The boys game is an infamous quiz game from 2004 in which real women show their breasts in the style of Girls have gone wild Videos. Its sale was banned in 2005 after the studio behind the game was sued for showing footage of an underage girl. This weekend, it showed up at a booth at a video game convention full of retro games with a $250 price tag.
Too many games is an annual convention held just outside of Philadelphia, PA. It is full of vendors, artists, contests, and panels where enthusiasts celebrate their passion for games and maybe pick up a rare collectible or two. That’s where Torren Moreno, who goes by “Jab50Yen” online, was last weekend when she discovered a copy of The boys game for the original Xbox at a stand.
“We went to this stand and a few games caught our eye and I noticed The boys game was there,” said Moreno My city in a series of private messages. “I was stunned and laughed in disbelief that it was $250 and me and two other people were taking pictures of it. The seller laughed and asked if we were taking pictures of the guy’s game. I said yes and asked if it was so expensive because of the scandal. He said yes, even knowing that eBay is actively halting all listings of the game.”
TooManyGames did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Moreno tweeted a picture of the game from the convention, which immediately went viral. While they specifically pointed out the price of $250, which was even more than the copy of Lunar: The Silver Star for Sega CD, others quickly noticed the game’s sleazy history. Commenters in the thread pointed out The boys game Its sale was banned long ago for depicting underage nudity, following a lawsuit shortly after its release.
Produced by Topheavy Studios and directed by Jeff Spangenberg, founder of Metroid-Prime Manufacturer Retro Studios, The boys game was hosted by a comedian named Matt Sadler, who interviewed women on the beach during spring break. This was the Back of the box:
The Guy Game takes you to the wildest party place on earth for the hottest Spring Break action ever! Filmed live on South Padre Island, this red-hot trivia challenge lets you play during Spring Break insanity with over 60 hot coeds who proudly display their “assets” for your personal enjoyment. You bring the party and we provide the game – YOU’LL SCORE EVERY TIME!
Players earned points that filled a “Flash-O-Meter” that unlocked FMV scenes featuring real women exposing themselves. IGNThe then editor-in-chief gave the game a 7.7 out of 10and called it “like You don’t know Jack with breasts” in a review that since then removed.
In December 2004However, an anonymous woman sued Topheavy, claiming that segments featuring her had been included in the final game without her knowledge and that she was a minor at the time of filming. Although the studio argued that the woman had fraudulently posed as eighteen years old during filming, the court issued a temporary restraining order in 2005 preventing the distribution of The boys gamewhich was ultimately confirmed in the appeal process.
“The Man has decided that our entertaining and hilarious presentation of Spring Break festivities is simply not appropriate for the world of gaming,” Topheavy Studios wrote on its website after the decision. IGN reported sadly. “Maybe we should have blown something up?”
Apart from being the target of the lawsuit, The boys game has also become a lightning rod for politicians who want to combat sex and violence in games more generally. The then governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, who was later convicted of public corruption, used The boys game Push forward legislation This makes it illegal to sell games with an age rating of M to children. It also appeared on Capitol Hill during a hearing on pornography.
After Moreno tweeted that it was for sale at TooManyGames, he said security for the convention seemed to be aware the situation and tried to find the stand where it was. “Not long after, they found the stand and confirmed that it was pulled from the shelf,” they said My city“Whether someone bought it or whether they withdrew it after the tweet went viral has yet to be confirmed.”
Apparently it wasn’t the only one for sale at the convention. Someone else tweeted a picture of a PS2 copy of the gameallegedly from the event that sold for $400. “One guy really didn’t seem to know anything about the scandal and immediately withdrew it, only to then admit that he doesn’t play games at all and is only in the business to resell,” Moreno said. “Other booths didn’t seem so apologetic about it.”
But they also didn’t want their viral tweet to reflect badly on the rest of TooManyGames. “They’re beating all records with their booths for retro games, indie and AAA video game companies, esports, arcades and guests,” Moreno said. “It’s definitely one of the best video game events in the Northeast. You can’t be informed about every item that every single booth is selling. And when they found out about my tweet, they took immediate action. So I hope people will give this event a chance despite everything.”
