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American Multiple Industries, doing business as Mystique, was a company that produced a line of pornographic video games for the Atari 2600 called Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica,^[1] which included the games Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em, Bachelor Party and Custer's Revenge. It was one of several video game companies that tried to use sex to sell its games.^[2]

History

The brand name Swedish Erotica was licensed from a series of pornographic films by Caballero Control Corporation, although they were programmed in the United States, and manufactured in Hong Kong.

"I just don't believe adults want to shoot down rocket ships", AMI's president Stuart Kesten said.^[3] According to industry watchers and critics, AMI's game designs were generally simple, with crude graphics and unexceptional gameplay, most resembling already-existing non-pornographic games that were successful in their initial form.

All games in the Swedish Erotica series were developed by Joel H. Martin, whose only known credits are on AMI games.^[4]

Controversy

AMI's game Custer's Revenge gained particular notoriety for its plot. In the game, the player controls the character of "Custer," a naked man sporting a cowboy hat and a visible erection, obviously inspired by George Armstrong Custer. Custer has to overcome various obstacles in order to rape a crudely depicted, large-breasted Native American woman who is tied to a cactus. The game prompted complaints from a number of groups—women's rights, anti-pornography, Native American, and video game critics all made complaints.

AMI exited the video game industry just before the video game crash of 1983.^[5] AMI's share of the rights to the games were sold to the PlayAround spin-off company, which continued the pornographic game line.

References

^ Willaert, Kate (6 September 2021). "Porno Hustlers Of The Atari Age". Kotaku. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
^ Moriarty, Tim (October 1983). "Uncensored Videogames". Videogaming & Computer Gaming Illustrated. Ion International. pp. 19–21, 61–62.
^ "Stream of video games is endless". Milwaukee Journal. 1982-12-26. pp. Business 1. Archived from the original on 2016-03-12. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
^ "Joel H. Martin". MobyGames.com.
^ Paschal, Jan (1983-01-15). "Firm Ends Adult Video Game Production". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2022-04-25.

[1] Willaert, Kate (6 September 2021). "Porno Hustlers Of The Atari Age". Kotaku. Retrieved 2022-01-01.

[2] Moriarty, Tim (October 1983). "Uncensored Videogames". Videogaming & Computer Gaming Illustrated. Ion International. pp. 19–21, 61–62.

[mj19821226-3] "Stream of video games is endless". Milwaukee Journal. 1982-12-26. pp. Business 1. Archived from the original on 2016-03-12. Retrieved 10 January 2015.

[4] "Joel H. Martin". MobyGames.com.

[5] Paschal, Jan (1983-01-15). "Firm Ends Adult Video Game Production". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2022-04-25.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|Former pornographic video game company}}
-{{Other uses|Mystique (disambiguation)}}
+{{refimprove|date=June 2016}}
+'''American Multiple Industries''', doing business as '''Mystique''', was a company that produced a line of [[pornography|pornographic]] video games for the [[Atari 2600]] called ''Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Willaert |first=Kate |title=Porno Hustlers Of The Atari Age |url=https://kotaku.com/porno-hustlers-of-the-atari-age-1847622176 |access-date=2022-01-01 |website=Kotaku |date=6 September 2021 |language=en-us}}</ref> which included the games ''[[Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em]]'', ''[[Bachelor Party (video game)|Bachelor Party]]'' and ''[[Custer's Revenge]]''. It was one of several [[video game developer|video game companies]] that tried to use [[Sexual intercourse |sex]] to sell its games.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Moriarty |first=Tim |date=October 1983 |title=Uncensored Videogames |url=https://archive.org/details/Videogaming_and_Computer_Gaming_Illustrated_1983-10_Ion_International_US/page/n18/mode/1up |magazine=Videogaming & Computer Gaming Illustrated |language=en-US |publisher=Ion International |pages=19-21,61-62}}</ref>
-{{unreferenced|date=February 2013}}
-'''Mystique''' was the name of a company that produced a number of [[pornography|pornographic]] video games for the [[Atari 2600]], such as ''[[Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em]]'', ''[[Bachelor Party (video game)|Bachelor Party]]'' and ''[[Custer's Revenge]]''. It was one of several [[video game developer|video game companies]] that tried to use [[sex]] to sell its games. Mystique was an offshoot of [[Caballero Home Video|Caballero Control Corporation]], who produced pornographic films, and American Multiple Industries. The company's games were sold under the "[[Sweden|Swedish]] Erotica" banner, although they were programmed in the [[United States]], and manufactured in [[Hong Kong]].
+==History==
-"I just don't believe adults want to shoot down rocket ships", American Multiple Industries' president said.<ref name="mj19821226">{{cite news | url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nwsdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QX8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3635%2C1989311 | title=Stream of video games is endless | work=Milwaukee Journal | date=1982-12-26 | accessdate=10 January 2015 | pages=Business 1}}</ref> According to industry watchers and critics, Mystique's game designs were generally simple, with crude [[computer graphics|graphics]] and unexceptional gameplay.
+The brand name ''Swedish Erotica'' was licensed from a series of pornographic films by [[Caballero Home Video|Caballero Control Corporation]], although they were programmed in the [[United States]], and manufactured in [[Hong Kong]].
+"I just don't believe adults want to shoot down rocket ships", AMI's president Stuart Kesten said.<ref name="mj19821226">{{Cite news |date=1982-12-26 |title=Stream of video games is endless |pages=Business 1 |work=Milwaukee Journal |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nwsdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QX8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3635%2C1989311 |accessdate=10 January 2015 |archive-date=2016-03-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312093025/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nwsdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QX8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3635%2C1989311 |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to industry watchers and critics, AMI's game designs were generally simple, with crude [[computer graphics|graphics]] and unexceptional gameplay, most resembling already-existing non-pornographic games that were successful in their initial form.
-Mystique's game ''[[Custer's Revenge]]'' gained particular notoriety for its plot. In the game, the player controls the character of "Custer," a naked man sporting a [[cowboy hat]] and a visible erection, obviously inspired by [[George Armstrong Custer]]. Custer has to overcome various obstacles in order to have sex with a crudely depicted, large-[[breast]]ed [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] [[woman]] who is tied to a cactus. The game prompted complaints from a number of groups - [[women's rights]], anti-pornography, Native American, and video game critics all made complaints.
+All games in the ''Swedish Erotica'' series were developed by Joel H. Martin, whose only known credits are on
-Mystique went out of business during the [[North American video game crash of 1983|video game crash of 1983]]. The rights to Mystique's games were sold to the [[Playaround]] spin-off company, which continued the pornographic game line.
+AMI games.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mobygames.com/person/639214/joel-h-martin/|title=Joel H. Martin|website=MobyGames.com}}</ref>
+==Controversy==
+AMI's game ''[[Custer's Revenge]]'' gained particular notoriety for its plot. In the game, the player controls the character of "Custer," a naked man sporting a [[cowboy hat]] and a visible erection, obviously inspired by [[George Armstrong Custer]]. Custer has to overcome various obstacles in order to rape a crudely depicted, large-[[breast]]ed [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] [[woman]] who is tied to a cactus. The game prompted complaints from a number of groups—[[women's rights]], anti-pornography, Native American, and video game critics all made complaints.
+AMI exited the video game industry just before the [[video game crash of 1983]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Paschal |first=Jan |date=1983-01-15 |title=Firm Ends Adult Video Game Production |language=en-US |work=The Oklahoman |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1983/01/15/firm-ends-adult-video-game-production/62859909007/ |access-date=2022-04-25}}</ref> AMI's share of the rights to the games were sold to the [[PlayAround]] spin-off company, which continued the pornographic game line.
 ==See also==
 * [[List of video games notable for negative reception]]
+* [[Video game controversies]]
+* [[Sexism in video gaming]]
+* [[Gender representation in video games]]
 ==References==
@@ Line 19: / Line 29: @@
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mystique (Company)}}
-[[Category:Defunct video game companies]]
+[[Category:Defunct video game companies of the United States]]
 [[Category:Atari 2600]]
 [[Category:Pornography]]
+[[Category:Obscenity controversies in video games]]
+[[Category:Video game controversies]]