I guess the question I’m asking here is; why do people like sex online so much? The stock answer is that they aren’t getting enough in RL. Is the fear of STD’s a significant cause of that?

And as some pointed out, not everyone is hip to sexual health info. I’d wager a majority of people don’t really have a strong working knowledge of how to have safer sex beyond simply wearing a condom (if your sex involves penises). For every other sex activity most don’t know the risks or how they can help to minimize them. Putting some health info into a sex game in an optional and non-intrusive way (like in the help section or as a right-click tool tip sort of message) might be a nice PSA thing to do.

We published a sex ed game for teens too, (visit www.isergames.com for more info) but with the goal of getting parents to sit down *with* teens and engage in a nonconfrontational, nonjudgmental dialogue about teen sex/dating/puberty issues. It’s not a cool game meant to be played alone by teens (the target market is parents and educators). For teen-targeted games, some of the best are here: http://www.teenwire.com/interactive/do-archive-games.php. So there is definitely a place for sex ed in gaming. I would suggest that for the adult learner the educational message is packaged in a more adult entertainment product though so that the player has motivation to participate (few adults consider themselves *in need* of sex ed, even though most probably are). ;p

But you still got a horrible disease and died if you didn’t use it. Embarrassing to buy and delayed the pay-off, but it still got the safety point across.

See, this is normally where I would extol the virtues of nature's self-correcting system known as "natural selection," which gradually over time weeds out those unfit for survival. But since he is your little brother, I'll refrain.
Screw my brother, I fear for my car! Poor little Golf, how I love you.

See, this is normally where I would extol the virtues of nature’s self-correcting system known as “natural selection,” which gradually over time weeds out those unfit for survival.

But since he is your little brother, I’ll refrain. :-)

There are realistic driving sims out there; there are also games like Burnout (or Crash Test Dummy’s Worst Nightmares, as I like to call it); and everything in between. Likewise, not every FPS is a Quake blast-a-thon: e.g., the SWAT series has always emphasized protecting civilian lives and using lethal force only when necessary. It’s a question of intent and focus when it comes to game design.

Likewise, sex games can choose to be purely pornagraphic, or they can choose to be educational, or they can choose to be funny, or just about anything else they want to be.

Now, whether there’s a market for sex games outside the purely pornagraphic - that’s a different question. :-)

And I'm not saying games can't be used to teach about safe sex, just that I don't expect them to, any more than I expect FPSs to teach me proper combat tactics.
Another point to consider: As long as we’re on the proper combat tactics in FPSs metaphor, there are definitely plenty of people out their who think that, when they play such games, they’re really learning how to do things. My little brother, for example, is turning 16 this week (eek!), so he can go get his driving permit (please God, no). But he also recently found my copy of Need for Speed. So now he’s convinced he doesn’t need to learn to drive a real car, since he can drive in the game. Stupid? Mais oui. But still, it’s out there.