Homosexuality in games

[Erikaiht]

Jade Empire.

This, by Bioware, the guys who made Mass Effect, and KOTOR, made not just the most dynamically playable game in terms of story, (All together - you can have over 1000 story arcs)but also in sexuality.

No matter what sex you chose to play as, you can pursue a relationship with nearly any other characters, yes the obvious one is kinda thrust at you, but depending on you words and actions, nearly all of your party can be wooed.

Now, considering there are quite a few to choose from as well, the ending is what really pays off. Depending on who you choose at the end (and which the screen goes to black before you even see a kiss - including straight pairings), you can radically change your epilogue. (changed also radically by choices, if played a more... kill everything way, your result will be different, and if larger in game choices were made differently, you can get the exact opposite, corrupt rule instead of long and just.)

If a female, and you take the princess to be your partner, upon completing the game you'll receive an epilogue depicting the long rule (Divinely picked, complicated story) lasted quite some time, and the children of those that helped you take over at the end. If with a male you are told how your family rules justly for hundreds of years. (They are a lot more in depth, with accounts and side quests your did along the way being mentioned too).

The game is also good.

Very good.

So good that when I started it, I had to sit down and play for 13 straight hours, then sit up, because I had completed it, and needed breakfast.

It is by far, one of my favorite xbox titles to ever be made.

 

[Matronadena]

Shepard is a lesbian, if you are playing female.

While the Asari do not consider themselves Female/Male, they do look female. And, well, that makes our Spectre a homosexual.

First I will make clear that I am a straight male to help put my points into perspective.

I tend to actually play female protagonists more if given the choice, mostly out of my admiration for strong female heroes that can be interesting and likable without getting their breasts out. I have no patience for the "rough, bad-ass" under-charismatic male leads that litter so many mainstream titles. It's one-dimensional rubbish for the chauvinist pig demographic who, themselves, imagine they are some kind of faux-macho action hero with a magnetic attraction to danger and skinny blond women outfitted with medicine balls for breasts.

In Mass Effect, I did play as the female Shepard and did pursue the romance dialog with the male NPC (his name escapes me). I saw no problem in doing so, after all, their intent was for a smooth cinematic presentation, right? It was well-written if anything though I couldn't shake the niggling fact that the male NPC's voice actor was the guy who did Carth and female Shepard's actress also did Bastilla, both from Star Wars: KOTOR; I kept waiting for a 2 hour dialog of Wookie growling.

In my second play-through I was the female Shepard again and chose the dialog path with the Asari instead, and honestly, their "love" scene was just creepy as hell with all the psychedelic effects and her coal black eyes. By the end, having the realization that I just made Shepard a Lesbian didn't really bother me at all. It becomes a footnote when compared to the rest of the main plot and her role in the story, besides the fact that neither your nor Llara's dialog for expressing your feelings for each other aren't very well written or characterized.

lemme follow yup with alittle more clarity on my side of the coin.

Im a woman in my late 20's-early 30's, married with children.
Im gender neutral... ( not to be confused with Bi in a traditional way) I don't acknowledge gender, your plumbing does not dictate if your a good person, or gutter trash.

When it comes to the topic of playing a certain gender, and having romance options open on both sides of the line, I actually find it more realistic to life in that way..

by that I mean that it opens up a players ability to control their environment... not necessarily in a sexual way, more in the way that much like real life we have choices and options to make in everything we do.. the more options to create our gaming world ( meaning from the characters look to their personality, interests etc )create a world one can become more involved in, attached to and play through with a level of forethought to their actions/reactions that is lacking in other styles.

this said sometimes I play a straight roll other times I don't.. some say this is dictated due to my natural real preferences, I say that it's part ( I do what feels natural for the character as I envisioned them) other times I do so just to see the variant of the story.

with ME, I stick with a femshep as for some reason that felt more natural...the male side always played abit too " blocky" for a lack of better phrase. While I wished the relationship with Liara required more work, I actually did find it decently written.. it's not as deep as many would have liked... but it REALLY did put out the idea that this was something very new to both of them, and that created a slight tension that neither one knew out to flat out get across, opting to be more subtle, or dare I say approach with a child like awkwardness... the choice in picking Liara to me also has me looking at the books, and the game differently, wondering how that choice continues in ME2 " which it better be able to be continued and built upon) going the human/human route really to me made the potential character building arch and makes it alittle stale, limiting what can really be done with it.

Bioware is still one of the best when it comes to making it come across in a subtle, or enriching way without crossing too many lines, and always making it " optional" and not forcing it on a character. Though I admit I would like to see them get alittle more ballsy and make that step and working to make those connections less tongue and cheek, or passive...or as I should be saying....once engaged in a relationship the context can become alittle stronger.. granted that a player choosing such a path has already gotten into something they were well aware of doing..

In games where you play a static character, having their preferences pre chosen does not bother me.. I just see it as " thats who the character is, so who cares it wont change the gameplay itself" Im not a fan of going over the top for the shock value as that detracts from any venture after a certain point..

somone mentioned what if FF was a boy-love series rather than how it is..

my smart ass reply is " you mean it's not a girl love story? I could have sworn all those " guys" were just very very flat women"

but in all reality...would it have changed the story? names and genders would have changed, but thats only superficial when you look at the story its trying to tell in-it's self.

 

[SteveDave]

Wasn't that one cat like alien in KOTOR a lesbian?

 

[Siiner]

Venom from the Guilty Gear games? No one mentioned it yet wth?
Oh, and Zato-1 was bisexual as well. Bridget isn't gay, he was just forced to live as a girl, so maybe his dad was gay.

 

[TurretedCasius]

I really don't care whose gay and who isn't. The only thing i don't like is just labeling someone gay and not showing anything about it in the game, like what they did with dombledore in harry potter.

 

[Matronadena]

Wasn't that one cat like alien in KOTOR a lesbian?

Bioware seemed to be trying to hint at that, but then it suddenly cuts out abruptly, and Im pretty positive LA took the axe to that wanting to keep their asses as safe as they could to protect the franchise.. I can't blame them on a professional level for wanting to keep things clean, but I think they slip so many innuendos of sexuality, violence, drug use etc into the movies/books/games that hiding in their legal department office with fingers in ear going LALALALALALALALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALA" pretending the more risky sides of humanity don't exists is alittle naive.

 

[Acrostica]

Exactly. .no point, except the game is about sex or family or something. .

I heard Vaan (FF12) is gay, how true?

The official canon (I'm pretty sure) is Vaan has, if anything at all, a crush on Penelo.

 

[NeverAiling]

I want a game where your super-macho character has to rescue a prince from a castle.

90% of games are loaded down with uber-men and object-oriented women. They aren't made for gamers, they are made for straight men, incidental to the fact that most gamers are straight, white, 18-30yo men.

I'd like to see a game made by gay people, for gay people. A game completely and totally pointless for straight people. I want that.

 

[Siiner]

I want a game where your super-macho character has to rescue a prince from a castle.

90% of games are loaded down with uber-men and object-oriented women. They aren't made for gamers, they are made for straight men, incidental to the fact that most gamers are straight, white, 18-30yo men.

I'd like to see a game made by gay people, for gay people. A game completely and totally pointless for straight people. I want that.

I'd play it, and I'm straight. XP

 

[MasterWhatever]

I see no big deal with it, in the sense that game that try and be realistic should try and be 100%, gays are real, put them in games.

 

[redjolt]

The only way it could ever work is to shock intolerant players.
Otherwise what would be the point?

 

[tklivory]

The only way it could ever work is to shock intolerant players.
Otherwise what would be the point?

The point of introducing openly gay protaganists (as opposed to side players) would not be to shock intolerant players, but to attempt to reflect the players and society as a whole. Are all FPS players straight, white, rugged males? Are all JRPG players gushy, romantic females? No, and the characters in games are slowly (very slowly) changing to reflect that. It took a long time for a believable female character to become the lead protagonist (I'm sorry? was Princess Peach supposed to truly represent females? ), and the tendency still remains to under-dress and over-emphasize the physical attributes of said females, but progress has been made.

To dismiss gays/lesbians in gaming on the grounds that 'it isn't important to the story/mechanics/etc' is to dismiss all the romantic tensions of past stories that involved male/female stories that weren't outright plots, but background sound. I mean, the sexual tension present in the relationship between any main male character and a fill-in-the-blank female sidekick (a la Uncharted) shouldn't really need to require a heterosexual relationship, but at this point in gaming development, it does. I think it would be best that any sexual/romantic tension would simply be a part of good game development, regardless of the gender involved.

It would be a sad thing if games locked themselves into the pigeonhole of conformity that the mass media tells them to stay in "for safety's sake" when movies, comic books, and TV shows have so thoroughly and proudly broken that barrier. Are games only for kids and people who don't like to think, or do they mean more than that?

I vote for more meaning, myself...

 

[Harry Miste]

The only two I can think of are Dallas from Valkyria Chronicles and the player-character from Fallout 2 (well, the PC's more bisexual than anything).

 

[Whobajube]

I think we're forgetting the biggest closet gay character of all here... Link! He risks his life to save a hot princess, and never gets any! He's either gay or she's a *****, haha. I'm inclined to believe gay. He DOES hang around with faeries all day! Bahaha!

 

[Remleiz]

[/quote]


I'm fine with people having alternative lifestyles. But the thing is, I don't really want it shoved in my face either. [/quote]

Are you refering to how some gay characters are over the top stereotypically camp?
Or do you just not want a game where the main character is gay?


p.s this isnt a rip on you, this is an honest question

 

[AlexiSai]

Silver Chaos. Lamento. Two completely homosexual games with only homosexual characters. There are many more, but they are only released in Japan.