I’m sure most of you are already aware of this story about Jack Thompson's next target(thanks Gamespot). To summarize, after helping to take down the filthy, filthy fully-clothed consensual urban-setting sex of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, gaming nemesis Thompson has turned his attention to another, even worse example of depravity: Sims 2. According to Thompson, the fact that EA blurs out the nude Sims in the game implies that there is something to hide. Even considering the fact that underneath the blur is a smooth blank, Thompson says, “The blur is an admission that even the 'Ken and Barbie' features should not be displayed. The blur can be disarmed. This is no different than what is in San Andreas, although worse."

He goes on to say that, with the proper mods, the blur on children can be removed, and “much to the delight, one can be sure, of pedophiles around the globe who can rehearse, in virtual reality, for their abuse.”

Now, I can sort of, kind of, almost barely understand the logic behind the San Andreas hoopla. The content was on the disc. It wasn’t all that difficult to unlock once someone found it. And the ESRB didn’t know about it, so it couldn’t be mentioned in the rating or in some formal documentation for Rockstar or Take-Two to cover their asses with. While as a parent, I’d have been more concerned with violent gang warfare than two adults having consensual sex, I can in some ways understand the media outcry.

But now this issue with Sims 2? C’mon. In this game, it is impossible, impossible to have nonconsensual sex. It is impossible to have sex with a child. Without heavy modification (which goes way beyond the “Hot Coffee” mod), the only sex in Sims 2 is legal, unrevealing, and predicated upon developing a strong relationship with one’s partner.

Personally, the attack on Sims 2 infuriates me far more than the attacks on Grand Theft Auto or other such games. The argument that pedophiles could modify the game so they could explore their sexual fantasies with children really says more to me about Thompson’s view of the world than it does the video game itself. It’s like saying that we should ban children’s coloring books because someone might draw a penis on one of the boys and use it as pedophilic pornography.

There’s also very cynical part of me that thinks Thompson’s attack on Sims 2 comes from the fact the game is open to multiple forms of sexuality. What are the chances that Thompson, as an openly conservative public figure, is uncomfortable with a game that allows homosexuality and bisexuality? The game's portrayal of sex is about as scandalous as taking a Barbie and Ken doll, pressing them together and making kissing noises. Both the ESRB rating and EA’s advertising both emphasize the fact that relationships can take a sexual turn. Nothing is being hidden or buried here. So in trying to limit the game's overt sexual content, is Thompson making a roundabout statement on the game's more liberal position on gay marriage and child rearing? In Thompson's eyes, is the game's dark, little secret the fact that it allows less normative sexuality to flourish?

And, if not, wouldn’t the sexuality in Sims 2 be the kind of sex you’d want teen players to know about? Think about it. Adults only. Consensual only. Have to be in a good relationship with both sides happy. Adultery and cheating is punished more than it is rewarded. Perhaps it’s just me, but maybe the relationship and family responsibilities in Sims 2 could be more beneficial to pubescent gamers than it is arousing to possible game-modifying pedophiles.