The crowds were diverse: Among their numbers could be counted men and women from a range of races, ages and nationalities. and just 30 minutes before the scheduled opening the crowds began to swarm. I arrived at the Melbourne exhibition center at 3 p.m. on the first day of the event, avoiding the predictably long queue. 24 to 27 in Melbourne, Australia.(JP/Hendri Yulius) With its promise of being “not just about sex”, the recent event offered multiple forms of carnal entertainments – strip shows, a comedy hypnotist, fetish demonstrations, international porn stars and even audience participation competitions: the World Famous Amateur Strip and Sexy Cosplay Competition. 24 to 27, was something that had never before crossed my mind.Īlthough I had devoted my time to write about pornography and sexuality during my studies in Singapore, direct encounters with the industries allow a more nuanced analysis – a brief ethnography that takes seriously the personal experiences of the people working in the industries and also my very own embodiment as both a consumer and observer.Ĭonceived in Melbourne and hailed as the longest-running adult consumer exhibition in the world, this year's SEXPO celebrates its 20-year anniversary, having drawn crowds to celebrate sexuality throughout its long-spanning history. While Zuckerberg sees stronger social ties coming from non-gaming uses of VR, Miyamoto clearly remains unsold on the merits of multiplayer gaming with technologies like Oculus Rift.Going to Melbourne, Australia, to venture into an exhibition of sex industries, porn stars and sex workshops in SEXPO, which ran from Nov. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.” By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. This is really a new communication platform. “Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face – just by putting on goggles in your home. When his company agreed to pay $2bn for the startup in March, Zuckerberg suggested that as VR goes beyond gaming, it will be an inherently social experience: It’s a philosophical difference rather than a commercial argument, then – although Miyamoto’s views leave the way open for Nintendo to continue experimenting with the technology in private, if it so desires.įacebook has talked about Oculus in a very different way, in terms of its social nature.
And so I have a little bit of uneasiness with whether or not that’s the best way for people to play.” “When you think about what virtual reality is, which is one person putting on some goggles and playing by themselves kind of over in a corner, or maybe they go into a separate room and they spend all their time alone playing in that virtual reality, that’s in direct contrast with what it is we’re trying to achieve with Wii U. In the view of Miyamoto – and by extension Nintendo – VR gaming headsets aren’t the best technology to achieve that aim: “We want the Wii U to be a game system that brings video gamers into the living room… It’s intended to be fun not only for the person who’s playing, but also for the people who are watching.” “As game designers, we at Nintendo are interested in VR technology and what it can do, but at the same time what we’re trying to do with Wii U is to create games for everyone in the living room,” Miyamoto told Time this week.