American Multiple Industries was a company that produced a line of

pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of Human sexual activity, sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

video games for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...

called ''Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica'', which included the games ''

Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em ''Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em'' (aka ''Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica:'' ''Beat 'Em and Eat 'Em'') is a pornographic video game for the Atari 2600 by American Multiple Industries in 1982. Players control two nude women; the goal is to catch semen in ...

'', ''

Bachelor Party A bachelor party (in the United States and sometimes in Canada), also known as a stag weekend, stag do or stag party (in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth countries, and Ireland), or a buck's night (in Australia), is a party held/arranged by th ...

'' and ''

Custer's Revenge ''Custer's Revenge'' (also known as ''Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica: Custer's Revenge'') is an adult action game published by American Multiple Industries for the Atari 2600, first released in November 1982. The game gained notoriety owing t ...

''. It was one of several

video game companies The following lists of video game companies are available: * List of video game developers * List of video game publishers * List of indie game developers {{list of lists, video game , listcat=Video game companies Video game companies The foll ...

that tried to use

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...

to sell its games. 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and manufactured in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. "I just don't believe adults want to shoot down rocket ships", AMI's president Stuart Kesten said. According to industry watchers and critics, AMI's game designs were generally simple, with crude

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...

and unexceptional gameplay. AMI's game ''

'' gained particular notoriety for its plot. In the game, the player controls the character of "Custer," a naked man sporting a

cowboy hat The cowboy hat is a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat best known as the defining piece of attire for the North American cowboy. Today it is worn by many people, and is particularly associated with ranch workers in the western and southern United S ...

and a visible erection, obviously inspired by

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

. Custer has to overcome various obstacles in order to rape a crudely depicted, large-

breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secret ...

ed Native American

woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

who is tied to a cactus. The game prompted complaints from a number of groups—

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

, 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 The video game crash of 1983 (known as the Atari shock in Japan) was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985, primarily in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including ma ...

. AMI's share of the rights to the games were sold to the

PlayAround PlayAround was formed by Joel H. Martin, co-founder of American Multiple Industries, the first Atari 2600 adult video game company. PlayAround purchased the rights to American Multiple Industries's titles and released them as "double-enders" - ex ...

spin-off company, which continued the pornographic game line.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mystique (Company) Defunct video game companies of the United States Atari 2600 Pornography Obscenity controversies in video games

See also

References