X-Play Takes On Gays In Gaming Admirably
This clip was sent to me a few weeks back and unfortunately got lost under the piles of mail that come pouring into the castle every morning. But I bring it to you now with tremendous pride in the way this piece took on the subject of gays in gaming. It's great to see mainstream video game media crying foul on some of the atrocious gay stereotypes that have been popping up in games lately.
With sites like GamesRadar publishing embarrassing articles with lame gay humor, positive pieces such as this one stand out even more. Hopefully, publishers will see the media treating gay people with more respect and in turn try and create some less stereotypical characters. Kudos to the writer and producer and applause for Adam Sessler for handling the subject without a trace of irony. Well done!
Fruit Brute
Posted to Video Games, Videos on 20 March 2007
· Comments (15)
Other stuff like this: g4, gay, x-play
Wow - I'm actually impressed. I rarely if ever watch those video game shows, but I'm really happy to see them give the issue an honest and unsensationalist look.
Well done!
The truth of the matter is that the "gay subject" is still a matter which the normal hetero males (who, let's face it, cover most of the gaming journalism today)get all thorny and uncomfortable about. There needs to be more objectivity when you cover a given subject such as gays and gaming.
X-play was great though.
OMG those guys in that Capcom game were so completely insulting. :(
I was really impressed by that...
G4 has gained 1 point of credibility.
Oh, the blonde lisping guy was TOO much. And yes, he did sound like Bronsan Pinchot in Beverly Hills Cop! Thank you for that random bit of 80's goodness Adam Sessler!
Pointing out the super-queeny villains in Godhand is a little silly, given some of the rest of the game content: Mexican stereotypes and thinly-veiled misogyny abound! Everybody gets a little!
Plus, to be fair, they'll probably clean the floor with you. That game's way hard.
X-Play is really good about challenging gay stereotyping and such in games. Most of this is due to some of the writers being gay and a general gay friendly attitude on the show.
As a former Tech TV fan who stopped watching after G4 came along and turned it into a Spike TV clone, I'm impressed. Is the rest of the network's content up to this caliber now, or was that just the elusive diamond in the rough?
That was really well done. I wished it was longer, though. And Balthier is gay...so is Basch.
Awesome site, just found it. I think they have been showing this for a year or two. Guess it must be popular. When I heard they were doing it, I cringed, not wanting to see Adam doing lame gay jokes. I think they did a great job without alot to work with. Hopefully that changes.
@arteyguy
This is actually new and was just produced a month ago!
Yay for Bully!
While I was conflicted when playing through Enchanted Arms (spoiler alert) he is "killed off" in the beginning of the game, only to have a "mystery man" show up repeatedly to save you throughout the game. It's pretty obvious early on that this Mystery Man is only Makoto, but without the dramatic lisp and swishy attitude.
By the time I had finished the game, I had realized that his over the top portrayal was part of the storyline, in order to seem nonthreatening, when he actually turned out to have a pretty major role in the story as the Mystery Man, sans lisp and super corny dialog.
That was a great video clip! I really need to play Bully...
Hey, please check out G4's original review of God Hand. It's ironic how in that Gay Games piece, the game was made out to be an example of the worst kind of homophobia, yet their God hand review was half review, and half (or more)comic piece which enjoyed plenty of yuks based on all the "mommy there's a gay in my game" content. Seems that maybe the game footage was just too good to pass up for their "objective" piece.
That said, I bought the game based on the review, and my partner and I think it's a hoot. It's a game that knows it's a game, and a good reminder to not take everything so damn seriously.
And damn it's hard. Real hard. ;)