Slashdot Mirror
On Gay Characters In Videogames
Thanks to Armchair Arcade for its feature discussing the portrayal of gay characters in videogames past and present. The article starts by pointing out: "In Troika Games' computer role playing game The Temple of Elemental Evil (2003)... the player is asked to rescue, and given the option to marry, an openly gay character", and ends by arguing: "Gay avatars are an inevitable development in the evolution of the videogame that will take place with or without this article. If we already see such possibilities opening up in even mainstream titles like The Temple of Elemental Evil, I doubt it will be long before even the idea of a fantasy role-playing game featuring only one white male avatar will seem a strange, misguided aspect of our distant past."
...the fabulous portrayal of gay people in Grand Theft Auto.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
I for one believe there should be more crossdressing in video games. I still remember I think it was Space Quest 3 where you cross-dressed in the mall.
The issue of gays in videogames will get a lot more mainstream soon, one example is that the website for "The Sims 2" says that members of the same gender will be able to marry each other.
http://thesims2.ea.com/about_faq.php
Do they have to wander around the United States until they find a city offering marriage licenses? That sounds like a pretty extensive side-quest.
Given the option to marry?
I never thought I'd see the day that first person shooters would be more tolerant of social differences the the general U.S. population.
Total sequel confusion.
Let's not forget the original gay character....from Nintendo no less...Birdo in Super Mario Bros 2. Yes, that pink thing that shot eggs and wore a bow...was a dude.
Gamers are some of the most homophobic people out there. Using "gay" to mean "stupid" or "cheap" is clear homophobia, I don't care what kind of way people try to construe it.
"That's so GAY!" is heard almost every round of Counterstrike. "God, why does that fag have to keep cheating?" If you're a real gamer, you know what I'm talking about.
The worst part is that most of them think it's okay, because either a) They don't *really* mean Gay people, it's just a word, or b) they think gay people deserve it.
Its really a problem that needs to go away. It makes online gaming less fun, and it makes otherwise intelligent people act like assholes.
Unless memory fails me, Baldur's Gate also allowed you develop a gay relationship. There wasn't any particular special treatment for it, it just didn't exclude conversation by gender. You couldn't have a child tho :P
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When I grow up, I want to be a kid again.
For once, the GNAA would be slightly on-topic, and they are nowhere to be found. Trolls are so damn unreliable.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
How many guys play the female characters in DOA?
Considering gamers still use the words 'fag', 'gay' and 'homo' in order to insult each other online, it'll be a while until homosexual characters are implemented more into games. Don't forget, video games mirror reality so until the public accepts homosexuality, gamers won't accept homosexuality.
On top of that, don't forget that video games have barely scratched the surface of heterosexual relationships anywhere near as far as the article's example goes. While most people point to BMX XXX, GTA3, GTA:VC, and DOA : Xtreme Volleyball as video games protraying or promoting heterosexuality, theres no hinting of any type of "relationship" between the characters. The most I've ever seenen any type of friendship between "just friends" is in linear RPGs (which isn't saying much since it is linear).
Well, we're bound to see some more gays in video games under the political climate. It really wouldn't surprise me to see quite a few titles.
Why? Instant publicity. Your game will get mentioned in the press if you give it a decent enough initial push. Gay influence has already saturated movies, television, and music. It hasn't really been a big issue in video games (this slight mention doesn't really make it a big issue). But, if you show that it's out there, you can get the mainstream press debating like mad. Imagine Bill O'Reilly and Rosie O'Donnell debating in a knife fight.
Those debates equal massive amounts of money, and gays will buy the game just to show support over the issue. A larger company might end up boycotted by some, but that would probably blow over.
Eventually, this whole thing will die down. But, if a game company were to play their cards right, it could equal massive amounts of money.
Until Slashdot fixes the funny modifier, use insightful or interesting. The poster knows your intentions.
It always pissed me off that my female avatar couldn't get any lesbian lovin at that whorehouse/tavern in act 1. I had her strip her armor and all, but neither of the women would go for her, told her to go talk to the guy. And the Token was non-refundable too if I remember correctly. So I just killed everyone in the building (except for that fat bitch, she wouldn't die, vital part of the story or some shit), but it wasn't as filling.
(Score:0, Interesting)
Eagle from Capcom vs SNK 2 (who was a character in the original Street Fighter) came out of the closet in that game as an openly gay character. Many of his winning quotes in the Japanese version of the game show this. The American version, however, had the quotes changed to not show his sexuality.
I think one important change is that there are now a lot of people out there who were raised by openly gay couples. An article I read last Sunday estimates the numbers are something like 15 million. A small minority, but likely to have influence disproportinate to their numbers. Once you have to as careful about fag jobs as you are about polack jokes, you know there's a fundamental change in attitude.
the idea of a fantasy role-playing game featuring only one white male avatar will seem a strange, misguided aspect of our distant past.
Right. Because heterosexual white males are, in fact, nothing more than a myth. And anyone saying otherwise is a homophobe or a terrorist. Puh-leeze.
One white male avatar will seem strange and misguided??! Oh, of course. White males aren't really people. They are just dragons waiting to eat all the REAL, CLAIRVOIANT PEOPLE. After all, "white" is a real race. Just like ALL "black" people are african-americans. I guess I'm German-American, or European-American.... No? Not born in Europe or even in Germany you say? But the "black" baby born in Cleveland is somehow African-American?? Why not Kenyan-American, or even Egyptian-American?
This story irritates me to no end. "Nickelodeon says it's cool to be gay!!" "MTV says all the white men are out to get me!" Why is this story big news?? Personally, I don't care what happens in your bedroom, and lets keep it that way, thank you very much. Also, what's so wrong about white males? I happen to be one, and don't think that I am contributing to the ruination of society by simply existing.
I know for a fact that I can't be "The Man". I can barely wake up before 11:00 AM, much less keep entire races of peoples from attaining financial independance. It's not me!!! (or most of us, for that matter)
Blah... I'm drunk and ranting... but you get my point. If you don't get it... I don't care. I'm gonna be sleeping until it's time for work.
If bad puns were like deli meat, this would be the wurst
I for one, have a lesbian sister, who cares, it's her life. I don't know ANYONE that is a gamer and gay, is it really something we need to discuss?
But in today's media frenzie about gay marriage you have to stop and ask yourself, why does 2% of the american populate have 98% of the media/political focus? Is this really SUCH a big issue nowadays?
Our forefathers meant free, as in free for rich white property owning men; we take it as meaning free for everybody.
I'm sure gays weren't intended in the civil rights acts, but we can take it as if they're included. It wasn't rights just for blacks, it was for everybody
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The best traumatizing-to-fragile-heterosexual-identities videogame characters was GGXX's Bridget - a gender-confused boy who fights with a yo-yo and was raised as, dresses as and acts like a girl. A pretty hot girl. as cel-shaded Japanese fighters go.
Bridget probably sent more than one fanboy to therapy.
To me the best gay character in a game is great, because it was completely unintentional. The character is Crassius Curio in the game Morrowind. He was intended to be a very lecherous, but straight character. However, there was a bug that caused him to give the dialogue for female players regardless of the character's actual gender. The result: he comes across as absolutely, flamingly gay.
For great justice.
Not in the stock game, I don't believe.
1 , a female character who can develop a lesbian relationship either with the protagonist or another female character. The second is Solaufein, who is somewhat less picky (will romance anybody, either gender): http://www.weidu.org/main.html. I have more experience with Chloe than with Sola, since you can get her much earlier in the BG2 storyline, but both seem to be very well done mods, on the level of the Bioware NPCs.
However, there are a few excellent mods for Baldur's Gate II that allow homosexual relationships. The first is Chloe: http://forums.fwstudios.net/index.php?showforum=1
I haven't checked out single-player mods for NWN yet, but I thought someone had ported Sola, and if not I'll bet there's an equivalent to either of these for NWN.
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http://4horsemen.net
Gamers are some of the most homophobic people out there. Using "gay" to mean "stupid" or "cheap" is clear homophobia
Ignorance, maybe. Insensitivity, sure. But homophobia? Most people who use that word use it without thinking about it's meaning in relation to the current context. But if they were homophobic, they would be thinking about it's meaning, and purposely using it with the intention of intimidating gay people.
By branding ignorant or insensitive behavior as homophobic, you're guilty of making the same generalizations that truly homophobic make.
A "special" pirate? C'mon, just say it: butt pirate.
Why is it that people insist upon focusing upon a single facet of their being rather than the entirety?
In the specific case of homosexuality, too many people focus upon the fact that they are gay to the exclusion of all else. Should the person be famous and be on a talkshow, that's the whole of their discussion - their homosexuality.
Now, consider somebody like Elton John. Queer as a three dollar bill, and has made no bones about it for years. Yet, that is only a small part of the man - yes, if he is on a talk show and the subject comes up he may discuss (briefly) his S.O., but then he moves on. He treats his relationship like any polite person should - it is his private life, and he trys to keep it such. I don't want to hear about Elton's bedroom, but then again, I really don't want to hear about Ahnold's bedroom, either.
Which brings me to the subject of "Gay characters in (games|movies|TV)" - in most such cases that is ALL the character is - gay. No other character development, just "Look at Fred. He's gay."
How about having a character who is, among other things, gay? Buffy the Vampire Slayer did pretty well with Willow - the fact she was gay was only a small facet of her character.
So why must the fact that some character in this video game is gay be the main facet of the game, or the character? Why not just have the fact come out (pun intended) during the normal course of the game, and make it just another part of the character?
www.eFax.com are spammers
Both of these games had the ability to let the player have gay or lesbian encounters. Sure, it wasn't a major plot point of either game, but the fact that you could, if you wanted to (curious or otherwise) go to a bath house in Buccaneer's Den and have sex with the same sex was definitely pushing boundaries. I remember in Serpent Isle, even though you were female, Frigidazzi would still want to have sex with you. How old are those games now? 1992/1993.
Not giving a rat's ass is easy when you are not among the oppressed.
People who don't use computers for anything more than Word and AOL generally don't give a rat's ass about the DMCA, RIAA, MPAA, and SCO, but that doesn't make them right.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
so, since we will have gay characters in-game, can I have a sexy donkey in my game?
Way to throw that red herring in there. Consensual relationships between consenting adults of the same species are in a very different category than bestiality. If you can't see that then you are blind.
why is homosexuality being 'rammed' down everyones throat over the past few years?
Why did those uppity black people ram their race down everyone's throats in the 60's?
Why are some members of our secular (separation of church and state?) society being denied their rights based on moral definitions that are purely religious?
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
What about insect?
That is the next step.
Two consenting adults of the same specifies.
Insects can't consent - they're not a sentient species. I don't even know what "specifies" they are.
If you meant incest, then that's different. The argument you're trying to make is a logical bait-and-switch. We're not arguing that issue, but if it does come up as a significant issue, we can deal with it on its own. I haven't seen any incest-rights marches lately, so i'm not inclined to think of this as a pressing concern.
Black people wanted equal treatment to the whites in the 60's.
Homosexuals have equal treatment already. They can already marry some one of the opposite sex. What they want is SPECIAL TREATMENT.
Not precisely. You can look at it as an increase in rights for everyone (straight people can marry other same-sex straight people too) or you can look at it more realistically, as if your head were not encased in your rectum. Straights have the right to have their romantic relationships sanctioned by law, same-sex couples don't. There are thousands of rights associated with marriage - property rights, inheritance, guardianship, adoption - that are currently denied to same-sex couples. That's unequal treatment.
Comparing the homosexual quest for marriage to civilrights is horrible in logic and in sensitivy.
Maybe when the butt fucking fags get out and start getting bit by police dogs, killed with buckshot, hit by water cannons, and arrested then you can compare the two. Until then stfu.
Bullshit. Look up the arguments that were used to defend anti-miscegenation laws. They are the same ones that are used against gay marriage.
And as to violence, maybe you never heard about a little phenomenon called gay-bashing? Not so different from lynching. Police have been raiding gay clubs, beating up, locking up, and generally persecuting homosexuals for years. I think that qualifies as "until then." Until you get past your uninformed bigotry, stfu.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
I am working on a couple of assumptions here, so the whole thing falls apart if they are incorrect [...] 2. [Heterosexual attraction] occurs to promote procreation of the species.
Not always. Some claim that the gay gene is recessive but pops up more often when a village needs more "parents" to stay at home and help the straight moms care for the little ones than "breadwinners" to go hunt for food. Therefore, having gay adults in the village may give the children a better chance of survival.
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