we’re the anti-violence police? Absolutely not – you do you! But why should we glorify violence over encouraging people’s acceptance of their own bodies and sexual attractions? Where’s the logic in that?

That’s right – there isn’t any. Logic never seemed to be part of the equation, whereas social stigmas and the corresponding categorization of sex as devious or nefarious were the only two factors considered.

While we may not have the complete answer to that equation, we at the very least, have the imagination to address it. Are we collectively going to agree that using the f-word is that unagreeable? Un-fucking-believable.

 

Sources:

Bulletstorm Sales and More Insight Revealed in CEO Interview. (2018, October 18). PlayStation LifeStyle. https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2018/10/18/bulletstorm-sales-interview/

Bulletstorm—ESRB. (n.d.). ESRB Ratings. Retrieved July 7, 2022, from https://www.esrb.org/ratings/30438/Bulletstorm/

Greenspan, D., & Organization, W. I. P. (2013). Mastering the Game: Business and Legal Issues for Video Game Developers. WIPO.

House Party—ESRB. (n.d.). ESRB Ratings. Retrieved July 7, 2022, from https://www.esrb.org/ratings/38402/House%20Party/

Ratings Guides, Categories, Content Descriptors. (n.d.). ESRB Ratings. Retrieved July 7, 2022, from https://www.esrb.org/ratings-guide/

The Most Violent Video Games of All Time. (n.d.). PCMAG. Retrieved July 7, 2022, from https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-most-violent-video-games-of-all-time

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Are Sex and Nudity Bad?

Sex and nudity are strange concepts in western society. This is especially true for women – regarding nudity, a woman’s clothing choices are up for public debate her entire life. Like, school dress codes have long perpetuated the idea that her clothing choices somehow dictate her value as a person. School officials often monitor things as irrelevant as tank tops with thin straps, which sends a powerful message on how girls need to dress performatively, i.e., they need to acclimate themselves to society, or else there will be consequences. 

In America, this concept of monitoring how women dress echoes our wholly unproductive approach to sex education… and calling it “sex education” is a stretch. It’s more like, “if you have sex before marriage, terrible things happen” education. The Journal of Adolescent Health published a study focusing on the effectiveness of abstinence-only education, and the findings are (not) shocking: it doesn’t work (Santelli et al., 2017). And while it doesn’t work, that doesn’t mean it isn’t ineffective; it’s just effective in the wrong ways. 

By teaching abstinence, we vilify the act itself. This creates an environment where sex cannot be discussed openly or safely, which opens the floodgates for ill-informed, secretive actions. Needless to say, these teachings follow us into adulthood. People often think that talking about sex is taboo, and many shy away from it. Certain religions (not naming any names, but you know) commonly promote the idea that sex before marriage is sacrilegious and is a surefire way to pave your path toward The Dark Side. So, while we may be years past the “sexed education” we had to sit through in middle school, we are still plagued by conflicting, confusing messages about nudity and sex. 

With all of that said, sex and nudity sell. The pornography industry takes in anywhere from $15 billion to $97 billion a year (Naughton, 2018). Outside of adult videos, industries like clothing, self-care, and (not inherently sexual) entertainment like music, television, films, and more all utilize sex-appeal and partial or full nudity to sell their products or services. People want to consume sex and nudity. Yet, for some reason, there’s a huge disconnect between public opinion and how we allow ourselves to consume it. 

So, this begs the question: are sex and nudity bad? If our society both demonizes and values it, how can we possibly navigate a sex saturated world without getting a big, throbbing headache? 

The answer is pretty simple: sex and nudity aren’t actually bad. They’re natural – like, none of us would be here without sex and nudity. Because, you know, one can’t happen without the other. It should be completely normal to discuss sex among consenting adults like we would discuss our favorite morning coffee or our preference of movie genre. Sex and nudity are a natural part of life. The more we can talk about it, the healthier a relationship we will have with it. 

Regarding Video Games…

Obviously, there’s a reason that we’re talking about this. House Party, our player-choice game, has moments of sex and nudity. Because, well, what’s a good house party without those things? While the game focuses on comedy and storytelling, House Party has nonetheless gained a reputation as a sex game or an explicit game. We’re even banned from Twitch because the game contains options for (if you pay for the explicit content add-on) graphic sexual encounters. Mind you, the encounters are always enthusiastically consensual, and you have to work your a** off to achieve them.

But yeah, there’s sex in our game. There’s comedy and pranks and puzzles to solve and stories to hear and relationships to make or break. And sex. We made a game all about having fun at a party.  We’ve heard sex is fun… so we focus on sex positivity.

Our game rewards “good” decisions like supporting, empathizing, or assisting NPCs and penalizes “bad” ones like being misogynistic, hurtful, or dishonest. It’s designed to encourage goofy creativity and make you laugh. Sex and nudity are a bonus to hard work and dedication to tasks, so if you don’t want to see them, you do not have to go down those paths. 

That said, if you do want to see them, see them! Sex is not bad, and neither is nudity. Don’t get lost in the sex scenes, though – there are still lots of debaucherous shenanigans to get into, like saving Lety from Leah’s sales pitch for a personal defense studio or helping Amy complete her sorority’s scavenger hunt so she can make more friends.  

And, if you’re interested in House Party now… you can buy it on Steam, EPIC Games, and GOG.

 

References: 

Naughton, J. (2018, December 30). Growth of internet porn tells us more about ourselves than technology | John Naughton. The Guardian. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/30/internet-porn-says-more-about-ourselves-than-technology 

Santelli, J. S., Grilo, S. A., Lindberg, L. D., Speizer, I. I. S., Schalet, A., Heitel, J., Kantor, L. M., McGovern, T., Ott, M. A., Lyon, M. E., Rogers, J., Heck, C. J., & Mason-Jones, A. J. (2017, September 1). Abstinence-only-until-marriage policies and programs: An updated position paper of the Society for Adolescent Health and medicine. Journal of Adolescent Health. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(17)30297-5/fulltext 

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Eek! Games Got to Chat with Doja Cat for a Coveted Q&A

With the recent hype about Doja Cat coming to our House Party, the popular digital entertainment network Revolt.tv was able to get a coveted exclusive with, as Frank calls her, Ms. Cat herself.

Here’s what our favorite global superstar had to reveal:

Is your music in the game?

“Yes! Part of the story is to help me stream a live video, and I get to perform Kiss Me More – on top of a hot tub of course. The party also has its own playlist and if you get my mp3 player you can hook it up to the sound system and I think you can play Woman and Get Into It, Yuh and Kiss Me More. And yes, I have an mp3 player. Don’t throw shade.”

How authentic is your character? Is it Doja Cat or Doja Cat acting as an NPC?

“This character is me. You get to party with me, Doja Cat the performer, but you also get to meet me, Amala, the girl next door. But it’s not like I’m some dissociative character, it’s all just me. Eek Games made my digital character using photos and videos of me with real outfits I’ve worn and I voiced my own lines and collaborated on my own story.”

What was your favorite part about making the game?

“It was exciting to see the behind the scenes process – seeing all the steps it took to bring my character to life and reviewing all the story concepts and visuals when they came in. But I have to say the best part was the voice acting. I was able to let loose and ad-lib a lot of the lines. Being able to live inside this story was a great experience.”

The game is banned on Twitch despite receiving an M-rating from the ESRB and there is a larger conversation about the acceptable level of gratuitous violence in video games versus the censorship of nudity. What are your thoughts on that discussion?

“Unban me, bitches!”

We’re trying, Doja! Stay tuned for further discussion on this larger conversation about Twitch because as you can imagine, we’ve got plenty more to say.

Cheggout the Revolt exclusive here:  https://www.revolt.tv/article/2022-09-30/214175/doja-cat-talks-joining-house-party-for-her-virtual-video-game-debut/

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