The online games arena seems to be doing everything imaginable to facilitate gamers abilities to reach out and touch each other, virtually and/or viscerally. In the coming months, a number of “erotic games” – some of which allow players to use web cams to interact intimately within game play or schedule offline hook-ups – will be released. (One title has just debuted.) This spate of “erotic game” releases is framing a growing debate among sexual health experts.

Many experts fear that users will be unable to draw a line between the virtual world and the real world. They say that using technology as an enabler of communication and interaction can be beneficial, but using technology as a substitute for human contact can lead to a serious imbalance. Both sides seem to agree that consenting adults are “entitled” to participate in such games, but the naysayers express a certain wariness when a discussion of the level of commitment required to qualify as a hard-core “erotic gamer” is broached.