Video Game Thoughts: Nudity in Video Games

So I don't know if you've heard the news but Ellen Page, the 26 year old Canadian actress, is sueing Sony due to her leaked naked pictures of her in the video game Beyond: Two Souls. Here's the offending picture, with the necessary censorship put in place by some unknown forum.

I know what you're wondering.You're wondering how naked pictures of the actress can be "leaked" if they're in the game. The answer to that is a very interesting one, worth mentioning in this discussion.

There is no scene in which you see Ellen Page naked in Beyond: Two Souls. 

Let me explain. Beyond: Two Souls is a cinematic game very much in the vein of Heavy Rain. Indeed, it was made by Quantic Dream and written/directed by David Cage. Both were.

Ellen Page agreed to have her likeness used in a video game. She agreed to have her voice used as well.

The shower scene in the game is supposed to be tactful. It's supposed to contain camera angles and cinematography techniques that would not show her breasts.

But we live in a world in which not everything is dandy and people own debugged PS3's. 

Some hacked consoles allow players to MOVE THE CAMERA ANGLE.

And we ended up with this picture and presumably others.

Ellen Page found out about this and threatened to sue Sony. She probably won't. Streisand Effect. Her agents/lawyers will advise her not to in order to keep the incident away from the general public. But should she? Should she sue Sony, the Japanese company who made the PS3? Or Quantic Dream, the French studio who made the game? Or David Cage, the American who wrote the game?

One thing worth mentioning is that Ellen Page apparently did not give Cage permission to design a fully naked sculpt of her in the first place. This just makes this even more confusing and makes me worry if David Cage has naked sculpts of me, my family and everyone I know and care about.

Was Ellen not told about the shower scene when she was reading the script? Was it omitted? Did she think her character would shower whilst clothed? Is it childish for an actor to insist that they are taken seriously whilst opening a lawsuit because a game company portrayed her in the buff?

Is it technically HER in the game anyway?

It's her voice, yes. It's her face, yes. But it's not her naked body. It's a CG sculpt that an artist made. Is this any different from someone doodling some boobies with a pencil and slapping a picture of Ellen Page's face on it? Is it the fact that it's closer to resembling Ellen Page? Do the graphics contribute in any way to this potential court case? There are no easy answers and it is definitely one of the most controversial topics I've come across in a long time. By all means, weigh in with your own opinions in the comments.

I'm looking forward to reading them.