American Multiple Industries
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American Multiple Industries, doing business as Mystique, was a company that produced a line of pornographic video games for the Atari 2600 called Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica,[1] which included the games Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em, Bachelor Party and Custer's Revenge. It was one of several video game companies that tried to use sex to sell its games.[2]
History
[edit]The brand name Swedish Erotica was licensed from a series of pornographic films by Caballero Control Corporation, although they were programmed in the United States, and manufactured in Hong Kong.
"I just don't believe adults want to shoot down rocket ships", AMI's president Stuart Kesten said.[3] According to industry watchers and critics, AMI's game designs were generally simple, with crude graphics and unexceptional gameplay, most resembling already-existing non-pornographic games that were successful in their initial form.
All games in the Swedish Erotica series were developed by Joel H. Martin, whose only known credits are on AMI games.[4]
Controversy
[edit]AMI's game Custer's Revenge gained particular notoriety for its plot. In the game, the player controls the character of "Custer," a naked man sporting a cowboy hat and a visible erection, obviously inspired by George Armstrong Custer. Custer has to overcome various obstacles in order to rape a crudely depicted, large-breasted Native American woman who is tied to a cactus. The game prompted complaints from a number of groups—women's rights, anti-pornography, Native American, and video game critics all made complaints.
AMI exited the video game industry just before the video game crash of 1983.[5] AMI's share of the rights to the games were sold to the PlayAround spin-off company, which continued the pornographic game line.
See also
[edit]- List of video games notable for negative reception
- Video game controversies
- Sexism in video gaming
- Gender representation in video games
References
[edit]- ^ Willaert, Kate (6 September 2021). "Porno Hustlers Of The Atari Age". Kotaku. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
- ^ Moriarty, Tim (October 1983). "Uncensored Videogames". Videogaming & Computer Gaming Illustrated. Ion International. pp. 19–21, 61–62.
- ^ "Stream of video games is endless". Milwaukee Journal. 1982-12-26. pp. Business 1. Archived from the original on 2016-03-12. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
- ^ "Joel H. Martin". MobyGames.com.
- ^ Paschal, Jan (1983-01-15). "Firm Ends Adult Video Game Production". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2022-04-25.