Plus, just some more diversity in general would be nice. FFVII had Yuffie and Barrett (and, arguably, Nanaki) as non-white characters, but with the vaguely possible exception of Vivi (after all, who can tell?), that's been it for Square since then. Other companies don't seem to do much better; the Suikoden games have a few Asian characters, but not many that I've seen, and that's largely it. (Granted, I haven't played S2 fully yet.) Legend of Dragoon had a character who seemed Eastern Indian (as in, India-area, not N.A.) But there's not much out there that doesn't look decidedly white. White characters are perfectly all right, but a little difference now and then is a good thing.

But please, let them be careful to get it Right. If they're going to do a Native American character (or, since most of these games aren't set on Earth, a character whose culture is based on a Native American nation), they should do a bit of research. There is, after all, no such thing as Native American culture; to act as if the Nez Perce, the Mohawk, and the Sioux are the same is as ludicrous as to suggest that a Spaniard has the same culture as a Hungarian. They need to decide on what tribe to base the character on and then make sure they get the details correct. Don't have your Iriquois in a tipi. Tipis were used by nomadic and semi-nomadic Plains tribes; the Iriquois, in the Northeast, used longhouses if I recall correctly. Don't have your Osage fish; to the Osage, that was a sign of a disgracefully poor hunter. Don't have your Comanche be a poor horseman; they were pretty much the best on the Plains. Get it right.

And get it right with other cultures as well. Even the little details. One thing that both amused me a bit and irritated me a bit was in Suikoden where a minor playable character named Morgan was clearly Asian, steeped in Japanese culture (or the Suikoden equivalent), and about as non-European as he could get. So how did he end up with a strictly Welsh name? A minor detail, and the coolness of having a skilled blind fighter made up for it, but still attention to detail is important. I don't ask for perfect accuracy, but the blatantly wrong should be avoided.

I mention all of this because it sometimes seems so *easy* for people to get it wrong. I've long since lost count of the number of errors I've seen people make regarding Native American tribes. I know only smidgens of tribes not my own, but I hardly ever hear a conversation or see a movie involving Indians that doesn't include more things I know to be wrong than things that are right or that I'm not sure on. I know if I did a character who was a Japanese Shogun I'd have to do research to avoid offending those who knew better. I hope that others who do characters from other cultures will do the research.

So yes, more diversity, but let it be correct.

--

Chaomancer Omega

To be frank, some of the target audience for games (males, typically young and mostly caucasian) are idiots. They do what they believe is cool and feel that exclusion makes them special. You said that you'd like to see a Native-American woman as the lead character in a videogame, and there is one. Pocahontas. A Disneyized version of a native-american that would meet the caucasian standard of beauty.

Now down to the cause. Why don't people (for the most part) support diversity in games with their wallets and not just their mouths? Because gaming is fantasy and entertainment. Because it is escapist. When we enter the world of games we become what we want and doing what we want. And we are free to be a lot more intolerant than we are normally allowed, whether the degree of allowance comes from ourselves or society.

Turn on your TV. How many shows accurately portray the diversity of your society? (I am a Canadian) Look at the all-white shows, and the all-black shows. Look at the shows with one token black/hispanic/gay peripheral character. Why do reality TV shows (like Survivor or Temptation Island etc.) have so few asians and hispanics? The answer is simple: we are less tolerant than we would like to think (even Canadians!).

Also, I wouldn't know how to relate to a gay male or female (not being either as far as I know...), but it might prove interesting and/or enlightening to follow such a character. But such decisions are made by marketing people. If they believe it won't sell or get bad press, no way in hell. And you can't vote with your wallet because there are no games with such characters in them (that I know of). I guess we'll just have to wait for an underground, independent gaming revolution.

-Michael Chan

I can't see why people who are gay, African-American, handicapped, or otherwise different from the ubiquitous 'norm' would want any more exposure than they have when institutions like 'Must-See TV' beat their differentness to death. I imagine by now you're tired of letters saying how cool it is to find a 'girl gamer' when there's no shortage of them in the world?

Moreover, it goes both ways. If, for instance, a deaf man shows up in a program nowadays, it can be assumed that he Knows More Than People Expect and has a Heart of Gold. Because even if writers and producers consider themselves hip and diverse for working outside the 'norm', they're still deathly terrified of offending anyone.

No, I think true diversity in mass media will not be when everyone has an equal shot at playing the hero, but when everyone has the same odds of playing the villain.

- SonicPanda

I should've said this the other day, but I didn't think of it, Gamefan started sucking after awhile. They rated a fishing game higher than Final Fantasy 8. They also fired one of the best game reviewers ever, Nick Rox. Now for my speech about hot man on man action.

Have you not noticed all of Final Fantasy 8 and Vagrant Story? I have long been arguing the case that many of the major characters in these games are gay, either openly so, in Vagrant Storys case, or in the closet, in FF8.

Look at how Squall seems to dislike women to some extent, sure the theme of the game is his learning to love Rinoa, but my theory is that he and Zell have secret crushes on each other. Seifer loves Squall (remember the prison torture scene?), but he sees the way Squall looks at Zell, and so his jealousy makes Zell the enemy in his eyes. Irvine is gay, but isn't in love with anyone in particular. He was raised by a strict southerner father, so he learned to be afraid of his own homosexual feelings, and thus, must pose a macho front to hide his real self. All the female characters, Selfie, Quistis and Rinoa, are left confused and hurt by being rejected or neglected by their would be lovers. Lagunas straight, but his mom used to dress him up in girly clothes, that's why he wears his hair incredibly long and well groomed, and why he's so shy about women. Kiros and Ward are gay as hell though, and I imagine that they're always trying to get Laguna to go away for about 15 minutes or so, so's they can sneak off and get busy.

Vagrant Story is a totally different thing. Sure Hardin and Syd may go at it now and then, and Rosencratz and Romeo probably got something going, but for the most part, they're all to busy with their respective tasks at hand to worry about hot lovin'. Although had they met under different circumstance, I imagine Ash and Syd might live quite the lovely life together.

I'm also suspicious of Cloud and Barret (and possibly Vincent and Cid), the cast of most King of Fighters fighting games (Iori and Benimaru especially), Ken and Ryu of Street Fighter, Cyans moustache, Um Jammer Lammy, Gilgamesh and Ekidnu (have you ever read the Epic of Gilgamesh? How could he possibly be straight?) and Link. It's all there if you just look hard enough. By the way, if you print this, I suspect there'll be quite a few negative letters from homophobes tomorrow.

- Gilbert

First, let me do the prerequisite flattery and tell you that your column has been particularly funny this week – your personal woes notwithstanding. Good job.

You asked your loyal readers (as well as the fickle, tonberry-hating ones) where are the gay characters, or general diversity, in games today? As a gay gamer, I want to share my thoughts on this.

I can’t really speak for Japanese culture (except to note that even Sailor Moon has lesbians), but here in the U.S., I would start by looking at the consumers. Video games are traditionally targeted similarly to movies, with the prime group being the young male demographic in his teens (I don’t remember the exact age range). With today’s game budgets, you’d better sell TONS of games to recoup cost, which means you need a mass-market success. In other words, target this prime demographic. And "common wisdom" dictates that sex and violence are what interest young male gamers. (There was a Double Agent about this not too long ago.) So games often end up with more blood, more weapons, more T, and more A. Theoretically, then, marrying Quake to Lara Croft should produce the ultimate mass market console title. So young male gamers can be said to drive the industry, in the US, if not Japan.

People making the games are often former young males, who are now grown (hetero) males who still appreciate big guns, fast cars, and buxom babes. These guys will tend to make games like what they know, but more importantly, I would wager these guys are "very hetero" themselves. Chances are, these are the kinds of guys who haven’t had a lot of contact with gay people, and may be homophobic themselves.

Don’t believe me? Well, I’m a gay gamer. I’m 29 years old. I have been a professional software for the last several years. And I can tell you, the majority of my male co-workers just aren’t the kind of guys comfortable being around someone different. I’ve worked at a startup company, and at a financial institution, and it’s all the same. I hear enough homophobic comments to know that these guys aren’t that secure. (To them I am closted.) Outside of the developers, I see more acceptance, to the point of having brought my boyfriend along while co-workers brought their spouses to social events.

In summary, I think acceptance of diversity is lacking for people who make games, and people who buy them. The GIA, to its credit, seems very accepting of diversity, as implied through various comments by/about staff members that have been published in Double Agent. GIA readers are less accepting. Just yesterday, a DA reader wrote in to complain about "GAYme Pro," and I have seen several posts in the boards where "gay" and "faggot" are used in rebuttals (referring to games/ideas, not just people). It is because of this that I wish to have my id withheld from this letter – I don’t want to be gay-bashed on the GIA message boards.

Diversity extends beyond gay people, and for my last thought, I would share something from gamecritics.com. One of the staff reviewers is a black man, Dale, who did an FF7 review. He was somewhat insulted by Barrett, who was the only black person to appear in all of FF7. And not only that, but Barrett’s localization used a stereotypical style of dialog. I remember laughing at the first "SHI--!" that appeared onscreen (just like that). It speaks for itself.

Well, any ways, I must start off my official ranting by saying that I am proud homosexual gamer, out of the closet since this past spring, and in true nerd fashion, still not "out" to my own family. Eh, oh well.

Now, as for my opinion on variety, I think the answer to this puzzle lies in marketing, and general luck. Remember when Ellen came out of the closet? Her show bombed. Remember when Will & Grace premiered? It started a fad. Poster homosexuality became popular, like a style of shoes. Sure, they don't even show man/man kissing or anything like that, but they do have stereotypes up the yin/yang, and that's what America wants, isn't it? What we need in video games, is somebody to start a diversity fad, and hopefully it will become the norm, rather fade out like the Spice Girls. Do you think people would notice if Oprah Winfrey starred in the next Tomb Raider?

Oh, and do you watch Gargoyles? I think Elisa fits your dream character, even if she's not starring in a game.