Heteronormaltivity in games

[shootthebandit]

As a straight man, homosexuality doesnt bother me in the slightest. I couldnt care less if my character was gay or straight in the same way it doesnt matter if my character is black or white. I honestly dont understand why people make such a big deal out of it.

If almost every romantic sub-plot in games was gay, you may feel a little differently.

almost every romance in real life is straight so of course it would be a little odd to see every relationship being homosexual. Bearing that in mind homosexuality still is represented equally enough. If we say a good 5%-10% of the populus is gay (depending on where you live). far less than 5% of characters in video games are gay (and even then they tend to be a characature) which really is a shame. Like i said as long as the gameplay is good my character can be straight or gay black or white

in fact heres an idea: what if there was a game where the protagonist searches for his fiance Ashley. As the game plays on we assume that the main character is actually straight until the finale where we find Ashley and he is a man. All throughout the story ashleys gender is never revealed but one would naturally assume it was a woman. I think something like that would be pretty cool

 

[Miss G.]

Bill from The Last of Us is gay, as in he's a well written character that just happens to be gay. Guess since he's not all stereotypical, flamboyant and you don't get to romance him (but it's not like you get to romance anyone in this game) and you don't get to play as him, people don't mention him much, if at all, in these types of threads.

when do you find this out, i might have missed it or not got to that point yet?

Spoiler: do you find out when...

you are in the town and he rescues you when youre hanging upside down, or when you get the car and drop him off at that building in the car? or is it when elle finds that magazine? (if so id didnt realise it was bills)

The last one with the magazine and also Frank was his partner (he hesitated just a smidgen when telling Joel about this partner and his story of realizing that he had to look out for number one). If he was just a regular partner in terms of just helping him to survive, like the other pairs/groups you run across during the story, there'd be no need for this hesitation and further explanation from Bill that he (Frank) was someone he had to take care of.

 

[DarkRyter]

Heteronormaltivity

Okay. This can't be a real word. You are making this up.

 

[shootthebandit]

Bill from The Last of Us is gay, as in he's a well written character that just happens to be gay. Guess since he's not all stereotypical, flamboyant and you don't get to romance him (but it's not like you get to romance anyone in this game) and you don't get to play as him, people don't mention him much, if at all, in these types of threads.

when do you find this out, i might have missed it or not got to that point yet?

Spoiler: do you find out when...

you are in the town and he rescues you when youre hanging upside down, or when you get the car and drop him off at that building in the car? or is it when elle finds that magazine? (if so id didnt realise it was bills)

The last one with the magazine and also Frank was his partner (he hesitated just a smidgen when telling Joel about this partner and his story of realizing that he had to look out for number one). If he was just a regular partner in terms of just helping him to survive, like the other pairs/groups you run across during the story, there'd be no need for this hesitation and further explanation from Bill that he (Frank) was someone he had to take care of.

I always thought it wasnt his car and the magazine was just left there from someone else but it makes sense now

 

[Silvanus]

almost every romance in real life is straight so of course it would be a little odd to see every relationship being homosexual.

That's true; my aim was solely to request that you see it from my (or the OP's) perspective. Switch the situation around, and imagine that every protagonist's romance was of a sexuality that you don't share. It can be a bit alienating.

in fact heres an idea: what if there was a game where the protagonist searches for his fiance Ashley. As the game plays on we assume that the main character is actually straight until the finale where we find Ashley and he is a man. All throughout the story ashleys gender is never revealed but one would naturally assume it was a woman. I think something like that would be pretty cool

That does sound pretty cool, I must admit. It'd challenge people's preconceptions, and it'd make the point that such things needn't change the gameplay/ portrayal.

 

[Miss G.]

Bill from The Last of Us is gay, as in he's a well written character that just happens to be gay. Guess since he's not all stereotypical, flamboyant and you don't get to romance him (but it's not like you get to romance anyone in this game) and you don't get to play as him, people don't mention him much, if at all, in these types of threads.

when do you find this out, i might have missed it or not got to that point yet?

Spoiler: do you find out when...

you are in the town and he rescues you when youre hanging upside down, or when you get the car and drop him off at that building in the car? or is it when elle finds that magazine? (if so id didnt realise it was bills)

The last one with the magazine and also Frank was his partner (he hesitated just a smidgen when telling Joel about this partner and his story of realizing that he had to look out for number one). If he was just a regular partner in terms of just helping him to survive, like the other pairs/groups you run across during the story, there'd be no need for this hesitation and further explanation from Bill that he (Frank) was someone he had to take care of.

I always thought it wasnt his car and the magazine was just left there from someone else but it makes sense now

Ellie, stole it from his stash (like she does at times), that she said she was just fixing after he specifically told her not to touch anything.

 

[Silvanus]

There's no need to being in sexuality tbh unless it's relevant to the story.

Did Dead Space, or Skyward Sword, or Gears of War "bring in sexuality"? No, they brought in romance. It's never considered "bringing in sexuality" when it's straight; hell, it's never even questioned at all.

 

[Miss G.]

As a straight man, homosexuality doesnt bother me in the slightest. I couldnt care less if my character was gay or straight in the same way it doesnt matter if my character is black or white. I honestly dont understand why people make such a big deal out of it.

If almost every romantic sub-plot in games was gay, you may feel a little differently.

almost every romance in real life is straight so of course it would be a little odd to see every relationship being homosexual. Bearing that in mind homosexuality still is represented equally enough. If we say a good 5%-10% of the populus is gay (depending on where you live). far less than 5% of characters in video games are gay (and even then they tend to be a characature) which really is a shame. Like i said as long as the gameplay is good my character can be straight or gay black or white

in fact heres an idea: what if there was a game where the protagonist searches for his fiance Ashley. As the game plays on we assume that the main character is actually straight until the finale where we find Ashley and he is a man. All throughout the story ashleys gender is never revealed but one would naturally assume it was a woman. I think something like that would be pretty cool

That'd be cool considering the fact that I know more male Ashleys, Danas, and Vivians than girl ones. Also the idea would teach people a thing or two about assumptions (you know what they say about the word 'assume') and perception, because if you were fine with it up to that point, you'd have to start thinking.

 

[Atmos Duality]

I can only imagine what would happen if these same "heterocentric" producers tried to create a game character that's openly gay after making so many 30-something white dudes.

It'd borderline caricature at best. By that, I mean that if gay people want to get not only more "representation" among gaming characters, but ACCURATE representation, they're going to need gays working on the creativity.

Because I've seen the parallel problem from Hollywood, and it ain't pretty.
(Transformers 3's "Deep Wang", anyone?)

 

[bug_of_war]

Can't a game just be that, a game. I generally don't buy a game for it's story, I buy it because it looks fun, why is it that recently everyone has become hung up on games having to have stories where in which the main character's/side character's lives have to be explored in depth. What happened to the simple, "You are x, this is x's goal...go"? who cares if Marcus Fenix is gay, dude carries a chainsaw gun and brutally murders monsters, THAT'S fun. I cringe enough when a game has a romance plot(sex scenes in Dragon Age/Heavy Rain/Red Dead Redemption, dialogue in Mass Effect/Skyrim/GTA) let alone when they start making characters flaunt their sexuality.

I have a special little hatred for the phrase, "My name is _________ and I'm gay" because if you interchange "straight" for "gay" it just looks and sounds stupid. Sexuality shouldn't define a person, fictional or real, so how bout we stop worrying about whether Reptile from Mortal Kombat is gay and start enjoying video games.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Y no gay characters in games? Riddle me this: what fucking difference does the protagonist's sexual orientation make at all in most types of games and game stories? Would it affect gameplay in any way? Unless we're talking games like dating sims or story-heavy games that have a lot of human drama like Heavy Rain or L.A. Noire, making a character gay just because "Hey, he's gay" would feel completely gratuituous to me.

 

[Aramis Night]

I like how this conversation has been all about how we need more gays in games, and then everyone bringing up their lists of games that do in fact have gay characters, only to have everyone shot down for excuses for why they don't qualify. I mean, lets get real here. We have had all sorts of deviations in games for a long time. Hell, we have had tranny's in games since Ms. Pac Man. Luigi couldn't be more gay. And the Belmonts were a bloodline devoted to the bdsm scene.

 

[ninjaRiv]

... Why SHOULD they make games with gay protagonists? Financially, it's a risk and not a needed one. Honestly, if people want to see more gay protagonists, they should go make one. Same with female characters.

 

[ninjaRiv]

... Why SHOULD they make games with gay protagonists? Financially, it's a risk and not a needed one. Honestly, if people want to see more gay protagonists, they should go make one. Same with female characters.

That's the problem,the game industry should take more risks and start pushing boundaries instead of playing it safe all the time.Why should straight people be catered to all the time while gays and other minorities are told "If you want gay,black,asian,spanish,or transgender characters that they should make them"?

Why can't the straight white audience let other people have games that cater to them without bitching about it?

But the industry has no reason to take those risks at all. If they keep doing what they're doing, they keep their current audience. If they take that risk, they lose a few. Why would they take that chance? Why SHOULD they take that chance? There is no need for them to risk their money.

But if new developers start making games with gay protagonists, games that sell well, they'll take the risk. Or chances of risks being taken will increase. People should give companies a reason to make gay characters, not just complain about it. Make the games you want, prove tot he industry it's possible. Seems kind of like an obvious thing to do, imo. The best thing to do, too.

 

[Aramis Night]

... Why SHOULD they make games with gay protagonists? Financially, it's a risk and not a needed one. Honestly, if people want to see more gay protagonists, they should go make one. Same with female characters.

That's the problem,the game industry should take more risks and start pushing boundaries instead of playing it safe all the time.Why should straight people be catered to all the time while gays and other minorities are told "If you want gay,black,asian,spanish,or transgender characters that they should make them"?

Why can't the straight white audience let other people have games that cater to them without bitching about it?

But the industry has no reason to take those risks at all. If they keep doing what they're doing, they keep their current audience. If they take that risk, they lose a few. Why would they take that chance? Why SHOULD they take that chance? There is no need for them to risk their money.

But if new developers start making games with gay protagonists, games that sell well, they'll take the risk. Or chances of risks being taken will increase. People should give companies a reason to make gay characters, not just complain about it. Make the games you want, prove tot he industry it's possible. Seems kind of like an obvious thing to do, imo. The best thing to do, too.

But but... Then we will have to find something else to complain about. Silly you, bringing up rational solutions. We have no time for that. This is The Escapist, where we all get together and have a PC complain off.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Maybe some characters are gay, and it just wasn't told to us. What if Halo, Borderlands, Left 4 Dead or maybe Call of Duty had gay characters? We weren't exactly told some of them were straight, so it's a possibility they aren't. We just think that being straight is the default preference (which I say is a completely okay thing to think by the way) so we automatically apply that to characters in video games.

I'd be okay with a gay main character, as long I don't get blatant parts of the game solely about his/her homosexuality that feel like the developers are saying: HEY GUYS THIS CHARACTER IS GAY! GAY I TELL YOU! The character simply being implied he's/she's gay is enough, like Bill from The Last of Us:

He is not "a gay character"; he is a character who so happens to be gay.

yep, just like on "teh internetz" anyone is a male by default unless otherwise said.

(not really, but alot of people just default it in that manner.)

I don't mind gay characters, as long as that isn't their main gig. Do you see straight characters going around "HAHAHAHA LOOK HOW STRAIGHT I AM, I ONLY LIKE THE OPPOSITE SEX AND THAT IS IT! STRAIGHT FOR ME, ME IS STRAIGHTTTT!"

(if you do, then i have no idea what games you are playing.)