GayGamer.net Podcast #51

Episode #51 is here! Join Fruit Brute and Tiny Dancer as we discuss a wide range of topics including: GDC, Heavy Rain, God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, the Sony Move, Lady Gaga on Rock Band, Steam on the Mac and much, much more!

We're always looking for reader questions to answer on the show so if you have a query for the crew that you'd like answered or would just like to suggest a topic for discussion, send it here with the subject line "Podcast Question."

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Video: DICE Schools Fools On Making A Proper Grenade Spam PSA

So out of the many, many times gay gamers have been bashed or insulted or ignored wholesale by the gaming community and developers, the incident that stands out most sharply to this queer hobbyist is a video made to promote one of the biggest-selling games of all time last year--yes, the "Fight Against Grenade Spam" PSA video for Modern Warfare 2. Even if it had come from a much smaller or less public group, the final message of that promotion would have had as much tact as a Phelps on Sunday, and as much ignomity. Coming from a major publisher, it saw enough righteous backlash by the media and gamers that Infinity Ward finally took the video down.

That was a happy day, and so is this one: DICE, the developers of another rather large FPS experience known as Battlefield: Bad Company 2, have put together their own PSA about the effects of random grenades, with the infamous Infinity Ward video directly in their sites of ideas to lampoon.

Bad Company has always had an irreverent Down Periscope feel to its dialog, and that comes through in the PSA above. After baseball pitcher CC Sabathia berates one of the game's characters for throwing random grenades, the PSA gets hijacked: "Hi, I'm private Terrence Sweetwater of 222nd Army Battalion, and I'm here to talk to you about random baseball pitchers who talk to you about random grenades!"

Sweetwater continues to go on a tear, but the best part about this video isn't just the references to "computer games of this particular genre," or the highlighting of BC2's one-upping features such as destructable terrain and vehicle combat.

No, the best part about the video at the end, which triumphantly adds a single word to turn the homophobic slur from the Modern Warfare video into F.R.A.G.S., which--surprise!--is actually related to grenades and not to creating a hostile online environment for queer gamers.

The unconcerned cast of Bad Company do take some potshots at snowmobiles and heartbeat sensors in the game, but actually parodying the machinima advertisements from their 'rival' game takes some guts. Even for those who might not see the value of blowing things up in online shooters, the message of friendliness DICE puts out is definitely appreciated.

Possible Dragon Age And Mass Effect 2 Romance DLC?

Leave it up to developers talking freely at GDC to spark a bit of hope to the masses that expected more love interests in this year's big RPG, Mass Effects 2 or last year's Dragon Age: Origins. Apparently when interviewing Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka from Bioware last week at GDC, Kotaku reporter Stephen Totilo apparently stumbled upon some DLC ideas that are currently being kicked around for Bioware games, one of which could be a possible "romance pack" of sorts for their games.

The conversation arrived at this revelation after Greg mentioned that if players really asked for new missions using the new DLC vehicle, the Hammerhead, that they might make more by means of DLC. Part in jest, the comment was made that since a vocal part of the community seems to have wanted more romance options available to Shepard in the game, then maybe they should also work on that too. Greg and Ray's thoughts on the issue were thus:

"You know, It's possible," he said. Mentioning a character from Dragon Age, he suggested there could be a "Take Leliana on a date pack."

"That is a pretty good idea," Muzyka chimed in, sounding as if this was the first he'd heard of it.

"I've mentioned it to the guys," Zeschuk told me and Muzyka. "And maybe we will."

So there you have it. Granted, the conversation didn't really involve the possible inclusion of more LGBT relationship opportunities in the content, but I think we can all agree that there is a portion of the fan base that would be very pleased if they did include such content. I guess fans can hope, and that's about all we'll be able to do for a while, since it seems as though if they were to make the content, it hasn't even started on yet.

Mass Effect, Dragon Age Creators Consider The Post-Release "Romance Pack" [Kotaku]

GDC 2010: Blade Kitten Demo Impressions

If GDC is any indication, there's going to be a lot of downloadable titles this year across every platform. One of the few PS3 only downloadable titles I ran into was Blade Kitten from Krome Studios. As their first original IP since Ty the Tasmanian Tiger back in 2002, Blade Kitten shifts away from Krome's predominately E-rated history and into T-rated territory.

Playing as a 2.5D action platformer (3D graphics with 2d gameplay), players hack and slash their way through enemies as Kit, a bounty hunter with cat ears and a pink tail. The action and climbing aspects of the game felt smooth as Kit gracefully destroyed anything standing in her path, but frantic as a lost SNES/Genesis game. More specifically, the game's biggest influence appears to be Strider, and Kit easily stands toe to toe with the arcade classic. With a giant floating sword with a personality of its own, Kit is able to use it as a melee or range based weapon with ease. As she pummels numerous foes, her rage meter will build, allowing her to perform more advanced take downs when activated. Along the way, Kit will occasionally put her cute flying squirrel-like sidekick character to good use and interact with some of the background elements. Purists will be happy to know that the game isn't set to include any type of SixAxis control as Krome felt that they didn't fit into the game naturally.

One of the most pleasant surprises about the game is how Krome was able to find a balance between what I would call "annoyingly super cute" and "Team Ninja Sexploitation." Yes, Kit is an anime-inspired cat girl with sizable breasts, but the character isn't some vapid sidekick waiting to happen. In cutscenes, she's a capable and just a little bit sexy without over doing it. Whether this is because the lighthearted nature of the plot or how Blade Kitten originally began as a comic book created by Krome Studios co-founder, Steve Stamatiadis, it's clear that Kit isn't just there to be ogled at.

Players will be able to get their paws on Blade Kitten this spring in the form of two episodes, with DLC possibly released down the road. There will be plenty of trophies to earn and final cost for the two episodes will only set you back about $20.

Review: God of War III

The third time is the charm, as the saying goes, and God of War III certainly lives up to that old adage. Now don't get me wrong, I loved the first two of the series. They created a new kind of action fighter genre that has often been copied but not yet matched. And I will have to at least partially agree with some of the folks out there who feel this is just God of War all over again, only this time in HD. The fighting style is the same and the buttons pressing fits your hand like an old, comfortable shoe. However, what the dev team has done with the advanced technology and graphic power of the PS3 takes this, the final chapter of the Kratos trilogy, something that simply begs to be experienced.

Kratos' battle against the gods of Olympus reaches a fever pitch in God of War III and one by one they fall beneath his bloody blades. Helios, Hades, Hera, Poseidon and others all meet the same fate. And in a surprising turn, the Titans also raise Kratos' murderous ire and find themselves meeting a similar fate as their godly brethren. Interestingly, in this installment, Kratos himself has become a rather unsympathetic character, dealing out his brand of justice to anyone in who gets in the way, innocent or guilty. Of course this has held true for the other two games as well, but at this point Kratos' back story is so far back in our minds that he takes on the role of mindless killing machine. Not that I find anything wrong in that, but it is an interesting point when looking at the overarching storyline of the three games.

GDC 2010: Civilization V Demo Impressions

One of the biggest games that we got a first peak at was the latest installment of Sid Meier's turn based strategy series, Civilization V. Sitting down with for a short demo of the game, it was pretty clear that a lot of careful thought and detail has gone into making this into the biggest, most flexible entries into the series. Looking at a screenshot of the game, it should be pretty obvious to fans of the series that a lot of things have changed. Instead of just adding new features to an existing series, Firaxis Games took a step back and looked at what players wanted to do with the game and built an experience reworked from the ground up.

Speaking of ground, the biggest change you'll notice is that the grid system is gone and replaced with a much appreciated hex system. This made unit movement a whole lot smoother and gave the world map a much more pleasing aesthetic with more realistic shapes. The grounds itself looked stunning with a new graphics engine that takes advantage multi-core systems with DX11 (don't worry, I was assured that the casual-friendly game would support low end systems as well).

In a nod to the breakout success of Civilization Revolution, advisors make a return to the Civ V. The player isn't required to take advantage of their services, but the developers found that players enjoyed their presence in Revolution and placed them in here as a gameplay element that players can take advantage of them if they want. Experienced, or more stubborn, players can ignore them all together and do whatever they want.

Firaxis also applied a lot of the lessons they learned creating Revolution's UI here as well. The overall presentation felt like a lot of the UI was pushed back, only appearing when the player requests it or if an event calls for it. Part of this includes a new notification system that updates plays between turns of the actions that they may have missed. With a quick click, you can automatically move the point of interest and adjust units as needed. Even though Civ has been and still is a turn based game, it's good to see how these changes make the game much quicker.

Another big change in gameplay seen here was how the combat system has been almost entirely overhauled. Gone is the "stack" system that let players totally over power their opponents by over producing. Now, each unit takes up one hex, giving the game a much more traditional tactical feel. With no stacks, cities defend themselves and players form lines of defense.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see all that the title has to offer at GDC. There's still a bit of time between now and the game's fall release to go over the changes in store for culture, science, and multiplayer. Expect to see more at E3 in a few weeks.

ModNation Racers Release Date And Pre-Order Bonuses Announced

Gamers that are fans of racing and custom content alike should mark May 25 on their calendars, because Sony has just announced that as the release date for both the PS3 and PSP versions of ModNation Racers. Our own Game-Boy got his hands on the Beta for the game and came away quite impressed with Sony's second entry into its self-proclaimed "Play, Create, and Share" genre, so look forward to this LittleBigPlanet on wheels just before summer hits.

Though Sony wasn't just announcing the release date today, as a slew of pre-order bonuses were revealed introducing Kratos, Ratchet, or Nathan Drake to the ModNation roster depending on your store of choice. Kratos will be brooding at GameStop, Ratchet on Amazon, and Nathan Drake exploring Best Buy. Want all three? Well you may need to do some maneuvering between stores, or at least hope for a DLC add-on later. In addition to the store specific characters there will also be four bonus mystery racer/kart combos, with one of the four randomly included with your pre-order at any of the three stores. Based on the shadowy silhouettes shown on the Playstation blog, they look like a guy with a pot on his head, a safari guy, a mouse in a cheese-mobile, and a golfer with golf kart to match. Sometimes pre-ordering games can be a pain, but sometimes a company makes it worth your while. This seems to be the latter case.

ModNation Racers Release Date, Pre-Orders and Box Art! [Playstation Blog]

Review: Faceez

The DSi has a built-in camera with software that lets you manipulate the images in wacky ways, but indie game developer Neko Entertainment has produced a new app for DSiWare called Faceez that lets you take photos of yourself, friends and whoever, and manipulate them in entirely new ways. Like making yourself look like you've been hitting the bottle at the office, as in my example above! Make the jump for a couple more examples and the full review!

Gay Gamer Of The Week: Ben B.

Name: Ben B.

Forum Name: Cicero

Age: 22

Location: Jacksonville, FL

Gay, Straight or Bi: Gay!

Relationship Status: Single, but looking.

Consoles you own: PC, 360, PS1(PS1 RPG's are the best), and trying to get a DSi.

Review: Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain won't be the kind of game many gamers have played before - its blend of intense, top-notch Hollywood thriller storytelling, character immersion, and the quick time events that constitute the majority of its traditional gameplay are a new creature - while interactive drama has been attempted before, never has such polish and quality gone into the effort. To call Heavy Rain a tremendous success may be a bit misleading, because not every gamer will be ready - or wants to be ready - for this experience. That said, Heavy Rain's achievements make it accessible to even the most dismissive gamer, given the right setting. The fact that it's the best-looking game for the PS3 to date doesn't hurt, either.

This is a game to be played with the lights off, alone - or at least with a friend who's willing to keep his or her trap shut. Quantic Dream's interactive drama is at its best when you follow it into the unexplored space between dramatic games and compelling drama - I've summarized the game to friends (by no means a perfect analogy) by saying something like this: 'Imagine you're actually in one of the Saw movies, only it's a good movie, and you're playing all the major parts, and instead of watching Cary Elwes decide whether or not to cut off his foot, you are Cary Elwes, and if you do decide to cut off your foot, not only do you have to actually do it, but you have to figure out how.'

So while the demo available on PSN might have given gamers the wrong taste of the game - the mechanics of asthma inhalers never having made for great gameplay or drama - when playing the game proper, the story quickly pulls you in and imparts genuine urgency to your control over the literal, sometimes mundane actions of the four playable characters. Buying a balloon for your kid at the mall before the opening credits may not sound intense, but chasing him through the crowd with the balloon as your only marker certainly can be. Especially while knowing, with that foreboding sixth sense that all good movie-watchers have, that losing sight of your kid in a crowded mall is never a sign of good things to come. Instead of watching helplessly, as you would in a Hollywood thriller, you're now acting, and you never know whether the situation is helpless or not. That bumps up the suspense tenfold.

GDC 2010: Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Impressions

The first two seasons of Sam & Max have taken players to some strange places, but in the third season Telltale Games is venturing into what could be the strangest place of all, Max's brain. Kicking off with a simultaneous release across the PS3, PC, and Mac on April 15th, this five episode season titled The Devil's Playhouse aims to do something a little different with the point and click adventure series. Telltale invited us to swing by their booth at GDC to check out what's new with everyone's favorite dog and rabbity thingy crime fighting team.

The first thing players will notice is a brand new approach to control. With interfaces and controls revamped for the PS3 controller, this marks the first time that players will have direct control over their characters. Also new are the "Toys of Power" that give Max strange new abilities, allowing him to teleport through phones for a Pre-Skool like play phone, read people's minds with a deck of cards, and a special kind of Silly Puddy that will let him transform into any printed object he can find. To use these powers, players will enter Max's psyche and see the world through his eyes with a first person perspective. Being the rattled like psycho that he is, this means the player is treated to strange hidden images and subliminal messages they reveal Max's deepest inner thoughts and fragile emotional state. Watching a brief play through of the tutorial area showed how these powers will come into play in a variety of ways while naturally blending in the whacky humor the series the known for. The new season (and new platform) gave the team an opportunity to step up their visual presentation with a visual art style reminiscent of 70's and 80's creature features.

In an effort to get even more people into the series, Telltale is stressing that season three is an excellent entry point into the series and to prove this they'll be including a some impressive pre-order bonuses. A pre-order for the PC and Mac version will let players into the Freelance Police Elite, an online portal that will connect gamers with Telltale creators, downloads, and a few other surprises. In a PlayStation Network first, players will be able to pre-order the season at a special price of $29.99. The Ps3 version is set to include Trophies, one of which can be earned by finding every line of dialog with some form of innuendo attached to it.

While it's the same old Sam and Max that gamers have grown to love over the years, it feels like season three could be a big step for the series. We'll find out for sure on April 15th when the first episode is released.

Wootini's Weekly Animal Crossing Diary

Dear Diary,

Slightly more eventful week in Narnia this time. I have to say that sometimes I love visiting my town just to walk around peacefully and water the flowers. After a rough day, it's a very soothing way to relieve stress. And this week I made some money and a new friend!