In essence, the site is nothing more than a webcam "dating" site, where you purchase points and use those points to purchase time (10 minutes for every 400 points, with pricing supposedly being somewhere between $6-$7 for 500 points) that you spend video and voice chatting with women as they play any number of games with you, from basic online flash games to more "hardcore" games on consoles like Call of Duty or Halo. You then rate your "Play Date" afterwards and have the option to tip them additional points. The women get some of the points, while the remainder goes to GameCrush itself (it does have to pay for things like hosting, after all). Probably the weirdest part of the whole thing, though, is the choice of whether you want the girl to be "Flirty" or "Dirty".
Does it make sense from a business standpoint? Most definitely. Just look at what happened when they opened up shop online for their "beta": at least 10,000 people hit them in five minutes, overloading their servers with traffic and forcing them to shut down. Of course we can't guarantee that all 10,000 of those people, if not more, were there with the immediate intention in joining and using the site, but assuming for a moment that at least that many were there at some point and using a flat $6 as the price point for enough points for 10 minutes of play, the site is looking at $60,000 before giving the female members their cut of the money. And that's being conservative and assuming that each person pays for no more than 10 minutes. If they were to purchase enough for just a half hour each, GameCrush would be close to breaking $200,000. Clearly this is a potentially unbelievable gold mine for those who came up with it. Provided they can upgrade their equipment to be better able to handle the traffic in the future, they could be looking at a good cash flow.
But do I otherwise think it's a good idea? Oh God no. It gives me another reason to be ashamed of being a gamer for life. Are we REALLY so desperate that we'd spend almost $50 an hour just to have a girl talk dirty to us while playing Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox Live? Don't get me wrong, finding a significant other who would be happy to hop online with me and snipe a bunch of enemies side by side would be a hell of a lot of fun. But paying a stranger to be "flirty" or "dirty" while gaming with me just seems so wrong. When all is said and done, will this girl care? Will she look forward to the possibility of playing with me again specifically? Not likely at all. In the end, it was all just a business transaction, a way for her to make some quick cash. I know that there are plenty of people out there who could feel satisfied with such an arrangement, but that's just not how it works for me, and I really wish it would be the same for more people. Why shouldn't we be trying for something that provides a deeper connection and a better chance at long-term happiness? I think we also have to ask ourselves: Is it also a moral dilemma? Are we demeaning these women, even if they claim to be okay with it, by requesting that they specifically be "flirty" or "dirty"? Some people would probably laugh at me for posing such a question, but I feel it's a necessary one given what this site is actually selling.
Do I fully regret starting down the path of gaming roughly eighteen years ago (and God, that makes me feel really freaking old, even though relatively I'm not)? Absolutely not. I have fun with it, and have done so for all those years before. And we live in a world where we're being given so much more, like the creation of professional gaming as something no longer just a joke (seriously, if you can find it, look at the kinds of contracts that Major League Gaming is signing people to, you'll see some pretty legit money there), for example. However, I think that GameCrush just shoves gaming culture back several steps. If it was more like a traditional dating site like eHarmony or Chemistry.com, then I don't think I'd be so opposed. As it stands, GameCrush feels like it's something maybe just a step below a sex webcam site, targeted specifically at those who are stereotypically bad with women otherwise. Can gaming culture please not make this as much of a success as it appears it could be? I know that I won't ever be touching this site, and I hope that others will avoid it as well. C'mon guys, do things the old-fashioned way. I'm sure in the end it'll be so much better that way.
And if that appeal doesn't work, then I'll just have to try and appeal to you on a geek level and point out that Microsoft recently went on record saying that GameCrush (somehow) violates the Xbox Live ToS. Are you willing to take those risks as well? I do hope that it doesn't end up being the only reason for some, but if that's what it takes to make sure the site doesn't become yet another very visible blemish on gaming culture, I'll accept it.
I think Penny Arcade commented on it best with their comic:
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