I saw the issue as three fold: Appropriate material for children, inclement political issues, gender issues.

The hobby can't decide if it is a child friendly product or not. Most parents associate the word "GAME" with children and villify manufacturers if they contain anything that is questionable content for a child of 12. Slapping a "for mature players" tag on the cover isn't enough since this same product is sold side by side with apples to apples.

I don't have much comment on games that are politically incorrect because most people are idiots who take themselves far too seriously. We've all lost someone we know in the war on terror so I wish some people would stop acting like that makes them special.

One of the gender issue games you omitted was Beach Bunny Bimbos with Blasters from Tri Tac Systems. This game never got off the ground, partially I believe because nobody thought it was a "real" game. Games that are done intentially in a b-movie style are not taken seriously. So even though the game was a complete game with system, npc races, and lots of ideas for alien invasion adventures, it never sold more than a few hundred copies over the last 15 years.

Oh naturally everyone assumed that the Bimbos were solely women. Men can't be bimbos?

Great comments, Bruce.

I am not of the view that "think of the children" is always a sop, I agree there are legitimate worries about mature material getting to children before they are ready. I am not talking about sneaking in to see an R-rated movie - if we allow that film (and music and games and theater and sports and other entertainment) may move us, change us, make us better as the ancients believed, we have to admit that it matters what kids are exposed to. A colorful cartoony game may very much not be appropriate for kids. How to get that across is a conundrum. People were horrified at underground comics' depictions of sex and drugs during that movement's explosion - here was a "kiddie" format that was doing something way over the top.

And as for games that take themselves seriously, or don't take very serious subject matter seriously, I think that's a red herring. I mean, Aristophanes is full of potty humor. Shakespeare is too, times one million. Potty humor is funny, or else it wouldn't exist. Whether it's high comedy, low comedy, high drama, low drama, or anything else, I think controversial games need to fully engage with the controversy and the opposition in the same way controversial movies or books do, instead of sniveling away behind the "it's just a gaaaame" or "we were just joooking, where's your sense of huuuumor" excuses.

I just listened to your show on controversial games and I wanted to bring up a few points.

A lot of the controversies came down to some people being offended. I just wanted to say that people do NOT have the right NOT to be offended. We sometimes get a little too caught up with personal offense as if that is a reason others must suddenly change or suppress themselves so that life is as inoffensive to everyone as possible. That is nonsense.

I also wanted to say that I was a gamer in high school in the 80s with all the D&D controversy. I was lucky, my father is a pastor, and he saw the value in D&D and made sure all that garbage about didnâ??t stop me from being able to play with my friends. At the time was I was just a teen, I had no power in society, but I worked hard for some money and I used it to purchase D&D books. What bothered me was the feeling of betrayal by the companies that I was giving my very hard earned money to because the companies seemed more then ready to disregard me and what I wanted as a customer and change, rewrite, and avoid topics based on people that didnâ??t like the game, would not buy the game (expect maybe to burn it), and didnâ??t like me or what I did with my time. AND much of the objections came from myths and lies about the game, its content, and the people that play it.

Also anyone can run their store any way they want, and I would not stay differently. But I as a customer I decide where I spend my money and what businesses I patron. If I find that a business owner is running the business in a way that I consider bending over backward to placate the people who would look down on or attack my choice of hobby, people who are not customers, then I will most definitely take my business elsewhere. I maybe a little harsh here, but if you want to run a business for hostile non-customers, go ahead, but I will not frequent such a place.

Now while I am also concerned something like what happened in the 80s might come up again, I am not a powerless teen anymore and do not have to stand for such things. I can contact legal representation, I have my government representation on speed dial, I have access to vast information on the Internet. Also the game is not just played by the relatively few or young. Many people of all ages have either played or know someone who played, so it is a little harder to pass on false information. Also gamers are a passionate lot, they have money, they have good jobs, and they can put up quite a fight if roused to anger.

I'm saying the part of the problem with controversal games is one of expectations. I'm not saying that RPG's need to be sanitized, but that the industry as a whole needs to promote the idea that there are many rpgs but not all are for all ages. Anime has the same problem, which has been mediated by exposure to content on Adult Swim, prime time shows such as Family Guy, and others. Before that, a R+ rated anime raised many eyebrows of uneducated parents.

During the design process for Fringeworthy, I posted a poll to our team asking them to categorize our expected audience. The options covered ages 4 to 50, rich to poor, educated to illiterate. Some responded by marking ALL as our core audience. There are some out there who hold the same yardstick to all RPG games.

Regarding politically incorrect games as a red herring. Sorry, but I've seen games banned from Gencon, costing the producers many thousands of dollars in direct sales and opportunities for exposure to their audience. Sure scandal can stimulate sales, but it is a poor business plan

As a consumer I understand the frustration of not finding truly interesting and cutting edge products. Ours is a small hobby. Yet we villify those who product bland products in hopes of making a profit and likewise villify others who take a chance and produce controversial content even if it original.

Even so, I can't buy everthing that is produced, nor should I. I have no use for the manual of erotic fantasy. But I can add my voice to the defense of its authors and so I shall. I can buy products I do use and not pirate them. I can give them to others for birthdays and christmas. I can buy them from my local game store at a higher price than Amazon.com so there will be a place where I can taste the forbidden fruit in public.