What would a queer Silent Hill look like?
It’s probably a pretty odd question, but it’s one I kept brushing up against while I was brushing up on my Francis Bacon know-how for a previous article on Silent Hill right here on GayGamer.Net. ...
And we’re off to the races. Tuesday Microsoft unveiled their new console, the Xbox One. While Microsoft’s big reveal focused mainly on hardware and multimedia, with most major game announcements being saved for E3, it’s still all th...
As should be evident by now, your humble and obedient servant is a creature of spite – yet few things inspire greater loathing than those who prey on others. Said loathing finds its form in the dream of a new world – a bright and beautiful one – in w...
UK based rapper and YouTube personality Dan Bull has been rapping about the internet, politics, gaming, and more since 2006. Over this time he’s earned quite the following in the nerd core realm, with some of his most popular tracks being gamin...
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The Wii U is available for purchase, the PS4 is well on its way, and now it’s Microsoft’s turn to show us what they’ve got in store for the oncoming next console generation. After months of rumors about always-online func...
Animal Crossing isn’t the only game that has real staying power in my Wii/Wii U… five years now after the release of Wii Fit (Seriously? Five years? That’s insane!), I still use it nearly every day. And as you can see from the chart...
So, if you’ve been on the internet recently, you’ve probably heard some of the controversy surrounding certain design choices made regarding the soon-to-be-released 2d fantasy action RPG from Vanillaware entitled Dragon’s Crown. And for those preciou...
It’s probably a pretty odd question, but it’s one I kept brushing up against while I was brushing up on my Francis Bacon know-how for a previous article on Silent Hill right here on GayGamer.Net. Bacon had a massive influence on the artistic direction of Silent Hill, and his work often contained themes of sexuality and/or violence. As a gay man, however, most of the paintings that were explicitly sexual in Bacon’s work were focused on the male form – but as a whole, the Silent Hill series is very much a negative heterosexual male perspective on sexuality (particularly female sexuality).
This may not necessarily be as oppressive as it might sound, given that the narrative of Silent Hill goes to great pains to demonstrate that its protagonists have very problematic, negative ideas about sexuality. In fact, the narrative makes it pretty clear that any representation of human life the player comes up against (from sexuality to family, from guilt to being teased at school) are by definition the protagonist’s own profoundly negative ideas.
That doesn’t change the fact that most of Silent Hill‘s representations of sexuality come from straight male characters and their attitudes to female sexuality, whose perspectives can pretty much be summed up with “women’s bodies are mysterious and foreign and sexy and scary.”
[Trigger warnings for discussion of sexual abuse from here on out, and spoiler warnings for the main themes of Silent Hill 3, as well as bosses in Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill: Homecoming].
Congratulations to Jamie McGonnigal and new husband Sean Carlson, who tied the knot last Saturday, May 18, on the shores of Cape Cod. McGonnigal is a voice actor who is best known to Pokémon fans as the voices of Barry and Trip in the US dubs of the cartoon, among other voices. He is also the founder of TalkAboutEquality, a civil rights organization working to improve the lives of LGBTQ people in the United States. (If you follow the link, you can read more details about the ceremony including the vows, and see more pictures)
Looking forward to the day when Pokémon and gay gamers alike can get married in every state of the nation. (Though obviously not to each other, because that would be weird!) That’s McGonnigal on the right in the photo, with his husband on the left. Congratulations from all of us here at the GayGamer Castle!
As should be evident by now, your humble and obedient servant is a creature of spite – yet few things inspire greater loathing than those who prey on others. Said loathing finds its form in the dream of a new world – a bright and beautiful one – in which no bully is un-emasculated, no *ss un-kicked, and naturally, no d*chebag un-pantsed amidst a cacophony of laughter and jeers. Yet there are those precious few in this world who take the high road, possessing a heart made less of black fire and vengeance, and more of what medical science calls, “actual heart.”
Such is the case of Caine, a boy whose story is dismally common in the unpleasantness that is childhood. Indeed, he has been subjected to verbal and physical abuse from fellow students, due to that most egregious of worldly wrongs: being different. Exacerbating matters is the fact that Caine has two moms, making him a natural target for those who have grown up with what we will charitably call the “traditional values” mentality. In order to provide some respite from the daily harassment. In his words, “gaming actually really helps me a lot to calm down and get out of the troubling parts of my life.”
Yet despite this outlet, the reality of bullying remains. Rather than turning to violence or hiding his experiences, our stalwart Texan has decided to speak out not only to The Bully Project; he decided to address the superintendent directly. So check out the video, and as always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below!
UK based rapper and YouTube personality Dan Bull has been rapping about the internet, politics, gaming, and more since 2006. Over this time he’s earned quite the following in the nerd core realm, with some of his most popular tracks being gaming inspired. Today Mr. Bull has taken quite the bold step by releasing a new song titled Gay Gay Games in which he proclaims, ” It is okay, to go gay…ming.”
When Dan went, “The very basic aim that makes a game a game is choice, so if you take the choice away then what’s the flaming point?” I damn near stood and clapped. Well effing said. Dan has now firmly cemented himself a member of an ever growing queer-positive rap world, joining the likes of queer and allied artists Macklemore, Mykki Blanco, and Le1f. Times are a changin’ in the hip-hop and nerd worlds, both usually seen as homophobic bastions, and it’s artists like Dan Bull that are helping to bridge the gap between them as well as the gays.
So, if you’ve been on the internet recently, you’ve probably heard some of the controversy surrounding certain design choices made regarding the soon-to-be-released 2d fantasy action RPG from Vanillaware entitled Dragon’s Crown. And for those precious few of you that have only just recently returned from whatever magical kingdom you got drawn into and were forced to save with the power of friendship, let me acquaint you with the design decisions in question:
NSFW, I guess, or something.
Art Director George Kamitami, in a statement released long after the internet hordes had bared their teeth and set fire to all of the things, explained that his intent with the design of Sorceress and Amazon, two of six playable classes within the game (and two of three of the available female options), was to “exaggerate all of my character designs in a cartoonish fashion (so that they would) stand out amongst the many fantasy designs already in the video game/comic/movie/etc. space.” Which is an entirely reasonable justification for his decisions. Kamitami seems, on a whole, to be a pretty reasonable and intelligent individual, barring a casually homophobic joke or two. On the other side, Kamitami’s detractors have called the designs off-putting at best, and sexist at worst. And it’s not hard to see why.
For the record, before I go about getting to the point of why I’m writing this piece (and there is a point, I promise), I feel like I should clarify on my own position, regarding Kamitami’s art. I’ve loved Vanillaware’s games, Kamitami’s work in particular, in games before. Odin Sphere was jaw-dropping. Muramasa was gorgeous. And much of the art in Dragon’s Crown is equally stunning. But I have to admit – I do find some of the designs on the playable characters to be unsettling. They remind me of humanoid figures sculpted out of Play-Doh – all lumpy and wrongly proportioned. The emphasized characteristics are so emphasized as to be grotesque. And before you say it, let me clarify – I’m referring to male and female characters both.
Nintendo’s Tomodachi Collection is a life simulation series only available in Japan. It can be best described as a mix between The Sims and Animal Crossing. Players control their Miis (which they can transfer over from their Wii consoles) as they go about every day tasks in real time. The newest entry in the popular series, Tomodachi Collection: New Life for the 3DS has been making the internet rounds over the last few days as news spread about the game allowing for same-sex marriages.
Turns out the ability to marry a Mii of the same sex was not only a glitch, but one that was also limited to male characters (sorry lesbians). The glitch also made it possible for male characters to become pregnant. Glitch or not, many Japanese players rejoiced at Tomodachi Collection: New Life‘s accidental equality. The trending topic #homokore, a play on #tomokore (a shortening of Tomodachi Collection), was born and many gamers began tweeting screenshots of their happy little gay Miis living their everyday lives. Some players decided to buy the game because of the glitch. Many news outlets called for Nintendo to embrace the glitch and merely patch it to allow female Miis to get in on the marriage fun.
Well, Nintendo did release a patch….but rather than allow for ladies to marry ladies it just goes ahead eliminates same sex marriage options in the game altogether.
Adding insult to injury, Nintendo said in a statement that players should download the patch if they are experiencing any of the following:
Gay gaming documentary Gaming In Color has officially reached its Kickstarter goal, meaning that the project is fully funded and can begin production! It was a close race to the finish line, but this past Friday the film managed to reach its $50,000 funding goal during the last 48 hours of its campaign.
“With the minutes ticking on the remainder of the Kickstarter, we want to give everyone a change to get those upgrades in the last minute! Fancy a shirt? Perhaps you want to try out that new game?
We also wanted to say “Thank You”. Not only because you helped make this film a reality but because this is your story. Even if you aren’t marginalized, even if you don’t consider yourself much of a gamer this is the story of people who want to make a safer space for themselves and others. It is people like you wanting to share their stories and have them be heard and it is thanks to you that those stories WILL be heard.
So from the start of Gaminig In Color and gamers everywhere,
Thank you!
And we can’t wait to show you just what we can do!”
While the project initially gained a lot of buzz, and nearly $30,000 in its first day online, progress halted for nearly a month before jump starting again during the final stretch. Over the last week gay gamers of all kinds sent their videos to Gaming In Color, putting their faces to the cause and making sure that this film becomes a reality.
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