Electronic Arts To Host LGBT Gaming Conference

EA could potentially be doing something right, you say? I'll believe it when I see it. It's probably an attempt to get as many gay gamers in the same place at the same time as possible for a far more sinister plan: looping Duke Nukem cutscenes until the gay is scared out of them. Or disgusted out of them, whichever happens first.

I hope that was all sarcasm.

A part of me wants to keep it going and say it wasn't, but I couldn't possibly allow myself to be that douchey. I actually think it's a great idea, only I don't think it should be invite-only. Or maybe it just wasn't worded properly, and it's open to all, but presenters are invitation-only. Hopefully the latter.

No it is invite only.

Its basically for industry professionals.

I feel like that defeats the purpose. It's not like it's a trade show. It's a chance for gamers and homosexual gamers to get together and talk about how the gaming community can learn to be more tolerant. And to give devs the feedback they need to accurately represent the gay community when making their games. It's not a convention, it's a conference, a place to share ideas and to learn from each other, but they're shutting people out.

It is sad that in the 21st century, sexual orientation is still an issue in this country. But don't worry, the Jesus freaks are going to end up losing this battle. They are going to go down kicking and screaming like babies, but don't worry, in the end they will go down.

After that, maybe we can work on structural racism.

Haha 2 people like Jesus.

Someone give chubrow all the thumbs up, now!

"to discuss lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues in the video game industry."

wat. I mean obviously you want an inclusive workplace, but I fail to see what that has to do with the video game industry in particular. As far as the games themselves... I can't even think of a single instance where I've seen homophobia in a game. And even in games that try to "represent homosexuality" like Mass Effect 3, the whole thing just comes off as forced and silly, and for some reason this is the kind of thing people are pushing to have MORE of. The only realistic gay characters I've seen in a video game were in GTAIV, but no one ever talks about that. Everyone involved in this is completely misrepresenting the problem (of which there isn't one, really, people just like to whine a lot).

Also I was raised by a lesbian, it's not like I'm just saying this because I "don't get it" or whatever, this is just a scenario where people are too scared to tell anyone how silly this is because

(cont'd) it's not seen as politically correct or whatever. Sure, there could be more LGBT characters in games, but if you want that to happen instead of lobbying for it why don't you do it your ****ing self? Do you really want a straight white guy writing a story that's supposed to appeal to you?

Well, know any homosexual game players out there? Believe it or not its a large force in the market.

Yes, I do. Quite a few, actually. My main point is that the video game industry seems to be the only one where people are content with standing on the sidelines and talking about what they would like to happen. You don't see people complaining that there aren't enough gay folk in Die Hard, instead you have reactionary filmmakers creating stories that they feel represent themselves.

Obviously I'm not referring to the workplace itself though, it's clear that anything that can be done should be done to be accomodating to everyone.

There is a whole line of cinema that caters towards the LGBT community, and its rarely talked about because its mostly independent from the movie scene. They don't talk about it because its separate.

In game culture, there is no way to differentiate or have forced "segregation" regarding such issues or treatments of characters. The issue is moreso of how to do it right if you so choose vs doing it wrong when you do, because now the market has grown to encompass a lot of different orientations and genders, basically. So it is a good thing they are talking about this, because it shows awareness of gaming's demographics.

"In game culture, there is no way to differentiate"

Why not? And why does there have to be an emphasis at all? It's not like you would know most gay people are gay, and the format of video games doesn't lend itself well to the exploration of sexuality in general. Sexuality is actually pretty irrelevent in the context of a video game, whereas the mediums of film and literature lend themselves quite well to it.

To put it like this, it's not like I enjoy Gears of War because I get to play as a straight white guy JUST LIKE ME, I like Gears of War because exploding aliens is fun as **** and I don't care who the main character is. I greatly enjoy media that explores homosexuality, one of my favorite directors is Kenneth Anger, but if you want to depict a story like that in a video game the fact is you're limiting yourself.

"The only realistic gay characters I've seen in a video game were in GTAIV, but no one ever talks about that."

Well except you know... everyone. And i do mean everyone:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKxAujA382E

In 2013 is Robot Chicken even ANYONE?

Then if Robot chicken is irrelevant, why not the gay community themselves?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS83e65LMp8

New Vegas had some realistic gay characters.

I agree, because the writers didn't put them in as if to say "LOOK, THESE CHARACTERS ARE GAY!"

I've been playing games since literally day one, way before I even knew I was gay. I'm absolutely not interested in what people think about me or my sexuality, just like I don't really care about yours either, but I can tell you that I admire EA for realizing the fairness (and profitability) in creating experiences that are inclusive where appropriate. Why shouldn't my Sheppard be bi or gay? I can understand sticking with a character's defined sexuality where that aspect is specific, but in dynamic character development, it actually does make a very big difference to personalize the experience to reflect the player's prerogatives. I agree with the way EA accomplished this without any major pressure, they just did it.

I think now that more consumers are wising up to EA's practices involving DLC and microtransactions, they're trying to get into a market that's already used to taking it up the ass.

Also, pre-emptive thumb-up for all previous comments. I don't know why anyone would thumb them down, they were all perfectly valid.

I think they're just bigots.

The phantom bigot strikes again?

At least they're trying something.

It's true that there aren't many gay video game characters out there, but I think most of people will probably agree that the bigger problem facing gay gaming community is how frequently homophobic slurs are used in online gaming. It's one of the reasons I seldom play online multi-player.

I'm not gay, but I don't find it any more acceptable to use homophobic slurs than to use racist ones.

I don't think there's much the industry can do about that... It's up to the community to step up and stop accepting it. Not sure how best to do that either, since a lot of the people using these terms are trolling anyway.

There was a time when people used to ignore those slurs, then people rolled their eyes when they were told to stop, then they got angry and argued back... And now they are willing to sit down and debate on this issue. I think things are looking up for the gaming community. We are slowly maturing.

Also, hold up here. Kanji and Naoto really aren't posterchildren for LGBT considering neither of them are really, well, any of the above. Everything "gay" about Kanji comes from a fear of rejection due to his "womanly" hobbies, while everything "trans" about Naoto is due to her insecurities towards being a woman in the male dominated field of the police. It's not really that they're gay or trans respectively, but rather that they're just confused teenagers riddled with insecurities.

Hell, there's a lot more gay subtext with the Protagonist and Yosuke (both separately and together).

Yes and no. With Naoto, her gender confusion is pretty much made null and void by the Golden's epilogue changing her design to one far more feminine. And with Kanji, there's definitely a lot more evidence of him not really being gay. I mean, most of the evidence of him being gay comes from Naoto and his dungeon, the latter of which (like Yukiko and Rise's) is hypersexualized. And even then, at the end he says verbatim "It's not about dudes or chicks, I'm just scared shitless about being rejected." And as for his crush on Naoto, well, who doesn't love Naoto?

More than anything, though, I'm just saying that there are better examples of LGBT characters than a duo that's abiguous at most.

Not 100% true with Naoto, in one of the social event the player can attend with her, she pointed out that once she really really thought about having a sex change ("body-altering operation" she called it) but struggled to know if it was the right decision or not.

And as for the case of Kanji, well it's too soon to tell. I'm not saying that there's an age to tell when a person is gay or not, but the whole point with Kanji is that he realize his sexuality is different then the others and by others i mean society standards (Gays on one side, straight on the other). Wither or not he trully is a homosexual or not, he been through similar hardship young gay teenagers been through in high school, still making him an inspiration to LGBT players.
I'm also on Nick's side here. The Dev made kanji's sexuality too blurry for the players because they chickened out and didn't make him say "YEAH I LIKE MEN! SO WHAT! I CAN STILL KICK YOUR ASS!". P4 probably would of never shipped overseas.

Again, with Naoto, that comes from her being insecure with herself as a young girl working as a detective, while everyone around her (and all of her idols) are masculine manly men. Which is why, once she's come to terms with herself, she's willing to be more feminine.

And the point of Kanji is not his sexuality. That's why it's left entirely ambiguous, and why none of his character arc really deals with it. The whole issue of his sexuality is just a small part of a larger picture. Nowhere does he come to accept having a different sexuality than the norm, because that's not his issue. His issue is not his sexuality, but instead his hobbies. He has a softer side to him, and likes to sew and do "unmanly" things. When people see this in him they reject him, which leads to him lashing out against them in return. It's all about a fear of being rejected, which is why the last thing his shadow says is "Won't somebody, anybody accept me?"

From that moment on, his character development is all based around the idea of him getting over the fact that people don't understand him, and that instead of fighting back he should try and make an effort towards getting them to understand and/or accept him. His sexuality is brought up during a few events as a joke (which quickly goes by the wayside) and his social link doesn't even mention it.

And I'm not saying that these aren't things that'll resonate with LGBT people, teens or otherwise. Absolutely they are. However, the idea of accepting yourself and not letting other people get you down is an everybody issue, not just an LGBT one. Just about everyone has times in their life where they're treated like an outcast or gone through a period where they didn't love themselves for them. These lessons transcend sexuality and become something much, much more.

Also, Persona 2 had an openly gay teammate.

They aren't going to like the CSS server I started playing on.

Also, do we really need to address them as a community? Do we address blacks or hispanics as a demographic in video games? Truth is, homosexuals comprise like 2-5% of the population (1-2% of both sexes), yet it feels like their rights take up 33% of the government. I'm all for equality, but come on, can't we just game? This best thing we can due it work on our slurs when griefing.

And before people take that the wrong way, I have nothing against the LGBT community. I can't exactly empathize, but no reason they shouldnt be treated any different than you or I.

You are right that they shouldn't be treated any different then you an I. But they got every right to form a community and voice their concern even if they are a minority among the minorities. Communities aren't made just to put people together in a separate room, it's also a way to keep people safe and comfortable against people that do not understand them.
The reason why the LGBT issues are taking light of day in the news and politics (and videogames), is because we are now in the 21th century where a person's opinion and concern is now available openly to the world bringing people together. LGBT groups has always been a taboo subject and yet, when people saw they got so much in common with them, they realized it's not that they different themselves, it's everyone dividing themselves. Today, everyone is sick of that division, they seek diversity and the comfort that people of different opinion can safely relate to eachother be it in movies, books or games. Without hate if possible.

The way I think about legal rights for homosexuals and such is this: it is very easy to form an opinion about gay rights because it is mostly an ideological issue for non-gays, and it really has almost no practical effects on the daily lives of most of the population. It is also an subject that can make people very passionate, as it deals with concepts like justice and morality.

For an issue like gay marriage, the outcome is nice and simple; either make it legal, or make it illegal. As such, I can see why people would show preference to such an issue over something like 'what do we do about the deficit?', which has no solution with a clear outcome.

Well said.

Maybe EA will use events like this, to gather more info on how they can to try to tailor-make certain types of games, which will appeal to the LGBT community. They are thinking ahead in terms of profit, which isn't a crime, to be honest, though some might consider it somewhat controversial.

They are still a gaming company first, so EA better be careful how they get involved with social issues which are still considered controversial by many.

I wonder if moves or events like this will encourage EA (or other game companies) to reach out to other groups along the lines of race or religion? Or maybe those groups will reach out to EA or other game companies in turn? It all depends on how this initial conference goes, I suppose.