I just wanna know,

1. What are the GayGamer staff's favorite sexy male game characters?

2.What publisher/developer/whatever do you think has been the most progressive in terms of gay character/content in games?

-William

Now William, you know that the crew here at GayGamer would never openly reveal their sexiest gaming god. Thankfully I have spies everywhere and know that Dawdle thinks The Heavy from Team Fortress 2 is adorable while Sgt. Sausagepants prefers the gruff style of Splinter Cell's Mr. Sam Fisher. Now I think Mikey is playing it safe with Dante, a sensitive man who just may cry, but Wootini likes a bit of danger in his men which is why he wants to solve a mystery with Hotel Dusk's Kyle Hyde and Phoenix Wright's Detective Gumshoe. Careful W, when you get two detectives in a room they're going to do more than dust for prints.

About gay characters and content in games, my vote goes to EA/Maxis with The Sims series. Where else can gamers create their own gay characters without having to watch them conform to any sort of stereotype? While the creator's of Mass Effect left off a gay male romance because they felt the writer's could not do the relationship justice, The Sims leaves the storytelling in the hands of the player. Another prize should be given to Peter Molyneux and the folks behind Fable and its sequel for allowing players to live and fight as a gay warrior. Indigo Prophecy gets an honorable mention for including Tommy, a minor character who just happened to be gay. He was not important to the plot but helped further the characterization of one of the lead characters.

Dear The Doctor (or should that simply be Doc?),

The first game I ever played (that wasn't educational) was the original
Prince of Persia. What were your first games?

Yours,
Stef.

You can call me anything you want. Just not Albert Finney, I don't answer to that name, not anymore. For Christmas in 1988 my parents bought me and my siblings the Nintendo Power Set Bundle which included the Zapper and the Power Pad. Of course before Duck Hunt and Track Meet could be played I had to try Super Mario Bros. The rest as they say, is history. As for some of my brethren:

"Space Invaders on the Atari 2600" ~Fruit Brute

Howdy!

I've always loved gaming. After a few failed attempts at a career in the health care industry I decided to go get my Masters degree in Information Systems Management. I'll be graduating in February '09 and have been looking for opportunities to get into the gaming industry but am a bit overwhelmed. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks much!
Damon

Attending school and obtaining a degree is already one giant step in the right direction. I recently had a conversation with a game programmer friend who told me that many people looking to get into the game industry forget that an education is the most important part. With that out of the way I suggest making a list of some of your favorite developers knowing that depending on where you live, relocation may be inevitable. Most developers and publishers have websites that list careers they're hiring for so check them out and see where you might fit. Since you're graduating in February it might be too late to try for an internship but it never hurts to investigate the option further. Hope this helps.

I sure hope it's Prada!

AT

Our mailbag is actually Coach, or at least that's what the guy selling it out of the trunk of his car told me.

Is the fact that Sony published FFVII the reason we're seeing the spin-off game only on Sony systems?

-Seth

Technically Before Crisis (The first game in the spin-off compilation) was released on cell phones and thus not Sony systems but everything else has been stamped with the Sony name. While Sony did publish FFVII in America and Europe, Square published the game in Japan and Eidos handled publishing duties on the PC version. What this means is that Sony had no say in which consoles future spin-offs appeared on as there was no exclusivity agreement that I could find record of. The reason Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core were released on PS2 and PSP respectively had more to do with audience than anything else. At the time of DoC's release the PS2 was hottest console on the market. Logically Square would release the game on the platform with the highest install base (remember that it was released first in Japan who never embraced the Xbox). As for Crisis Core, it simply could not have been done on the DS with the same level of presentation.

That being said, we've since seen Final Fantasy XII get spun off onto the Nintendo handheld with Revenant Wings and Final Fantasy XI and XIII both seeing releases on Xbox 360. Throw in the DS remakes of FF III and IV and you'll see that the house that Final Fantasy made is willing to release games on any and all platforms.

Hi!

I'm wondering if you, or anyone else in the GayGamer wrecking crew has ever gotten into an argument with your boyfriend over a game?
Arguments like what game to play, or what game to purchase, or even who's turn it is to play?

Thanks for a great site,
Teh_Wülf

Mario Kart Double Dash was banned during the course of one relationship because someone got a little too competitive... I don't feel the need to say who was guilty of that one. Dawdle is another member of the staff who got into a game related tiff.

"Oh ho ho, yes! Although it wasn't one game in particular, it was games in general. My last and longest relationship broke up as a result of games and GayGamer specifically. Apparently, he REALLY didn't like games..." ~Fruit Brute

Is it really necessary to continue the Sims series with another full-blown sequel?

The last one was released with "next-gen" graphics that certainly made the visuals come alive, but all Will Wright can talk about is seamless neighborhoods and a streamlined Needs system. The graphics aren't even that much better, and the next Sims look only slightly less cartoony, as if they could be in any other game, unlike the obviously unique default skins of the Sims 2 people.

All I see is a fixed version of the Sims 2 with gamers having to sit on their asses for another quarter just to get an expansion that covered the same territory years before. "Unleashed," anyone?

G10tto

By EA standards we should be on The Sims 10 now with an updated 2008 IKEA furniture collection. I do agree with you that the Sims franchise seems to be on this weird cycle where they take a leap forward, but then spend the next few years collecting the different parts it dropped during the leap. To be fair, The Sims 3 is coming out almost 5 years after number 2, which has yet to venture into the wild expansions of the original (Making Magic). I'm a bit in the middle on The Sims 3, on the one hand it now gives players amore powerful dollhouse to play in, but we are still saddled with Sims that aren't potty trained.

Keep an open mind until release, but don't go thinking EA will be reinventing the wheel on the franchise. Those expansion packs are quite the little moneymakers and until gamers stop shelling out the cash for them, they're going to keep making them. Is it too much to hope for free downloadable game updates that add new content to the game? I certainly think we've earned it.

What is the one thing you think is missing from games today?

Daniel

This is 100% my own opinion but I think games today are missing some crucial aspects of storytelling. Now I know that not all games are meant to convey a tight narrative, but when I spent even a few hours with a game I want my motivation to be more than "kill the alien scum." Games like Mass Effect touted these complex storytelling tools but resulted in a rather cliché tale. Do I expect to see Dickens or Tolstoy-level storytelling? Maybe not, but I urge developers to read some Hemingway. You can tell some unforgettable stories without turning your game into a novel. BioShock is a perfect example. Its storyline was told as much by recordings of the past as the present experience. We need more games to follow this example. Double points to me for working Hemingway into an answer. My English Literature Degree has not gone to waste!

My question(s), Any news on when Sony will have the Video Download Service for Canadians? Second, Any more official news on Home release?

Thanks!
d_void999 aka Weeence

I scoured the internet to find any tidbit of information on the PSN Video Store in Canada and came up empty handed. Blame it on stricter distribution laws or a fumble on Sony's end but Canadians are going to have to wait a bit longer. Hopefully by the end of the year...hopefully. On the bright side you guys can watch Wolverine and the X-Men which won't broadcast in the states until next year. That's something, right?

As for the Home release Sony is tight lipped. What I predict happening is the Beta will continue to expand to more and more people (as was announced) and by the end of the year we'll all be downloading an open Beta of the service. I won't wager my autographed photo of Kristen Bell on this but crazier things have happened.

What has been your favorite gameplay functionality or strategy in old school games, modern games, and future games to come?

-Edward

My favorite thing about old school games was same screen co-op gameplay. If you haven't played Joe and Mac on the SNES then you've missed out on one of the best experiences you can have with a buddy beside you. I wish more games released today encouraged social cooperative gaming. What I love most about modern games are the depth. I'm not just talking about the time it takes to complete them, but rather the feeling you get that afterwards you've actually spent time in another world. As for future games, I'm going to refer you to an earlier answer and say that new ways to experience stories is what I'm most looking forward to seeing.

Hello Doc,

I was just curious.... is the "gaygamer mail bag" name for this feature intended to be a double entente or am I just a horny bastard?

Also, do the staff of the castle have regular staff meetings or do things just pretty much free flow... can you give us a glimpse of a day in the life of a GG writer?

Thanks!
Essex

1. You are a filthy horny human being and the malebag was never meant as any sort of entdendre...I mean mailman... mailbag. Moving on!

2. I signed a contract that states if I ever shared what goes on in the castle I would be forced to watch reruns of So NoTorious, the failed Tori Spelling show, until my eyes melted. I will let you in on a few secrets. We are a very casual environment where the writers tend to gravitate towards stories that interest them and hopefully you all. We're all in constant touch over email and instant messenger if we need to bounce ideas off each other. I'd go into greater detail but then you'd know just glamorous my life really is.

That brings to a close this week's Mailbag. Send your questions for next week to me and I'll be back Monday with another installment. Now I have to do this at least once:

You know you love me,
XOXO
Gossip Girl