Soapbox: Life Is Strange On Nintendo Switch Signals Better LGBTQ+ Rep To Come

Fascinates me this is such a big deal. People are what they are, people love who they love, are attracted to whoever they are attracted to… it’s no one else’s concern, or it shouldn’t be. But you just know the comments here will blow up. We’re all different, and we all deserve to be represented, everyone deserves to see themselves, or someone that represents them, be it in games, movies, leaders or whatever. NOBODY is alone, and shouldn’t feel like they are. These games can help people realise that. If the games aren’t for you that’s fine, but there mere existence seems to enrage some people. BTW good stuff @KateGray your articles are always enjoyable to read, whether they’re about a game, genre or topic I’m interested in or not.

More representation is good for everybody, straight, gay, queer, trans, whatever. It can only enrich and broaden storytelling. Despite all that, I am wondering how long it will take before the comments get locked this time. Hopefully that won’t be necessary?

always deeply cared about the sexuality of a bunch of pixels.

I tend to choose the straight path with these characters in my playthroughs, though it seems like fan canon and the developers treat the queer romance option as the default canon.

Wish Switch get Valkyrie drive Bikkhuni or a sequel, then we would be talking...

Gun gun pixies is yuri goodness, and great

Honestly for me the representation, while great, is something I tend to try to subtract from the equation when looking at these games more closely

If they're crappy characters with not much else to say about themselves beyond their sexual orientation, I don't think applauding them for representing a minority group is really going to change that for me. I've read plenty of stories where the most a writer had to say about a character they created was "he/she is or they are trans/bi/gay/pan. Isn't that cool!?"

Characters like Madeline from Celeste are an example of how I think this kind of representation works because it doesn't force that message down your throat and you can actually see yourself in or sympathize with said characters even without the added representation of a specific group of people, which benefits both groups since you have a well written character and then for those who are of a specific orientation, they can see themselves in that too

life is indeed strange. especially for teens going through identity crisis. did i say teens? more like the entire society nowadays -.-

Representation's great, and from the gameplay and trailers Alex looks like a genuinely interesting character. Can't wait to experience her story!

Apex Legends has a lot of LGBTQ+ representation if you dig a little on the bits of lore it has to offer.

I don’t think this looks interesting but also don’t understand why it should matter. Games should give people options. That’s what makes them fun

Let people live how they want to love. The world needs more of it, not less.

Better rep?

How long have y'all just ignored the other indie scenes going in, sometimes really hard, on the subject?

Or we just ignoring them for the soapbox today?

I was pretty chuffed to learn the other day that Angus & Julia Stone have produced a whole soundtrack for the new game. They've always been my fave band and I'm glad they even got Santa Monica Dream in the first one. I haven't played any of these games yet but I'm going to have to just for the music alone.

(The album - or EP, I dunno how many songs they're releasing - is out very very soon, btw.)

Edit: Out now in Australia at least! 12 songs, all meant to be in the game I believe. Album's fittingly named "Life is Strange".

I play games for fun. Not for representation.
Remember when fun and replayability used to be important?

The Switch is definitely becoming the place to go for indie games with LGBTQ+ themes. I’m trying to think of games I’ve played that I felt really did those themes justice but it’s a really hard standard to live up to. Celeste was great but maybe could have been slightly more explicit in its themes as it contextualised Madeline’s feelings of insecurity a lot. I actually really liked a lot of Kassandra’s romance options in AC Odyssey, they were acted really well especially with a couple of female characters, which made it all the worse when they force you to marry Mr Shredded Wheat. I dunno, Stick Shift is iconic but I can’t name too many games that I really feel ‘got’ the true to life experience. VA-11 Hall-A really nailed futuristic sex-positivism and I liked the actually frank conversations. I think I’m still waiting on a game that really feels authentic and not just to a very specific American audience.

@Paraka I wrote an entire list of what I consider to be great LGBTQ+ representation, and it was made up of almost entirely indie games. This article is specifically about Life is Strange — I can't write about everything at once!

@Arkay you play games for one reason, other people play them for other reasons. Is that so hard to understand?

Representation is indeed very important, whether in regards to LGBTQ or race. It's mentally harder for people of color or different orientation to relate to characters when the market is dominated by straight white characters.

Straight white, coincidentally, is the group that's most likely going to have an issue with this article.

@AmplifyMJ “Everyone deserves to see themselves.” How about everyone deserves to make the art they want to make? What I’m getting at is it’s weird for creators to force characters of a certain orientation just to target demographics, however, if those characters are springing from their desire to tell a story with that type of character, than great, go for it.

"Removed - harassment"

As expected, and you gotta be kidding me with that explanation, right?

Absolutely proving my point, no criticism allowed

Thank you so much for this article! As a queer person, I know just how much representation has meant to me personally in media!
I think for many straight cis people it can be hard to understand how marginalising it can feel when so few characters on screen represent you. But games like Life is Strange not only help to normalise queerness on screens but also tell valuable stories whilst doing so.
I do think that progress is happening (albeit slowly), games like Overwatch and Apex have diverse casts with several queer characters, and only the other day Rainbow Six Siege announced a new trans character!
I'm so happy for younger queer players who will get to grow up seeing characters like themselves on the screen.

@Carck ‘Pro-family’ implies that LGBTQ+ stories are ‘anti-family’. Please feel free to justify that without sounding like a massive bigot.

@AmplifyMJ Good comment. I can agree with you, and at the same time say, I shouldn’t have to care about other people’s sexuality.
Way to much “private” stuff is put in the spotlight these days. Keep it classy and subtle, please (any of it).

@BlubberWhale The only companies that "force characters" to be of a certain orientation tend to be big corporations. The orientation of characters in a small title like We Know The Devil is meaningful. Disney repeatedly going "oh by the way this character is LGBT" for tiny bit roles in Star Wars or the like isn't.

I can't believe people get so offended over this. You call it forced representation, and maybe it is intentionally done this way, but that doesn't make it bad. For you see, LGBT people EXIST. You know what is actually pandering? The vast amount of straight white male characters we've had in video games for decades. Some people are so jaded by that, that they can't even see that adding LGBT characters is actually more realistic and is moving away from pandering. Some people just don't realize when they're the ones being pandered to, I guess.

"Life Is Strange On Nintendo Switch Signals Better LGBTQ+ Rep To Come."
god, I hope so! as a lesbian and a transgender woman, I can safely say gaming needs this kind of visibility, and more of it. we need more than a handful of characters. we need more than supporting roles. we need more than self-insert characters.
gaming needs LGBT visibility front and center.
why?
because anytime an LGBT person says we want a space in gaming, there are too many people saying things like "okay, you can play, just keep your gender and/or orientation to yourself." "nO PoLiTiCs iN mY gAmEs." to which I say, no.
LGBT people have always played games. and we deserve to be seen in gaming spaces. we're not background characters in real life. we're not supporting roles in real life. we are stars, we are lead roles, we are people who still continue to fight tooth and nail for visibility and respect. for this, we should not be pushed into the background anymore!

@BlubberWhale Those creators often did choose their characters for themselves. It's also a known fact that developers are kinda forced to create white male protagonists to ensure sales.

@Damo sounds very authoritarian.I'm just asking a simple question and even that gets deleted. You all cream your pants about diversity but do not allow diversity of thought or ideas. I've been coming here for years and enjoying this website but lately you all are taking a very concerning turn.
I suggest making a poll about who actually cares about these articles.

Can we talk about how the studio (DONTNOD) makes pretty decent games with major slips in the details? Like how Remeber Me had a really fun combat system, with giant sweeping movements, that could take a whioe room, And then crammed a lot of the combat into really small spaces, really detracting from an otherwise fantastic system.

@KateGray thank you SO much, from the bottom of my gay little heart, for writing pieces like these. please don't ever stop, because we need more of this everywhere in gaming ❤

@cool_boy_mew thanks, articles like this will always bring about controversial comments and shouldn't be brought up in a gaming website. Just saying, last time an article like this was posted it didn't end all well.

@Ryan_Again "Way to much “private” stuff is put in the spotlight these days."

do you get upset when straight people are in games, or no

The thing is, it's never just one issue with the people raging against articles like this. The last 5 years have taught this lesson well. I've had my own run-ins with this, including a former gaming friend of mine who couldn't tolerate any sort of conversation like this and turned out to be a violent white supremacist.

Makes me wonder what skeletons lurk in the closets of the commenters here.

@Severian "though it seems like fan canon and the developers treat the queer romance option as the default canon."

why shouldn't it be?
especially if it's the developer's original vision?

There’s enough games for everybody, and I see no problem with that. I am straight and yet I enjoyed games like Undertale in the past for the good writing, not necessarily for the LGBT themes in it, which may have attracted others (and that’s totally fine to me).
The only problem some people may have with the whole LGBT activism from the past few years is that the most vocal activists have become so obnoxious to most people that they irk when they hear about sexuality and pride and so on. I, for one, miss the world of pre-2010s when everybody seemed to get along really well and there were not such levels of vitriol in the air…
There is more to life than sexuality and we can all be friends, even if you are straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual or whatever. It matters the kind of person you are at heart!

@Carck Saying that on an article directly about LGBTQ+ games would surely only be about one thing. Like otherwise it would just make no sense. If you said ‘I want more racing games’ on an article about Life is Strange then it would be completely unrelated and literally who would do that. ‘Pro family’ is a well-used and insidious argument used against LGBTQ+ people for at least the past hundred years for ‘disrupting the family order’. Trying to write it off as anything else is disingenuous.

@Rpg-lover As I said in the previous comment, those games would be more ignored (as in, less negativity) if it wasn't for the insufferable atmosphere around them. I knew I would get moderated despite not breaking any rules and I got hit with a nonsense moderation explanation on top of that, which they won't be able to justify and probably won't even attempt to

People are aware of the push
People are aware of the articles about it that just keep coming out again and again
And people are aware that the authors wants the comments to be nothing by hand-in-hand rainbow harmony praise yadda yadda

This is exactly the behavior that makes all of this extremely insufferable. And this is coming from a Yuri anime fan

@Ryan_Again why should my sexuality and gender have to stay 'private'?, why is talking about it or making stories about it not 'classy'?
Just because others (mostly straight, cis people) are insecure and throw a tantrum when stories about me and mine are shown does not mean they have no merit.
In fact I'd even argue that in a world which still has so few queer stories on screen, the loudest and most 'obnoxious' queer characters have the most merit. To show people that there is no shame in being unapologetically yourself.

@Zebetite
"Never one issue"

This is a great weakness from all sides. Ita what killed Occupy Wall Street. Its whats killing the BLM movement. The Occupy movement started great. Then people stared trying to attach a lot if other ideas to it, and the whole reason it started was lost, it became unfocused, and slowly dissolved. Among other things.

I always found it fascinating yet ironic the crowd who screams let devs make the games they want, get upset the most when it comes to representation.

It's just so funny to hear them say devs shouldn't cater to anyone but then throw a fit when devs don't cater to them.

@Flashlink99 "The only problem some people may have with the whole LGBT activism from the past few years is that the most vocal activists have become so obnoxious to most people..."

honestly? too bad. gay and trans people shouldn't be silently pushed into a corner where we aren't seen or interacted with.

@Dindunuffin Not really my point. I meant that people that have vile views on one subject tend to have similarly vile views on other subjects.

@Carck It depends what you mean by ‘pro family’. We have a political party here called the ‘Scottish Family Party’ that essentially wants to eradicate gay people and stop them from adopting etc. That’s what’s called ‘family values’. That’s the sort of rubbish that teachers used to peddle when I was in high school and they would say that it was to ‘promote the family structure’. You would have to explain what you mean by family values.

"You're doing this for clicks"
I mean, sure, I want people to read my work? I don't get paid by the click, though

"Stop shoving it down my throat!"
At this rate I have written, let's see... four articles on LGBTQ+ games over the past 8 months. Also, you certainly weren't forced to click on it.

"Who cares about sexuality?"
I guarantee you that people under the LGBTQ+ umbrella do, because it defines their relationships, their safety, and their careers. There is nothing wrong with finding pride in something that has historically been shamed.

"LGBTQ+ characters are just virtue signaling/forced diversity"
So we should just keep all characters straight from now on? That sounds boring. A lot of people who make games are not straight, so they make characters like them. That's pretty normal.

"You shouldn't write something so controversial, you'll only get bad comments"
It should not be on me, a queer woman, to censor myself to avoid controversy or bigotry. It's certainly not my fault or my problem that people are going to be homophobic, and it won't stop me from writing these kind of pieces.

"I could tell who wrote this from the headline"
Breaking news! Queer games writer writes about queer games! More at 7.

@BlubberWhale The great irony being that writers, artists and creators particularly in the video games space are constantly being forced to have white, male, straight protagonists because it's believed that it will boost sales.

These characters and stories are coming from a place of creative freedom, nobody is forcing this, they're still trying to force the opposite if anything.

@arenred I don't know how to keep explaining that your experience and preferences are not the same as other people's.

And no, my articles are extremely varied. That's a disingenuous assumption of my work, and even if I did only write about important issues, that wouldn't be bad.

@arenred "I guess some people have serious issues which, they believe, can be fixed by playing a video-game instead of doing something about it in real life."

hm. or maybe some gay and trans folks get so tired of fighting real life day after day after day, that when we have time to wind down, we want to play a game that makes us feel seen and appreciated 🤷🏽‍♀️

(also, what's up with leaving the T out of LGBT?)

@Zebetite

It seems much more like if someone disagrees with you, you tend to jump to a lot of conclusions. You are throwing a whole lot at the commenter here. Some people like an article, and some don't. That's fine too. Some people are rude, some people cab say things appropriately. Let fools make fools of themselves. Its the internet. Half the fun is having a giggle at things.

@CharlieGirl

Please don’t strawman me. I didn’t say it shouldn’t be. I’m saying that I tend to play the games the straight path, but that isn’t canon apparently.

What I’d really like if it’s their intent to make queer paths canon is to eliminate the straight option altogether and fully commit to it instead of shrugging it off.

@Ogbert

>nobody is forcing this

Not exactly true. For example, Disney has a Diversity Officer and has equity quotas

I literally just found this extremely easily for EA
https://jobs.girlboss.com/vp-diversity-equity-inclusion-eaf4eea3ad42

This is a big trend btw, which comes after years and years of journos keeping asking for it

There is an outright agenda being adopted about this

I'm gay and I couldn't care less if my sexuality is represented in games, love is love redardless gender so I can be perfectly represented by a straight couple, me and my partner can have the same problems as theirs. Stop being so superficial and try to get over genitals. look for heart, mind and soul, those are genderless.

@CharlieGirl This is the problem I’m talking about. I don’t see a problem in feeling good about yourselves, everyone is different and has different tastes as Kate pointed out earlier.
However in recent times everyone is responding with more hate instead of being more understanding of each other, this being true for both camps, LGBT and conservatives.
We should focus on what brings us closer and learn that no matter what sexuality we are, if we have a rotten spirit then we deserve all the hate.

@arenred well, my opinion articles are also varied — I'm writing one right now about Tony Hawk, for example.

Apologies if I came across as frustrated at you in particular, but these pieces always get comments from people insisting that they don't care about queer rep in games, therefore no one should. It's just pretty exhausting to deal with. I hope you understand.

@valharian cool, I'm gay and I care a lot if my orientation is fairly and earnestly represented in video games.
a "just forget about it" attitude isn't more important than what people deserve to see in the media they enjoy.

also, not sure what the statement "Stop being so superficial and try to get over genitals" has to do with anything. in fact, it's harmful erasure.

Funny I simply asked a question
(What purpose does articles like this serves?)
And my comment is REMOVED.
just tells you the type of people we're dealing with here. Sad.

I like how they all assume that anyone that question these articles are straight and white.
I thought you were all against labelling others and assuming things?
News flash: People of different races and sexualities can disagree with these topics as well.
Stop acting like such victims,
Cheers, a brown/black man/human.

@Arkay thanks dude. Signed, an Asian dude

@Severian we're all brothers and sisters when it comes to Freedom of thought.

@KateGray - In regards of your direct response to me; I think that's slightly gaslighting. You tagged the end of your article as a "Don't forget my other articles!" But outside that, it was written like LiS was the beginning of many. But that's not really true, and disingenuous to your attempt to your message that it exists and it's ever growing.

Like saying LEGO games are finally coming at the release of Skywalker Saga, even though many have been here all along.

As for your latest response; 1) It seems like you have a grievance against these remarks, would it been easier to just delete them?

2) You justify that sexuality is important to the LGBTQ+ communities. That it defines so many aspects, even including (and not limited to) careers. Which, not to really abuse "whataboutism" here, doesn't function the same way for non-progressively sexual people. Why does sexuality become so pervasive that it takes control over so many aspects when it is just non-straight? Role reversal on the topic would have had such a differently received take.

It's probably why so many see no big deal about sexuality when you do. But if someone announced a character as straight, neither side would genuinely care unless it is to bring up LGBTQ+ in whatever fashion either side wishes.

This isn't me trying to get under your skin, or a pushback on progressive ideas here. Just observing patterns of responses that I found curious. I have no beef with rep, if new ideas wanna go full cringe in it or be subtle, that's their deal and they're free to do it.

I for one are glad to see more representation in the media, something for which video games were looooong overdue. People who have always had positive representation in the media sometimes have a hard time understanding why it's so important to so many people. The further from a minority group they are, the more some people can't comprehend it.

Also, I'm glad to see the mods finally being more active. I hate when these comment sections turn into a diversity hatefest.

@Arkay yes. One love, Bro. Peace to you and everyone here.

If the game is good I'll play the game. Nothing else matters to be honest.

The writer should know better, other people's opinions matters as well. Not because you post something, means no one should question you about it or say anything you don't agree with, cause some other people on here disagrees with you likewise. For crying out loud what do you take us for? And why delete comments that haven't cause any controversy? Other than the one you post.

@eaglebob345 You have 1000+ games all catered to a certain demo graph and yet the 1 game that doesn't it's a problem.

That's the mentally I've seen over the years. It's like the argument I heard when Captain Marvel and Black Panther came out.

You have 20+ movies all starring white guys and the 2 that doesn't then suddenly it's pandering. It's honestly baffling and silly to me.

I for one am tired of the pro-pokemon agenda on this website. I’m sick and tired of having Pokemon content shoved down my throat. I can’t choose to ignore them because they bother me so much. Why do Pokemon need so much representation anyway? Why isn’t there any anti Pokemon content? Or doesn’t that generate enough clicks? Can I speak to the manager?

@Flashlink99

"LGBT and conservative"
These are not mutually exclusive terms.

@Dindunuffin it doesn’t make my point any less relevant, straight people and lgbt people shouldn’t be enemies, we can live together, even with our differences.

@Vexx234
When I see demo graph written like that, I'm imagining an old school PS1 demo disc, but it's just has a bunch of power point and excel sheets on it. Genuinely gave my a little chuckle. Well done

I believe the primary issue that many people have is that many games and movies are being celebrate for representation as opposed to being celebrated for being a good game. It would be a bit more understandable several years ago, when there was much less. And to be fair, this game was released several years ago. But many care more about something being a good game. Even more so because a lot of games get celebrated for veing representative, even when they're not very good, and that only furthers the idea that games that are more representative can't be good for any other reason, as wrong as that idea is.

@Flashlink99

I agree with the primary point wholeheartedly, but the separating it that way does tend to draw thicker lines, and further create division. I can see that is not your objective, and that is why I point it out.

When it comes to these topics/debates I always like to quote the movie "Saving Silverman". Sums it all for me

"...That's enough! I don't want to hear anymore! Look, you want to be GAY!? FINE no problem!! From now on I'll take care of Judith myself, okay!?"

@AmplifyMJ Ok, I want to see a game with an Arabic disabled Pygmy as the main character, seeing as everybody deserves representation. Let’s see a game about an army war vet who lost his leg and pan handles in the streets in a wheel chair. Let’s see one about a white male that is mistakenly accused of being a neo nazi, even though he is secretly gay. Let’s see a game about an average, obese person’s daily work life

I hope you’re starting to see, that representing everybody is a fools errand, and that the only people who ever push for representation are very specific groups. The rest of us simply don’t care if we see a stereotypical version of ourselves in a video game or a piece of media.

As a person who identifies as an individual and does NOT identify with any false grouping, I don’t care if my specific journey is represented in the games I play.

What I want to see in games, are believable stories, or wild fantasies (such as stuff in Morrowind or Skyrim and various other narrative heavy games) that are engaging and do not pander to an overly sensitive group identity. I didn’t love Final Fantasy 6 when I was a kid because of representation. I wasn’t represented in it in the slightest. It was a good story, with relatable characters regardless of ones background, without having to pander to a group that keeps overtaking the choices of the individual. More games like that, please.

@BloodNinja And I enjoy escapism more. 🤣

On the negative side, it's always the same people having a problem with these pieces. Always trying to find new ways to say the exact same negative things.

On the plus side, I just found the 'ignore' button.

@BloodNinja it's funny because despite your point being in jest, I'd find those stories infinitely more interesting than yet another white cis man protagonist on a revenge quest like so many AAA games do.

@Janeygo You expect people on a Nintendo site to write negative articles about one of Nintendo's biggest IPs? I'm sure there are a few about Pokémon's biggest screwups, but maybe sharing your opinions on forums would be a better chance to find people who share your opinions.

@ThePirateCaptain Yeah, Kate Gray is making a piece about an issue important to a lot of gamers. some nerve, huh?

@ThePirateCaptain it's not the writers fault that bigots exist.
In fact, the response the these articles only goes to show how much they are needed.

@ThePirateCaptain I honestly have no idea why people think I want a bunch of people yelling at me all day

I just want to talk about things that matter to me, y'know? But people keep assuming that I'm doing it for cynical reasons, which says more about them than it does about me. It is possible to care deeply about these topics, and write about them because I think they're important

@arenred "I don't know man, as a gay guy, whether or not gay characters are not present in my favourite game, it really doesn't make me feel better or worse"

I'm gay too and totally agree. I find this obsession with representation a little narcissistic and am not actually sure we are underrepresented anymore, certainly not in indie games. We are a minority after all. Trans people an even smaller one.

Furthermore how do we know the myriad of game characters who make no mention of their sexualities are straight? And how do we know the men with girlfriends for instance are not bisexual? How are we to know which of these characters are trans or not? (Birdo aside 😉)

@KateGray No problem censoring others, though, right?

@CharlieGirl Is it, though?

@Untempered-Link "it's funny because despite your point being in jest, I'd find those stories infinitely more interesting than yet another white cis man protagonist on a revenge quest like so many AAA games do"

I can see why you'd be bored of revenge stories but I am not sure why the character's skin colour would bother you? That sounds a bit racist tbh.

Queer people have always been a large chunk of the gaming population and it's great to see them actually in roles producing and influencing the game industry in so many different ways .

Yes, LGBT themes in games aren't for everybody and yes, each to their own, but these games aren't taking anything away from the literal hundreds of other games being produced each year.

I for one, don't play FPS games, for example. These games existing doesn't take anything away from me. I just play the others.
That's the great thing about choice . We all get to put our money towards whatever games interest us.
If you don't like games with queer folks in them, simply don't buy them. There's plenty of us queers out there that are more than happy to spend our cash

The first game is great for many reasons (plot, aesthetic, art direction, music) and one of them is the fact that it doesnt shove LGBT ideology down your throat.
It's a story about Max, her hometown and her friendship with Chloe (it doesnt even have to be two lesbians if you dont want to, you can make max straight and kiss that cringe dude).
The final part of chapter 3 and the final segment really stay with you after you finish the game.

Now, if True Colors only selling point is "LOOK, AN LGBT EXPERIENCE FOR US, THE ENLIGHTENED" then im out.

@KateGray It’s because you are on a platform that thrives on user traffic. Look at some of the articles about the video game music festival. They have barely any comments. The owners of the site know that controversial topics get more clicks than video games related ones, so pardon our cynicism. It’s hard to know for sure if it’s for a cause or for site traffic. Sorry, but we all know that games news has been incredibly slow lately, and that’s nobody’s fault. So of course, when we see the myriad of games articles with low comment traffic, then see articles like this week after week getting comments in the hundreds, it does make us cynical.

I would question the owners of the site more than your individual writing. I think they are using your background to gain site traffic, rather than inform us about important world views.

@Warbeard Don't be obtuse. Read the article, read articles like this all over the gaming space, read the talk about representation on social media, learn about LGBT focused gaming spaces. Yes, LGBT representation is important to a lot of people.

Slowly but surely, we're getting there.

@BlubberWhale that’s a good point too, and I hope the creators ARE making what they want to make. If they are, it’s fantastic they have that opportunity. I bet they wouldn’t have felt confident in it not so long ago.

[Removed - comment was too meta]

The problem with championing "representation" is that all too often companies seem to be using it as a shield when their product is bad, as in "our product doesn't suck you're all just a bunch of -ists/-phobes!" Which is why people are increasingly more wary of things that put diversity as their main feature. It goes double for games, what's the point of making a message if it's in a terrible package? At least Life is Strange is considered a good game (I never played it myself).

@BloodNinja How is it a controversial topic?

@BloodNinja there's almost too many games with the revenge trope to list, and almost all of them (like almost all AAA games) feature white cis man protagonists, every other CoD game, Red Dead Redemption 1/2, GTA, Just Cause, Shadow of Mordor, Watch_Dogs and Ghost of Tsushima just to name a few.
Whilst it's true that in the last few years more game studios have attempted to break away from the trope, it is still utterly overused and I think more diverse stories like some of your 'suggestions' would be far more interesting to explore than many we see at the moment.

@SmaggTheSmug Yeah, that is something to be wary of. I think in the case of games that have been queer from the start, it's less likely that they're using it as a shield, unlike, say, Overwatch adding in LGBTQ+ coverage very quietly in the comics 🙃

@SmaggTheSmug I enjoyed the LiS series. I am a little less fond of the fanbase though.

Still wondering why LiS2 isn’t coming to Switch or why it’s disdained by the fanbase, as it was more meaningful to me because of having a young minority guy dealing with the same things I did, which has a lot more representation than any of the other games in the series so far have.

@SmaggTheSmug "what's the point of making a message if it's in a terrible package?"
the visibility. getting something with representation out the door.
a "terrible package" can inspire someone to say "this was okay... but I bet I can make it BETTER!" and we have better games and better representation as a result.
even "bad" visibility can be a net win.

@Untempered-Link None of those games exclusively feature that narrative. Hilarious that you brought up Ghost of Tsuhima, where the main character is a Japanese man who is protecting his country from a Mongolian invasion and GTA, which is a heist story. Sorry man, hard to take you seriously.

@Carck "If LGBTQ+ people can be pro-family, why would you assume a guy asking for pro-family is anti-LGBT."

I was curious about that myself. And since @nessisonett replied I'd figure I'd look into it, b/c it's hard to keep up with all the internet lingo. So here's what I found.

https://www.profamily.com/

Whether fairly or unfairly, accidentally or on purpose, the conservative right has apparently latched onto "pro-family" as meaning heterosexual marriage, anti-abortion and the like. (which now that I think about it I remember hearing growing up)

Whether the person posting the comment knew that, well you'd have to ask them. I read Pro-family as pro all families myself, but as they say, this is why we can't have nice things.

Things that tend to be a red flag for me - traditional Jude-Christian values, homosexual "indoctrination". For better or worse - I'd say worse, it's always worse - pro-family seems like yet another dog whistle for the right. And it's a great dog whistle too, b/c you can use it as a bigot and then claim ignorance. Then let others debate it's meaning.

So I can see why it was censored, under a better safe than sorry umbrella.

Edit: I started this post when there were only 50 replies - Google search took awhile - so apologies I'm like 4 replies behind, web browser on my tablet doesn't auto-update.

I have no interest in Life is Strange. My favorite videogame characters are Link and Samus. Both might be LGBT+, or they might not be. It doesn't really matter because I don't play games to Find out this kind of thing. Neither of them really speak, they are Avatars. They can be whoever the player wants them to be, and as long as you don't go looking for a debate on the internet, you can believe whatever you like.

@TheMadRabbid Thank you for sharing your story and using your voice. I'm so sorry about the loss of your friend. You are very fortunate to have known each other in your lifetimes ❤

@BloodNinja Firstly, not a man. Secondly revenge acts as a main plot device in all of the games I listed and it's a tired one.
Glad to know you don't take me seriously though, that really added to the discussion.

Depending on the measurement methods used, the average percentage of the population who falls under the LGBT umbrella is roughly 7-15%.

It's not unreasonable to expect that given the fact that there's literally a few hundred million of us out in the world, that we might want to see ourselves in games on the odd occasion where relationships are parts of the driving narratives .

And again, gaming is a for-profit industry. If the market wasn't there for queer narratives then the games simply would not be made as they wouldn't recoup development costs.
Just vote with your wallets peeps rather than using the games industry diversifying as a proxy for your personal views on minority groups

@CharlieGirl You said important to "a lot of gamers". That can easily be interpreted as a 'large percentage of gamers'. It is not important to a large percentage of gamers.

@Damo Then list the number of hits for each article, in addition to the number of comments. How are we supposed to know that the Disney article is getting more hits, when it barely has 30 comments, while this article about a controversial subject is nearing 150?

We all know that "more representation" means seeing less white people, more black people, less straight people, and more LGBTQ+. It doesn't mean representation for all. Where are the games about amputee war vets? Where are the games about elderly suffering from dementia, and how it impacts their families? I could go on, but there is too much variety in humanity to represent it all. Think you have all of it, and a new personality will come about, stating it wants a game about it.

Why don't we just let game makers craft their worlds and stories, then simply buy the ones we like and avoid the ones we dislike? Their bottom line is whether or not the game profits, and I hate that certain games makers exploit minorities with this illusion of representation of a false group.

@TheMadRabbid Just to let you know, people have making similar comments about ecchi games too. If you read articles atleast a few years back you can find mocking comments about how people would not buy those games becuase they don't want to be seen playing them on the buss. Maybe not the exact terms family values or privacy, but similiar comments are certainly not exclusive.

Yeah… don’t care at all about this.
I play games to be entertained. That’s all.
What I would love to see is inclusion of a review for Monster Train First Class on this site!

Came here for the comments section and it didn't disappoint.

I can sum up how I feel about pretty much all social issues in three words: you do you.

@Damo Everyone always parrots the 'very important'-bit, but no one has been able to explain (or indeed, prove) why it is important at all.

@antdickens Then it would be great if the site displayed the number of clicks an article gets, in addition to the number of comments. It would set a lot of us cynics straight, if that's the case!

@Warbeard Says who? You?
You're assuming that a small fraction of video game players are LGBT, which is - to put it politely - folly.
Even if you wanna put it in raw terms, geeks are a fringe. Gaming culture is a fringe within that fringe. So it stands to reason that gaming would attract a lot of people outside of society's expectations and norms.
Simply put, people can either stand with us or get out of our way, because we're making ourselves at home in gaming and nobody's gonna tell us no ❤

@CharlieGirl I feel like that's doing everyone involved and represented a disservice. I wouldn't want my identity to be linked to a terrible quota character in a divisive franchise entry.

@CharlieGirl A small fraction of gamers are LGBT.

@Untempered-Link It's a colloquial phrase (hey man, how are you doing?) and is a shortened stated of human (hu-MAN) and has nothing to do with gender that nobody can even see because we are anonymous commenters on a website.

And no, it's very hard to take you seriously because you are simply being racist. I don't think you have even played any of the games on your list to know that they are all 100% revenge stories. I can't take you seriously because you didn't get basic information about the games correctly.

It kinda sucks that I expect the comment section of articles like this to be a mess, but thats just how it be :/

@KateGray Activision Blizzard are right now the poster boy for signaling virtue while committing sin. Or as some more cynical people say "male feminist culture".

@Vexx234 It's such a weird situation. It's the reason what so many big companies are afraid to have more diversity in their main projects. Could you imagine the backlash Nintendo would recieve if one iteration of Link came around that was Gerudo? Or if they introduced a new main character in Mario who was a princess of color? Even if it was an integral part of the story, like the location of the kingdom for example, the online mobs would be rife with accusations of pandering.

This is a great article. I've never played these games though they've always been on my list. And I've yet to take the plunge into playing any visual novel-type games but I'm just standing on the edge of the pool here. Good to know that this game has LGBTQ+ representation and representation is getting better.

Looking in from the outside it seems visual novel-types games are more likely to have better representation than others. I suppose that has something to do with the fact that they tell deeper stories.

@TheMadRabbid It feels like you are talking about a completely different, and much more serious topic than representation in a video game. I hope you can see that the story of your friend (the story of an individual) is not representative of the entirety of the group's experience. I'm sad for your friend, as taking ones life is the least desirable outcome for any person. I don't think you can use your friend's story to speak for the entirety of the group, though.

@Warbeard I guess you're entitled to your wrong assumption.

@antdickens That's an interesting tid-bit into the realm of competition between sites. Thank you.

@alpacatears It always feels like being queer is a choice, like being goth or punk. Yes one gravitates to the sub culture etc. specially when young but it's not inherent to ones personality or life perse but made a part by choice.

I will probably be told that I don't understand it and when I think some look goofy I am dubbed and ista-phobe of sorts as these tales always go.
And if "queer games" are not for people who don't like it, leave the "cis gendered hetero normative" games alone if they wanna wallow in macho men and busty ladies.
I want my DOA volleybal and Senran Kagura burst, and you can have your Bear Daddy Dreamboat.(if that's a thing)
And when the representation media doesn't sell well it's due to our society being to hetero normative full of incels etc.
Representation goes both ways.

Personally my problem with representation is that always feels and is pushed as a form of self insert or owning conservatives or 'cis incels' or whatever flavour of the month is populair on twitter.

True representation, not shoe horned gender, race or sexuality swaps of established characters, is a way to show people life trough the eyes of someone else so they can experience that vicariously.
I do not care if media has people that look or act like me.
I play games for a good story and or gameplay loop.

The subject always rubs me the wrong way because I do not care much about modern day interpretation of represenation it feels disingenuous and hamfisted.
And when I want to explain myself on the topic I word myself pourly because there is so much going on in my head that I want to say and I ahve been labeled a biggot and transphobe by several people before because I don't wanna kowtow to some modern day narrative of inclusivity.
I prefer to judge people personally not hold them to different standards because they are part of a protected group.

Also I played the first Life is strange and I think it is allright as far as adventure games go, that blue haired girl is a proper !@#$ though, save the town!
Never gave a hoover damn about any of the relationship stuff.

@khululy "and I ahve been labeled a biggot and transphobe by several people before because I don't wanna kowtow to some modern day narrative of inclusivity."
Not for nothing, but bigotry and transphobia are worse than being called a bigot and a transphobe.

@CharlieGirl https://www.out.com/tech/2020/8/07/10-percent-gamers-are-lgbtq-nielsen-study-shows

I just want to say, while there are quite a lot of White male characters, there is nothing wrong with this. There is nothing wrong with being White and male either. My favourite character is Samus, and she is a female alien human hybrid. Link is an elf. As for who these characters choose to spend their private time with... Well I don't really care, it has got nothing to do with shooting aliens or fighting goblins. If it was relevant to the gameplay, like Leisure Suit Larry, that is a very niche type of R rated game.

@antdickens

This is genuinely interesting information, and I believe it is the kind of reply that your readers are looking for. Thank you.

@Warbeard Man, you really want to die on this hill don't you?

Did you ever stop to think that it's not just LGBTQ+ who want to play games with queer characters and story elements? I have plenty of straight friends and allies who like having these stories and romance options. They like to see the world from other perspectives and embrace diversity. It's not just LGBTQ+ who turn up to gay pride or care about representation.

@CharlieGirl Maybe, who is to say the claims people made about me were valid and not just a way to put me in my place.
You seem to assume that people calling me this was warranted but I might be wrong, autistic people are very bad at reading others so you have to forgive me.

@CharlieGirl Depends on context. Sometimes, all you have to do is say someone is a bigot to make other people stop talking to them, because some folks take everything at face value without any critical thinking behind it.

I wanted to post one comment here, which is that I played the first Life is Strange on PS4. I didn’t like it because the main character always moaned about the alternative when you made a choice.

Nothing to do with gender, it was just a hollow experience based around a character that was completely bland.

@Grandiajet I'm straight, experimented as gay in college, learned I'm straight, and I still don't care if the main character in a game is straight or gay. I think the true folly is trying to argue for a group based on one's personal preferences. If some people want to show up to rallies, that's an individual choice, and has nothing to do with their group identity.

@Grandiajet I said that a minority of gamers were LGBT. Data supports that. I didn't claim one way or the other if straight people like gay romance in games.

@khululy Well said!

@Warbeard Careful, some people don't like data, makes their truth hurt.

Sad that people have to be so full of hate and fear for nuances in characters’ personalities in a video game that no one is going to make them play.
Have some respect and treat others how you would want to be treated. Easy.

Can you imagine if these were actually good games that people enjoyed? They would be popular.

I'll add: people only like representation in games when it looks beautiful. They want to see men with chiseled jaws, broad shoulders and slim waists, and women who are beautiful without a single flaw in their face, with slim bodies and curves in the right places. Let's see a developer be brave and make a game with people who do not fit these weird "Adonis" styled bodies, and see if the people who cry for representation are still satisfied. I would be genuinely curious to see that outcome.

It seems we only like representation when it's beautified.

The number of comments that needed to be removed is disheartening.
Stay awesome forever, Kate. Don't let the wallies get you down.

@Deviant-Dork Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's not enjoyable or popular. Life is Strange is certainly popular enough to have received a prequel and two sequels.

@eaglebob345 Note that Nintendo is a Japanese company so by American standards they are staffed almost exclusively with "people of colour".

@Warbeard "Everyone always parrots the 'very important'-bit, but no one has been able to explain (or indeed, prove) why it is important at all."

I'll do it. I'll even throw in a tl;dr - there are cisgender and heterosexual people who gang up together to actively make life hard for LGBT people, life is short, just let LGBT people have games.

Homosexuality is still illegal in 72 countries in the world, and punishable by death in many of them. 47 countries of the world make it impossible to legally change gender markers. 13 countries in the world illegalize transgender identities all together. These are uphill battles we face.
And in the west, in the so-called "first world" countries (the U.S., the UK, Canada), we see elected officials having the sheer audacity of putting the civil and legal rights of gay and trans people up for a public vote. We see an alarming rise of "gender critical" government in the UK. In the U.S., we see over 100 bills being passed to restrict trans rights in 2021 (so far!) alone.
Now, in addition to this, employment is treated as an at-will position. There are laws in place where someone can't be fired for being gay or trans. But there are loopholes where an employer can easily skirt that. "I'm not firing you because you're gay, I'm firing you because, uh, you misspelled a word on this report." We also see housing options being denied gay and trans people. A cursory internet search will show stories of landlords and housing lenders denying gay and trans people opportunities because we aren't "a good fit" for the area.

So, the fight for visibility is important, because it normalizes our identities. When media makes fair and honest depictions of LGBT people, it makes others realize "oh wow, they're real people who deal with stuff just like we do." (What a wild thought, right). Which, I know and I'm sure sounds like a "well duh" moment, but not every part of the world is exactly safe for LGBT people to be themselves. So the visibility helps us reach areas where we are (rightfully) scared to exist. And in doing so, helps someone feel the courage to come out as gay and/or trans. Which, in turn, leads to more visibility.

So, with all the hardships we face, all the aggression we deal with, multiple odds stacked against us, it carries reason that we want to see ourselves depicted with grace and dignity in the media we consume to relax. Be it video games, movies, comics, board games, whatever.

Some of us LGBT folks are gamers. Hardcore ones, at that! And anyone reading this can surely empathize with the fact games are a therapeutic medium for many. One that gives us agency, stress relief, and allows us to escape into an immediately explorable world. So seriously. Just let us escape into games, let our voices be heard in games, let our presence in the gaming community go unfettered. We deserve games as much as you do.

But there are people who don't care about any of that, because gays in games make them feel yucky.

Either way, LGBT people are here in gaming to stay. We're not leaving.

So why isn't Lesbian Gay? I don't understand the need for both the L and the G in that grouping.

Why not just H for Homo? Both are covered that way. Would make it a bit more efficient as the list name keeps growing every couple of years.

@CharlieGirl You stated a whole slew of problems that will not be solved by simply putting a gay lead in a video game. I don't think a manager who is a bigot is going to at-will their employee, then have a change of heart because they played Life is Strange.

@BloodNinja I liked Arthur Morgan because he was a flawed human, scarred face, scarred personality but he tried to make it right where he could, within his power with his broken perspective of the world that changed faster than he did.

I haven't actually read the article because of the spoiler warning and I might play these games one day, but I'm just here to throw some positivity into the void 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

@Clarice Because Lesbian is it's own identity with it's own unique struggles that, while similar to those of gay men, exist in their own wavelength. There's an intersection of femininity, compulsive heterosexuality, and our homosexual feelings we have to deal with all while living in a patricarchy.
That, and lesbians have historically been at the forefront of our civil rights movement. (One of us [Stormé DeLarverie] threw the first punch at Stonewall!)

@khululy Exactly! I love stories like that. Doesn't matter who he chooses to sleep with; doesn't make the story better FOR ME LOL Must be great for him, though! Hahahah

@CharlieGirl What is unique about being punched in the face because you are gay compared to being punched in the face because people dislike you for being different because you are ( what turned out to be autism but I went nearly 3 decades without knowing)

@khululy well maybe you can start a lobby to include autism people in the list?

@khululy Being punched in the face for being autistic isn't acceptable.
But it feels disingenuous to bring that up in a conversation about LGBT visibility. Screams of a bit of "stop talking about LGBT and talk about this other topic instead."

Having people that are bisexual, gay and others is always good to have and can lend itself to interesting stories. But the Life is Strange series is honestly below average with bad dialogue and plots so far.

@Moistnado Well yeah but you can flip that and say there is nothing wrong with a character being a minority either.

I recall when Watch Dogs 2 and Assassins Creed Origins released. You had a small vocal crowd questioning they choose a black male protagonist (bayek isn't black but...)

They weren't focused on the gameplay, or that each story takes place in a diverse region.They were only upset the characters weren't white.

Didn't even know the plot but just looked at images and concluded it's "forced" diversity.

Damned if ya do, damned if ya don't!

@CharlieGirl You're proving the point though, that when you try to bring up other situations as a point of relation, it's frowned upon because it's not included in your supposedly all-inclusive narrative.

This comments section has made me exhausted, so I'm gonna go play Ikenfell with my bisexual girlfriend.

@Damo Again, representation here only means more black, less white, more gay, less straight. It's not an indication of the entire spectrum of personalities and backgrounds we see on the planet, and falls flat when put under pressure or scrutiny. If you want representation, well, there aren't enough games developers to put out games fast enough to cover the ever-growing population and it's myriad of complex backgrounds. That's why I believe that representation isn't important, because you're always going to be leaving something out.

There's just simply too much to cover. Games makers have to utilize what sells, nothing more. It's better to simply allow artists the freedom to create whatever story they like, with whatever background of characters that fits their fairy-tale.

As someone who identifies as Transgender, (MtF) and Bi, I hope this is the case

Loved the original game. I don't care for anyones skin color or sexual orientation. I do care though if it gets all the attention and story telling and skill take a backseat for politics. Stop it. It's proven time and time again: GET WOKE, GO BROKE. Most of the gay people I know are absolutely no LGBTQ+whatever activists and just live their lifes to be happy and that's how it should be!

@KateGray You must be scraping the bottom of the barrel for representation if you made an article on these turds. I like representation, but not when it's putrid like these games are.

The dialogue for these girls feels like a 30-year-old white dude who has never seen a teen made it. Oh wait, it was! Hahahaha

@SmaggTheSmug Oh definitely. That's why it's so weird when so many people complain about black/brown people cosplaying as anime characters, as if those characters aren't asian.

@Deviant-Dork Good talk, I'm gonna click the ignore button on you now ✌🏽

@Fangleman32 "Well yeah but" - no buts..there is nothing wrong with being any race or gender (even White men). Yes you can flip it, there is nothing wrong with being a minority, I agree. The opposite of White man is not "minority" though. I'm White, I'm a minority-I live in China. There should be no "well yeah but" because i'm not making oppositional statements. Being straight or gay, it's all good.

"You had a small vocal crowd" I didn't, you must have mistaken me for someone else.

@MsJubilee you are so right! That's all I have been saying. The writing is soooooo basic and comes from a person who didn't go through any of these things.

@Moistnado Er.. i didn't mistake you for anyone. "Small vocal crowd" was referencing the people who had a problem with the two games I mentioned.

Did this comment section turn out great or what?

@BloodNinja I agree.

I think people need to look at apex legends for stuff like this, THey have lots of reps, They have a none bi, they have lots of LGBTQ characters, There is even one character on the spectrum, Its really great.

How ever, I do with when it comes to gay characters And there not all like this, but when ever you have a tomboy or a flamboyant man, there always going to be LGBTQ, I would like to move away from that but Ya, thats my two cents on this matter, I'm not trying to be rude, and I'm sorry if I offend some won, if I do please let me know bc this is not my intent at all.

@Carck "Always thought Luigi was gay, but how will I ever know?"

1-4: He's dated Daisy. So you should know from that. Also, Mario has dated Peach. So that's four functionally straight characters right there.

5-6: Ash and Brock have shown interest in the opposite sex.

7: I believe Fox McCloud had a love interest in Krystal.

That's just off of the top of my head. I'm sure if we researched this, we could get that to many times that. The issue is that people don't bat an eye at straight characters and straight relationships. They can go under the radar for a lot of people but you stick a LGBT character or relationship in a game and people go bat ***** crazy, and cause more attention to these. So the counter is to overexpose LGBT until people just don't care anymore.

I also did a Google out of interest. Birdo is apparently trans.

Ugh 🙄
Why is this always a thing… 😐

@eaglebob345 Hey now we all know Japan has a fetish for white people, so of course all anime characters are white!

@Richnj and Toadette doesn't have a gender.

@TheMadRabbid Again, I don't think that arguing your personal situation as a representation of the entire group is very sound, as it's not based on anything other than unfortunate anecdotes.

I've been called slurs, and beaten up in school, as well. I've been at knife-point because of a keychain I wore when I was 15. And I mean by a drug-induced PCP using criminal who put a 12 inch knife against my throat and said he would gut me for my keychain. It took 8 people to get this person off me and save my life, and he is still in jail for multiple attempted murders, thankfully.

Now, I'm a 4th degree black belt in Chang Moo Kwon, and an avid weightlifter and responsible firearms user. My top martial arts student shot himself at the age of 13, so don't call me tone deaf about suicide. I'm still reeling from it. I don't always share this info, but I do executive protection (body guard work) for a living, meaning I will step in to fight FOR YOU if someone tries to harm you, even if I don't know you.

So, when life gets tough on you, the only thing you can do is learn to get tough, back. If people are beating you up at school, don't wait for a gay protag in a video game to help you out of that jam. Get stronger, learn to defend yourself, then people will think twice about any slurs they choose to sling your way.

@Fangleman32 Japan is full of white people what are you talking about? And there are black anime characters, maybe not as much but gee, I wonder why that is.

@eaglebob345 Can an Asian person with light skin cosplay a dark skinned character (like Gym Leader Nessa or Amalia from Wakfu) or is that not allowed? I am not very fluent in this whole segregating people into whites and non-whites thing.

@Snatcher I know what you mean. One of my old friends who is gay practices wicca, isn't flamboyant, and is very, very spiritual. He always laughs at the flamboyant gays, because he feels like they are doing it for showmanship. It would be nice to move away from stereotyped hetero/homosexuality, and into something more grounded in reality.

@Carck reasonable is good

The same people always complain on these articles. Special shout out to the ninja who uses regurgitated conservative taking points like “pushing agendas” and talking out both sides of their mouth. You somehow complain about representation being a fools errand while also lamenting that as representation grows, opportunities for white makes decrease.
You complain about clickbait but you leave the most comments on said click bait. I really hope most of the boring and borderline hateful comments are either from people 12 and under or people over the age of 70. If your aren’t, I just can’t imagine that you are living in the real world anymore. These are games, like Iwata said, they should be fun for everyone. There are so many games I don’t like but that’s okay. I move on. I find Kotaku to be a site filled with people full of themselves. Holier than thou and that sort of thing. With that said, the conservative version of hate I see here happens to annoy me more. This is probably because I am liberal but I know how to call out hate no matter where I find it.

@SmaggTheSmug Remember, if its not black, its not racist.

@BloodNinja I really do, I feel like its kinda messed up that every tomboy is gay or flamboyant dude is gay, Being gay or bi, its just the typ of person you like, And prefer, Instead I feel like LGBTQ made the push they wanted, but they might have rushed it a little to much making it feel, well like this.

@anzzjam I'm not conservative, but thanks for asking. Probably a bad idea to get into political bias without first finding out what your opposition stands for.

You most certainly are. Anyone who laments agendas tends to be. Fine, you walk and talk like a duck, but you really are a swan.

@Snatcher Truly. And it would be even better if the people writing the stories actually lived similar lifestyles. Right now, it seems that a lot of it is imagined through the lens of someone else.

I think one problem I have with the way a game like Stardew Valley handles this sort is issue is this.
When you choose who you want to court (regardless of gender), they will be happy to oblige regardless of whatever their own personal preference may be. It’s as if everyone is bisexual and simply waiting for you to give them guidance as to which direction to tip the scales. In reality, if another man approached me with romantic interest, I would politely inform him that I am heterosexual.
I know it’s just a game, but the fluidity of sexual preference in that game in particular struck me as odd.

@anzzjam Try the reply feature. Anyway, placing me in a group consciousness that I don't relate to for your own comfort is fine. It's no different than being racist to someone else. You're simply being misguided, and I can try to correct you, but it will only work if you choose to listen. If not, there are 6 billion people on the planet. Can't worry about every single one that is unhappy with my comments.

Your points make no sense ninja. Your made up gay friend who believes in spiritualism is more grounded in reality than a flamboyant gay person, who in your mind, is flamboyant as some type of permanent performative art.

@BloodNinja Also Another point, Is that some people just say there gay out of the middle of no were bc its the "Cool" thing to do, NO, Being straight isn't a cool thing to do, Its only cool if you be you, I don't really like it when you find out some won faked it.

Yakuza games have the best representation.
Kiryu responds to a crossdressing ex biker gang leader that wanted out of that life so he could run a bar ran by transgenders and crossdressers
"Your life is yours to live, you shouldn't have to justify it to anyone else."
He also told a Yakuza boss who was into baby play that forced his entire gang into it.
"Just because you are into something, don't assume everyone else is."
Kiryu is based. be like Kiryu! (except the distruction of property but ey videogames gotta videogame.)

Hello internet, I have a gay black belt in Asian martial art who agrees with my opinions.

@Snatcher I’ll give you a break because I know you have stated that you are relatively young. Knowing this, I do have to contest the idea that in your experience, people bring up being gay in the middle of a completely separate conversation.

@TheMadRabbid Oh, I'm no master of firearms, I'm a master of hand to hand, though. I'm not suggesting you bring a gun to school, that would be disastrous! But I am suggesting that as you grow older, you learn to defend yourself in whatever way you choose. My tools came about as part of my profession. Otherwise, I don't think I would ever own a gun because I'm not fond of putting my life in the hands of a weapon.

I really do feel for your situation, I think it's sad and it makes my blood boil when I read it. I'm sorry that I came across as being tone-deaf. If I were at your school, your bullies would know me LOL.

But, I'm not there. And I don't think that learning defense makes you violent. In the 20 years I've practiced, I've only ever had to use my skills what...something like 5-6 times? Most of the other altercations were avoidable or I could talk my way out of the other person fighting.

So no, I'm not suggesting that you become violent, as that is what the criminal does. I'm suggesting that if someone evil BRINGS violence to you, that you place yourself in a position where you can defend yourself. Your life deserves it, your loved ones deserve it, and those with less abilities deserve it.

I'll be the first to stand in the way to defend you, but since I'm not there, I need you to be the best replacement possible. Life is hard, life is also joyful. Don't let another person's misery and violence overtake your pursuit of happiness.

Again, to be clear, I am in no way suggesting you become violent. I am suggesting that you learn defense, so that you never need to use it...but if you ever have to, you won't become victimized. That's all.

One thing is for certain, those that say they hate these articles sure like to spend the entire day in the articles they hate. If these people cannot be honest about the most simple of ideas, I really can’t take anything they say seriously. My black belt in not giving an F prepared me for this situation.

@Snatcher For some people, it's literally a fashion statement. I actually had a friend in high school that would pretend to be gay, so that he could befriend women and get closer to them, then reveal that he is straight so that he could increase his chances of getting with them. Obviously, living that sort of life is filled with stuff that backfires on you...not recommended!

To the people who say they don't feel the need for representation, that's fine and I'm glad for you. But there are plenty of people who do find it important and that's what this article is about. There are many reasons why people would find representation important, but from my experience it's generally about:

1. People who have felt completely isolated from society and are happy to play something or be a part of something where they feel like they can belong. Maybe they were disowned by their family, maybe their friends deserted them, maybe they've been bullied, or their co-workers are teating them as if they aren't human. It can be many reasons, and we're still at a place in this world where this behavior isn't uncommon.

2. People just want to experience relationships in a way that reflects themselves. Some people don't feel the need to see relationships in media that match their sexual orientation, and that's fine. But what's so wrong with people who want to see relationships that reflect theirs, that have possibly gone through similar struggles? LGBT+ people exist in real life, so naturally it shouldn't be unheard of to see them in media. And yes, straight couples are still depicted MUCH more often, which is totally fine, but for some reason people seem to forget that. Possibly because when they see a straight couple they don't bat an eye or think twice, but as soon as they see a single gay couple it sticks out in their mind and becomes an "agenda" or "pandering".

Maybe someday we can get to the point where people in group 1 won't feel like they need that place to belong anymore, but unfortunately we live in a world where it's still needed. That's the whole point of things like Pride parades, to both make people feel accepted for who they are when they feel like no one else in their life will, and to help normalize being LGBT+ so eventually society won't be uncomfortable when they see LGBT+ people.

And I say this as someone who personally doesn't feel like I need to see representation, but that's because I've been lucky and have people in my life that accept me for being gay, and I don't really care much for seeing relationships in video games in general. But other people do, and those are the people who this article is for.

@khululy I can tell you personally that it's not a choice. I can choose to marry a woman, sure, but I can't ever chose to be sexually attracted to one. It's just physically impossible for me. If you're someone where it is a choice, then you're bisexual or somewhere on the spectrum.

@Cynas Idk I feel Queer is more an expression of sorts, I mean if you have Lesbian, Gay, bi, pan, Asexual and whatever is hip on tiktok today what is queer supposed to be? and not all people who are aforementioned identify as queer.
And when people say they are queer they tend to act and dress according to a certain standard atleast that is my vicarious experience never met a cis gay or trans etc. person that identified as queer in my personal life.

@Clarice No thanks. I want none of that.

It's fine to have certain relationships represented but it's grating to see meda acting as if all people in the LGBQT sphere have been bullied and herassed same for black people, not all of them experience racism on the regular.
So to represent them as perpetual victims of a mean outside world doesn't do anyone justice.

As if all Gay men are flamboyant and queer, or all butch lesbians shave the side of their head etc.
That's just as bad as making all black people gangbangers from the hood and have them listen to hiphop while smoking weed.

I want the representation to be subtle so people don't notice it instead of it screaming in your face
"YOU LIKE THIS HERE GAY STUFF??? NO??? BIGGOT!!"
That pushes people away and creates more aversion and broadens the margenalization because it feels forced and intrusive.

Respect and acceptance is a two way street, no one is an island.
I hope you all have wonderful weekend.
God speed!

@WCB those Kotaku articles are great, thank you for sharing them! I turned off my ad blocker, and clicked on every single one!

@khululy "Queer" can be a tricky one for people to pin down in an understanding if you're viewing it from the outside looking in.

With some people, they could be using it as a reclaimed term in order to take back the power of a historical slur. Many minority groups do this in one shape or form.

For some others, they might feel that a strict categorization of Gay or lesbian, etc. doesn't encompass their identity, so queer can become a means to show that their lived experience bisects multiple categories under LGBT+.

For some other people it can also be a way of not strictly outing themselves as a specific identity. I know some Trans people who refer to themselves as queer when talking online to avoid them being hate bombed by people who are vocally transphobic online and who seek out people to harass.

Hopefully this will give you a tiny bit more understanding of the different ways that we use the term .

@AmplifyMJ Agreed, and I hope the same for them. 👍

@anzzjam You are right about that. If you are triggered, just admit you are triggered and a subject bothers you. Don't go on some BS rant about being "forced" to read things you don't like.

You (not you just an example) chose to click on a an article knowing the subject matter irritates you.

@CharlieGirl
Normalizing things like that through media in itself is a good idea, but I fear the execution in modern media is so bad, it could very well have negative effects.

If you want to normalize something, you need to implement it in a way that feels natural.
The way we often see it however, is that stuff like that is very obviously just in a movie/game because representation is supposedly needed.
The intention behind that might be good, but the result doesn't seem natural at all, in fact it often feels artificial.
I strongly believe that this doesn't help at all in normalizing anything.

If something like that is supposed to succeed, it should be executed in a less obvious way. The moment someone advertises it, it is already going in the wrong direction.

The moment now where the quality of the product may even appear to suffer from it, people are getting annoyed, amplify that by others telling them that they are not allowed to be annoyed and they get angry, which is something we largely already see right now.

Normalizing is supposed to decrease the number of enemies, the way this is going, I fear the number is increasing instead.

That is just my personal thought about this, I just think we have a scenario here, where everyone looses.

All that being said, it feels strange to write something like that under an article about Life is Strange, because those games seem to do a find job in that regard.
Still, I felt like the discussion went in a more general direction already and I think it is a danger we need to keep in mind.

@BloodNinja I have agreed with everything you have said, it is sad that people are misconstruing your comments.

@Themagusx1 It happens, but I’m happy to clarify if anybody wants to know further. Most just assume the worst LOL

@BloodNinja True, but it shows the lack of reading comprehension on people’s part. I find your statements to be easily understandable.

I am hispanic and boy I have never ever said, I want more Hispanics in video games. I play games based on quality not who or what is represented .

@Themagusx1 Hey guess what.
I'm Latina and I want more (positive) Latinx representation in games, and all other media too.
So there goes your argument out the window.

@Themagusx1 Thanks! I agree with your sentiment, as well. Who is represented in a game doesn’t matter to me. Samus is my favorite lead, but I’m a man. I just like characters that are cool and heroic. The shallowness of their exterior appearance is meaningless.

@Kirgo I meant it when I said:

a "terrible package" can inspire someone to say "this was okay... but I bet I can make it BETTER!" and we have better games and better representation as a result.
even "bad" visibility can be a net win.

@CharlieGirl Ok? Because you want that representation does not mean that everyone should care. It does not throw any opinion out of the window, but Judging from you, you are exceptionally arrogant and you are doing what you say others do to you.

@BloodNinja Exactly, and look at how silly the arguments against mine is. This @charliegirl said they threw out my argument lol cause they have the opposite lol

@Themagusx1 Happened right before my eyes lol. And they conveniently ignored the part where you said you judge a game by its quality, which is more than reasonable. I mean, who wants to play a bad game that has a similar character as them? Wouldn’t that be more insulting than a quality one?

@BloodNinja Exactly. And you can look at other elements of the game, and see how it blends. For example Mass Effect, I am a straight Hispanic Male, I choose Ashley as my romance, but if some one else wants to do something else that works. Now let’s zoom out and again it all comes down to choice I’m not terms of the game itself but what you play. Also many games don’t have sexuality as an issue and should not. The last thing I want in a Mario game is social issues of anytime, what I want is solid and excellent platforming and a surrealistic imaginative world to romp through,

The game is really bad. For a lot of reasons.

@Themagusx1 Next thing you know, we will find out what Toad’s sexual preference is, last thing a Mario game needs LOL

@Thatsalie why is it bad? I am just curious

@CharlieGirl
It can be a net win If the stars align or it could be a huge loss.

Even if someone does it right now, there are already so many annoyed people, that this would barely even help, since at this point everything can be considered "forced diversity" simply because it has become a save assumption.
The ones who are doing it wrong right now make it harder for someone who does it right to succeed.

@Kirgo Hah, everything is forced diversity these days. Funny enough it comes from the same crowd that says everything should based on other factors and not race.

I was accused many years ago at my job from a guy who lost a promotion to me. Saying I was a diversity hire, despite my skills being on par with his and the fact I put in extra hours daily.

So words like forced diversity don't effect me, because I now know it's usually from the crowd that claims to be for equality and representation but then gets upset over it.

@Kirgo @Vexx234 "forced" diversity will always be better than NO diversity, because at least forced diversity can be improved.

@Thatsalie name them.

@Vexx234
And now imagine there is a game that contains diversity but actually isn't forced, would you even be able to tell anymore?

That is how deep we are in already.
Nobody can win anything out of this anymore. Everyone looses.

@CharlieGirl
"forced" diversity will always be better than NO diversity, because at least forced diversity can be improved."

How? The fact that it is forced is already the core of the problem.
You can improve it by not making it forced, but that basically can't work anymore, because too many people would just assume it is forced at this point.
It has actively hurt your own cause.

@Kirgo Nothing you ever say will make me agree with you.
gay and trans people aren't a monolith. so we deserve depictions that are as flawed as we are.

@CharlieGirl
Which doesn't contradict what I am saying.
It just shouldn't be forced.

So now every comment that fails to worship the author and their views is being labeled as offensive and removed? I'm in absolute shock.

Here we go again....

@SmaggTheSmug @AmplifyMJ Well, I can tell you anything you do is going to piss someone off in 2021. So, just go and do you. If you aren't running for office, you are probably good.

@Kevember You gotta watch Mythic Quest. It was a few weeks ahead of what IGN has become.

@Kirgo You mean like not, "Hey let me shove this in your face."? You better wake up. It's not enough to live and let live, you better be celebrating it too!!

@CharlieGirl "nothing you ever say will make me agree with you."
That's a very close minded and very bigoted view you have there, buddy.

@Fangleman32 you wrote "You had a small vocal crowd" to message directed at me. I never "had" any such crowd. Your language reveals your biases. You needed to add a "yeah well but" to the premise that there is nothing wrong with being a certain race.

What a cretinous lot, to take offense and scream at the heavens all because a person dared to be themselves. History will not be kind to you. I suppose you can take some solace that you're hidden behind inane avatars and nicknames that a primary school student wouldn't find humor in. C'est la NintendoLife Commetariat, I suppose.

@CharlieGirl I've read that no self-respecting Latino/Latina person refers to themselves as Latinx or appreciates being referred to as Latinx, that Latinx is a derogatory word that removes a Latino/Latina's individuality. Latinx being made-up by Americans who opposed gendered language, even from other countries.

@BloodNinja hey man! you make a lot of sense in all your comments. I like that.

@TheDanslator Yeah, I agree not every deleted comment were that bad

@Bass_X0
well you read wrong 🤷🏽‍♀️

@CharlieGirl And I think not. Like I said, no self-respecting latino/latina person appreciates their language being bastardised by Americans. "Latinx" is a dumb word created by those seeking to erase gendered language even in other countries where masculine and feminine words are prevalent.

@Bass_X0 "Latinx" is a good word created by those seeking to erase gendered language even in other countries where masculine and feminine words are prevalent. Trans nonbinary people in said countries have also adopted Latine as a gender neutral word.
It's not a western only thing.

@CharlieGirl You sure are controlled by language, a lot. Did you ever stop to think why people want to categorize each other into groups?

@Rpg-lover Thanks! I see your comments, and you make a lot of sense, as well.

@Bass_X0 In support of what you are saying: In daily language, I have never heard a single person refer to themselves as "latinx." Only people in online communities use it. I barely even hear Latino/Latina! Most people I meet state the country they are from, because it seems that they prefer that identifier, rather than some weird, madeup American word!

@CharlieGirl I'm from Chile, and here we hate that word, It's not inclusive and it murders our language. Spanish have gender and that makes it even more rich and complex, that's far from being bad. Latine is a word only used in certain extreme groups. anyone apart from them is adopting it. Whenever someone uses "inclusive" language they just sound ridiculous

@CharlieGirl This is just plain authoritarism

@valharian That's cool, I have a nonbinary friend in Brazil, and they (and their friends) use Latine.
The cisgender experience is not the only one in the world. Just because you don't use it, doesn't mean nobody else does 🤷🏽‍♀️

@KateGray

Bae over Bay everyday! <3

Life is Strange only ends in the death of gay character if you choose to let it, and like hell I will! Bae over Bay. I love how in Lis2 you can see an older picture of Max and Chloe together <3

I love all the games. I love Before the Storm and seeing a gay girl romance. It was so beautiful seeing Chloe fall in love! This kind of representation means a lot. The comics are amazing too. I just love seeing sapphic love stories.

I love the romance in Max and Chloe too. When you play Farewell you get the sense they had little crushes forming, even if they didn't know it yet, just with how they looked at one another, spoke to one another.

In Life is Strange, it's more subtle maybe than Rachel and Chloe, but they are getting to know each other again after five years. But it's pretty clear to me how they were falling for each other. The way Chloe began to flirt with Max, the way Max flirted back, the way Chloe was trying to figure Max out, the 'girls or boys' comment before the pool scene OMG the POOL SCENE, Chloe testing the waters with the kiss dare, the way Max, this shy anxious girl just lunges for that kiss. The way Chloe texts Warren about that kiss, and tells him basically Max is mine back off, and how Warren then texts Max back like I can see why you like Chloe you should go with her to the drive in ahhH! AND did I mention how Chloe straight up tells Max nobody is good enough for Max but HER???

The way they always are touching each other. Looking at each other. Everything Max does to protect Chloe. The fact Chloe can put Max on her PHONE WALLPAPER depending on your choices. And Max's journal entries, the way she begins realizing and questioning if they are more than friends ahhhhh!!!

So I chose bae because in my mind, Max loved Chloe to much to let her go. And Chloe deserves to be happy damn i!! She can't die in that bathroom feeling abandoned and unloved by all.

Representation matters so much. I am happy people who own Nintendos and not Playstations or Xboxes will now be able to get into these stories. For those who say why does it even matter?

Um hello!!! Most of us gay girls and gays grew up on just straight fiction! And hey I love my straight fiction, I confess. But look I was starving for gay stories. Starving for sapphic girl romances. Representation matters because otherwise everything is just the same. Straight. Straight. Straight. And straight isn't the only sexuality, but it can feel like it because that's what most fictional representation in books/tv shows/movies/video games is. It only makes sense then that not all stories need to or should be about straight people. Sometimes stories should be told about girls falling in love with girls or boys falling in love with boys mixed into the girls falling in love with boys stories. And sometimes these gay characters like in Lis should be the main characters, not just the side character!

I love how Chloe and Max both experience romances where there is no judgement. They both fall into love with girls. And it's beautiful and it's exciting. And I'm happy I got to experience this story.

Can't wait for True Colors. I already ship Alex and Steph! Sorry Ryan! xD

@Cynas
Thank you for this. I swear it's so frustrating how slow people are in general about this sort of thing.
I'm a lesbian and look, I have grown up on straight fiction and I've got many straight OTPs. But I don't understand why it's hard for people to grasp when you're gay, sometimes it hits you that hey, maybe I'm craving stories that speak to me? Playing Lis/BTS was the first fictional story that involved gay girls in my life. Like Rachel said to Chloe, it was new and exciting and intense. And afterwards I began to search and read more sapphic stories. I'm so excited there's going to be this big bonus game about Steph, who is a proud lesbian. Also excited I have the option to romance Alex, who is bi, in True Colors.

The reason representation matters is otherwise everything is just straight? And that's not even realistic. Once upon a time people thought it was realistic, but it's not anymore. Straight people aren't the only people who exist on the planet, so it simply makes sense stories with gay characters should exist, and sometimes, GASP, be the main characters and not the side characters.

Nobody is saying "MAKE ALL THE CHARACTERS GAY" okay maybe we sometimes say that lmao, but what I mean is nobody is saying straight people shouldn't be a thing anymore in stories. They already are a thing. And it's time for gays to be a thing in stories too because hey, we exist, so it makes sense we exist in stories.

I love how in Lis, both Max and Chloe fell into romances with girls without judgement. It was a beautiful part of the story to me. And I don't get why anyone has a problem with that.

Oh no, here we go again. Listen, representation is good and all, but it doesn't need to be the new face of the gaming industry. It never has been and I doubt it ever will be.

"Who cares about sexuality?" Cries the straights when people point out most media/fiction is about straight people.

"Who cares about sexuality I'm gay and I don't care" Yes because you're used and comfortable with most fiction/media being about straights! I get it, fellow straight fiction lover here, most of my life been focused on straight related media and I'm a lesbian. Most of my OTPs are straight pairings. Or were. Pricefield I confess has taken top spot!

"Representation is good and all but it doesn't need to be the face of this or that'
No one is saying that. People are just pointing out not every human being is straight and thus it makes sense not every story in about straight people? That's it? And that it's good to have other sexualities shown in characters? And that we should see more?

Worth pointing out by the way in the director's commentary of Life is Strange GUESS WHAT??

No company but Square wanted it because the game had two female leads. No male leads. They didn't want the game.

Lis came out in 2015. Almost didn't happen because two female leads.

This shouldn't have been an issue. Just like characters that aren't straight appearing in things shouldn't be a problem either and make people cry 'stop with the representation it doesn't matter!" If it doesn't matter, then why are you even complaining? Prove you don't care about representation by being okay with it!

All this article is about is talking about how good it is for more lgbtq+ games to come onto Nintendo.

@SmaggTheSmug Of course they can. Anyone can do that. No one cares if you want to be green, purple, or blue. The issue is when someone drastically changes their skin color to look like a person of color or as a racist caricature of a person of color. The Japanese have a their gyaru subculture that, at first glance, may seem like blackface. However, it more of an obsession with tanning that a lot of white people in America have as well. There is a long, racist history of redface, blackface, brownface, and yellowface in the US (and the UK as well). Long story short, white people (in the US and UK specifically for this post) have a history of racism and oppression against just about every other ethnic group, from racist laws and practices to perpetuating racist stereotypes through racist caricatures in the media. Regardless of what people want to believe, whiteface just isn't a thing to the same extent. Of course it is also wrong, but it doesn't have the weight of hundreds of years of history behind it.

The comment here that sends me absolutely wheezing is the notion that white/straight people should be threatened by representation because it means less representation for whites/straights.
I'm white. I'm straight. Why the ***** should I fight for my representation when I already live in a majority white/straight country? I'm not being marginalised. "My people" (ugh) haven't faced silencing for their race/orientation in my country. Why does representation have to be contrived to be this scarce resource we have to fight over like it's the Lord of the Goddamn Flies?

I don't necessarily agree that a pretty shlockily-written teen angst game being ported to Switch six year is worth championing as a big win for Nintendo LGBT rep. It's perhaps a weak core for an article, I can understand criticism of that. But anyone who is whining about the mere discussion of a six-year-old LGBT game, you need help. I don't even mean that disparagingly. Your life can't be going that great if you feel that you need to protect your straight white representation when you're literally already well-represented in your majority white/straight country.

oh while im at it, whoever picks the songs in the life is strange games has god-tier taste

@Snatcher "and Toadette doesn't have a gender."

I had to look that up, and my first thoughts were, well that's BS.

"ette" as a suffix is feminine, meaning anything using that is a "female" version of that word. Gender exists in that race, and toadette is expressing as a female. Especially when you consider the pink colouration, pigtails, etc.

Looking at the wording, I think the creator meant they were sexless. As in, they do not have genitals and reproduce.

But as far as gender is concerned, they do have and express that gender in a way that we as the ones who consume this would understand.

@Richnj OOOOOH, Ok, SO she is female, just they don't have the U know, Oh ok thanks for clearing that up as I thought it was odd that It wasn't a she even tho all signs say she, thanks mate.

@TheDavyStar - some directors in Hollywood and Netflix openly say they won't hire white cisgender straight males. Is that sexist or racist? Well, imagine if someone said they would only hire white cisgender males and imagine the backlash.

@Bass_X0 It's a non-issue because it's untrue. I tried to find evidence just to humour you, but nope. Pray tell why the white CEOs of Netflix, Disney, Sony Pictures, and their various white directors would forbid the hiring of white directors. Martin Scorcese, Samuel Deats and Adam Wingard are three of many from Netflix alone in recent years that I could name without thinking.

I won't get upset and angry about a threat that doesn't exist in my daily life, and only exists if I say it does without substantiating it for argument's sake.

I find it ridiculous Nintendo only makes games like these but dosent include sims which is vast majority and doesn’t hint at the obvious LGBT community but even just a game like sims on Nintendo switch isn’t bad it gives u the option to choose how you play the game and sims isn’t directed at the LGBT it’s for everyone and the fact we can’t have none or even produce game similar to sims or something aimed at adults to peruse relationship in game they don’t necessarily have to direct it at LGBT because then they seem to think it’s bad and get blame they just have to play it smart make games put the age number and have something on the game explain explicit content and u have to be 18 to purchase it maybe have some expansions in the game on the store so the LGBT people can purchase it and have the option to it that way if the straight people who don’t classify don’t have to buy the add on simple don’t buy game like sims knowing what sims is like they just have to play it smart it frustrating that people seem to like to argue bash each other not take each other gamers values but there options for games to include that in future hopefully or not

"It was only this year that the latest Harvest Moon completely denied its players the chance to have same-sex partners"

Tell me which it is. Are the writers free to tell the story they want to, or must they be forced to cater to everyone?