The fiancee pointed this out to me, although I’ve been sitting on this one for a while…

Naughty America the Game is, pretty much exactly what you’d expect – an online, sexually charged virtual world that the designers hope will become a meat market for real-life dating. But how to deal with the fact that the guy that you’re talking to might be a serial killer?

No worries. Players of Naughty America can volunteer to get themselves a background check, done through a company called Sentry, who will then approve you. Characters whose owners have gone through this process will be flagged as such in-game with the Sentry seal of approval.

‘We know that there will be all kinds of people attracted to this game because there is sex in the game,” [ said Tina Courtney, producer at Safe Escape Studios] . “So it was important for us to create the safest environment for everyone. . . . As a woman, [I] want women to play this game and safety is an issue.”

And of course, those women who like bad boys can just chase after those without said seal of approval. I really actually love this idea and where it’s going – purely social gaming is one of the areas of MMO development that really should be taking off, but hasn’t yet. Issues of trust and liability are one of the things that have kept the big boys focused on Men In Tights games.

There’s still a ways to go, though. As of yet, Sentry will not tell you if your in-game girlfriend will kick your ass out for looking at another girl funny, or your in-game boyfriend still lives with his mom.