222: Straight and Narrow

[Alice Bonasio]

Straight and Narrow

Hateful name-calling on Xbox Live isn't the only kind of homophobia that gay gamers have to endure; there's also the conspicuous lack of gay characters in single-player titles. Alice Bonasio speaks with Peter Molyneux, George Skleres and Chris Vizzini about how developers can include more gay perspectives in their games.

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[LTK_70]

Every minority that does not fit the white-male-heterosexual mold has had to claw and bite its way toward acceptance and representation, and gay gamers are no exception.

This bit sums up the whole article quite nicely. There's not very much in there that hasn't been said about a different minority too, is there? There has been plenty of discussion about the elitist culture of what people call 'hardcore games/gamers'. For a long time the majority of the gamer community consisted of white adolescent males. I happen to be (or rather, was) one of them. You're saying that the gaming community is maturing, and that's because video games are being made for a broader spectrum of people. We've got games now for everyone, but does that mean all games should be fit for everyone? Of course, we don't need any more of the horribly clichéd Hero-Man and Romance-Girl Adventures, but on the other hand, I don't see why homosexuality needs to be a bigger part of videogames.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Now for the obligatory n00b question:
Why do all the gay article discussion threads begin with 222?

This is issue 222 of the Escapist magazine. *looks up at the url*

 

[bobknowsall]

Every minority that does not fit the white-male-heterosexual mold has had to claw and bite its way toward acceptance and representation, and gay gamers are no exception.

This bit sums up the whole article quite nicely. There's not very much in there that hasn't been said about a different minority too, is there? There has been plenty of discussion about the elitist culture of what people call 'hardcore games/gamers'. For a long time the majority of the gamer community consisted of white adolescent males. I happen to be (or rather, was) one of them. You're saying that the gaming community is maturing, and that's because video games are being made for a broader spectrum of people. We've got games now for everyone, but does that mean all games should be fit for everyone? Of course, we don't need any more of the horribly clichéd Hero-Man and Romance-Girl Adventures, but on the other hand, I don't see why homosexuality needs to be a bigger part of videogames.

I don't think the article suggests that homosexuality needs to be shoe-horned into every type of game (As a matter of fact, that'd be dreadful. Even heterosexuality isn't talked about in a lot of games), only the character-driven games that would also have straight relationships in them.

In response to the OP, I definitely think that there could more gay/bi characters in games, and I'd be perfectly happy with that as long as they weren't the contemptible stereotypes I've grown so tired of seeing.

 

[TheRealCJ]

Most of the games that I play (Not on Live though, god no, I'm a legal adult who can venture outside without a fake ID) are either completely Ambiguous when it comes to couples, or completely ignore the problem toto.

I hear the word '****' thrown around a lot whenever I'm around at a mate's place on Xbox Live. Most of the people who throw around those words are often still... ahem, quite young... Young enough certainly to need reassurance of their own sexuality, if they've even developed it yet.

Using the word 'fag' has just about the same connotations these days as the word 'moron' or 'retard'; The word itself is more offensive than the meaning behind it, and it's only really used in a shallow, semi-offensive way (that is to say, using it because the word itself is offensive.

 

[Trevel]

I'm surprised Jade Empire didn't get a mention, as a fairly mainstream game that gave you fairly free choice of who you romance in what aspect. Possibly because it had the best way of dealing with things that I've seen: You get to decide who you want your character to romance, and your options include both genders.

Granted, that's in the choice-based story gaming arena, which is a small subset of games.

 

[high_castle]

Every minority that does not fit the white-male-heterosexual mold has had to claw and bite its way toward acceptance and representation, and gay gamers are no exception.

This bit sums up the whole article quite nicely. There's not very much in there that hasn't been said about a different minority too, is there? There has been plenty of discussion about the elitist culture of what people call 'hardcore games/gamers'. For a long time the majority of the gamer community consisted of white adolescent males. I happen to be (or rather, was) one of them. You're saying that the gaming community is maturing, and that's because video games are being made for a broader spectrum of people. We've got games now for everyone, but does that mean all games should be fit for everyone? Of course, we don't need any more of the horribly clichéd Hero-Man and Romance-Girl Adventures, but on the other hand, I don't see why homosexuality needs to be a bigger part of videogames.

The reason why it should be is that gay men and women play video games, and homosexuality is part of everyday life. I'm guessing your a straight male. Would you like to do nothing else but play as a gay character? Even if you have nothing against homosexuality, wouldn't you get tired of never being able to pursue the love interest you're really interested in? That's what a lot of gay gamers deal with. And since most games are striving to be more realistic, they should be including homosexuality in games. If ten percent of the population is gay, then it stands to reason that ten percent of characters should be, too. But that's not the case.

I truly believe RPGs in particular--especially those that tout choice--should allow for a gay option. Most of them have multiple romance interests anyway. If you're going to allow your customers to play the way they want, they should be able to romance who they want to. It was one of the few things Fable II did right.

You know, there was just a debate about this very topic over at the BioWare forums. Traditionally, BioWare hasn't shied away from this option (Jade Empire was an early case of allowing a M/M pairing, and Mass effect famously allowed F/F, allow that was arguably to cater to a different demographic). However, in ME2, after announcing a M/M pairing would be added, said pairing was cut. The stated reason was time constraints. It sent a few gamers up in arms, because to many in the gay community it sent the message that "your demographic isn't very important." Now, Dragon Age: Origins is slated to have a M/M option, so perhaps BioWare should be cut a little slack. Still, ME is a game consistently advertised on the amount of freedom the player has...in everything but sexuality, I guess.

Personally, I'm disappointed that more games don't offer many gay characters, especially gay protagonists. Film and television seem to be more accepting these days, with non-stereotypical gay characters gaining larger and more nuanced roles, but the same can't be said of video games. It's a shame, especially in so-called "art" games that try to push the boundaries.

 

[TheRealCJ]

Now for the obligatory n00b question:
Why do all the gay article discussion threads begin with 222?

222 is the number of the Gays!

Because you see, Satan is made up of: One-third gays, One third Abortions, and one-third violent video games.

Spoiler: Spoiler for the Knee jerkers

I'm joking!

 

[Lupie]

Thank you from the bottom of my boyish and boy-loving heart for writing this article.

 

[The_ModeRazor]

Wait a sec, why would you want gay characters?

 

[Loop Stricken]

I'm not too sure about the Fable II; sure you could seduce either sex but I always felt that it was done that way primarily to make creating the game easier.

 

[Izerous]

The amount of homosexual supportive games will always remain minimal. It isn't because a game studio is or is not homophobic, but because they think large parts of their customer base are.

Just because a game has a few homosexual characters in it, or allows homosexual characters doesn't mean every same sexual person is going to go out and buy a copy. However how many (warning incoming other stereo types): bible thumping, hardcore creationists, redneck... homo(phobe/hater) would not buy a game or allow their children to buy a game because it does allow same sex relationships?

No one knows however companies are placing their bets on what has worked for the last, well since video gaming kind of started, and they are placing their bets on what has worked.

What is a larger market share, gay gamer, or homo(phobic/hater) gamer...

And this does not only relate to action and RPG style games. What about games that fall into the Adult only gaming. What kind of market share would games see if they changed from their heterosexual focus, their market shares would drop compared to their hetero counterparts. Would leisure suit Larry sell as many copies as it does if he was chasing around other guys?

EDIT: It is all about the money

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Right, I have classical music playing behind me so that I'm not going to be annoyed. Yeah, it's Mozart's Requiem but that's my choice.

As is the sexuality of your hero/heroine.

Of all the thousands of characters available to the player, I would count less than a hundred whose sexualities are inferred, and less than ten who are stated.

Especially given the idea that sexualities in games are far more diverse than simple hetero/homosexual. They can cover aliens, robots and other races. Problem with that is that a male human loving a male alien would actually be Heterosexual, as Hetero- comes from the Greek word heteros, meaning "different" or "other". Perhaps Xenosexual. Who knows?

3 years ago, this was covered in the gay papers with the GayHealer [http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2006/09/28/web-bans-gay-characters/] fiasco (Pay special note to the comments, some are from LGB players) and it's cringing backdown [http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2006/09/29/web-game-sparks-gay-debate/].

Now, given that a year ago we had an article on how there's no "black" heroes, followed by a list of all the known ones, who was the main villains then?

The white-male-heterosexual.

Now, I fall into that category, and, as far as I am aware, have NEVER acted against a gay person and have not received special treatment above what I achieved under my own merit. While I can already feel the hatemongering shower down on me telling me that "YOU ARE PART OF IT SO YOU ARE GUILTY!", please tell me what I'm supposed to give up just because of my low-melanin, XY gene, girl-liking heritage.

Perhaps what you're looking for is the rich, powerful, ignorant, white male heterosexuals? or even the people pretending to be white-male-heterosexuals? Because if you believe that a non-white, non-male, non-heterosexual is incapable of exactly the same amount of prejudice, then I suggest you look a lot closer at the world.

If you're in a single player game, make the character whatever sexuality they want to be. It's not as if people have misrepresented their sexuality to get what they need before, and that's all your character is doing.

Or you can pop down to the slash sites where I can assure you that Gordon Freeman, Master Chief and the others will be deep in rampant action.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Wait a sec, why would you want gay characters?

Um...you know, I can't tell...is that a serious question?

 

[insanelich]

What a dreadful vision of the future. "Diversity" trumping competence in the case of game developers; "diversity" trumping story in the case of game design.

If it helped make better games I'd be all for an eternal ban on gay protagonists. I play to have fun; not to be subjected to tirades about persecution and shoehorned "moral lessons".

 

[heyheysg]

Wait a sec, why would you want gay characters?

Um...you know, I can't tell...is that a serious question?

Does this mean every minority must be represented now? Asians, Atheists, Unicyclists, Geese Jugglers, Pirates, Ninjas, Sentient AI etc? Oh wait

 

[Labyrinth]

*Snip*

Let's turn it the other way then. If there wasn't a single white heterosexual lead character, how would you feel? It's one thing to say "Well it just doesn't matter" and another thing entirely to experience the sense of being ignored in media. For example I'd quite like to play a female Alex Mercer-type character. I'd have LOADS of fun dancing around some quarantined city slicing people to pieces and generally being the biggest dick I could. Pity there's yet to be a game like that in a similar spirit.

A shout out to Vampires! The Masquerade: Bloodlines though. Doesn't matter the sex of your character, you can still sleep with Jeanette whenever you like.

No you're not necessarily racist, sexist or homophobic by benefit of being a white heterosexual male. Doesn't mean that the rest of us shouldn't have a slice of the market for our own representation, or be treated with due respect in the face of people who use "fag" like punctuation.

 

[Jinjiro]

This article had some very good points, and was an interesting read, thanks!

I think it's about time the entertainment industry as a whole stopped using bland archetypes for their heros/heroines. The strong, straight guy/chick thing is completely overused, and is making so many games and movies feel so 'samey'. Variety is the spice of life, and I agree wholeheartedly with giving players in RPGs the option to choose their character's personality traits right down to the sexuality.

Not that we'd want the industry to suddenly go out and make homosexuality their new gimmick or selling point, but it would be nice to see some games/movies where we weren't Generic Straight Action Guy who seduces Generic Sassy Female Sidekick at the end etc etc (yawn).

 

[Susan Arendt]

Wait a sec, why would you want gay characters?

Um...you know, I can't tell...is that a serious question?

Does this mean every minority must be represented now? Asians, Atheists, Unicyclists, Geese Jugglers, Pirates, Ninjas, Sentient AI etc? Oh wait

So, you're ok with ignoring the opinions and feelings of everyone who isn't the majority?