Strong language and sexual themes do not, by themselves, make for better games.

They're just storytelling elements. The question in this thread's title is not unlike asking whether having a grandstanding villain or having a hero turn traitor is by itself a good thing in a story.

The answer: it all depends on how it's used.

In FFVII, Barret Wallace's cussing is a pretty integral part of his personality. On the other hand, if you write TF2's Spy a lot of lines involving bad language, that wouldn't serve well the theme of his childish superiority complex.

I would say it changes the mood of the game. thus it depends on the game.

Not better, but more mature, and that appeals a lot more for me

Depends how they use them.Other then that idc if it has strong language and sex as long as it's good.

I think it doesnt help with gameplay but by making the story more believable or taken more seriously since you can understand the emotions a bit better the producer is trying to portray.

You are from the US, right? Just out of curiosity: How do you feel about violence in games? Do violent themes make better games?

I agree with you. There are titles that I have chosen not to buy because of that. I guess it has saved me ~$200 though so from that perspective I guess its good.

These two things add flavour. A good example would be Bulletstorm.

Tl;dr old fart, uptight gamer says gta makes kids steal cars

Get a decade. I hope you're not a judge or a politician.

It honestly depends on how it's handled. Violence and sex and language for its own sake is rarely good, but if it's handled maturely (or immaturely, if it's a good parody/satire), then it can be an integral part of the game, whether it's everywhere or if it's only once every thousand lines. Generalising here, but biking game with bare breasts everywhere just to sell? Bad. Swearing as the world around you is blowing up? Good.

Yes it does. Game with prison theme without strong language is bad game.

They don't make games better but neither does avoiding them.

Depends on the game.
Batman with no violence = probably a bad game (definitely a different game)
Mario with sexual themes = probably a bad game... maybe....
Tetris with violence... different, but not necessarily better or worse.

To be honest, I can't think of any games where sexual themes really make a better game (Mass Effect and Witcher don't need it to be a solid game (I think... I've yet to go through ME2 and ME3)), but I don't doubt that there are games out there that would be terrible without it, much as removing that element from a movie like "Closer" would render it pointless.

(also, after reading replies here, I missed that you said "strong language" and not "violence")

Wierd, maybe that point of view is a byproduct of starting with Zork, I did as well and feel the same way. Pretty much.

It really depends on how it's used and while many people don't care how, when, where or how much, for me it can be problematic to the story. For example I'm playing Hard Reset right now. It's been fun but the dialogue is wearing on me since the main character has no gauge on how he speaks. In serious trouble, fbomb, in an ok situation, fbomb, minor inconvenience, fbomb, found a penny, fbomb. When he or anyone uses the same language in any situation starts to become meaningless and I start to not care what he says. It could be the same for any word. That's why I hate Jar Jar Binks. But the importance of the story is something that's changing in the new gen of games, they've found most new gamers today skip dialogue and cut-scenes entirely.

Tits. Tits alone make better games

No, the exception is Duke Nukem Forever... Now seriously: I like it only if it is with humour. Bad language and vulgarities alone don't draw my attention.

No. I prefer fun colourful family friendly games, where I can compare achievements or in game skills with my family members. Some blood and gore are accepted.

Sexual theme with uncensored content hinders me from playing that game, because the location of my pc in the living room. But seriously, if I'm looking for sexual content in game, I'll probably will buy some eroge or just straight to porn sites. I wish there's an option in The Witcher for censoring the sex scenes and tits. Maybe I will writie an email to CD Projekt about this.

Of course they don't make a better game. They sure make a different game, though. Like everyone else said: It's a design decision. Sometimes it becomes a marketing decision; that usually means the game will manage the rare feat of sucking and blowing at the same time.

Also: I disagree that violence is the main reason to play games. I love Point and Click Adventures, I love Civilization (and Colonization) and I love the Portal series. I'm a sucker for a well told narrative; presenting violence is not important, the story as a whole is. I also like optimizing stuff, so that's my love for Civ/Col right there ;)

Strong language is useful in some games to give it the right feeling. Sometimes you need it to get the atmosphere that fits to the game. It doesn't improve the game itself, but I think it is needed in some games. And since the atmosphere is a very important thing in video games, they can improve the game, but they don't always do.

Sexual themes are not needed in a game. They don't improve the atmosphere in any way and if I want to see some, I can always type specific things in my browser.

Watch the Devil May Cry boss trailer. The first 1:20, for me it totally ruins the whole thing. Way over the top and pretty childish in the way they've used strong language... My opinion is if there is strong language and/or sexual content in the game, it has to actually fit in with the story and atmosphere.

I think therein lies the art of making games. Why throw in sex just for the fun of it? If it doesn't fit the context, it's pointless. Same goes for strong language or violence. For example, look at the ridiculous trailer for the new Devil May Cry game. It looks stupid because it misrepresents Dante. Sex and perverse language are becoming more of a daily part of life, so instances of these in games do reflect the times, but if it doesn't fit the context, it's just silly and puts the artist in a poor light.

let's answer it this way:
Zelda: a link to the past
Metroid
Mario RPG
etc

Well, in my opinion it depends.
Forcing it in the game every 5 seconds is stupid.
But being a hypocrite and avoiding it at all costs even when it could fit is kinda lame too, imo anyway.
So I think it makes the game better if it's in the right places - if it's not forced into the game, if it's only there when it fits, and as long as it's in the right amounts (not too much).

it very depends on the setting. a battlefield or call of duty doesn't need sexual themed elements. strong language depends of the social background of the man/woman. upper classes usually don't use foul language (in some cases maybe). some lower classes or in certain social environments a strong language is more common. so in GTA san andreas the language would fit. in brutal games like manhunt it could be even authentic if you could cut of arms and legs but this kind of feature should be only in high violence games.
the famous airport mission in modern warfare 2 can be seen as a normal mission where you shoot people but doesn't fit into the game at all. also that scene in MW3 with the family. it has absolutely no connections to the rest of the game so it's useless.