How come there are no positive gay or lesbian characters in games?

[Rhayn]

Meh. I think most developers would at least like to have more homosexual characters in their games. But seriously, look at the uproar Fox News caused over Mass Effects one second of alien lesbian side-boob. I do believe most developers don't want that kind of attention, even though gamers might ultimately like it more than yet another manly man.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

"Do I Look Like One of Them?"

I don't know, do ya?

GTA San Andreas, Faith from Mirrors Edge

Exactly, a 5 year old game on a last generation console and a sub-par action game.

Last month, GTA Chinatown Wars.

I don't think any of you get what I'm saying, what I'm saying is that most games have handsome white anglophone straight protagonists, while minorities seem to have a very marginal role (if they have one at all).

 

[Nmil-ek]

If i game needs to rely on a cheap gimmick like characters spouting off their sexuality or refering it to win over a certain crowd then its most definently not going to be worth playing.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

People defined as "Gay" tend to be the worst excesses of a stereotype.

Isn't that a bit of a broad generalization? I define myself as straight, does that mean I'm a macho though guy stereotype?

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

"Do I Look Like One of Them?"

I don't know, do ya?He [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC4__5VYzr0&feature=PlayList&p=6969700C6D7C2F5D&index=10] might. Or there's the scottish cyclops? [http://image.hazardstrip.com/ico/sprays/demoman.png]

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

People defined as "Gay" tend to be the worst excesses of a stereotype.

Isn't that a bit of a broad generalization? I define myself as straight, does that mean I'm a macho though guy stereotype?

Do you walk into a room and shout out "I'm STRAIGHT!"? If so, then you're very much the latter. And probably in denial.

 

[emh204]

Because the stupide democrats havent forced there views onto games and im glad of it.

 

[PlasticPorter]

The only gay video game character I can think of is Jolly from Banjo Tooie

 

[ix_tab]

Because the stupide democrats havent forced there views onto games and im glad of it.

Anyone who spells stupid with an 'e' gets their internet rights revoked, btw.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

People defined as "Gay" tend to be the worst excesses of a stereotype.

Isn't that a bit of a broad generalization? I define myself as straight, does that mean I'm a macho though guy stereotype?

Do you walk into a room and shout out "I'm STRAIGHT!"? If so, then you're very much the latter. And probably in denial.

I think I missed the memo saying that the meaning of defined had changed to "Shouting something in a room full of people".
What I mean is, if somebody were to ask, I would answer, does that make me stereotypical?

In reference to your example, that seems to be what most videogame characters today seem to do.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

Because the stupide democrats havent forced there views onto games and im glad of it.

Please, no trolling.

 

[cathou]

I dont see why there should be absolutely a homosexual video game character, since in 90% of the games no sexual orientation of the charater is not mentionned, and knowing it will not give anything more to the game...

 

[Velocirapture07]

"Do I Look Like One of Them?"

I don't know, do ya?

GTA San Andreas, Faith from Mirrors Edge

Exactly, a 5 year old game on a last generation console and a sub-par action game.

Last month, GTA Chinatown Wars.

I don't think any of you get what I'm saying, what I'm saying is that most games have handsome white anglophone straight protagonists, while minorities seem to have a very marginal role (if they have one at all).

I see what you're saying, but I just don't really see the problem. The minorities are there, you just have to look for them. But really, that's what the minority means man....they are in the minority. If there was a black man/woman or and asian protaganist in every game it wouldn't make sense.

Plus if you wanna point fingers I'd call out the Japanese. If anyone should be having asians in their games it's the Japanese, yet time and again we get these anime characters who are about as Asian as Paris freaking Hilton and very western looking.

 

[savandicus]

Stereotypes are how games make money, game developers aim games to the widest possible audience. Since players generally like to 'be' the main character or atleast be 'in the shoes of' while playing its always important to have a main character that the player doesnt dislike or else they arent going to enjoy it.

Currently the stereotypical gamer is male and straight and therefore if you have a male gay character then your instantly adding something that is going to make it hard to relate to that character and if the game has any element of choice then the players arent going to want to choose the gay options because they want to choose the choices that they would pick in those situations.

Having forced gay elements in characters that are largely controlled by the player will never sell well unless the sterotype of the average gamer changes, and it will need to change quite dramatically for that to happen.

Choice of all kinds always sells well and having side characters very being subtly hinted towards being gay is a good way to build character in the same way that hinting that a male character has a wife is a way of building character. The important thing though is why the heck would anyone care? If you really want that in a game then make the game yourself.

 

[searanox]

Non-hetero-normative sexualities and lifestyles (or even viewing sexualities as anything but binaries) is a hot-button issue at the minute. Games are meant to make money and publishers usually assume that public reaction towards positive portrayals of potentially controversial topics will be entirely negative, and thus bad for sales (never mind that there may be a very large group of people who actually want that sort of thing in their games). Developers with more experience, franchises under their belt, etc. have far more clout as well, especially if they are able to self-publish, but still have to be careful. Inserting discussion of sexuality into a game where it isn't necessarily warranted isn't really going to help anyone, and going about it in the wrong way, even in the right context, can lead to other problems such as ornamentalising.

 

[PhiMed]

What about Otacon? Haha. Just kidding.

Let's be honest, though. Most games don't even really address orientation of the characters, so in the games that don't address orientation, it's our own biases that cause us to perceive these characters as straight or gay.

While there are some characters which have storylines which include a romantic interest, it makes sense that very few of them would be same-sex relationships, because gay and lesbians are a small minority in the real world. Mainstream games have such huge budgets, and so few make any money at all that it is in developers' best interests to have mass appeal. Don't expect a mainstream game to rock the boat any time soon.

The only way you're going to get a realistically-portrayed same-sex storyline is if it's in an indie game, but we'll still be having this discussion even after that because no one will notice due to the small number of people exposed to the game.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

What I mean is, if somebody were to ask, I would answer, does that make me stereotypical?

In reference to your example, that seems to be what most videogame characters today seem to do.

Yeah, and maybe most of the characters would say IF they were asked. But they're not.

If you have to state your sexuality when you appear though, don't you think you'll only get stereotypes?

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

I see what you're saying, but I just don't really see the problem. The minorities are there, you just have to look for them. But really, that's what the minority means man....they are in the minority. If there was a black man/woman or and asian protaganist in every game it wouldn't make sense.

Plus if you wanna point fingers I'd call out the Japanese. If anyone should be having asians in their games it's the Japanese, yet time and again we get these anime characters who are about as Asian as Paris freaking Hilton and very western looking.

You're right, but having all the characters in videogames be white doesn't make much sense either.

The Japanese thing is also kind of annoying, but that's more of a cultural self-hating issue.

 

[PhiMed]

OK, let me get this straight: if, as most of you keep saying, it "doesn't matter" then why AREN'T there any positive gay/lesbian characters? You just said it doesn't matter either way, so where are they? Stop fudging the issue; what you mean is "it's hard to find a defensible reason to have a gay/lesbian character in a game so it's safer not to chance it".

The simple reason there aren't any is simple: all games developers are either homophobic or scared of getting the homophobes offside. To be fair it's probably more often the latter than the former. Games developers know that if they DID make a game with a notable and positive gay/lesbian character in a major role then the bigoted homophobes in the community would start jumping up and down screaming "BAN THIS SICK UNGODLY FILTH" like a bunch of shaved weasels with tourettes. And frankly, they're too scared of the trouble this will cause them so they don't try it. It's sad and pathetic really, even so-called "controversial" developers like Rockstar are really only interested in seeing how far they can push the envelope in violence, nudity and sex.

Because violence, nudity, and sex sells. They aren't progressive or controversial for the sake of pushing the envelope, they're just businesspeople.

The perception is that gay doesn't sell, and while that may be untrue, I doubt it. That's not homophobia or fear of bigotry. That's marketing.

There isn't a great deal of focus on the romantic aspects of straight relationships, either. As a matter of fact, very few games at this point in time place much of a focus on original storytelling at all. For the tiny minority of current games that truly tell a good story, only a few of them deal with sexuality at all. Are we supposed to shoe horn in a same-sex romance just for the sake of it?

If someone creates a well-written story that includes a homosexual romance, I hope they include it in a game. I always enjoy a good story-driven game. But I'm not going to fault a media that makes most content decision based on economics and rarely makes much of an effort at storytelling for not including many examples of a particular plot point.