Privates (video game)
{{Short description|2010 video game}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Privates
| developer = Size Five Games
| publisher = Size Five Games
| engine = Unity
| platforms = Windows
| released = 6 August 2010
| genre = Multidirectional shooter
| modes = Single-player
| programmer = Dan Marshall
}}
Privates is a freeware twin-stick shooter video game developed and published by Size Five Games (formerly Zombie Cow Studios) and commissioned by Channel 4 as a sex education tool. It was published on 6 August 2010 for Windows.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/08/06/privates-out-flapping-about-in-the-breeze/|title=Privates Out, Flapping About In The Breeze|last=Walker|first=John|date=2010-08-06|website=Rock, Paper, Shotgun|language=en-US|access-date=2017-08-12}} Privates was positively received by critics and won a BAFTA Award.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-11-28-sex-education-pc-game-privates-wins-a-bafta|title=Sex education PC game Privates wins a BAFTA|last=Purchese|first=Robert|date=2011-11-28|website=Eurogamer|language=en-UK|access-date=2017-08-12}}
Gameplay
The player plays as a squad of miniature Marines wearing condom hats who are sent into various people's vaginas and rectums, as well as other parts of the body, in order to kill real-life sexually transmitted infections (STI), which are depicted as monsters.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/05/17/exclusive-getting-intimate-with-privates|title=Exclusive: Getting Intimate With Privates|last=Walker|first=John|date=2010-05-17|website=Rock, Paper, Shotgun|language=en-US|access-date=2017-08-12}} The right weapons must be used to destroy them, which include anti-bacterial and anti-viral guns. The player can order their squad, which consists of up to three additional Marines besides the player, to attack certain enemy types while they cover the others.
Plot
Development
The game was funded by Channel 4, in order to promote safe sex for teenage boys.{{Cite web|url=https://www.destructoid.com/vagina-based-shooter-privates-too-sexual-for-xbox-360-184185.phtml|title=Vagina-based shooter Privates 'too sexual' for Xbox 360|website=Destructoid|date=17 September 2010|language=en|access-date=2017-08-12}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/zombie-cow-game-too-sexy-for-live|title=Zombie Cow game too sexy for Live?|last=Gibson|first=Ellie|date=2010-05-24|website=Eurogamer|language=en-UK|access-date=2017-08-12}} Developer Dan Marshall compared the game to Gunstar Heroes in its design. He called his Google Search history when making the game "eclectic, horrific and embarrassing", saying that "if my ISP are snooping on me, they're presumably pretty concerned about my well-being", and saying that the game's artist was "constantly getting sent stuff he desperately didn't want to look at". He also said that his eyes were "opened" about sexual health, and realised how easy STIs were to transmit.
The game was rejected from release on the Xbox 360 by Microsoft after being advised that it would fail peer review due to its overly sexual content. This decision was derided by critics, with Destructoid saying "I think it's very disturbing that we have a culture where deplorable violence is considered normal, but sex [...] is treated like something freakish and wrong".
Reception
Eurogamer said that it was "genuinely refreshing to experience something that gets straight to the point" about sexual health, pointing to "frightening" statistics amongst teenagers.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/privates-hands-on?page=2|title=Privates Hands On|last=Porter|first=Will|date=2010-07-28|website=Eurogamer|language=en-UK|access-date=2017-08-12}} Rock, Paper, Shotgun praised the game's writing and music, despite remarking on some audio issues.
The game was criticised by a feminist blog, Hoyden About Town, for being "misogynist".{{Cite news|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/119758/Opinion_Channel_4s_Privates_Controversy.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509073137/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/119758/Opinion_Channel_4s_Privates_Controversy.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 May 2012|title=Opinion: Channel 4's Privates Controversy|last=Denby|first=Lewis|access-date=2017-08-12|language=en}} In a counter-argument by Lewis Denby of Gamasutra, he said that the game does not try to send the message that women's genitals are "filthy and disease-ridden", but rather was a "great idea" due to its focus on sexual education, calling the article "tremendously bad reporting", but ultimately admitting that "the author has a point" and that humorous games about "serious issues" will always be open to criticism.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Size Five Games}}
Category:Sex education video games
Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom