Book Review: 'Porn & Pong: How Grand Theft Auto ... and other Sexy Games Changed Our Culture'

January 15, 11:35 AMGadgets ExaminerDan Appleman

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Porn & Pong - a great read for
those interested in the history
of technology.

It’s well known that the pornography industry has driven numerous technological advances in media. One of the reasons that the VHS format won over Betamax was the availability of X-rated videos on VHS. Pornography drove advancements in Internet technology, especially in the earlier days of the web. And, pornography has been a part of video games from their earliest days. Porn & Pong is a fascinating look at the history of pornography in video games and modern media.

The bulk of the book is in the form of a history, where each era includes a background of porn in the general media and culture along with coverage of sexuality in the video games of the time. Reading the book is like traveling in time and watching society become more and more liberal and open in dealing with sexuality, more tolerant of different lifestyle choices, and less tolerant of sexual violence and racism (while enthusiastically accepting all other forms of violence).

My only criticism of the book is that it does not live up to the promise of its title. While there is no doubt that games have changed in their dealing with sexuality, it is not at all clear whether the games have changed our culture, or are reflections of a changing culture. A stronger case is made for the idea that media in general (TV, film, video and video games) have changed our culture and have done so in part by reinforcing each other.

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the book, though not too surprising when you really think about it, is the coverage of pornography in Japanese video games. Politicians and moralists in the U.S. get quite irate at any hint of explicit sexuality in our violence ridden games (something that always puzzled me). Meanwhile, Japan produces a wide variety of X-rated games (called Hentai) for the PC that are widely available and seem to provoke little comment. Many of them are available in English.

If you have any interest in history, you’ll find Porn & Pong a fascinating and enjoyable read.