Topic: GLBTQI gamers unite! and of course anyone else

There is definitely an audience. I am wondering, is it better to have gay characters in games that adhere to certain stereotypes, or none at all. It does seem that with video games, as with any kind of media, that when they are created for a mostly straight male audience there is bound to be some amount of generalization. I feel like I've developed a hard enough skin where certain things can roll right past me, but at some point Im hoping for an actual gay character who is just a normal person.

I find it unfortunate that many people don't seem to know how to write gay characters. To me, it's as simple as writing any other character — except they are romantically interested in the same gender. Homosexuality isn't a personality trait, and characters shouldn't be defined by it. I guess I just don't see what's so hard about that. o:

That's basically something I want to see more often, is a gay (or any other) character that doesn't succumb to mindless stereotypes, and is actually shown to be a real person that happens to be gay. I would honestly say that it is better to have no gay characters than those that adhere to stereotypes. If we only had stereotyped characters, then people would only be taught that every gay person is just like that, and teaches no one that gay people are very diverse and can't simply be defined by their orientation.

I think my earlier post here sums up my opinion on this too, on page #3.

I just watched a video on the Game Theory channel on Youtube that reminded me of this topic. With people unable to think of negative gay characters in games, and this video sums up a lot, though no where near all, of the negativity in the game industry towards LGBTQI community. If you're interested in watching it, it's here:

if u intend to come to Brazil for the world cup and u r gay, good luck..

@MarceloKamui: I'm not quite sure what that had to do with the topic at hand, but please, let's stick to gaming issues :3

This article made me really happy : https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/05/nintendo_apologises_...
It's unfortunate that this game can't be patched but I'm so glad that they've promised same sex relationships to be available in future games <3

Hopefully this means Nintendo is thinking about being more diverse in their games. Unfortunately the cynic in me just believes they'll avoid releasing any of these games in the west, or will stop making them altogether.

Not LGBT, but very supportive of the movement. I (please) understand nintendo's decision, but disagree that it is even a controversial topic at this point. Enough countries have made significant progress. Please undastand Iwata, you made yet another bad decision. Nintendo needs to be family friendly, but they also need to be progressive and supportive. How many LGBT and supportive LGBT people did they disappoint over the "traditional family" market? Please undastand.

Why would you talk about nintendo games on nitnendolife? Blasphemy!

Pun of the day. xD

Anyway, that is great to hear; I would be very happy if Nintendo were the ones to take big steps in this field.

Except Japan has not, and that is the country this game was originally made for. It ISN'T that big of a controversy. I'm not anti-gay by any means, but I don't think it's right to force private companies to support the gay community (at least very aggressively)

Totally, I agree in the free market. However, the free market has fans that can vote with their wallets, and I think this will lead to a fair number of votes of people who won't buy it now. I was on the fence, but this is just enough for me not to get it until it at least hits the bargain bin.

Sorry to doublepost 2 times in one thread, but any thoughts about this having an effect on nitnendo's future? Do you think this game will be nintendo's version of Song of the South (which by the way watch the movie it's not nearly as racist for the rep it gets but still was made in a different time)?

i personally think a mountain was made out of a mole hill. i also think people will forget about this. for every gamer who is offended by the lack of same sex option you can count on 1000 parents who would be offended otherwise. they have alot more to lose with them than us. frankly the world needs too do a lot more changing before a kid freindly game company openly supports gay marriage..........especialy in america.

I figured this would happen. It seems there are a lot of people (at least here in the States) on both sides of the issue that simply don't know the true story of the incident and its glitch, they only think Nintendo is now anti-gay and homophobic. I bet nobody would have made a very big deal of this had the glitch never occurred in the first place. I think it has been since blown out of proportion and misunderstood because of their recent statement about "social commentary".

However I feel Nintendo will do the right thing in the future but it also does not need to be forced onto them if it's not how they intended. Still, I have faith that they'll do what's right, after all there's nothing they can do about it now and the whole thing is really just a misunderstanding and doesn't necessarily reflect Nintendo (at least in the West)'s views. They wouldn't be so stupid as to back out on their promise in the next Tomodachi game... would they?

From what I've heard Japan doesn't actually have homophobia like the US does... it's just LGBT stuff isn't as well known about there.

The topic has been dead for a bit. Is there still interest?

I hadn't gotten around to wandering in the general discussion section. I'll pop in from time to time to contribute. I think that companies are more aware of the change in gamer population (more women, more racial groupings and more sexual orientations) and now that these groups have become more vocal about wanting inclusion games are starting to change. It is a slow, painful process due to many reasons. For one since games are rarely a single effort devs often have to make safe choices or they just run out of time or funding to really explore other storytelling methods. I'm going to sound old here but honestly that is one reason why I don't like voice acting in video games. Don't get me wrong I don't boycott it or scream get off my lawn about it but I think that the constraints that voice acting puts on game devs makes it that much harder to develop characters in meaningful ways.

Having to pay many voice actors and re record many variations of lines, especially in games with player choice means that they have to narrow the focus a bit. Even bioware games to me feel like they are trying but many of the interactions feel very shallow and flat. I totally appreciate the work but I feel that more could be done with either more time to work on the game. I do love it when games have a secondary NPC that has a pretty fleshed out background. With a set story you can give that character breathing room, plus that allows them to be optional to interact with, so that those that don't wish to deal with characters that make them uncomfortable can enjoy the game too. I was on the bioware forums long enough to realize that just the existence of a character with a different sexual orientation even if romancing that character was completely optional bothers some people.