Poll: Do You Think A Game With A Homosexual Lead Could Survive?

[runtheplacered]

Seriously though, if it were a good game and the player character's homosexuality was just stated, without gratuity, I don't see why it would have any problems. If anything, an already good game that can drum up a little curiosity inducing controversy could benefit from it (ala, Mass Effect *optional homosexuality*).

Precisely how I feel about it.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

If the lead character is gay, then I don't think I would relate to him nearly as much as if he was not. I most likely would not buy the game. Plus, I would think any kiss/sex scenes were gross. (I think homosexuality is fine, but, tbh, I still get a sick feeling when I see it being practiced, because I am not attracted to guys.)

I think having the option there is fine, but if it is forced, then that would seriously hurt the game's sales, because only around 3-4% of the population are gay/lesbian, and of the other 96-97%, a lot of them would not "get" it, and many would be repulsed by it.

It might be able to survive, but the game's sales would be hurt, and thus it would be a strange company that would make a game knowing it's sales will be hurt, not because of how good the game is, but because of what content is in it.

Now if you are asking if it could survive if it is an option, then of course it could survive, other games already have done so.

what kind of moron do you have to be to buy a game based on the sexuality of the main character!!!! I buy a game because A. i like the idea that the story is based on, B. The game looks like it will be good.

when i go out to buy a game the last thing i think about is will the main character have homosexual conitations

*Sigh* I didn't say I would not buy the game. I said I would most likely not buy the game, as I do not relate to the main character. If the game deals with sexuality, then of course that's going to be a reason whether I do or do not buy the game. If it doesn't deal with sexuality, then I won't consider it.

For an example, let's take a game like The Witcher. If Geralt is gay, I would most certainly not buy the game, because sexuality is such a key part of the storyline, and thus a key part of the storyline would gross me out. If you want to spend your money on that, then go ahead, but some of us have a limited source of income, and thus must use a little judgment beyond, "I LIKE I LIKE I WANT I WANT!" when buying games. It must be worth it.

If you only buy a game because it looks like it will be good, and you like the idea that it is based on, then I'm glad that you can get enjoyment out of games like that, (and that you can somehow afford it.) However, I tend to make a much more... researched decision on whether or not to buy the game, consisting of at least the following:

1. Price of the game, (Which you did not mention at all.)
2. How Violence is done. (Tastefully, Realistically. Not where it is gratuitious and unnecessary, but realistic, if it has a lot of violence in it.)
3. How Sex is done within the game. (Same reasoning as violence.)
4. What my Friends say about the game.
5. Whether I have liked other games by that company.
6. Whether I can play the game well, (judging by its requirements- I only use my PC to play games).
7. What the gameplay is like.
8. What the storyline is like. (Especially if it is based on some book.)
9. What the demo plays like, if there is one. If there is not, then the chances of me being the game just went way down.

These are all equally weighed, with perhaps my friend's opinion and my own, formed from the demo, coming out on top.

I see no reason to spend my hard-earned money on a game where I do not relate to the lead character. Games are for enjoyment, MY enjoyment if they are my games, and if I am cringing at half the dialogue, then I am not enjoying myself. Thus, I most likely wouldn't buy it.

Dude, gay people have the same feelings we do. They are not a different species and the feelings of love they feel are exactly the same as straight people, just directed towards the same sex.

You need to educate yourself.

Also, you do know what they say about dudes who freak out when they see other dudes kissing, right?

I do not understand where the hell you got the idea that I am anti-gay, nor that I think they are a different species, nor that I think they feel a different kind of love.

I simply do not wish to pretend like I am gay- i.e. playing a lead who is gay. I might do so were the rest of the story and gameplay fabulous, but a major part of the story would make me cringe, and thus I wouldn't enjoy it.

They can say what they want about it. I don't freak, I am repulsed by it. I do my best not to show it.

It's just not for me. If they want to do it, all power to them, and the idiots who pass laws against it are being just that, idiots. Doesn't mean I have to get a good feeling inside when two guys kiss, and be like, "Aww, how sweet," in order to think that what they do is okay.

You stated that seeing two men kissing makes you feel repulsed and sick. That usually either makes you homophobic or repressed.

Also you said that you wouldn't be able to relate to a gay lead and thier love life.

It's amazing, we can relate to psychopathic lunatics, dumb fuck space marines and homicidal megalomaniacal vault dwellers but not a guy who likes to kiss boys.

Why would I, a heterosexual, want to pretend I am a homosexual? I'm just stating a fact. It's how I am built, it's in my DNA, yadayadayada. All your arguments for gay people can be turned 180 degrees on this point.

I have two friends who are gay, and both of them think it's gross whenever I kiss my girlfriend, and they don't fantasize about kissing girls. Neither do I fantasize about kissing boys. Yet we are still friends, and all three of us think anti-gay laws are bullshit. We have fun times, and get along well. We play Halo or Gears of War, and I, being a PC user, get my ass kicked. We play Age of Empires or Starcraft, and they, being console users, get their asses kicked. Neither of them say that I am secretly homosexual or that I am homophobic. So what right do you have to do so?

Apparently one must wholeheartedly embrace everything gay-related in order not to be a homophobe. I love people who throw that word around, really I do. It just shows how ignorant they are, in most cases.

Look, I didn't say you were homophobic, I just implied that your comments came across as slightly homophobic, whether they were intended to or not.

You have every right not to want to play a character in a game that doesn't represent you, but say for example hypothetically if the next Halo or Gears game had a new protagonist that was gay and you knew it would be a good game, surely you wouldn't let that fact get in the way of you enjoying it?

Given your responses (in which thankfully you avoided getting abusive) I don't think you are as ignorant as your earlier comments may have come across to people (including me).

I also think that in most cases with people it would depend on the kind of game, I sure as shit have no interest in playing a game primarily focused on finding manlove, but at the same time if a great shooter came out with a gay lead then it would be an irrelevant thing to me.

The pinks guns in Halo are very gay BTW

 

[darthzew]

If they made a serious point for the main character to be gay, as in, "Play this new GAY shooter!" then no, it wouldn't survive.

But homosexuality has been in games for a while now. I do think a game that didn't give you at least a choice in homosexuality would take a lot of unnecessary fire.

There's no way to know, but I don't think an exclusively gay character would make it.

 

[Cliff_m85]

It already has survived, see Fable 2 or any Legend of Zelda game.

Link is NOT gay. Im not against having a homosexual lead character, and it wouldnt bother me, but I dont want Link mistaken for one. (Personal situation. Link is my favorite game character of all time.) Im not saying i wouldnt like him if he was, Im just stating that he is not as a fact, not a denial.

Let me just play my ocarina as I prance around in my green outfit. Tra-la-la! He won't kiss any girl he gets near, even after saving them. If I just went all over a kingdom to save a piece of skirt, I want a piece of......kiss. Amirite?

 

[Wyatt]

*snip*
And for that matter, you have the choice to be gay/lesbian in

Fable I, Fable II, Bully, Mass Effect, KotOR II, Jade Empire.

At least among the RPGs I've played.

now HOLD ON just a minute bub, by an odd chance im PLAYING KoToR II atm and id wondering just where the choice to be 'gay' is?

if you play a dude you get the handmaiden and/or Visas Marr and if you play a girl you get the Disciple and/or atton for 'relationships' such as they are, and the only thing i can see thats even close to a romatic relationship is almost at the end when you ....... well sit and look at each other with visas. ohh and there is the odd line or two you get with Mira if you play a guy. anyhow none of the relationships are even slightly homosexual that i can see.

if anything that game could be a good example of how you COULD include a homosexual senario by letting same sex 'relationships' in the picture. but as it is there is no 'gay' aspects at all. LOL hell your party members are hard wired to be the opposite sex depending on what sex you choose to be the lead. a woman doesnt get the handmaiden and a guy cant get the desciple.

now had they put this into the game that you could choose either of those two as your 'love interest' no matter what you chose as a starting sex, that would be fine by me. if im a guy and chose the desciple than i would be 'gay' and the game should/could reflect this, and i wouldnt be bothered a bit by it. hell id be apt to play through it just for chuckles too see how it unfolds.

actualy though the more i think about it, this IS a game where you could do something like having a gay lead and pull it off.

stil dont think that a no choice, forced on me, gay lead would work though. most games the lead is a tough guy or chick, and while i can see perhaps a 'butch' woman lead and belive that she can kick ass and take names and still be a lesbian, i just cant, sorry call me what you will, but i just CANT see a gay guy being a very kick ass lead.

can you just picture 'Niles Frasier' or jack from 'will & Grace' decked out in marine armor trying to get you to take serious your mission to slaughter every alien ever?

yes its a sterotype, but a damn valid one in my opinion

 

[Thanatos34]

*snip*
And for that matter, you have the choice to be gay/lesbian in

Fable I, Fable II, Bully, Mass Effect, KotOR II, Jade Empire.

At least among the RPGs I've played.

now HOLD ON just a minute bub, by an odd chance im PLAYING KoToR II atm and id wondering just where the choice to be 'gay' is?

if you play a dude you get the handmaiden and/or Visas Marr and if you play a girl you get the Disciple and/or atton for 'relationships' such as they are, and the only thing i can see thats even close to a romatic relationship is almost at the end when you ....... well sit and look at each other with visas. ohh and there is the odd line or two you get with Mira if you play a guy. anyhow none of the relationships are even slightly homosexual that i can see.

if anything that game could be a good example of how you COULD include a homosexual senario by letting same sex 'relationships' in the picture. but as it is there is no 'gay' aspects at all. LOL hell your party members are hard wired to be the opposite sex depending on what sex you choose to be the lead. a woman doesnt get the handmaiden and a guy cant get the desciple.

now had they put this into the game that you could choose either of those two as your 'love interest' no matter what you chose as a starting sex, that would be fine by me. if im a guy and chose the desciple than i would be 'gay' and the game should/could reflect this, and i wouldnt be bothered a bit by it. hell id be apt to play through it just for chuckles too see how it unfolds.

actualy though the more i think about it, this IS a game where you could do something like having a gay lead and pull it off.

stil dont think that a no choice, forced on me, gay lead would work though. most games the lead is a tough guy or chick, and while i can see perhaps a 'butch' woman lead and belive that she can kick ass and take names and still be a lesbian, i just cant, sorry call me what you will, but i just CANT see a gay guy being a very kick ass lead.

can you just picture 'Niles Frasier' or jack from 'will & Grace' decked out in marine armor trying to get you to take serious your mission to slaughter every alien ever?

yes its a sterotype, but a damn valid one in my opinion

Visas is a romantic interest even if the lead is a female. So she... goes both ways.

I don't think Mira is supposed to be a lesbian, it is merely that she is much younger than the lead, and thus not interested in him. She could be. (Mira/Mission, anyone?)

I was not meaning to imply that it was a good way for gayness to be in a game, merely that the choice was there.

 

[Thanatos34]

It already has survived, see Fable 2 or any Legend of Zelda game.

Link is NOT gay. Im not against having a homosexual lead character, and it wouldnt bother me, but I dont want Link mistaken for one. (Personal situation. Link is my favorite game character of all time.) Im not saying i wouldnt like him if he was, Im just stating that he is not as a fact, not a denial.

Let me just play my ocarina as I prance around in my green outfit. Tra-la-la! He won't kiss any girl he gets near, even after saving them. If I just went all over a kingdom to save a piece of skirt, I want a piece of......kiss. Amirite?

Hell yes.

 

[Thanatos34]

Random question. Why does everyone misspell lose as loose?

There are many, many games where relationships happen.

There are many which dont happen

Out of every game i own right now none have a relationship except GTA4
and thats only by choice
Some have a love interest
but love interest =/= relationship

All im saying is being gay shouldnt really be even an issue in alot of games
becuase it would rarely even be brought up.

I think there are quite a bit more than you think. If you only play RTS's and FPS's, then sure, perhaps you don't run into many romances.

Practically every RPG, whether it be c, j, or z, or whatever letter they want to put on the front, has one. Maybe they don't evolve to the point of the two characters getting in bed together, but they are there.

 

[Thanatos34]

If the lead character is gay, then I don't think I would relate to him nearly as much as if he was not. I most likely would not buy the game. Plus, I would think any kiss/sex scenes were gross. (I think homosexuality is fine, but, tbh, I still get a sick feeling when I see it being practiced, because I am not attracted to guys.)

I think having the option there is fine, but if it is forced, then that would seriously hurt the game's sales, because only around 3-4% of the population are gay/lesbian, and of the other 96-97%, a lot of them would not "get" it, and many would be repulsed by it.

It might be able to survive, but the game's sales would be hurt, and thus it would be a strange company that would make a game knowing it's sales will be hurt, not because of how good the game is, but because of what content is in it.

Now if you are asking if it could survive if it is an option, then of course it could survive, other games already have done so.

what kind of moron do you have to be to buy a game based on the sexuality of the main character!!!! I buy a game because A. i like the idea that the story is based on, B. The game looks like it will be good.

when i go out to buy a game the last thing i think about is will the main character have homosexual conitations

*Sigh* I didn't say I would not buy the game. I said I would most likely not buy the game, as I do not relate to the main character. If the game deals with sexuality, then of course that's going to be a reason whether I do or do not buy the game. If it doesn't deal with sexuality, then I won't consider it.

For an example, let's take a game like The Witcher. If Geralt is gay, I would most certainly not buy the game, because sexuality is such a key part of the storyline, and thus a key part of the storyline would gross me out. If you want to spend your money on that, then go ahead, but some of us have a limited source of income, and thus must use a little judgment beyond, "I LIKE I LIKE I WANT I WANT!" when buying games. It must be worth it.

If you only buy a game because it looks like it will be good, and you like the idea that it is based on, then I'm glad that you can get enjoyment out of games like that, (and that you can somehow afford it.) However, I tend to make a much more... researched decision on whether or not to buy the game, consisting of at least the following:

1. Price of the game, (Which you did not mention at all.)
2. How Violence is done. (Tastefully, Realistically. Not where it is gratuitious and unnecessary, but realistic, if it has a lot of violence in it.)
3. How Sex is done within the game. (Same reasoning as violence.)
4. What my Friends say about the game.
5. Whether I have liked other games by that company.
6. Whether I can play the game well, (judging by its requirements- I only use my PC to play games).
7. What the gameplay is like.
8. What the storyline is like. (Especially if it is based on some book.)
9. What the demo plays like, if there is one. If there is not, then the chances of me being the game just went way down.

These are all equally weighed, with perhaps my friend's opinion and my own, formed from the demo, coming out on top.

I see no reason to spend my hard-earned money on a game where I do not relate to the lead character. Games are for enjoyment, MY enjoyment if they are my games, and if I am cringing at half the dialogue, then I am not enjoying myself. Thus, I most likely wouldn't buy it.

Dude, gay people have the same feelings we do. They are not a different species and the feelings of love they feel are exactly the same as straight people, just directed towards the same sex.

You need to educate yourself.

Also, you do know what they say about dudes who freak out when they see other dudes kissing, right?

I do not understand where the hell you got the idea that I am anti-gay, nor that I think they are a different species, nor that I think they feel a different kind of love.

I simply do not wish to pretend like I am gay- i.e. playing a lead who is gay. I might do so were the rest of the story and gameplay fabulous, but a major part of the story would make me cringe, and thus I wouldn't enjoy it.

They can say what they want about it. I don't freak, I am repulsed by it. I do my best not to show it.

It's just not for me. If they want to do it, all power to them, and the idiots who pass laws against it are being just that, idiots. Doesn't mean I have to get a good feeling inside when two guys kiss, and be like, "Aww, how sweet," in order to think that what they do is okay.

You stated that seeing two men kissing makes you feel repulsed and sick. That usually either makes you homophobic or repressed.

Also you said that you wouldn't be able to relate to a gay lead and thier love life.

It's amazing, we can relate to psychopathic lunatics, dumb fuck space marines and homicidal megalomaniacal vault dwellers but not a guy who likes to kiss boys.

Why would I, a heterosexual, want to pretend I am a homosexual? I'm just stating a fact. It's how I am built, it's in my DNA, yadayadayada. All your arguments for gay people can be turned 180 degrees on this point.

I have two friends who are gay, and both of them think it's gross whenever I kiss my girlfriend, and they don't fantasize about kissing girls. Neither do I fantasize about kissing boys. Yet we are still friends, and all three of us think anti-gay laws are bullshit. We have fun times, and get along well. We play Halo or Gears of War, and I, being a PC user, get my ass kicked. We play Age of Empires or Starcraft, and they, being console users, get their asses kicked. Neither of them say that I am secretly homosexual or that I am homophobic. So what right do you have to do so?

Apparently one must wholeheartedly embrace everything gay-related in order not to be a homophobe. I love people who throw that word around, really I do. It just shows how ignorant they are, in most cases.

Look, I didn't say you were homophobic, I just implied that your comments came across as slightly homophobic, whether they were intended to or not.

You have every right not to want to play a character in a game that doesn't represent you, but say for example hypothetically if the next Halo or Gears game had a new protagonist that was gay and you knew it would be a good game, surely you wouldn't let that fact get in the way of you enjoying it?

Given your responses (in which thankfully you avoided getting abusive) I don't think you are as ignorant as your earlier comments may have come across to people (including me).

I also think that in most cases with people it would depend on the kind of game, I sure as shit have no interest in playing a game primarily focused on finding manlove, but at the same time if a great shooter came out with a gay lead then it would be an irrelevant thing to me.

The pinks guns in Halo are very gay BTW

Yes they are. And I only play the game when I play with friends, and I still think they're gay. A shooter might sit fine with me, an RPG, as I stated before, no way in hell.

But I still must disagree with you. Merely because I find the idea of two men kissing to be gross does not make me homophobic, nor should it make me seem homophobic. Not unless you want to apply the same label to my two friends and call them... heterophobic.

It's perfectly natural that I find it gross, just like it's perfectly natural that they find the idea of a man and a woman kissing to be gross.

If they slapped me in the face with the fact, or involved a kissing/sex scene involving the main protagonist, then, well. It would make me cringe, as stated before, so I wouldn't be enjoying it. And most likely, much of the dialogue would also make me feel a little repulsed. I'm not saying I wouldn't buy it, (although if it was Halo or Gears of War, then I sure as hell wouldn't buy it, considering I don't have a console, but this was superfluous to your point), but the odds are that I would not.

If it was... incorporated in such a way that I didn't feel... iffy, then that part would not enter into my calculations of whether or not I'd buy the game.

And of course, as stated before, with the typical hypocrisy of a 21-year old male, I'd have no problem with a lesbian lead.

 

[LostNightRecon]

Well to be honest i don't see a homosexual lead being a problem at all. I mean hell if its ok to have girls in armored bikinis we should give out rights to the other views out there. Not every gamer is a horny adolesent male. I know alot of female gamers that are turned off to gaming becuase of how females are depicted. I will be honest here lesbians don't do it for me for the simple fact LESBIANS HAVE NO INTEREST IN MEN!! so why do all the little immature boys get hard from seeing that. A homosexual lead would be like anything else we have out. I will agree if they don't pull it like OMG HE'S GAY and have like no story built up. Also the virtual girls don't do it for me The gameing industry needs a good kick to the pants. That reason is the main reason i won't go into Character design. I don't want to make a girl with breasts the size of my arm and have her wear virtually nothing. It doesn't make sense but then again most of the "men" that play video games never grew past the 14 year old stage. It i have alot of gay friends my stand point on it. Its their choice who am i to say its wrong? Also if they made it an option to say choose like Mass effect did that would be great. So that hey there is a gay or a lesbian romance plot depending on your character. Theres also the straight side for those of you that are homophobic. It really doesn't matter what the lead likes its a game get over it. Its made for you to enjoy a story if you don't like it look away for Gods sake! And i am not a gay or bisexual guy i'm straight but i see it as someone's choice just like i choose to be straight whose to say i'm wrong in that?

 

[Mrsoupcup]

Well gears of war did alright.

 

[RH3INLAND.]

Wait, why would you make a gay character? What's the point? Just to show some support?

The real question shouldn't be why, but why not?

 

[dreadedcandiru99]

In almost all games there is a Male/Female Love intrest. Sometimes the lead is a girl or sometimes its a guy but never gay. I'm not gay, but I was thinking about it. Homosexuality is very controversial and Do you think the world is ready for a homosexual lead role? And it doesn't mean that there would be a gratuidous sex scene or revolve around their homosexuality just enough to show that they are gay. And not just lesbians...becuase we all know guys would enjoy a game that revolved around lesbians I mean either sex. xD

I guess it depends on the game. If it's a game about actually being gay, then the odds are against it, unless you're talking about one of those hentai visual novels that Japan loves so much. Also, according to Kotaku, homosexuals "do not exist in Star Wars" (http://kotaku.com/5230325/there-are-no-gays-in-star-wars), so I guess we won't be seeing any gay Jedi for a while. But you can be gay in Fable, and my Shepard in Mass Effect was a lesbian, so...yeah.

 

[magicmonkeybars]

don't see what kind of difference ot would make, if tomorrow they declared master chief gay would that make halo a worse game ?
it's not like making the lead character gay would automaticly lead to him or her doing gay things.

 

[SavageFox]

I didn't read this whole topic, but I've seen a couple people ask why one would want a gay character/lead character in a game.

Probably because, well, gay people EXIST.

We already have whites, blacks, asians, straight people, and every kind of person that exists in reality serving a main role in a video game. I'm pretty sure that gay people exist in reality and in fictional stories; last I checked video game stories are mostly fiction. Are we to believe that in all fictional stories that gays simply don't exist?

 

[Stikibunn]

Well it's worked for Doctor Who. One of the main characters is (mostly) gay, Jack Harkness.
Now everyone agrees that Jack Harkness is 50 million kinds of badass in fact they had to create 10 new types of badass to be (to the point that he gets his own show)
To pull off a gay guy in a game he would have to be a humourous gay guy. Too serious about it and you get wierded out.
You can have any kind of sexual prefrence if it's funny. (for example the robot scientist in Excel Saga is one that pops into my mind right out)

Frankly the best place to see a gay hero would be in a bishonin style (Devil May Cry for example) where squealing yaoi fangirels can be happy.

Girl on girl will forever be the realm of american action shooty games with lots of shooting

 

[Khazoth]

Well, if it counts, the main character from Saint's Row 2 is implied to be bisexual if that counts.

Female Commander Shepard can become romantically involved with Liara, who admittedly is monogendered but still.

 

[Aardvark Soup]

Certainly... In Japan.