Like Ken Levine said: ''I try to create interesting characters.Not white,black,pink,orange,hetero,bisexual,gay,asexual or whatever just to cater to certain audience''
This is not exact quote but the point is still the same.
<sarcasm> yeah this totally works, its not like 90% of all main characters in games these days is a white straight male in hes 30s. </sarcasm>
i have a great respect for the games ken levine make, but that dude is way to afraid to break the norm. he said himself, when asked why they put such a bland and generic call of duty-type boxart on bioshock infinite, he basically said that he has to take marketing into account and goes what sells the most. im pretty sure that also affects the way he writes the story and characters which, eventough i understand it (he wants to make money), is still a great shame.
<sarcasm> yeah this totally works, its not like 90% of all main characters in games these days is a white straight male in hes 30s. </sarcasm>
i have a great respect for the games ken levine make, but that dude is way to afraid to break the norm. he said himself, when asked why they put such a bland and generic call of duty-type boxart on bioshock infinite, he basically said that he has to take marketing into account and goes what sells the most. im pretty sure that also affects the way he writes the story and characters which, eventough i understand it (he wants to make money), is still a great shame.
Well he explain why they do that with the box art and he is right.I dont like it,you dont like it but after all this is just box art and we all know what is the main purpose of a box art.Check Infinite site and download whatever box art you like.I use one of them for desktop background.
I guess the problem is character diversity as a whole, EVERYTHING MUST BE EXTREMELY MARKETABLE.
...wherein the forum denizens delved deep into an exploration of markets reflecting sociological realities versus ideological and political goals, and within the dark intellectual caverns of the Debate, met the fearsome and terrible demon from the ancient world, Sales Demographics...
(I need a much more curly silent movie title card font for that :poly142:).
I guess the problem is character diversity as a whole, EVERYTHING MUST BE EXTREMELY MARKETABLE.
partially so - AAA-games target str8 christian males as their proposed audience.
I'm not even sure if those all-mighty marketing people are basically gamers themselves - or they just serve as a middle-ground between project management and focus groups.
another reason why there won't be any sincere attempts to express lgbt-awareness in games is lack of recognizable queer-friendly people in the industry.
Im not sure if Jason Rubin's monster dildo counts, but this industry has neither Lady Gaga, nor Tina Fey, nor Ben Cohen to de-advocate gay bullying and slip in actual clever gay references while keeping the whole thing classy and fitting for a larger customer base.
I can see a f2p grindr mmorpg coming, but that's about same level of tacky as EA with its strapped on passive aggressive gay-friendliness.
I think it's just a question of represenattion. gay and lesbian people have a right be be portrayed just like other people,it's not just a question of being politically correct.
I suppose its more relevent if the game has a lot of social interaction, because then the personality of the characters has more bearing on the outcome.
personally I would like to see more working class people in games:)
That's silly. Gay and LGBT people exist in reality whether they are doing things that are, or are not related to being gay. In fact, I bet it's a pretty small part of actually being gay at all. Obviously, you don't need to place a woman on that sub, but do want to wager that 120 percent of those men on that submarine are heterosexual?
Oh, they probably aren't. And I'm sure any former US Navy personnel on here would joke that it's probably closer to 0%... :poly121: That said, my argument wasn't about whether they are or aren't. It's about whether it's necessary in order to tell the story, or even relevant at all to the story at hand.
We went through seven Harry Potter novels (and eight movies) with a pivotal main character that the author wrote as gay the entire time. It was never actually mentioned or even alluded to in the stories themselves, as far as I remember. The audience would never have known if the writer hadn't spoken about it publicly.
Why didn't she mention it in the narrative? She's obviously not afraid to include a homosexual character - there's one right there, she said so and explained how. She didn't include that aspect in the narrative because that character's homosexuality had no real relevance to the narrative at hand. If the story had been about that character's romances, or intimate or sexual desires or motivations, then it would have been extremely relevant and extremely crucial to include it. But none of that had any impact on any part of the story, so there wasn't a reason to include it.
EDIT: my position will probably make more sense to you if you understand that I'm a big believer in Minimalist narrative.
Replies
i have a great respect for the games ken levine make, but that dude is way to afraid to break the norm. he said himself, when asked why they put such a bland and generic call of duty-type boxart on bioshock infinite, he basically said that he has to take marketing into account and goes what sells the most. im pretty sure that also affects the way he writes the story and characters which, eventough i understand it (he wants to make money), is still a great shame.
Afterall, it was our publisher that told me, 'We know Rayne is a vampire, but can you make her more tan anyways?'
Well he explain why they do that with the box art and he is right.I dont like it,you dont like it but after all this is just box art and we all know what is the main purpose of a box art.Check Infinite site and download whatever box art you like.I use one of them for desktop background.
#tanlines
hah!
Your avatar goes perfect with that response!
...wherein the forum denizens delved deep into an exploration of markets reflecting sociological realities versus ideological and political goals, and within the dark intellectual caverns of the Debate, met the fearsome and terrible demon from the ancient world, Sales Demographics...
(I need a much more curly silent movie title card font for that :poly142:).
partially so - AAA-games target str8 christian males as their proposed audience.
I'm not even sure if those all-mighty marketing people are basically gamers themselves - or they just serve as a middle-ground between project management and focus groups.
another reason why there won't be any sincere attempts to express lgbt-awareness in games is lack of recognizable queer-friendly people in the industry.
Im not sure if Jason Rubin's monster dildo counts, but this industry has neither Lady Gaga, nor Tina Fey, nor Ben Cohen to de-advocate gay bullying and slip in actual clever gay references while keeping the whole thing classy and fitting for a larger customer base.
I can see a f2p grindr mmorpg coming, but that's about same level of tacky as EA with its strapped on passive aggressive gay-friendliness.
I suppose its more relevent if the game has a lot of social interaction, because then the personality of the characters has more bearing on the outcome.
personally I would like to see more working class people in games:)
Unless you mean you want to see them doing gay things? How would you know one way or the other
Oh, they probably aren't. And I'm sure any former US Navy personnel on here would joke that it's probably closer to 0%... :poly121: That said, my argument wasn't about whether they are or aren't. It's about whether it's necessary in order to tell the story, or even relevant at all to the story at hand.
We went through seven Harry Potter novels (and eight movies) with a pivotal main character that the author wrote as gay the entire time. It was never actually mentioned or even alluded to in the stories themselves, as far as I remember. The audience would never have known if the writer hadn't spoken about it publicly.
Why didn't she mention it in the narrative? She's obviously not afraid to include a homosexual character - there's one right there, she said so and explained how. She didn't include that aspect in the narrative because that character's homosexuality had no real relevance to the narrative at hand. If the story had been about that character's romances, or intimate or sexual desires or motivations, then it would have been extremely relevant and extremely crucial to include it. But none of that had any impact on any part of the story, so there wasn't a reason to include it.
EDIT: my position will probably make more sense to you if you understand that I'm a big believer in Minimalist narrative.