It has no bearing on anything. If it does, it says a whole lot more about you than anything else.
Would you still play a game if the main character was gay?
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I just quote Johnny Depp when he was asked if Jack Sparrow was gay by Disney executives "All characters I ever played are gay" I have several times played lesbian characters in Dragon Age not because I'm a guy, I do it because I don't see sexes I see characters and a character can't be define on his sexual preference because that irrelevant for the story.
Most of my characters are female because I think it's boring to play male characters and I like a lot of the voice acting some stronger female voice-acters can pull of when they are badass or snarky like in Mass Effect or Dragon Age 2 and I think a female leadrolls are far more interesting when male are but that just me.
But the basic is always the same, write the personality of the character first and then apply the persons sex and not the other way around, alot of female characters are written female first and personality second and that falls flat in the end and make the character more sexistic then want the writer might originally intended.
Most of my characters are female because I think it's boring to play male characters and I like a lot of the voice acting some stronger female voice-acters can pull of when they are badass or snarky like in Mass Effect or Dragon Age 2 and I think a female leadrolls are far more interesting when male are but that just me.
But the basic is always the same, write the personality of the character first and then apply the persons sex and not the other way around, alot of female characters are written female first and personality second and that falls flat in the end and make the character more sexistic then want the writer might originally intended.
As long as the voice acting wasn't generic Hollywood Mexican camp, or bulldog butch. I couldn't listen to that for 20 to 40 hours....... and I've yet to meet anyone who does speak like that.
I think its a good idea but it shouldnt necessarily be a forced idea, in Bully you could choose to make out with guys, but you didnt need to. and i think it could work, especially games like GTA and even Fallout, where you can have "romantic excursions" shall we say, with other characters, who are generally the opposite sex, apart from taking a couple perks in fallout. so long as it wasnt brought to a forefront, then there is no real reason why it couldnt work.
I would definitely welcome the prospect of playing a game character who happens to have a different sexual orientation. Still, I wonder how far my open mind would go. I know this discussion points to a very common form of sexuality but would someone play a game with a protagonist who was into seedy or fetishistic sexuality? For example, beastiality, necrophelia, or even worse? Heck, would you wish to play a game with a character who is a criminal of sexual assault? Now that is a question that really ponders the limits of comfortableness when playing a character.
As long as NOTHING at all about his sexuality is brought up, and the only reason we know he's gay it's because of the manual... then maybe.
If it's a part of the plot, then I will find it revolting and will be too uneasy about that to play the game properly, then no.
Sexuality in games is stupid anyways
If it's a part of the plot, then I will find it revolting and will be too uneasy about that to play the game properly, then no.
Sexuality in games is stupid anyways
Hey, if the game is still fun to play, I don't care what my character's sexual orientation is. I mean, why should it matter?
Fear Effect 2
That is all. And don't give me that "I said Gay, not Lesbian" because that is both Homophobic AND Sexist not to mention ignorant, Gay is not a label exclusively for male Homosexuals.
More pertinent would you play a game where the character was Bisexual but just happened to be in a same sex-relationship. it certainly would be more representative as 10% of the population say they are bisexual (equal sexual affinity for both sexes) compared to only 1-2% who admit a complete preference for the same=sex and none for the opposite sex.
How about this, how about a character who was mostly straight but happened to have a crush on ONE person of the same sex. This would be EVEN MORE pertinent to same-sex relations as psychologists like Kinsey (and many others) have shown this is much more common,
I mean this is a guy who doesn't care about EVERY SINGLE MAN IN THE WORLD BEING KILLED but when they "take our women" THAT is when he responds. This sexual attitude may indicate the writers are juvenile and naive about women's true desires but Duke Nukem is the literal antithesis of misogyny.
And you can quote me on that.
But knowing how backward ass retarded the modern world is a man can have sex with a hundred women but if he has sex with one guy then "he's gay" and if he says he's Bi then "he's kidding himself"
I but this down to 2 VERY ANNOYING groups:
-Gay activists____ that would be 6 on the Kinsey scale, exclusively like the same sex as their own, yet there are far FAR fewer of them than Bisexuals. Their problem is they are living under the straight man's ideals that most heterosexuals are exclusively heterosexual, so they latch onto the insane ideal that sexuality should be exclusively towards one gender. I have no doubt that many many (usually the most vocal) gay men are 6 on the Kinsey Scale.
I've seen it way WAY too fucking often, they notice a man has interest in men and tell him to "stop living the lie" if he shows any interest in women. This is madness? How can people have such simplistic ideas about sexuality, that sexuality jsut flips like a switch between male and female affinity.
I mean there are gay bars/clubs, (straight) bars/clubs but where are the Bi-clubs?
-Conservative/fascist assholes____ they are so horrified by homosexuality that they can only comprehend it as a complete inversion, they cannot appreciate how human sexuality is far more complex and variable than the ideals oft written in scripture by celibate priests. They are so appalled by any man-on-man sexuality that they either:
(a) utterly ostracise the individual, label them "gay" and dismiss any interest they show in the opposite gender as dishonest and "deceptive"
(b) over-react and try to "cure the gayness" highly encouraging (conservative) opposite-gender relations and conditioning not just fear of sex with same sex but fear of ANY TYPE of intimacy with the same sex.
These conservative fucktards make great bones of "converting gays" all they really do is force Bisexuals to suppress their same-sex desire and emphasise their opposite-sex desire. No big deal at all. It's like if I liked both Pork and Beef then some crazy guy berated and brainwashed me till I hated Pork... then use that as proof that no one really likes pork and make a big fucking deal of me vowing to only eat beef.
The majority of people who find themselves attracted to the same gender are stuck in this dilemma, forced to choose the "straight life" or the "gay life". THIS is what leads to so many teen suicides, the GLBT is useless it should be called the GLT as the bisexual perspective is utterly crushed under the inane ideal of mono-sexuality
It long ago became unacceptable to make jokes about gays being gay (not about them merely being camp). but bisexuals are fair game, with allegations they are all just:
(1) Indecisive
(2) Delusional
(3) deceptive
(4) greedy
(5) Perverted
I blame this on still DEEPLY entrenched ideas of monogamy, you would have to chose to marry a man or a woman, a bisexual would have to at one point choose
Some of the greatest men and women of history were bisexual, most notably Julius Caesar and even greater legends like Freddy Mercury.
Rant: over... for now
That is all. And don't give me that "I said Gay, not Lesbian" because that is both Homophobic AND Sexist not to mention ignorant, Gay is not a label exclusively for male Homosexuals.
More pertinent would you play a game where the character was Bisexual but just happened to be in a same sex-relationship. it certainly would be more representative as 10% of the population say they are bisexual (equal sexual affinity for both sexes) compared to only 1-2% who admit a complete preference for the same=sex and none for the opposite sex.
How about this, how about a character who was mostly straight but happened to have a crush on ONE person of the same sex. This would be EVEN MORE pertinent to same-sex relations as psychologists like Kinsey (and many others) have shown this is much more common,
Why people would call a man who defines his life around loving women (in all senses of the word) as mysoginist = hates women... utterly boggles the mind.Custard_Angel said:
I mean this is a guy who doesn't care about EVERY SINGLE MAN IN THE WORLD BEING KILLED but when they "take our women" THAT is when he responds. This sexual attitude may indicate the writers are juvenile and naive about women's true desires but Duke Nukem is the literal antithesis of misogyny.
And you can quote me on that.
But knowing how backward ass retarded the modern world is a man can have sex with a hundred women but if he has sex with one guy then "he's gay" and if he says he's Bi then "he's kidding himself"
I but this down to 2 VERY ANNOYING groups:
-Gay activists____ that would be 6 on the Kinsey scale, exclusively like the same sex as their own, yet there are far FAR fewer of them than Bisexuals. Their problem is they are living under the straight man's ideals that most heterosexuals are exclusively heterosexual, so they latch onto the insane ideal that sexuality should be exclusively towards one gender. I have no doubt that many many (usually the most vocal) gay men are 6 on the Kinsey Scale.
I've seen it way WAY too fucking often, they notice a man has interest in men and tell him to "stop living the lie" if he shows any interest in women. This is madness? How can people have such simplistic ideas about sexuality, that sexuality jsut flips like a switch between male and female affinity.
I mean there are gay bars/clubs, (straight) bars/clubs but where are the Bi-clubs?
-Conservative/fascist assholes____ they are so horrified by homosexuality that they can only comprehend it as a complete inversion, they cannot appreciate how human sexuality is far more complex and variable than the ideals oft written in scripture by celibate priests. They are so appalled by any man-on-man sexuality that they either:
(a) utterly ostracise the individual, label them "gay" and dismiss any interest they show in the opposite gender as dishonest and "deceptive"
(b) over-react and try to "cure the gayness" highly encouraging (conservative) opposite-gender relations and conditioning not just fear of sex with same sex but fear of ANY TYPE of intimacy with the same sex.
These conservative fucktards make great bones of "converting gays" all they really do is force Bisexuals to suppress their same-sex desire and emphasise their opposite-sex desire. No big deal at all. It's like if I liked both Pork and Beef then some crazy guy berated and brainwashed me till I hated Pork... then use that as proof that no one really likes pork and make a big fucking deal of me vowing to only eat beef.
The majority of people who find themselves attracted to the same gender are stuck in this dilemma, forced to choose the "straight life" or the "gay life". THIS is what leads to so many teen suicides, the GLBT is useless it should be called the GLT as the bisexual perspective is utterly crushed under the inane ideal of mono-sexuality
It long ago became unacceptable to make jokes about gays being gay (not about them merely being camp). but bisexuals are fair game, with allegations they are all just:
(1) Indecisive
(2) Delusional
(3) deceptive
(4) greedy
(5) Perverted
I blame this on still DEEPLY entrenched ideas of monogamy, you would have to chose to marry a man or a woman, a bisexual would have to at one point choose
Some of the greatest men and women of history were bisexual, most notably Julius Caesar and even greater legends like Freddy Mercury.
Rant: over... for now
I'm going to say yes but I'm also going to question if it really makes any difference unless there is a romance element to the game. Also may I ask how being gay/lesbian somehow makes a game character exempt from being a "generic space-marine"? Sexuality does not equal character.
I've already played games where that has been the case. I'm pretty anti- gay men, (if you want my thoughts on the subject of homosexuality some of the back messages are probably still around. The specifics have little to do with this discussion however) however) but that doesn't mean I get into some kind of frothing rage at the merest mention of gay men or whatever.
To be honest with most video games out there are set up, the only way the protaganist's sexual orientation is going to matter is if they go out of the way to bring it to the forefront. If this means that playing a game where the protaganist gets involved in numerous make out sessions with guys, or makes a big deal about being gay, is not going to appeal to me. After all that kind of thing is hardly a turn on for me, and since I don't like it, there is no real appeal to the situation, if they are going to put that much focus on it for the point of the game, my time would better be spent playing a game where this wasn't the case.
As far as games I've played with gay main characters or protaganists (that weren't me being a perv with a couple of girl characters) there have been a few. "Phantasmagoria II: A Puzzle Of The Flesh" involves an entire subplot about the character you control dealing with their homosexuality in their shrink's office. Then of course there is "Enchanted Arms" where the hero's main sidekick is a male homosexual with a crush on him. Then we have "Persona 4" where one of the party members being a gay man is actually the theme of a whole dungeon section. When it comes to antagonists, let's just say that if you have ever played a game about Conan that has featured characters from the books, a few of them were "boy lovers". Conan was before political correctness when it was written, and while it was never a focus, Conan has a major amount of contempt for gays and "boy lovers", and while never descriptive a number of his enemies were supposed to have been weakened by such "civilized decadence". Of course in the video games they rarely even go as far as the stories (both canon, and very old non-canon) did, which wasn't very far. Like most heroes a lot of his enemies "almost get him" in one way or another (a trap or spell, if not a straight fight) so you really can't call them impotent (so to speak) for their orientation irregardless of what Conan might think.
If you want to get technical, I think this entire "question" is a bit less profound than you might have intended. To be honest homosexuals have been fairly well represented as far as gaming goes, you just have to understand your dealing with a tiny percentage of the population. Fair representation does not mean "equal time with the majority" simply that a group is not totally neglected simply for being what it is. That's why I have such an issue with political correctness, and preferred Bioware's approach to romances in the first "Dragon Age" game to the "everyone is bi-sexual" approach of the second one. Granted you don't see much homosexuality in games in general, but that's pretty much in keeping with the number of homosexuals in society. Such things are there if you look for them, and have been for a long time.
That said, if you were doing a game like "Duke Nukem" but with the protaganist being an agressively flamboyant homosexual (of whatever style) instead of a manly flamboyant heterosexual, I don't think it would find much of an audience. Humor or not, it's meant to be slightly risque in it's own way, and someone without those tendencies wouldn't wind up appreciating the eye candy so to speak. I don't think there is enough of an audience to really sustain it.
That's a somewhat informed opinion as well, because it's been tried. They released those "Cho Aniki" games which are a series of tongue-in-cheek platformers featuring gay musclemen. We've actually seen ports of a couple of the titles to the US. From what I've heard the series has largely survived due to being relatively cheap to produce and a fan
base that is dedicated if not exactly numerous which does make it profitable. If it was tried on a fairly big-budget level like "Duke Nukem Forever" I don't think the audience would sustain it since there just wouldn't be enough gays with enough interest, and even if homosexuality doesn't offend someone they really aren't going to find a lot of gay innuendos aand cheesecake all that thrilling to want to dedicate hours upon hours expoising themselves to it, after dishing out a $60 price of admission.
Such are my thoughts. Due to being an admitted perv I'm intentionally staying away from the idea of lesbian characters because hey, like a lot of guys, I do find that fairly "hot" when presented the right way. Also I do believe that gays and lesbians are differant situations entirely, but that's not something I'm going to go into again. Again there are probably some back messages where I explain it (and the likely arguement would go nowhere) but simply put it has nothing to really do with it being "okay because it turns me on". The point being that I more or less agree with you excluding that aspect of the discussion. Especially seeing as I think that there are enough people out there like me in their "interests" irregardless of why that a hot lesbian heroine can find a niche among the male video gaming population and be sustained at a fairly high level, where I don't think gay men can be. You could probably do a Lesbian version of Duke Nukem and all the guys who bought Duke Nukem would also buy that game for largely the same reasons, and wind up appreciating the eye candy just as much. Whether it's fair or right or not is not something I'm going to argue, it just is, which is why (as I said) I agree with you there.
To be honest with most video games out there are set up, the only way the protaganist's sexual orientation is going to matter is if they go out of the way to bring it to the forefront. If this means that playing a game where the protaganist gets involved in numerous make out sessions with guys, or makes a big deal about being gay, is not going to appeal to me. After all that kind of thing is hardly a turn on for me, and since I don't like it, there is no real appeal to the situation, if they are going to put that much focus on it for the point of the game, my time would better be spent playing a game where this wasn't the case.
As far as games I've played with gay main characters or protaganists (that weren't me being a perv with a couple of girl characters) there have been a few. "Phantasmagoria II: A Puzzle Of The Flesh" involves an entire subplot about the character you control dealing with their homosexuality in their shrink's office. Then of course there is "Enchanted Arms" where the hero's main sidekick is a male homosexual with a crush on him. Then we have "Persona 4" where one of the party members being a gay man is actually the theme of a whole dungeon section. When it comes to antagonists, let's just say that if you have ever played a game about Conan that has featured characters from the books, a few of them were "boy lovers". Conan was before political correctness when it was written, and while it was never a focus, Conan has a major amount of contempt for gays and "boy lovers", and while never descriptive a number of his enemies were supposed to have been weakened by such "civilized decadence". Of course in the video games they rarely even go as far as the stories (both canon, and very old non-canon) did, which wasn't very far. Like most heroes a lot of his enemies "almost get him" in one way or another (a trap or spell, if not a straight fight) so you really can't call them impotent (so to speak) for their orientation irregardless of what Conan might think.
If you want to get technical, I think this entire "question" is a bit less profound than you might have intended. To be honest homosexuals have been fairly well represented as far as gaming goes, you just have to understand your dealing with a tiny percentage of the population. Fair representation does not mean "equal time with the majority" simply that a group is not totally neglected simply for being what it is. That's why I have such an issue with political correctness, and preferred Bioware's approach to romances in the first "Dragon Age" game to the "everyone is bi-sexual" approach of the second one. Granted you don't see much homosexuality in games in general, but that's pretty much in keeping with the number of homosexuals in society. Such things are there if you look for them, and have been for a long time.
That said, if you were doing a game like "Duke Nukem" but with the protaganist being an agressively flamboyant homosexual (of whatever style) instead of a manly flamboyant heterosexual, I don't think it would find much of an audience. Humor or not, it's meant to be slightly risque in it's own way, and someone without those tendencies wouldn't wind up appreciating the eye candy so to speak. I don't think there is enough of an audience to really sustain it.
That's a somewhat informed opinion as well, because it's been tried. They released those "Cho Aniki" games which are a series of tongue-in-cheek platformers featuring gay musclemen. We've actually seen ports of a couple of the titles to the US. From what I've heard the series has largely survived due to being relatively cheap to produce and a fan
base that is dedicated if not exactly numerous which does make it profitable. If it was tried on a fairly big-budget level like "Duke Nukem Forever" I don't think the audience would sustain it since there just wouldn't be enough gays with enough interest, and even if homosexuality doesn't offend someone they really aren't going to find a lot of gay innuendos aand cheesecake all that thrilling to want to dedicate hours upon hours expoising themselves to it, after dishing out a $60 price of admission.
Such are my thoughts. Due to being an admitted perv I'm intentionally staying away from the idea of lesbian characters because hey, like a lot of guys, I do find that fairly "hot" when presented the right way. Also I do believe that gays and lesbians are differant situations entirely, but that's not something I'm going to go into again. Again there are probably some back messages where I explain it (and the likely arguement would go nowhere) but simply put it has nothing to really do with it being "okay because it turns me on". The point being that I more or less agree with you excluding that aspect of the discussion. Especially seeing as I think that there are enough people out there like me in their "interests" irregardless of why that a hot lesbian heroine can find a niche among the male video gaming population and be sustained at a fairly high level, where I don't think gay men can be. You could probably do a Lesbian version of Duke Nukem and all the guys who bought Duke Nukem would also buy that game for largely the same reasons, and wind up appreciating the eye candy just as much. Whether it's fair or right or not is not something I'm going to argue, it just is, which is why (as I said) I agree with you there.
Well stated. One thing I would add is the objectification of bi women. As a result they're completely trivialized in the eyes of most everybody.Treblaine said:
Also - "the college thing." Now there's a joke for you. "It was a college thing." Really? Either you did it for your boyfriend because you have absolutely no sense of yourself or you did it because you were ATTRACTED to another person of the same sex.
Discuss.
Why wouldn?t I? I wouldn?t play a game specifically because the main character was gay but it certainly wouldn?t stop me playing the game. Tho really since sexuality isn?t mentioned all that much in most video games you never know...allot of characters could be gay or bi.
It would be fine just so long as it was handled maturely and wasn?t thrown in there to add controversy. It can be more than just a side note that you are only aware of because it happens to be mentioned somewhere (tho I?m not saying that isn?t fine, as I said it doesn?t make that much of a difference and it doesn?t need to be a big thing). You could have the protagonist in a relationship or developing a relationship with someone of the same gender for the whole game. It would only be an issue it if was thrown in the players face in a tacky way every 2 seconds.
?Hey... look guys! The main character is GAY! Aren?t we edgy and different? And just in case you forget all our marketing will be centred around this fact, he will act like a stereotype and he will hit on guys every chance he gets!?
It would be fine just so long as it was handled maturely and wasn?t thrown in there to add controversy. It can be more than just a side note that you are only aware of because it happens to be mentioned somewhere (tho I?m not saying that isn?t fine, as I said it doesn?t make that much of a difference and it doesn?t need to be a big thing). You could have the protagonist in a relationship or developing a relationship with someone of the same gender for the whole game. It would only be an issue it if was thrown in the players face in a tacky way every 2 seconds.
?Hey... look guys! The main character is GAY! Aren?t we edgy and different? And just in case you forget all our marketing will be centred around this fact, he will act like a stereotype and he will hit on guys every chance he gets!?