Okay, Chris wants to know whats the most interesting thing about E3, in my opinion.

It would have to be the chance to grab another GIA T-Shirt!

-KZ

Let's see - we have people who believe that homosexuality is just another normal lifestyle; people who are proud to be homosexual and want to rub it in your face; people who hate homosexuals; and people who don't hate homosexuals, but hate homosexuality - and then we have game companies, who like to crucify big pink fluff-balls and call it "deep religious symbolism."

50 hours is a long time to be doing anything, and the last thing I want is to spend that much time going through a game in which the developers are trying to lecture me on a complicated moral issue. When was the last time a social issue was handled in a subtle, non-offensive way? >From the anti-gun propaganda of Parasite Eve to the pro-gun propaganda of Xenogears, everytime a game trys to address real problems they always end up out of place, overly simplified, and heavy-handed.

And unless the game is using homosexuality just for the cheesecake factor (ala Fear Effect 2), you'd be kidding yourself to think that the moral aspects of homosexuality wouldn't be touched on.

Besides, why do we want to start defining RPG characters by their sexuality - any personality that the developers would try to give to a specific character would be greatly overshadowed by the character's sexuality. It wouldn't be "Cloud, who suffers from weird mental problems," it would be "Cloud, the homosexual, who suffers from weird mental problems," and that's just ridiculous.

~Israfel~

This letter deals with the topic of homosexuality in videogames. First off, I'd like to state that I am a heterosexual male so this may affect the way I see things. Be warned.

Anyways, do I see there ever being a chance that a gay character be the main character of a video game? Well there are a lot of variables I guess. If there ever is going to be a gay main character in a game, it would probably have to be a woman. No I'm not trying to be sexist or anything but in reality, the majority of people who play videogames are male. Now I'm not too sure about the heterosexual/homosexual divide there but chances are that most of these said males are heterosexual. Fact: practically every heterosexual male, despite whatever he might say, is homophobic to a point. That doesn't mean all heterosexual males are bashers, not at all. But in reality, there are (unfortunately) a lot of guys who can't handle gay people. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably come across a situation where people (or maybe you yourself) will use homosexual terms in negative ways. Like c'mon, the term "gay" is practically a synonym of "lame" as used by many people. I consider myself a pretty open-minded guy and carry a healthy acceptance of gay people but if ever a gay guy hit on me, I'd be seriously weirded out. I'm sure many heterosexual guys feel the same way too. In addition, can you remember situations where someone's called you gay? Even if it is a joke you really feel a) insulted and b) angry most of the times. Not that there is anything wrong being gay, it's just a natural reaction for a lot of us.

My pointing out that I'm not gay at the beginning of the letter was probably me subconsciously defending my masculinity so I won't be mistaken for someone who is gay now that I think about it. Homophobia carries many levels and finding a straight guy who is completely and fully free of homophobia is quite a rarity. Therefore, no, a gay main character in a videogame is not going to happen probably. At least not in an RPG which is heavily story oriented which brings about situations that you relate yourself through the main character. This relates to other genres as well. A gay "main character" in a fighting game (the "Ryu")? Probably not. If it was to happen, I probably think it would happen in an action game, although even that is unlikely. Action games aren't too heavily story oriented most of the times and the way a lot of them play out if they are story oriented is through 3rd person, as if watching a movie (passive media as opposed to interactive media). Even then though, I really, really doubt this would ever materialize.

Actually I should clarify myself a bit. Everything I've talked about up until this point about homosexuality has dealt with male homosexuals. Now I move on to another area which is female homosexuality. Now as I've mentioned up before, most videogame players are heterosexual males. Now a lot of heterosexual males have a greater acceptance of lesbians than gay guys. In fact, some guys even dig the idea of lesbians ("one girl is hot enough, BUT TWO!!!). Sure, there are a couple guys out there who are intolerant of female homosexuality as much as male homosexuality but that number is not nearly as high. Therefore there is a greater chance of acceptance of a gay female main character. Another point to add is the topic of bisexuality. For the male homosexual main character argument if doesn't really help much. Even if the main character was bisexual and had sex with women, along with men, a lot of guys would keep thinking, "He sleeps with guys dude!" But for women, it only adds to the chances of a main character that is not purely heterosexual. A lot of guys would probably just say, "She just likes swinging both ways! Yeah baby!!" or something like that (let's not even start on the two girls, one guy fantasy). In fact, if I'm not mistaken, doesn't Fear Effect: Retro Helix sport a bisexual main character? (I've heard things although I'm not too sure CZ I haven't bought the game or looked too deeply into it)

Now that doesn't mean that suddenly every game company is gonna start developing games with mains characters with alternative lifestyles. But everything has to start somewhere right? Who knows what may happen later on (although realistically, I should say MUCH LATER ON)? Of course I'd also like to add in that having a gay character as not a main character but a lesser character isn't that unbelievable. If could happen in a RPG if you think about it. A little side quest could be devoted to him or her that deals with their alternative lifestyle. This would probably widen the door to acceptance a bit at least. Well anyways, that's all I gotsta say about this subject, or at least all I'm willing to write about now. Cya guys later!

Let me get this off my chest now- I'm a straight male with no prejudices based on things like race and sexuality (I do get angry at stupid people, though). When I play a game with some type of engaging story, I can't say that I would like a "black" character, or a "gay" character, or a ...etc....The basic idea is that the way these characters would have to meet the demand would compromise certain aspects of the character's personality. Character designers can't help but be stereotypical, especially when the majority of them live thousands of miles away from our bizzare culture. However, it's not really their fault. The blame goes to the character itself.

For instance, many of the people I've talked to liked Metal Gear Solid's storyline and plot up until the end, where one of the characters (don't want to spoil, just in case) goes on about all these themes. Then, footage of Alaskan plays during the credits. It made some people react similar to how little kids react to kissing scenes.

That relates to this like so: When themes are overexpressed, people tend to get uneasy. Some minority might like it, but it's typically not well-recieved. In the case of minority characters, it's putting emphasis on such simple things that compromise complex settings, characteristics, and plot. I think that if they had a choice, character designers would rather make a character that lacks distinct racial/ethnic/ethic traits, but has a lot of personality traits. Sure, they could just insert a generic minority appearance, but will that really please people? From what I read on the last columns, it seems like people want those traits to actively affect their personality. That just makes things worse, because then it's just compromising more original character. Can they ever be in harmony? It's hard to say...to tell the truth, I've always thought VS's Sydney and Ashley looked very badass, with the "questionable" attire just part of the art design. Same with Sephiroth, same with Kefka. Maybe it's just because I can tell the difference between what Japan portrays as badass and what America portrays as badass.

Anyway, to close this long thing up, what really gets me is that people are demanding that developers rid themselves of bias and include all sorts of characters, yet they blatantly show a bias while saying that. People should just simply ignore simplistic characteristics and appreciate complex characters and storylines. Ultimately, people will never stop complaining. I think that sums up the entire gaming industry

Chris says, in response to Red Raven's letter about the relative impossibility of a video game with a main gay character being successful:

I'm skeptical that anybody would be able to pull it off, but I wouldn't rule it out entirely before I'd seen it.

I'm not skeptical, I just think it's a matter of time. Gay gamers and female gamers (of all orientations) have been helping make current games successful for years. We've been able to relate to straight, male characters well enough to appreciate the many good games out there. I have every faith straight, male gamers have exactly the same capacity. The difference being, gay or female gamers haven't had much in the way of alternatives, but again I believe there are enough open-minded straight, male gamers out there to support such a game...and it might even be welcomed by some as a rare change of pace!

Oh, yeah, and to make this letter relevant to today's topic...I've very little interest in anything being shown aside from GameCube, barring some major surprise from the PS2 or Xbox corners. It's not that I'm not interested in the others, but I think GameCube is where the real revelations will be, for the better or the worse, about how the next generation of consoles will pan out. If GameCube blows out the expectations, Nintendo is a player in the next round (assuming it makes the Christmas season here). If it falls short, it will probably go the way of the N64 even if they pull out all the stops further down the line.

-Legolas

Dear Letter Columnist,

What am I looking forward to at the big show this year? Well I gotta tell ya, I'm always wondering what the next masterpiece on 989 studios schedule is, they have never failed to deliver consistently groundbreaking experiences. In particular I've heard talk of a sequel to one of last years more innovative rpg's. None other than the second chapter to the game that broke through the niche market and made people stand up and take notice of our favorite genre, Legend of Dragoon 2 baby! I'm also waiting to see what Tecmo has for us this time with their newest variation on Bust a Move (Or "Bust a Bubble" as we 'hardcore' gamers like to call it). Other than that, it's always refreshing to see Capcom reinvent themselves with the newest installments of their Street Fighter and Resident Evil franchises. And I'm really looking forward to all the new games based on the last few years blockbuster summer movies, I mean who doesn't want to pretend they're Bruce Willis and chase futuristic terrorists, am I right?

-Peg Leg Joe