Industry Obsessed With "Gay Space Marines," Says Mafia 2 Producer

[crazypsyko666]

I can totally agree - Charactrs are all the same shade of grey these days...

The funny thing is that some of the original bald and screaming hyper-masculine space marines liked to paint their armor bright and shiny colors.

Spoiler: Just look

EDIT: Goddamn ninjas!!!

 

[CitySquirrel]

Oooh ... I don't know. The whole idea that you have a militaristic society continually defeated by an alien insectoid race that had lacked a arms race had to be atleast some form of self parodisation. Or perhaps I looked at the book the wrong way <.<

You can just say "parody". There is no noun for parodying. That having been said:

Starship Troopers was mainly Heinlein's response to drafting, he felt that a society that required a draft didn't deserve to exist (if a nation was able to get enough volunteers to defend itself, then it had earned the right to continue). The society in Troopers is designed to promote benefits for those that serve in the army, such as citizenship.

This is exactly correct.

But there is a quite strong streak of the absurd in Heinlein's works ... take for instance Stranger in a Strange Land ... are you saying there was no humourous critique of human psychology and reasoning in that either?

You can either take Heinlein as a fascist idiot, or a guy with a subtle acknowledgement of the inherent flaws of Humanity ... I'm hoping it was a case of the latter rather than the former.

Yeah, Heinlein did use a lot of the absurd in his writing. Just look at Time Enough for Love... Lazarus becomes his own frigging ancestor. And that is one of the things that makes Heinlein my all time favorite author... he tackles all sorts of things, not just having to do with human flaws and critiques, but societal taboos. But this is not parody, in that parody is a form of criticism. (He did criticize, but not really in parody).

As to Heinlein being a fascist, that is a nebulous term with a meaning that needs to be defined almost every time it is used. Heinlein didn't seem to believe in a hierarchical society, so in that sense he was not. I'm not sure about the military industrial side of the term "fascist" in regards to the author. However, as Blind Sight pointed out, he was a libertarian and had views that both fit in with today's right and left.

Speaking of which, it is great to actually be talking about him in this particular argument because Heinlein DID have openly gay characters...or at least men who were not afraid to be intimate with other men. If fact, Heinlein's characters broke down many social and sexual boundaries. Women had far stronger rolls in his work than in most contemporary sci-fi (even if they did all want to be spanked... that might have been a thing with him and his wife, Virgina?) and, as I said, he presented in a positive view homosexuality, lesbianism, group sex/love/communing, and incest. No video game has even come close to challenging any modern issues the way he did. If we had Heinlein-esq writing, there would be gay space marines and they would kick ass. All over time.

 

[Sebenko]

I can totally agree - Charactrs are all the same shade of grey these days...

The funny thing is that some of the original bald and screaming hyper-masculine space marines liked to paint their armor bright and shiny colors.

Spoiler: Just look

EDIT: Goddamn ninjas!!!

There was a chapter called the Rainbow Warriors, back in the mists of time.

Disappointingly, their colours were these:

Spoiler

 

[Caliostro]

On the one hand, he's right. Writing in general (characterization, storylines, story telling, etc) desperately needs to improve in most games.

On the other hand, this is the guy that produced a more linear GTA-clone about the mob. "Pot & Kettle"... etc...

Hyper-masculinity doesn't always indicate homosexuality. They could just be conventionally masculine.

Yeah... Crushing majority of times hyper-masculinity is a result of overcompensating underlying homosexual tendencies and insecurities.

Yes, even, and usually "especially", the "conventional" type.

 

[Iron Lightning]

Am I the only one who finds it a bit odd that our Mr. Grace is decrying unoriginality while staqnding behind a game filled with mafia cliches?

I think a game about an actually gay space marine would be awesome.

Super effeminant Space Marine Chapter Master ... and he's all like pilotting this Thunderhawk gun Ship and crashes it straight into an Ork Gargant ... bursting through its armour and partly exploding in a hail of shrapnel and smog within the belly of the mechanical beast.

As the smog slowly clears and the orks cease coughing you just suddenly hear ... "Haiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Gaisssssssssssss!!!!" And a huge figure bursting through the smog, decapitating orks left and right with a massive chain sword, and riddling shooty boyz with storm bolter rounds.

That would be FUCKING AWESOME! Goty material. Seriously I'm tired of all the 'For the Emperor!!' ...

That's the best fucking idea for a videogame I've ever heard.

 

[archvile93]

I think that if he wants game story writers to get more creative, he should first get more creative with his insults...
Seriously? Gay Space Marines? Never heard that one before, suuure.
When he throws in an archaic word, or something that makes his drivel stand out more than anyone else's, then I shall given a damn to him. I shall send him 1 (One) damn. Whatever they look like.

Or better yet, maybe he could leave out the insults entirely and sound like a professional rather than a whiny child. He's dead wrong anyway. Creativity doesn't automatically mean good story. It's no harder to make a good story about space marines than it is for any other set of characters.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

If they want writing to improve, stop listing requirements in the job postings that only someone who's been writing for successful game franchises (i.e. Gears and Halo) for the past five to ten years can fulfill. Get new blood in there. You're not allowed to complain about lack of originality if you're still hiring the same people--or person--over and over.

 

[Caliostro]

And this guy says that videogame writing should improve? Okay.....

All that video shows is that they use the word "fuck" a lot... Which is a word... Which people use... Particularly the kind of people that get shoot at a lot...

"OH GOSH DARN IT! I WAS SHOT! THIS REALLY FRIGGING HURTS MAN! OH FUDGE! WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

Keep that in the mind numbingly immature and hollow crap they feed kids in Saturday morning cartoons.

 

[mattttherman3]

Commander Matthew Shepard of the Normandy is not gay, in fact, he's slept with most of his female companions.

 

[ajh93]

Hyper-masculinity doesn't always indicate homosexuality. They could just be conventionally masculine.

or they could just be overcompensating for small dicks.but that's just what i think.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I wish developers would stop saying incredibly stupid things just to get some attention.

 

[Nieroshai]

Hehehe. I like this man. Certainly I agree, I've said it often enough. Why "gay space marines"? Is that cause they very obviously don't seem at all interested in women? I'm just not sure what prompted that part lol.

I bet they're just geldings. Eunuchs. Or there aren't any women around to hit on. Or maybe the space marines have better control of their dicks than you all do.
Note: DARPA is actually field-testing libido suppression on certain Marine Corps troops.

Also this is the asshat dialog that makes people hate a studio if they don't already love them. There's a way to say "we're tired of space shooters and super soldiers" without insulting the franchise itself.

 

[LightspeedJack]

Gears of War has no connection to space and the characters aren't marines they're just soldiers, COGs to be more specific. As far as the homo-erotic undertones are concerned he may have a point there.

 

[Imbechile]

Haha so true. Made my day

 

[Korey Von Doom]

Oh the delicious irony. How I love thee. Now I'm going to go write an original story about an Italian man named Vito who gets an offer he can't refuse.

Yes, quite delicious... I wonder if Space Marines have a "dont ask, dont tell" policy too...

Well you know when you think about the originality of a game based on the Mafia, I can think of 4 games off the top of my head, when I think of space marines, I can think of about 20 games off the top of my head.

 

[flaming_squirrel]

Bleh, hate it when people do this. If you look hard enough then it's possible to conjure up 'homoerotic undertones' in practically everything.

 

[Motiv_]

I agree with the guy somewhat, I mean, innovation is good and all, but let's see what we have here.

A RussianItalian immigrant named NikoVito, who is also an Army Veteran, starts out at the bottom rung of the crime syndicate ladder, and must take missions from fellow Gangmafia members until he becomes a "Made Man"

Gee, sounds like.. a vaguely disguised Grand Theft Auto, The Goodfellas, Godfather, Mafia 1...

You really don't have a leg to stand on, Denby.