PlayNerd Centerfold: Dejobaan Games, Spread Wide Open

Welcome to GayGamer's very first PlayNerd Centerfold!

We felt that "game developer superstud" was an underrepresented subsection of the population, and so we decided to host a series of developer interviews to justify smearing adorable ubernerds with body paint. So we made that happen, because that is apparently a thing that we can do. Please enjoy!

In our first PlayNerd Centerfold feature, GayGamer hopes to expose gaming professionals the right way with a long, hard look at indie sin-sation Dejobaan Games president, Ichiro Lambe. His hands have crafted some head-turning titles including an Independent Games Festival finalist called Aaaaa!!! -- A Reckless Disregard For Gravity that really makes gamers scream when they play it. He also crafted the first ever "Who Is An Indie Gamer" pole... er, poll last year.

The PlayNerd Doctor is in; enjoy our extremely thorough first examination below!

Ichiro, your peers told us you were smart AND sexy; we're glad we listened...

Oh hey.

You've encountered a wild gogoedward!

gogoedward, the edward pokemon and your newest gaygamer writer and social media manager. When not investigating his own gayming conspiracy theories, the most notable being Princess Daisy's blatant lesbianism, he spends his time acting, attention-whoring, writing, tweeting, facebooking and otherwise leaving evidence of his existence.

Occasionally he games.

Never one to censor himself, gogoedward revels in finding what offends and excites. He has no remorse for mediocrity, an unexplainable love for the awful, and is aroused by the amazing.

Hey Girls Hey!

I'm dannyTV and I'm one of your new writers here at GayGamer! My New Year's resolution was to write more, so when Drand and Tiny Dancer asked me if I wanted to write for the site I couldn't say yes fast enough. Not that saying yes has ever been a problem for me - but more on that later. I have a bunch of app reviews lined up to share with you all!

So, a little bit about my life as a gay nerd: I've been gay for some time now, like my entire life, and into video games just as long. When I was younger I wouldn't be caught dead without my GameBoy, and at home I was always glued to my SNES, Sega, or whatever system currently had me hooked.

But as soon as I came out of the closet... I kinda went into the nerd closet.

For the longest time I was convinced that gay people were "too cool" for video games. I would treat every trip to GameStop as a clandestine operation. Friends would call me as I was grinding my way through the latest Final Fantasy and I would lie about what I was doing; I acted like Star Wars was no big deal; I didn't even read Harry Potter in public. Somehow, in my mind being gay was more socially acceptable than being a nerd.

Slowly but surely I started creeping my way out of the nerd closet, and then finally one day I just put my foot down and said: "I'm here, I'm a nerd, so get used to it!" It doesn't quite have the same zing as the original statement, but you get the idea.

Thanks to places like GayGamer, I've learned that there are others out there just like me. Gays who fantasize about Chris Pine and Chris Refield, who would have have loved to go to Hogwarts and start up a GSA, who know more about the inner workings of a computer than they do about what looks are big this season, who proudly carry around their pink DS, who name all their Pokemon after Ally McBeal characters...okay, that last one might only apply to me and doesn't have to do with being gay so much as being weird. But if I can help one gay nerd come out of the second closet, I'll be a happy man.

MY contribution to this site will be my retribution for all the nerds I mocked in high school.

New Writer Mega-Post

Greetings GayGamers!

Drand here with some exciting site news. Tiny Dancer put out a Call For Writers last week and we were fortunate enough to get tons of really fantastic submissions. Thank you to everyone who sent in an application. It was very difficult to narrow it down but in the end, we picked 6 amazing new writers for your reading pleasure. They're currently busy moving into the castle but expect to start seeing articles from them this week.

I'll let them introduce themselves:

Purplexir

I still remember being four years old when I got Super Mario Bros. and discovered that inviting scent of its instruction manual. Since that very first sniff, video games have always been a part of my day, and it's awesome that I now get to write about them too. I come from the great city of Boston, home of the Red Sox, marriage equality, and PAX East. I'm a sucker for fighting and RPG games, but I tend to not discriminate over any genre. As long as the game is entertaining and enthralling, I'm all for it. I hope to delight you all with my writing and I look forward to all the GayGamer adventures and mischief that await me!

Hal

Hal (Jamie) is from Toronto, and has been playing video games since his brother got tired of his Atari. He's a console agnostic, but has an undying love of all things Link. Right now he's hooked on Minecrack...errr...craft. Minecraft. He's been a member of the forums under another alias for years, and is excited to be getting involved with the main site.

Super Swede

Hello, fellow gamers! My name is Jesse, one of the new knights enlisted in the service of defending GayGamer.net castle from any bandits, marauders, or other plotters of foul mischief. In addition to these duties, I'll be doing daily articles for the site, coordinating with the other writers, and generally helping to deliver new and exciting content to all denizens of the GayGamer.net kingdom.
A bit about me: I'm a twenty-seven year old aspiring journalist and musician hailing from the barren frost-scape of Minnesota. I've been a fan of the site for quite some time now, and when I heard that there was an open call for writers, I had to jump at the opportunity. My favorite games are usually RPGs, though I've been known to delve into the realm of stealth action and first-person shooters from time to time. My absolute favorite game of the past several years is Shadow of the Colossus - I remember thinking something like "This is the standard by which all things epic will now be judged" - and I have an encyclopedic knowledge of the Silent Hill franchise. I look forward to being a part of the site, and I thank all the guys at GayGamer.net for giving me this opportunity.

Nugget

Hey fellow gamers! I'm a 25 year old social worker lost in amongst the cornfields of central Illinois. I've been gaming for as long as I can remember and my gaming resume tackles both old and new, as well as the common and obscure (I am a diehard Virtual Boy fan, after all). I love just about any genre of video games, especially platformers and class based games such as Team Fortress 2. I'm looking forward to adding my own style to the site through my articles and getting the opportunity to get to know more gamers!

Chunky Dunker

Chunky Dunker is a level 22 elite geek who can often be found napping on various couches and beds in the Gay Gamer castle. It is theorized that he feeds on light given off by computer screens; as it has been reported that the majority of his time is spent glued to one. Public encounters are rare, but Chunky Dunker can usually be calmed with gifts of dried mango and reality television.

Henshin-A-Go-Joe

Hello! "Viewtiful" Joe here, Chicago-based gamer and renaissance man. I spend more hours a day working on and thinking about games than I ever have in my life so far, and that's inspired me to share some of my thoughts and opinions with you, the reader. I'm going to try a few ideas, please let me know what you think! In the meantime it's back to Mass Effect 2 and Star Trek TNG. Live Long and Prosper, baby.

I hope everyone is as excited as I am for some fresh blood and for their articles and content!

Happy Monday!

Happy New Year & A Call For Writers!

Hello GayGamer.net readers, we'd like to wish you the very best in 2011, and we hope that you'll all be ringing in the New Year with class, dignity and grace.

...Just kidding!

But we do hope you'll put down your bathtub gin cocktails and vuvuzelas long enough to consider whether or not you'd like to write for GayGamer.net! Now, we know we've had calls for writers in the past, but we've beefed up our back end (really, we have. Ahem.) and will be finally rolling out the big redesign that was scheduled for our fourth birthday this past July, but which was set back quite a bit by the evil schemes of some hackers with small penises bad attitudes.

So if you think you'd make a good fit with the site, even if you've submitted an application before, please consider answering this, our latest call for intrepid internet writing-type adventurers:

• Firstly, this is a volunteer position - meaning there is no pay. We all do this out of the love of the games and the desire to provide a LGBT-safe space for gaming.
• You must be able to commit to doing at least one article a day.
• We are looking for all kinds of writers: male, female, trans... gay, straight, bi... all are welcome and encouraged to apply.

Should you find yourself yelping "Yes! Yes, please! Yeah, I love doing fun stuff for free! Yay!" then please, dear one, apply:

• Send in one or two samples of your writing here with the subject "GayGamer Writer's Application". The best bet would be to write two original pieces (one news item, one opinion piece) as if you were writing something for the site.
• The subject line of your email should read "GayGamer Writer's Application"

Everyone please have the very best New Year possible, and we'll see you in The Future!

I Went To Gold Saucer And All I Got Was This Post

I have been summoned by Drand from the hellish depths of the Twisted Nether, to bring unto this Castle of Gaming my own thoughts on the culture, craft, and art of gaming. Though I go by many names, you may call me Cocijo.

I have been around the video game scene for as long as I can remember, but what started as a procrastinators passion, has lead to the study of video game culture, video game craft, and video game art. Regardless of console one plays video games on, whether your casual or hard-core, (or... casuacore...?), I hope you all can benefit from what I have to say.

GayGamer Pre-Holiday Review

Ah, the winter holiday season. The time of year when one enjoys friends, family, fellowship...and "phat lewt". We're all gonna be taking the next few days off to relax and spend time with loved ones, so no new posts from us 'til Monday. If that's just too long to wait, you can re-read these articles from the past few days to tide you over, and if you pace yourself it'll be like we were never gone.

• The audible chocolate of Podcast 56 hits the net for your downloading pleasure.
• VorpalBunny gives his thoughts on Steam as a network and a social platform.
• Sega announces a new console...of sorts.
• NaviFairy reviews the aquatic majesty that is The Undergarden.
• Comic nerds, get your affairs in order: DC Universe Online has been given a release date.
• FINALLY, you can play games on your Kindle.
• The triumphs continue with Portal 2's announced release in April. Macs included.
• Chuck and Frank cover wars, together!
• NaviFairy, a reviewing machine, tells you all about his city building experiences in World of Keflings.

What? You're done with all that and still want more? Hit the jump and tell me: what's your stocking stuffer?

Digital Lit Has Joined Your Party

Howdy, gaymers. After having visited the castle a few times this past summer, Fruit Brute extended an offer for me to move in to a lovely little spire that was going dusty from disuse. Since I'm a sucker for a view, the invitation was accepted. After a tour of the grounds, including special stops to see Wootini's legendary Wii Fit board as well as Tiny Dancer and Drand's..."laboratory" *twitch*, I was shown the game room where much of the reviewing and writing takes place. Let me tell ya, there ain't nothin' like kicking back in a beanbag chair stuffed with chocobo down, so I'm just going to hunker down and get to work on writing entertaining and informative articles for y'all to enjoy.

Happy Birthday Fruit Brute!

I'd like to wish my dear friend, Flynn DeMarco, a very happy birthday. I have known Flynn entirely too long but not nearly long enough. So please join me in wishing him many happy returns. Forget Count Chocula, Franken Berry, Yummy Mummy and Boo Berry, let's hear it for FRUIT BRUTE! (By the way, you can download the instructions for this cute papercraft Fruit Brute from MonkeyInADryer.com)

GayGamer.net Turns Four!

Who could have known when Toots and I first conceived of GayGamer.net in the wake of Hurricane Katrina four years ago that it would still be going strong today. Not me certainly! What started out as a way to communicate with friends who had been separated by a natural disaster has grown into a a solid video game blog respected and recognized by people in and out of the game industry.

I am often asked "Why does there need to be a gay gaming site?" I have answered this question more times than I can count, but I think the answer lies within the readers of GayGamer. Everyone comes here for a different reason: some to read game news, some for the forums and still others come for the camaraderie and safety of discussing games with people of a like mind. I have received letters from people all over the world expressing their happiness in finding the site and how glad they are to feel represented within the gaming world. I've even gotten emails from people in parts of the world where being gay is illegal and GayGamer is one of their only windows into gay society. And of course there are the tales from couples who have met via our forums or through comments on the website. These messages hold a special place in my heart and I think all of them express exactly WHY there needs to be a gay gaming site.

Last week we were hit by a hacker who managed to blow away over a years worth of images and podcasts and other media. On top of that, due to a snafu with backups, we lost all of the work we had been putting into our site redesign that was meant to launch today, on our anniversary. At a certain point I really thought it might mean the end of the website altogether. I seriously weighed out whether I thought it was a good thing to keep going or just shutter the whole project. But then I thought back to those emails I mentioned and read the comments on the article about the hacking and realized that I wasn't going to let someone with a lot of hate in their heart get away with shutting us down. If we shut down, the hacker wins and we've worked too long and hard on this project to let it go that easily.

So on this day of anniversary, I look back on what has proceeded, and I am happy. We have done a lot in the last four years, not the least of which has been to raise awareness and visibility of the LGBT community within the hetero male dominated game industry. It's an ongoing battle that is still being fought and I am proud that GayGamer has been on the forefront of the battlefield, raising our flag high.

As I do every year I would like to thank Mikey and Tiny Dancer, two of the people I could not live without on a daily basis. We've been through the ups and downs and still remain a strong team. I would also like to thank all of our writers past and present for all the work and love they have poured into the site over the years. And last but certainly not least, I would like to thank all of our readers, forum members and supporters. We would be nothing without you and it is you that we do this for.

Sincerely,

Flynn "Fruit Brute" De Marco
Editor in Chief

So, You May Have Noticed...

You might have noticed that things are a little strange around here and in the forums. As most of you probably know, we were hacked a few days ago and Mikey has been working hard to get things back in order. We were hit pretty hard and it will probably be a little while before things are completely back to normal.

One for the big things that happened is about a fourteen months worth of images have been destroyed as well as the podcasts from that time period. A years worth of images is a hefty loss and the podcast loss was devastating. Fortunately, through the kindness of our many fans, we've almost gotten all of the recordings back where they belong.

The forums were hit as well and we are doing our best to get them back in order. We appreciate everyones patience while we try and restore as much as we possibly can. We don't really have a time frame as to when everything will be back to normal as Mikey is really having to handle most of this single handedly.

This is the second time we've been hacked and although the first time was clearly a hate inspired hit, this time around we believe it was just random. Someone with nothing better to do that to try and destroy someone else's hard work. It's sad that there are people like that in the world, but they are not going to stop us. They didn't stop us the first time and they sure as hell aren't going to stop us just days before we celebrate our four year anniversary.

Thank you all so much for supporting us through the ups and downs of the last four years. We consider this just another stumbling block along the way. It might be a larger block than we've stumbled over before, but nothing that will keep us from providing a space for gamers of all kinds to visit and feel safe.

Sincerely,

Fruit Brute, Mikey, Tiny Dancer and the Staff at GayGamer.net

Fruit Brute To Appear On The Derek and Romaine Show Today

I am so excited to have been asked to appear as a guest on The Derek and Romaine Show today! For those not familiar, The Derek and Romaine Show is a Sirius XM radio show dedicated to discussing LGBT issues. They are GLAAD award winning and have a huge audience. It seems that I will be in good company as past guests have included such big names as Samuel L. Jackson, Meredith Vieira, Dustin Lance Black, Rosie O'Donnell, Gene Hackman, Martha Stewart, Shaun White, and The Indigo Girls.

I feel quite honored to be included in today's show and if you're interested in listening in, here's the pertinent info:

Wednesday, March 24th at 7:05 pm ET, 4:05 pm PT. The interview will last about 10-15 minutes, and will broadcast live on Sirius XM Satellite Radio channel OutQ, Sirius 109 and XM 98. Listeners and fans are welcome to participate by calling 866-305-6887. For those who don't subscribe to Sirius, a free online trial is available at www.Sirius.com.

I'm not sure of all the details yet, but I will see about possibly getting a version we can post here or at least link to for those who won't get a chance to listen.