Interesting Links for 16-1-2011

[andrewducker]

• Interesting discussion on minorities in video games
  (tags: videogames minorities race gender)
• A breakdown of where U.S. money went in Iraq
  (tags: funny iraq us military)
• Google blog post about Chrome dropping h.264
  (tags: google chrome h264 html5 video opensource webm standards codec)
• Ed Milliband reaches out to the Lib Dems. Glad to see it, let's see if we can get some constructive engagement going.
  (tags: politics labour libdem uk)

Comments

[miss_s_b]

http://liberalbureaucracy.blogspot.com/2011/01/ed-milliband-wants-me-to-show-courage.html

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

The problem with putting gay characters in video games is perfectly well illustrated by the example used of online Halo games where the most commonly heard word is 'fag'.

If they did bring out games with gay main characters, large chunks of the adolescent games-buying public just wouldn't buy them.

And the video games industry is so marginal now that producers are just too scared to take risks.

But yes, they really should take more risks.

(Mind you, all of these hardass bald headed space marines in games are more than just a little bit subtextually gay. Gears of War 1 and 2 are *very* gay games.)

Mind you, criticising video games for having few believable rounded female characters is a bit of a stretch, considering video games have very few believable rounded male characters. Shallow stereotypical characters (combined with poor story telling and scripting) is a symptom of the entire industry.

[drainboy.livejournal.com]

Fable 2 and 3 had a main character that was gay, played by Stephen Fry. You could also play as either gender and be gay, straight or anywhere in between (to the point of marrying any consenting adult you chose, maybe several of either gender).

Fable 2 has sold nearly 4 million copies, Fable 3 nearly 3 so far.

Obviously these aren't comparable numbers to CoD or Halo, but they are big enough numbers to be near the mainstream.

Maybe I should post this over at that discussion ;)

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about Fable, I never really bothered with any of the romance stuff in that game, because it seemed pretty simplistic and pointless. Give object of affection diamond, watch object of affection fall in love with you, wink at them, fade to black. :)

I must admit I was appalled when Bioware removed the lesbian romance options from Mass Effect 2, because of the fuss the right wing american press made over it being a pornographic lesbian game.

[draconid.livejournal.com]

I think the type of game makes a difference. I suspect the demographic for players of roleplaying games is much more diverse than for shoot-em-ups (or, rather, the demographic of people who just play shoot-em-ups is much less diverse than the demographic of people who play any type of game. So roleplaying games can afford to allow more choice because it won't turn off their main players.

Plus, the very nature of roleplaying promotes choice in the types of characters. Why invest the time developing diverse, interesting, main characters when the game isn't plot driven? (Not that I think they shouldn't, but I can see why they don't).

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

The Veronica Santangelo character in Fallout: New Vegas also has a past same-sex relationship. I like here, mostly because of Felicia Day's voice work.

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

There's also a quest in New Vegas where you have to recruit male prostitutes....and also robot prostitutes. But this is a tiny part of the game. I very much doubt any games company would produce a game inwhich the main character was gay.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

After the result Mr Miliband said the result showed the Lib Dems had made a "tragic mistake" in joining the Conservatives in coalition.

Y'know, I like Ed Miliband (tentatively) and I'm looking forward to reading the Guardian article (haven't got to it yet), but this is just wrong and I'm hoping that the BBC is quoting out of context (which from what they say later may be the case). The chart the BBC posts shows that while the Lib Dems have lost 3,000 votes, the really big loss was on the part of the Conservatives, who lost over 7,000 (and got fewer votes than the 'other' category - pretty pathetic).

Furthermore, Labour actually gained fewer than 600 votes. That means that most of the votes lost by the Tories and the LDs didn't actually go to Labour - they just didn't show up at all. Labour's lead is dwarfed by the 10,000-odd voters who failed to show this time around. The real victory here is for apathy, and disgust/boredom with the whole process.

Also, Ed looks older already, doesn't he? Wonder whether it's fatherhood or leadership that's taking its toll...

[andrewducker]

I've heard the theory that a lot of Conservatives voted LD. The Times told them to, so it's not _that_ unlikely.

But I don't think that this election is necessarily generalisable. And I'm not sure it matters that much, when the next GE is four years away, and a _lot_ is going to happen between now and then.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

when the next GE is four years away

....maybe.

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

The problem with putting gay characters in video games is perfectly well illustrated by the example used of online Halo games where the most commonly heard word is 'fag'.

Just to be clear, as the above phrasing could easily be misinterpreted, it's the players using the epithet. The game itself never uses the term or anything resembling it. If I have a complaint relating to this, it's that there's no mention of any sexuality in the game at all. (The tie-in novels explain that SPARTAN-II cyborgs' physiology and psychology does tend to stunt their sexual growth, and suggests a mature romantic relationship between two major background characters, but anyone just playing the game sees none of this.)

-- Steve wishes there was a bit more maturity in the online community of his favourite "rated M for Mature" game.

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

There's also the perk "Confirmed Bachelor" for male characters; it's the male same-sex equivalent of the "Lady Killer" perk. (I presume that there are female counterparts, but New Vegas is just too big a game for me to want to run multiple characters in it.) Gommorrah Casino employees expressly offer both male and female escorts to the player character if the faction controlling the casino is friendly to the player.

If you want, you can play the main character as gay or lesbian and it's fully supported.

-- Steve's almost done the "procuring" quest, and will admit that he got creeped out a bit upon recruiting the ghoul dominatrix.

[drainboy.livejournal.com]

It was just another aspect of interaction that appealed to some people and not others. It was simplistic, I'll give you that, but then so was the combat...though you could button mash or time your hits with powering up or play more in time with the music for extra effect. Then again in Fable 3 you had to do quests to get people really interested in you, you couldn't just groin thrust at them 30 times before giving them a diamond ring.

I guess it depends what kind of grinding you like in your game ;)

All in all though, I agree it could have all been done a bit more subtley though and with more nuance. Maybe in Fable 4...if there will ever be such a thing and we have enough appropriate resources to re-work it.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, for sure. I never use xbox live, the torrent of racial and homophobic abuse hurled around by the nasty little boys that infest too many games just puts me right off.

It would have been pretty awesome if the Spartans had mimicked some of the warrior homosexuality of the ancient Spartans, that would have thrown the cat amongst the pigeons. :)

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I wonder if Fable 3 did well enough for there to be a Fable 4. Or if they've moved onto fresh pastures.

... I think it might be time to move on to fresh pastures.

[drainboy.livejournal.com]

Harsh...

...it looks like it'll sell 4 million lifetime on Xbox alone (there's a PC sku). Not entirely a failure you walk away from....

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't mean it to be harsh. Just after 3 games it's hard to see where they might go with it next that is still fresh.

Updating the setting to a pseudo 18th century world was pretty clever.

Shame the combat was dumbed down even more.

[drainboy.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. Fair point. I guess a sequel or a prequel are the two obvious options. Did you play all three? My favourite, for feel of it, was the first one...though I haven't played it since 2004.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

The first I found rather disappointing, because it was a victim of its own hype, Peter Molyneux had promised this vast expansive game world to explore, and it was actually very linear, and very small.

The second I loved, thought was great fun, but was a bit simplistic.

And the third I've only had a short go of, but it seemed too dumbed down. The combat was 'press 'x' until you win, repeat'. Which... was pretty dull. But I suppose it depends on how good the story is.

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

Fable wss mentioned a fair bit in the depths of the discussion as I recall.

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

Not just Veronica, of the companions. Arcade Gannon is gay, and Cass goes says that she goes both ways although arguably is just a somewhat indiscriminate drunk, given other things that she says.

Several NPCs too, most notably Manny.

It's interesting that in Mass Effect you can be lesbian, but not homosexual. Because of course a woman who likes other women is totally acceptable and even cool whilst being a gay man is totally unacceptable in a game of that nature (it was apparently specifically because of the possible censorship/ratings issues that they chose to only allow straight or lesbian shenanigans)

Hell, the game encourages interspecies sex, but not man-on-man action.

[drainboy.livejournal.com]

I understand what you're saying about the first one. MS have been much more capable of controlling Peter's hyperbole-fueled mouth in recent times, which results in less expectation and a better reception from the critics and fans.

Luckily I had no such rose-tinted specs for the first one, as I'd been working on it for a year before I got to play it as a gamer. In fact, at the point I got to play it as a gamer it was only because I was on 0 bugs and had nothing else to do. I was sersiously pissed off they were making me play it as I was sick to the back teeth of it and presumed it would be very mediocre. I was surprised to find myself loving it and staying behind after the day was done to continue playing it. I guess that's what lowered expectations buys you ;)

As far as I'm aware the combat between 2 and 3 is largely unchanged, but I'll double check and find out. I know the magic was reworked and I'm sure some of the combat was tampered with. Personally I find it too easy and button mashy (as I found the second one) and in dire need of some amount of difficulty settings. Hopefully we'll spend more time making it engaging...if and when we make some sort of future Fable game, which I cannot comment on for obvious reasons ;)

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'd noticed Molyneux has been much quieter in recent years. I imagine the guy is a great inspiration to people who work with him, but really, he needed to stop promising so much. :)

It's possible I just noticed the button-mashing more in the third one, because the second caught me up in the story and the graphics. (It was one of the first games I played when I switched from SDTV to HDTV, and suddenly everything on my xbox looked jaw-droppingly amazing.)

Though actually I can remember the combat in the first game being rather broken as well, because I had a magic spell that made all other combat pointless, and to kill everything I just had to hold down the X button until things died. Chain lightning or something.

But yes, I agree, the biggest problem with the Fable games has been the easy difficulty level. Even just a few more attack options might fix it. So people can still play it by pressing x repeatedly until they win, or they can up the difficulty and have to learn a few combos and other tactics.