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Classic Games (Games) Entertainment Games

On Gay Characters In Videogames 272

Posted by simoniker from the article-has-footnotes dept.
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."
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On Gay Characters In Videogames

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  • Let's not forget... (Score:5, Funny)

    by metamatic ( 202216 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:05AM (#8595463) Homepage Journal
    ...the fabulous portrayal of gay people in Grand Theft Auto.

  • Trans... (Score:4, Funny)

    by elasticwings ( 758452 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:08AM (#8595479)
    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.

    • Details (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Space Quest IV, Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers. In the Galaxy Galleria. I don't blame you for getting it wrong though... Roger had travelled forward in time to Space Quest X, the Latex Babes of Eros. With all the hopping about in that game...

      Total sequel confusion.

    • Oh god... and the 'Honey Bee Inn' sequence in Final Fantasy VII... oh god... im not going into that...

  • Same-Sex marriage allowed in The Sims 2 (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TheRedHorse ( 559375 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:08AM (#8595484)
    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
    • Same-sex relationships existed in the first Sims game, though I can't recall what the situation was regarding marriage. You could certainly fall in love and share a bed with members of either sex, the engine didn't care.
      • The only differences were that there was no 'marry,' but they had the equivalent 'move in.' Also, I never saw them engage in one of the really passionate kisses, but I never played the game too much. My girlfriend would know...

        I think the baby situation worked the same way, but I'm not sure. Not that that was very realistic anyway. I wish real life was like that. You have a relationship with a person, have sex all the time, and when somebody calls you on the phone and asks if you'd like to have a baby, you
    • "The Sims 2" says that members of the same gender will be able to marry each other.

      I can't wait for the pureitan side of america to find that out or govener scwarzenegger

  • 700 hours of gameplay (Score:5, Funny)

    by AlternateSyndicate ( 644818 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:09AM (#8595491)
    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.

    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.

  • FPS more tolerant than the nation? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tiamat ( 25392 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:09AM (#8595492)
    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.

    • Re:FPS more tolerant than the nation? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Original AIDS Monkey ( 315494 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:18AM (#8595548) Homepage Journal
      What are you talking about? My neighborhood still does not tolerate head shots even though I've been trying to convince law enforcement that it's been standard in FPS games for years!

    • Re:FPS more tolerant than the nation? (Score:5, Funny)

      by sfjoe ( 470510 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:19AM (#8595561)


      Will there be a constitutional amendment to ban gay videogames?

      Won't somebody please think of the children?

    • Re:FPS more tolerant than the nation? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by moronga ( 323123 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:23AM (#8595580)
      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.

      I don't know if you were making a joke here, but I'm not sure why you'd be surprised by this. Videogames are created and played by (generally) younger people, who are going to be more progressively minded than the general population.

      Also, videogames are often the place where people get to do things they'd normally wouldn't do in real life.

      And the game in question is an RPG, not an FPS. :)
    • Why the hell not? Look at who opposes gay marriage the most: the old and the Christian. These are not people who play lots of FPSs.

    • Nope (Score:3, Insightful)

      by fm6 ( 162816 )
      Well, homophobes seem to be underrepresented in computer games (I would have thought that fag-bashing would a natural theme for violent video games, but no). But that aside, who says that games are any less accepting of gays than the population at large. Even a few years ago, I took it for granted that most people were fundamentally and irrevocably homophobic, but the everything I've seen recently seems to indicate that I'm wrong.

      I think one important change is that there are now a lot of people out ther

    • I thought, as well, that I recalled Troika being non US company. I may be wrong however.
    • "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."

      Is tolerance really that big of problem these days? It's not so easy to generalize about 300 million people, is it? Not sure where you're from, but where I'm at now (both the real world and on the net) being gay or anything else isn't a big screaming deal. Heck,a close friend of mine underwent a gender transformation. Everybody around was quite supportive, even whe
    • Somehow I doubt the general population would be tolerant of a buncha crazed geeks running around blowing shit up all day.

      So yeah, I'd say FPS games are more tolerant than the general US Population.
    • 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.

      Well, a rocket launcher will gib you just the same no matter whether you're gay or straight.

  • Birdo in SMB2 (Score:5, Funny)

    by HomerJ ( 11142 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:18AM (#8595549)
    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.

    • Re:Birdo in SMB2 (Score:5, Funny)

      by NonSequor ( 230139 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:43AM (#8595941) Journal
      I remember the book saying that he wore a bow because he wanted to be a woman. I think he's been retconned into a she now though. I can't believe I actually used the word retcon. I feel so dirty.

    • Guilty Gear XX - Bridget (Score:5, Funny)

      by Lemmy Caution ( 8378 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @02:32AM (#8596146) Homepage
      The best traumatizing-to-fragile-heterosexual-identities videogame characters was GGXX's Bridget [sammystudios.com] - 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.
    • The way I see it is that there's multiple Yoshis. There's also multiple Birdos. By that stretch, just that particular Birdo was a cross-dresser (NOT GAY) meaning that later female birdos were not necessarily gay.
    • Actually, as much as I love the little guy - er, girl - er, bird - the whole cross-dressing thing was merely a product of a bored localization staff. The original, Japanese manual for the game (which was Dokidoki Panic instead of SMB2 over there) had no such oddity; as such, the later "sex change" for poor Birdo was not a reneging so much as a return to the actual character.

  • Gamers are Awful (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:19AM (#8595552)
    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.

    • Re:Gamers are Awful (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Imperator ( 17614 ) <slashdot2 AT omershenker DOT net> on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:49AM (#8595707)
      I know people who do this in real life, and they're not all homophobic. They just don't think about it. I'm pretty sure that if there were a gay person in the room, they wouldn't do it, because then they'd suddenly realize that it's insulting. But when among straight males, they figure "no one's going to get offended". I'm not trying to apologize for them, and if I were gay I'd be pretty pissed about it, but don't assume they're all homophobic.

      That said, some of the people who talk like that undoubtedly are homophobic.

      • Re:Gamers are Awful (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Rallion ( 711805 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:35AM (#8595899) Journal
        I'll go one step further -- I know gay people who do it. It really is just common slang now. Gay means either homosexual or stupid. It can mean both, but doesn't always.

        That said, I do try not to use it that way myself, but I'm exposed to it constantly, and ever so rarely it slips out.
        • Indeed, the fact that it has two meanings is the key here. For example, if I said someone was very straight, I would be meaning that he does everything by the book, and is possibly a bit uptight. Doesn't mean I'm insulting heterosexual people though.

      • Re:Gamers are Awful (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Jamie Lokier ( 104820 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:20PM (#8600216) Homepage

        I know people who do this in real life, and they're not all homophobic.

        I agree. These days in the places I travel, "gay" has a much more fun, cheery flair to it, even when used to diss something, than I recall from school (13 years ago, Wales). Back then, people said "gay" as an insult and they meant as in queer, as in homosexual etc. All homosexual-related terms were universally used as insults. Bisexual was strangely a word nobody used for anything, and transgender was unheard of.

        I'm pretty sure that if there were a gay person in the room, they wouldn't do it, because then they'd suddenly realize that it's insulting. But when among straight males, they figure "no one's going to get offended".

        That's just the trouble. They do it when they don't realise 5% of the room (or whatever it is) are, in fact, gay or bisexual, because most non-straights are very quiet about it, because it isn't universally accepted as ok, so they end up insulting people unintentionally.

        Imagine the guy at work whose parents have disowned him for being gay, who feels that life is harder than it should be because those who should care for him reject him, that it's better not to tell people at work, that he thanks god each day that the suicidal thoughts he had as a teenager didn't win, and he hasn't said anything to the folks in the room. Do those unintentional insults create a welcoming environment? Does it create an environment where he's likely to talk about it? Would those people even say the things they do, if they thought for a moment about how much they don't know about the people around, or even think they do know, because the people play along uncomfortably?

        If people used "that's so female" to diss products and people regularly, would that be ok? Ignore the feminist backlash -- would it be ok in terms of its effect on how people treat one another away from the spaces where they say that? I don't think so.

        Homosexuality is still far from general acceptance, yet it is good, because it does no harm and makes people happy. Homophobia still exists, and causes very much harm. That's why we still have to make a special effort to accept homosexuality, and reject homophobia, with our words, actions, and laws.

        -- Jamie
    • Or perhaps they just think everything is jolly?

      Perhaps the misguided opossums know as gamers haven't even heard gay could mean anything else then merry/jolly?

    • Well, if you're going to play language police... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Dr. Bent ( 533421 ) <ben&int,com> on Thursday March 18, 2004 @02:41AM (#8596194) Homepage
      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.

    • I've actually gamed with gay gamers. ("Gaymers?" Why, as a matter of fact, yes. [experimentations.org]) And some of them have used the gamer "gay", with a certain irony, but otherwise the same way that gamers have.

      I'm a little uncomfortable with the use of the word "gay" to mean "dumb" or such, but in fact, some of the people who have used it as such - even cluelessly, without irony - are still tolerant, gay-friendly people who support things like gay marriage and the like. They're just a bit young and clueless about taste.

    • Re:Gamers are Awful (Score:2, Interesting)

      by 33degrees ( 683256 )
      This is the first thing I thought of when I read the headline, and for me, it's really the worse part about online gaming. I really don't care about being politcally correct, yet I can't help but cringe everytime I see/hear these kinds of homophobic insults. I've often thought that, if I had my own counterstrike server, I would definitely have the system censor the words and kick players for using them too much.

      As you say, many people think it's ok because they don't really mean homosexual. But considerin
    • It's not insulting, anymore than calling someone a cunt or a dick is degrading to someone of the applicable sex. It's how the English language has evolved. There's something to mock about everybody (nerd, geek, fatso), gays really need to get over themselves and realize that there has been bashing of a non-gay type for way, way longer.

      --trb
    • 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.

      You're wrong. I've met many people (IRL and online) who use the word and who are not homophobic. But since you don't care for what other people say, there's no point in talking to you, is there.
    • Actually, the term shouldn't have a bad meaning to gay people as it's only an insult to breeders. If someone calls me gay, I don't like it because I'm not. And I don't get naked with other men when it's Happy Time. But a gay person does get naked with other people of the same sex during Happy Time and that's not an insult to them. It's only an insult because you're being accused of something that you're not.

      If you mistake an Army guy a Navy guy he might be insulted. Because he's not a Navy guy. He doesn't g

  • Baldur's Gate (Score:3, Informative)

    by Ninja Master Gara ( 602359 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:19AM (#8595553) Homepage
    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
    • Not in the stock game, I don't believe.

      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=11 [fwstudios.net], 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 [weidu.org]. I have more experience with Chloe than with Sola, since you

    • 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

      A friend of mine told me he did same-sex romances in BG2 w/o mods. Started the game as a male character, but used the Girdle of Masculinity/Feminity, changing the character to a woman. The trick is that all the romance scripts in the game are based on what gender the character starts out

  • Where's the trolls (Score:5, Funny)

    by Profane MuthaFucka ( 574406 ) <busheatskok@gmail.com> on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:21AM (#8595567) Homepage Journal
    For once, the GNAA would be slightly on-topic, and they are nowhere to be found. Trolls are so damn unreliable.

  • Players are already transgender... (Score:4, Funny)

    by the_skywise ( 189793 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:21AM (#8595571)
    How many guys play the female characters in DOA?

  • Too early to tell (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MMaestro ( 585010 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:29AM (#8595606)
    To my knowledge, The Temple of Elemental Evil is the only mainstream computer role playing game that gives players a serious gay option without "forcing" gayness on a heterosexual player. Perhaps it will serve as a worthy model for games to come.

    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).

    • Considering gamers still use the words 'fag', 'gay' and 'homo' in order to insult each other online

      It isn't just gamers, it is young men that are involved in healthy competition. Do you know how many times I was called honky, redneck, or cracker on a football field? Do you know how many times I fired back with an appropriate racial or socioeconomic slurs for my competition? You don't have time to craft a well formed retort to the jackass across the line from you, so you call him a c--ksucker, n---er, o

      • Re:Too early to tell (Score:3, Insightful)

        by theghost ( 156240 )
        It isn't just gamers, it is young men that are involved in healthy competition.

        Using some of the most repugnant slurs is considered an acceptable part of "healthy" competition? Just because it's common doesn't make it right. How about instead of calling him a fag, nigger, whatever, you just beat him at whatever you're doing? That gets the point across best of all.

        (If you absolutely feel the need to humiliate your opponent, you can then say, in your sweetest voice, "You tried so hard there! Keep up th

    • Re:Too early to tell (Score:5, Insightful)

      by 0x0d0a ( 568518 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @02:19AM (#8596092) Journal
      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.

      Yes, they should be using "lame" or "retard" or "bastard".
      • Man, it took me a second to even get that. Wow. That says a lot.

        Well, at least...it does if it took anybody else a second, too. Otherwise, it just tells me I'm a moron.
    • "Considering gamers still use the words 'fag', 'gay' and 'homo' in order to insult each other online..."

      While true, I think (at least in the big city, not so much in rural areas) that most homosexuals get these innuendos and ride with them. I've played alongside several, okay two homosexuals in a bout of Halo and there was no issue with me or the other heteros or even themselves yelling "get off my Warthog, faggot!" The only time that there is a sensitivity is usually when somebody is just coming out of

  • Staring at Crystal Ball(s) (Score:3, Interesting)

    by illuminata ( 668963 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:34AM (#8595621) Journal
    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.

  • Neverwinter Nights (Score:5, Funny)

    by TheDarkRogue ( 245521 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:36AM (#8595634)
    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.
    • This works in Fallout (or was it Fallout 2). Girls could sleep with the girls, guys with the guys... I think you could even have same sex marriages.
      • Guys could sleep with the guys? I didn't think so. I thought it was lesbian or straight only--and I did just play the game, as a guy. Of course, you can still work as a fluffer in the porn studio...but you don't enjoy it much, you get poisoned from it.
    • Yeah, and the game's political agenda already tilts left. You've got the white guilt-inducing natives with smallpox mission, and the mission where you murder 30 zookeepers to free 4 animals and it's considered an act of good. They coulda tossed gay prostitution in the mix too.

  • The Longest Journey (Score:5, Interesting)

    by AvantLegion ( 595806 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:44AM (#8595679) Journal
    The Longest Journey, a wonderful point-and-click adventure from a few years ago, featured a main character who rents her room from a lesbian couple. The game treated this like a natural thing, not something to be pointed out and grandstanded (in fact, it took a couple references before I got suspicious, and a couple more before I fully caught on).

  • Eagle (Score:4, Interesting)

    by LGagnon ( 762015 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @12:52AM (#8595724)
    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.

  • geeze... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by manual_overide ( 134872 ) <slashdot@duder.net> on Thursday March 18, 2004 @01:16AM (#8595825) Homepage Journal
    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.
  • 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.

    In my day, you were lucky if you even had an avatar independent of your own personality. Remember, a lot of games had only one avatar because it was easier that way, not because of any "misguided" notions of how a character should act.

    Rob

  • I just have to wonder. (Score:2, Informative)

    by pauldy ( 100083 )
    Is this is what passes for "News for nerds. Stuff that matters." Who cares!!!

    While a provocative story for mental midgets who think that the discussion of race, sex, and sexual preference are somehow enlightening. The true enlightenment comes when you realize how freaking boring that is because overall there are no differences.

    This story has far less to do with video game avatars as it does to do with justifying homosexuality as a non-deviant lifestyle. How can anyone take writing like this seriously
    • How can anyone take writing like this seriously when the commander and chief of the united states of America is referred to as a religious fundamentalist.

      Sorry, I read your sentence 4 times and still could not get your point. Isn't he ?
  • 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.

    Ummmm....no. Look, diversity is great and all, but there's nothing wrong with "normal" either. "normal" is just a subset of "diverse." How about we try the converse of this statement instead:

    "I doubt it will be long before a fantasy role-playing game featuring characters of multiple races, genders, and sexual orientations will not se
    • "I doubt it will be long before a fantasy role-playing game featuring characters of multiple races, genders, and sexual orientations will not seem unusual or out of the ordinary."

      The video game industry desperately needs death-dealing lesbian bird-women.
  • Ok folks - who here actually gives a flying fsck about gay characters in a game, or a movie, or your work place?

    Sure archetypical stereotypes can be offensive, you may be unsure about your own sexuality, you may be expected to react appropriately (see vilify [reference.com]) in front of your peers, etc. But, in essence it should not be any more offensive than a republican, or a dog, or anything else that you are not.

    Q.

  • Not to be insensitive... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by agent dero ( 680753 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @02:04AM (#8596031) Homepage
    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
    • Because every time over the years that the Christian church has been proven to be wrong or completely ridiculous on a point, they fight as hard as they can to avoid losing. They always do in the end, but they fight in the meantime.

      Look at it this way -- gay-bashing, lame as it is, is a whole hell of a lot less dangerous than the execution that Galileo faced if he didn't recant his idea of the Earth going around the Sun.

    • I don't know ANYONE that is a gamer and gay...

      *waves hand frantically*

      *waves hand unenthusiastically*

      *rolls eyes and walks off to play some Metroid Prime*

  • In Great Greed (For the Game Boy, a Nintendo system!) you could choose to marry any of the king's daughters (who are major characters in the game) after finishing the game.

    You could also choose to marry either the king or the queen.

    Granted, the king criticizes you to some degree if you marry him, but it *is* a homosexual marriage taking place on a Nintendo system some years ago.
  • one white male avatar

    And there are few *American* characters. There are lots of Japanese, but no *American* ones -- none of this blue and red hair anime business. What's wrong with apple pies can chocolate-chip cookies?

    If only we had American, homosexual protagonists of color.

  • Morrowind (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Hythlodaeus ( 411441 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @02:33AM (#8596151)
    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.

    • Re:Morrowind (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Roman_(ajvvs) ( 722885 )
      I was going to bring this up, you you beat me to it. Crassius (and Morrowind as a whole) is an interesting example of the way different genders are treated, developed for and perceived in computer games.

      Crassius had different scripts to cater for female and male avatars. The developers made the assumption that the avatar is straight and made Crassius act lewd towards females and simple haughty to males (ie, charging them more money). As it happened, a coding glitch caused only the female-oriented script to

  • For some reason "ambiguous" characters are very popular in Japanese games and anime. It's usually unclear whether they are gay or not, although they clearly are by western standards.

    Take for example Benimaru from SNK/Playmore King of Fighter's series, or Benten from Cyber City OEDO 808 (guy paints his nails and wears lipstick).

  • Be careful in what you assume.
    There's flaming people in games like Tingle, Luigi and Bridget and then there's homosexuals like Zangief, Rain or Hana.

  • A "special" pirate (Score:3, Funny)

    by Dahan ( 130247 ) <khym@azeotrope.org> on Thursday March 18, 2004 @04:56AM (#8596735)
    There's a blacksmith for purchasing arms and armor, a house where the party can rest, and a special pirate named Bertram who flirts with a male member of the party.

    A "special" pirate? C'mon, just say it: butt pirate.

  • With very, very few exceptions, in games, as in real life, I really don't care who or what you choose to sleep with. It seems highly irrelevant and forced to me.

    As for "white male" avatars, most of the decent games I can think of that have been released within the past... oh, six or seven years... have a wide array of avatars to choose from -- both sexes, many complexions, many variations on facial features, and hell, half the time you don't even have to be HUMAN.

    If this was a post instead of an Official

  • Why focus on a facet, not the whole? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by wowbagger ( 69688 ) on Thursday March 18, 2004 @08:40AM (#8597403) Homepage Journal
    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?
    • Now, consider somebody like Elton John. Queer as a three dollar bill.

      John Candy|Heavy|dump truck
      Britney Spears|Lascivious|ten dollar whore
      George Bush|Stupid|pile of dirt

      My point is, this doesn't just happen to gay people. The public latches onto anything that stands out and then rides the person for it. Gay bashing is just the only thing that happens to be politically incorrect in the list above. Once again, gays need to get over themselves.

      --trb
  • I got to play a lesbian. Or at least flirt with one. That was awesome.
  • Whar I come frum, we'd make 'em skweel like a pig! ...Gay game charakturs, I tell you what!
  • 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.

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