So it should be obvious, but this thread will likely be FULL of spoilers. I was going to put plot information behind spoiler tags, but as I was writing this post I very quickly realized that almost everything I have to say will reveal details about the plot and how it plays out. Anyone who hasn't seen the episode yet will be pretty much immediately spoiled if you continue reading.
If you haven't watched Black Mirror S5E1 yet, go do that before reading any further. This thread WILL ruin the episode for you otherwise. You have been warned!
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As someone who is both an avid gamer and someone who enjoys playing lots of porn games, this episode was highly entertaining for me and brought up a lot of questions. I don't really have any friends in real life who I feel comfortable discussing my H-game obsession with (because let's be honest, based on how many I've played and how much time I've invested in the genre, it's an obsession at this point haha), I figured I'd make a post here to see what the rest of you thought about it. We're all here for the same thing, after all.
Episode Summary:
"Striking Vipers" is about two friends Danny and Karl who liked playing fighting games together when they were younger. They always picked the same two characters, with Danny always choosing a male fighter (Lance) and Karl a female fighter (Roxy). A decade or so later, the two friends are mostly-settled adults and they reconnect over the newest fighting game in the series, now available in full VR. This VR platform is similar to the simulated worlds and gaming technology from previous Black Mirror episodes, using the same technology as before: a small bead attached to the side of the user's head, and every facet of the game is simulated within the user's mind. There is no bulky headset or awkward physical movements, everything's in your head.
Trailer (though it doesn't show any of the 'gameplay'):
Danny is in a committed marriage, trying to conceive a second child with his wife Theo. Karl is still somewhat living the bachelor/dating life, though throughout the episode he does appear to continue seeing the same woman for the most part.
One night when the two friends fire up the game for the first time together, after they fight they realize they can experience other sensations than just the combat. The guy playing as Lance gets pinned underneath Roxy, and the player grabs her ass and starts to kiss her. Clearly the two friends like the sensations the game is giving them and fall headfirst into the fantasy. It becomes a nightly thing for them to fire up the game and skip the fighting entirely, treating the game as a pure sex simulator. At one point in the episode they make it clear that the sex within that game world is the best sex they've ever experienced, and nothing else can compete with it.
The episode focuses on the ideas of modern sexuality, love, and to a smaller extent homoeroticism. I think it also attempts to ask the question of whether this kind of behavior is considered infidelity or if it's akin to pornography. Danny states that it's obviously infidelity and quits cold turkey when he realizes that his marriage is in jeopardy because of his actions. There's more, but I think that sums up the premise for the most part, as the rest of the episode is character development, drama, and plot resolution.
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Personal thoughts:
The entire time I was watching this episode, I couldn't help but think of my own best friend who I've played fighting games with since forever. The episode is weirdly accurate and kind of mirrors our own relationship, minus the sex-with-each-other-in-a-game narrative of course. I'm more like Karl in that I live a somewhat more tumultuous life, am not in a serious relationship and have bounced around a lot from girl to girl, with a penchant toward playing videogames (and H-games) regularly. My friend is definitely more like Danny in that he's in a committed relationship and has spent much of his life building a career and keeping a fairly stable and grounded life. We still have Street Fighter 2 Turbo nights from time to time, and it's always a toss-up whether my Chun-Li is going to beat his Ken. Like the Black Mirror episode, we almost always choose the same characters.
I should be clear: I have absolutely zero romantic or sexual interest toward my friend. I guess that's the same as the episode too, as at one point Danny and Karl meet privately in real life to force themselves to kiss each other in an effort to find out whether their attraction is real or solely because of the game. They kiss, and immediately realize that there's no spark there--it's all about the sex game... although Karl does mention that he's tried having sex with other players or NPC's but it's never as good as when he's doing it with Danny in the game, so I'm not sure what to make of that.
I know I wouldn't be interested if he were playing as a male character and I were playing as a female, but would I feel differently if my friend were playing as Chun-Li, in a skimpy uniform, with soft 'skin' and other highly sexualized features? That's a tough one, but I'm pretty sure I still wouldn't be able to do it. I just don't think I could bring myself to have sex with my friend in a game even if he's all for it and his avatar is the most attractive woman on the planet. It would still be him controlling that avatar, and that's a pretty hard pass for me.
But if it were a stranger? I dunno.
Also, it's pretty obvious to me that what Danny and Karl are doing is without a doubt infidelity toward their partners. The fact that Karl states that the in-game sex is only good when it's with Danny makes it especially clear. But where is the line drawn? If they didn't have that kind of connection, and they had just as much fun doing it with other random players across the world, would it be more like playing a VR porn game? Personally, I think that if they were only doing it with NPC's then you could make the argument for it being no different than watching porn. But there are lots of people who think that even watching porn or playing porn games is similar to infidelity, so even doing it with NPC's in this virtual environment it's pretty likely that your partner may feel slighted.
I'm also not even sure that the premise of the show is accurate. I feel this future game wouldn't be so different from current videogame creation in that every facet of a game has to be handcrafted by developers with intention. You don't just 'accidentally' make a game environment that has the capability to give you the best and most mind-blowing sex you've ever experienced. Hell, you don't even accidentally make sexy-looking characters. Every character's skin and curves are conscious decisions made not just by one person but by a whole team of people. That's why there are so many nude mods for various games, because if the developers didn't make it, you've got to mod it in yourself. I have a feeling that this VR game in Black Mirror would be no different.
I guess you could make the case that maybe Karl gave his friend a modded copy of the game. That's certainly feasible.
I would play the hell out of a game like this, but I don't think I could ever play with real people. Being that this is F95zone I feel totally comfortable saying that I hope these kind of VR games are our future and attainable within our lifetimes. Imagine a VR world where you can have any of the weirdest sex you want with whatever character(s) you lust after, male or female or anything in between. And it feels totally real? I'm all in.
-~-
Further questions:
1. Would you play a game like this?
2. Do you think this episode's premise is even accurate, or would sexual sensations be something that the game's developers would have to actively program into the game?
3. Would you consider having simulated sex with other people in a virtual environment to be cheating on your partner? Why or why not, and where would you draw the line?
4. Could you have VR sex with strangers? People you knew? Or would you only be comfortable doing that with pre-programmed NPC's? Why or why not?
5. Would you consider what Karl and Danny were doing to be a homosexual or heterosexual experience, or something in between? Does it make a difference if it's mostly fantasy within a simulated environment?
What other thoughts did you have after watching this episode?
If you haven't watched Black Mirror S5E1 yet, go do that before reading any further. This thread WILL ruin the episode for you otherwise. You have been warned!
-~-
As someone who is both an avid gamer and someone who enjoys playing lots of porn games, this episode was highly entertaining for me and brought up a lot of questions. I don't really have any friends in real life who I feel comfortable discussing my H-game obsession with (because let's be honest, based on how many I've played and how much time I've invested in the genre, it's an obsession at this point haha), I figured I'd make a post here to see what the rest of you thought about it. We're all here for the same thing, after all.
Episode Summary:
"Striking Vipers" is about two friends Danny and Karl who liked playing fighting games together when they were younger. They always picked the same two characters, with Danny always choosing a male fighter (Lance) and Karl a female fighter (Roxy). A decade or so later, the two friends are mostly-settled adults and they reconnect over the newest fighting game in the series, now available in full VR. This VR platform is similar to the simulated worlds and gaming technology from previous Black Mirror episodes, using the same technology as before: a small bead attached to the side of the user's head, and every facet of the game is simulated within the user's mind. There is no bulky headset or awkward physical movements, everything's in your head.
Trailer (though it doesn't show any of the 'gameplay'):
Danny is in a committed marriage, trying to conceive a second child with his wife Theo. Karl is still somewhat living the bachelor/dating life, though throughout the episode he does appear to continue seeing the same woman for the most part.
One night when the two friends fire up the game for the first time together, after they fight they realize they can experience other sensations than just the combat. The guy playing as Lance gets pinned underneath Roxy, and the player grabs her ass and starts to kiss her. Clearly the two friends like the sensations the game is giving them and fall headfirst into the fantasy. It becomes a nightly thing for them to fire up the game and skip the fighting entirely, treating the game as a pure sex simulator. At one point in the episode they make it clear that the sex within that game world is the best sex they've ever experienced, and nothing else can compete with it.
The episode focuses on the ideas of modern sexuality, love, and to a smaller extent homoeroticism. I think it also attempts to ask the question of whether this kind of behavior is considered infidelity or if it's akin to pornography. Danny states that it's obviously infidelity and quits cold turkey when he realizes that his marriage is in jeopardy because of his actions. There's more, but I think that sums up the premise for the most part, as the rest of the episode is character development, drama, and plot resolution.
-~-
Personal thoughts:
The entire time I was watching this episode, I couldn't help but think of my own best friend who I've played fighting games with since forever. The episode is weirdly accurate and kind of mirrors our own relationship, minus the sex-with-each-other-in-a-game narrative of course. I'm more like Karl in that I live a somewhat more tumultuous life, am not in a serious relationship and have bounced around a lot from girl to girl, with a penchant toward playing videogames (and H-games) regularly. My friend is definitely more like Danny in that he's in a committed relationship and has spent much of his life building a career and keeping a fairly stable and grounded life. We still have Street Fighter 2 Turbo nights from time to time, and it's always a toss-up whether my Chun-Li is going to beat his Ken. Like the Black Mirror episode, we almost always choose the same characters.
I should be clear: I have absolutely zero romantic or sexual interest toward my friend. I guess that's the same as the episode too, as at one point Danny and Karl meet privately in real life to force themselves to kiss each other in an effort to find out whether their attraction is real or solely because of the game. They kiss, and immediately realize that there's no spark there--it's all about the sex game... although Karl does mention that he's tried having sex with other players or NPC's but it's never as good as when he's doing it with Danny in the game, so I'm not sure what to make of that.
I know I wouldn't be interested if he were playing as a male character and I were playing as a female, but would I feel differently if my friend were playing as Chun-Li, in a skimpy uniform, with soft 'skin' and other highly sexualized features? That's a tough one, but I'm pretty sure I still wouldn't be able to do it. I just don't think I could bring myself to have sex with my friend in a game even if he's all for it and his avatar is the most attractive woman on the planet. It would still be him controlling that avatar, and that's a pretty hard pass for me.
But if it were a stranger? I dunno.
Also, it's pretty obvious to me that what Danny and Karl are doing is without a doubt infidelity toward their partners. The fact that Karl states that the in-game sex is only good when it's with Danny makes it especially clear. But where is the line drawn? If they didn't have that kind of connection, and they had just as much fun doing it with other random players across the world, would it be more like playing a VR porn game? Personally, I think that if they were only doing it with NPC's then you could make the argument for it being no different than watching porn. But there are lots of people who think that even watching porn or playing porn games is similar to infidelity, so even doing it with NPC's in this virtual environment it's pretty likely that your partner may feel slighted.
I'm also not even sure that the premise of the show is accurate. I feel this future game wouldn't be so different from current videogame creation in that every facet of a game has to be handcrafted by developers with intention. You don't just 'accidentally' make a game environment that has the capability to give you the best and most mind-blowing sex you've ever experienced. Hell, you don't even accidentally make sexy-looking characters. Every character's skin and curves are conscious decisions made not just by one person but by a whole team of people. That's why there are so many nude mods for various games, because if the developers didn't make it, you've got to mod it in yourself. I have a feeling that this VR game in Black Mirror would be no different.
I guess you could make the case that maybe Karl gave his friend a modded copy of the game. That's certainly feasible.
I would play the hell out of a game like this, but I don't think I could ever play with real people. Being that this is F95zone I feel totally comfortable saying that I hope these kind of VR games are our future and attainable within our lifetimes. Imagine a VR world where you can have any of the weirdest sex you want with whatever character(s) you lust after, male or female or anything in between. And it feels totally real? I'm all in.
-~-
Further questions:
1. Would you play a game like this?
2. Do you think this episode's premise is even accurate, or would sexual sensations be something that the game's developers would have to actively program into the game?
3. Would you consider having simulated sex with other people in a virtual environment to be cheating on your partner? Why or why not, and where would you draw the line?
4. Could you have VR sex with strangers? People you knew? Or would you only be comfortable doing that with pre-programmed NPC's? Why or why not?
5. Would you consider what Karl and Danny were doing to be a homosexual or heterosexual experience, or something in between? Does it make a difference if it's mostly fantasy within a simulated environment?
What other thoughts did you have after watching this episode?
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