Like I said at the end of my first post about The Sims 3, the teen pregnancy rate for sims is zero. Makes perfect sense seeing as how teen sims can't WooHoo. But, as we all know, teen pregnancy is all too common in real life, so why not have it in a game that's supposed to be realistic?
According to the publisher, EA Games, teen pregnancy is not part of the game because it could raise the game's ERSB rating from T (for Teen) to M (for Mature Audiences Only), and it's so off-limits that they won't even allow people to discuss teen pregnancy in their forums.
Not that this has stopped gamers from getting their teen sims knocked-up. Thousands of players have downloaded a mod--a piece of code that changes elements of the game--that allows teens to WooHoo, get married, and have babies. (I want to clarify that this particular mod only allows teen-on-teen action, so none of these players can develop a Lolita plotline for their sims.)
Mods are developed by players who then upload their creation to share with others, but they come with risks and sometimes have unexpected consequences. While some players can download a mod and their game goes on without a hitch, other players can lose all their saved games or even crash their game altogether. But there are some results that are more surprising:
1. If the new young parents are released from the hospital past curfew the police will arrest them.
2. If the teens aren't married the baby won't recognize its father.
3. With an early version of the mod, both teens could get stuck in bed and pregnant teens could go into "perpetual labor."
Still, thousands have downloaded the mod and thank the creator for making their game more realistic. Of course, not everyone supports the idea of having teen pregnancy in the game. Similar to arguments we hear against the TV show "16 and Pregnant," some people think that having teen pregnancy in the game would somehow promote or encourage it in real life. Others simply think that teen pregnancy has no place in the game. I would link to their comments so you can read them firsthand, but EA Games has since deleted all of them.
Personally, I have no thoughts on the matter and will not download the mod simply because I get my fill of teen pregnancy from 9-5. But I'd love to hear whether or not you think that teen pregnancy should be in The Sims 3 and, unlike EA Games, we won't delete your comments!
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