I will give the following caveat: Corvus is a friend of mine, and I have been watching him develop this project for quite some time. What project? This Kickstarter funded project to publish a tabletop game.
"But Vorpal!" you might exclaim, "what does this have to do with these games of video or gay gaming, or--"
Here I would interrupt you. I have spoken with Corvus about this project at length over the years. What he is offering is an open platform: one that operates less on numbers and spreadsheets and tons of rulebooks, and one that puts the focus on telling stories. What type of stories?
I've seen quite the range. From story rules involving Cthulhu, to siblings attending a funeral, and as I have discussed with him, the stories we may wish to tell, whether they focus on being LGBT or not. The name itself, Bhaloidam, which is derived from roots that mean "story", "play", and "community," depends on people getting together and telling stories they want to tell and have a game to play while doing so.
Since I also know Corvus personally, I know he is a vocal supporter of this community, and I wish to invite any who might be interested in supporting him in turn. As of writing this, the project is $5,986 away from funding, and has five days left. Kickstarter campaigns often see surges in the last few days, so here's to wishing Corvus the best of luck!
If you do have questions, please feel free to contact Corvus himself, as he tends to be a pretty chatty, open fellow.
P.S. If you have a project of your own you wish to discuss with us, please feel free to email me and we'll start talking.
Of the two larger MMOs that have had same-sex news to present of late, I have been rather enamored with what Guild Wars 2 is creating with the sylvari species. From basic design to cultural implications, it's all pretty interesting stuff. However, the gender and sexuality nerd in me was pretty excited when they started discussing their lore and it included mentions that they were pretty neutral in how they viewed both gender and same-sex pairings.
In fact, two of the primary sylvari to whom we've been introduced so far are a female same-sex couple, though they're a bit star-cross'd and all that.
I was rather fortunate that I was able to contact ArenaNet, specifically community manager Regina Buenaobra, and request an interview with Ree Soesbee, a writer and lore & continuity designer for the world of Tyria. What follows in this email interview are largely questions regarding the place of the sylvari in their world, and the instances surrounding sexuality, including some insight into how sexuality and gender presentation functions in some of the other species, as well as more exploration of the sylvari themselves.
Naturally, many are skeptical, myself included, on a series that has built itself on choice and creating our version of Shepard suddenly deciding to implement a multiplayer mode in the final installment of this particular trilogy. For those worried, it appears BioWare Montreal has been working on the multiplayer, leaving the main Mass Effect team to work on the solo content. The forum's details offer a bit more of a view as to how this will all be happening, however. First, the multiplayer will be focused on cooperative play only, and limited to four people at that. As to whom you can play?
Commander Shepard's part in the war will take place in the single-player campaign, as will that of other beloved characters in the franchise such as Garrus, Ashley, and Liara...these characters do not appear in the multiplayer missions. In multiplayer, players will create custom characters to fight on different and unique fronts in the war. This will include the ability to play as favorites like Turians, Krogans, Asari and more... each with their own unique set of abilities.
Since there is the Galaxy at War angle, this does rather make sense. Of particular interest in the beginning of that post is this bit: "Success in multi-player will have a direct impact on the outcome of the single player campaign, giving players an alternative method of achieving ultimate victory against the greatest threat mankind - and the entire galaxy - has ever faced."
Which, at first glance, makes me want to object to this point made later in the same post: "Mass Effect 3 is a complete, standalone game that will deliver a satisfying story experience, even if you choose not to try multiplayer. The Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War system and all of the individual components are meant to complement that amazing game and can be enjoyed on their own or as part of the Galaxy at War experience."
It will likely be a matter of semantics for some, but I am rather curious as to how this will all play out in terms of what those extra options might be, and if I truly experience the range of Shepard's options. Personally, I don't relish jumping into multiplayer my first playthrough, nor do I want to miss out on other ways of completing the game. As I don't have a full view, and the information on that front is rather incomplete at the moment, I will reserve judgment. It has the potential to be interesting, sure. Whether it will? I suppose we'll have to wait and see.
Yesterday I made passing comment on certain EULAs adding a bit so that gamers have no pursuit to class action lawsuits against the company whose services they use. Today, via Wonderland Blog, I came across this interesting site to opt out of these clauses; the idea seems to have originated on Reddit.
Appropriately named Gamers Opt Out, the thing is that in order to opt out of the particularly nagging issues surrounding the new PSN services or EA's new digital distribution software Origin, you must use this device called snail mail (perhaps they are in cohoots to shore up business for the US's flagging mail service?), which the site offers to make an easier process to find everything needed. In a world where signing Terms of Services or End User License Agreements is as simple as checking a box and signing something very few people read closely, this method does seem a bit bizarre and strange, though I am no legal scholar and cannot dive into the labyrinths that particular bit of bureaucracy navigates.
Gamersoptout.com is a site that lets users easily opt-out of absurd license agreement clauses that require a physically mailed letter. These companies all know that most users either a) don't know that they can opt-out, or b) will never mail the letter, so they can afford the few letters they receive and process.
At Gamersoptout.com our plan is to make it easy for everyone to opt-out of clauses like these. At our site, you submit the required information to opt-out to us, and we mail your letter (along with others) to these companies for you.
The site is donation-driven, created by gamers who donated their own money to start it. However, we can't afford to send all these letters ourselves. The site won't be around for long unless the users help out. Please donate and support this great cause with what you can -- every little bit helps!
These forms do not require a signature, apparently, which was checked with lawyers. The information they require? Account name, name, and address. It also only seems open to US accounts.
However, I somewhat pause at providing such details. While I would like to believe LGBT persons can easily submit their address without repurcussions, that isn't the world in which I have been raised, and given the PSN hacks, and various other leaks of information this past year, it is worrying to have this in someone else's hands, regardless of whether you are in the LGBT community or not. However, it is an option for those not concerned with such--I cannot speak to your own feeling of safety.
Of course, part of this is awareness raising (sometimes dubious, but in this case, where awareness is not high concerning something few read, perhaps more useful). There are ways to opt out, and if you wish to take it in your hands, please do so.
The other end is questioning how legal these clauses are, with reports that various countries may not consider them legally binding. So, while you go about deciding what the best course of action is for yourself, I may well go spelunking into English legalese (and the apparent bevy of legal scholars and lawyers I know--is everyone in law school?) to find out exactly what all is happening here, what might not shake, and what may be in our future.
Sony's had a rocky year. First the hacking. Then the TOS agreements which sign away the right to lawsuits. Therefore, seeing them doing something sort of right (and it does have its problems, I'll mention those as well) is a fresh and wonderful thing, which makes me not give the stinkeye as constantly (it's difficult to stinkeye something when you're in the midst of playing a game in which you're absorbed) to the various products of theirs with which I am surrounded.
The news, via IndustryGamers, is that October will have a promotion called 'Only On PSN,' a drive to push games that do exactly what the title says, with titles coming every week in October. First, from the Pub Fund, a program they use to entice developers to create for the PSN, we have the following coming:
October 4: Eufloria and Rochard October 11: Sideway: New York October 13: Sodium Collection October 18: Okabu and RocketBirds October 25: inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood and PixelJunk Sidescroller
All well and good and fine and dandy (even if the copy of Eufloria on my PC wonders if the PSN one is different enough to deserve the only).
To further entice, however, Sony has announced that some rare PS2 exclusives are also on their way to PSN. Considering the juggernaut that the PS2 was in its generation (it has my largest library of games for a console, and I doubt I'm the only one in that camp), this is somewhat welcome news. The key word here is rare: games that are difficult to find, as they didn't seem to have too many copies floating around. Those titles, which will be available starting October 4 apparently? God Hand, GrimGrimoire, Maximo: Ghosts to Glory, Odin Sphere, and Ring of Red.
This is the news that's both great and somewhat worrying. On the one hand, it gives many new gamers the ability to go back and play these titles. As someone who never tried God Hand, I do imagine I'll be picking up that title. However, my copy of Odin Sphere makes me wonder about the other side of the coin: is this emulation of PS2 titles? There has been no indication that these titles have been enhanced for PSN as yet, so if it is straight emulation, my PS2 discs that cannot be played on my PS3 will be quite put out if I so happen to buy digital copies I can then play on it.
In fact, that latter bit raises many questions. What will the price point be? Will it be a graduated step from the PS1 Classics, so possibly $15.99 and $19.99?Gamasutra has reported they'll be $9.99 each. Considering the ability to play PS1 Classics on PSP, will these have the ability to be played on the soon-to-be-released Vita (after all, if updated versions of Persona 4 and FFX can be played on it...)? Lots of questions as to what this might mean for PSN in the future.
Now, for those of you who happen to be PSN Plus members, you'll also receive a 20% discount during this promotion's launch week. There is one further promotion that if you spend at least $60 on the PSN (in general), you'll receive a $10 credit toward anything you buy from it in November.
I am a man from the Congo yelling at workers who are not working to my satisfaction, a gun resting in my hands, the intent clear.
or
I am the safety net who saves workers from suicides, so that they may go back into the factory that spawned many of the suicidal thoughts with which to begin.
or
I am the employee, satisfying the zombified demand for my product as the horde continues to advance, the phones I chuck at them being the brains they crave.
or
I sort and divide the thrown away materials, though many cannot truly be discarded.
or
I am really only the first, the consumer, but give life to all the other scenarios.
This is the basic premise behind Molleindustria's Phone Story: an App that was available in Apple's store yesterday, but was pulled for apparently violating the following:
15.2 Apps that depict violence or abuse of children will be rejected
16.1 Apps that present excessively objectionable or crude content will be rejected
21.1 Apps that include the ability to make donations to recognized charitable organizations must be free
21.2 The collection of donations must be done via a web site in Safari or an SMS
Via an interview with Gamasutra, Paolo Pedercini of Molleindustria states that the intent was to be within the guidelines of the App Store. Indeed, going to Molleindustria's Phone Story page, and clicking on the banner that states it was banned looks at possible ways to make the game comply to these standards. However, as Pedercini notes with Alexander at Gamasutra, the nebulous "excessively objectionable or crude content" bit makes it a bit difficult to ascertain if that can come to pass, even if speaking with Apple netted a response that the App could be made available again. Theoretically? Yes, it could. Will it?
After all, the game is a mix of documentary and game, which heavily criticizes the technolust Apple, and really any smart phone creators, has instilled.
What about the game, though? I actually had a chance to purchase and download it, and have uploaded a video (please excuse the sideways view and poor quality, had to make do with my somewhat aged digital camera) and have a few more thoughts.
Auntie Pixelante has (please note, NSFW due to depictions of pixelated penis, and trigger warnings for trans bigotry)released a new game ! This one was rather quickly thrown together (from what I gather, she took four hours over the weekend to make it).
In rather parodic fashion, the game is about 'spot the tranny,' with the violent rhetoric and intent that can often be behind that 'game.' All these white women in white dresses with their white hats are dancing around on the grass during a festival made just for them, and you must spot the 'Trans gression!'
If you just go in and decide you must find them immediately, you will just click. And fail. Fail in such a fashion that you have doooooooomed all of the festival.
If you succeed? Yay! You have effectively taught that trans woman a proper lesson. How dare she think she's a woman, after all?
The game isn't very difficult once you practice patience. Wait and you will see the tell-tale flash of a pixelated penis flashing you, allowing you to spot the trans gressor. However, the first five or six games I played, I figured it for a guessing game. I doomed that festival over and over.
Either way, works, really. There is some obsession over how one can disprove that a trans woman is indeed a woman, and supposedly her penis will light the way to enlightenment against her. What if she has had an operation, however? This shows how this particular festival sees a penis when it is no longer even existent.
Of course, this also goes about highlighting how defining a trans woman by the presence or lack of a penis is really just odd when she is completely the same as the women who are surrounding her, to the point where you have to play a game to distinguish her. Suddenly we are seeking to violate her sense of space in order to prove we are right. It becomes the 'spot the tranny' game for no other reason than to seek to make sure she isn't 'one of us' (metaphorically speaking; as a male who does not identify as a woman, I cannot attend this festival, nor have I interest in such).
If you are not familiar with the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (note: complaining about their use of womyn is beside the point, so save yourself the trouble of typing it), you should know it is a festival for womyn-born-womyn. It seeks to be a space for womyn to congegrate and share their work with each other exclusively. However, it also explicitly seeks to bar trans women from entry. Trans women have been dealing with this for years in various fashions, including creating their own Camp Trans, to invite womyn of all varieties, as well as some attending the festival in defiance. There is a very storied history there, and there are resources online to read about it, if you are interested.
However, recently someone published a list of trans women who attended the festival. Outing them on a WordPress site and offering very personal details about them. Pretty not okay, regardless of what one may think of MWMF's trans-exclusion. Given the level of violence trans people face in every day life, I'd call it downright abhorrent, actually. Hence the game to basically make us complicit in hate crimes.
I hope its parody of the event rings through, and Auntie Pixelante does highlight a few more details in her own blog post introducing the game.
First, I will admit to being one of those. The people who finally read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series post-HBO series. My Twitter feed was full of nothing but talk of it, I recalled being interested by the talk of the RTS game that was being made, and finally caved. Having now caught up on the books and on the show that was made, looking at the game as it stands now seems a wholly different prospect than when I previously looked at it.
The developer, Cyanide, doesn't have horribly much on which we can base our expectations (which may well be for the best?). The events of this particular game are also to take place before the book A Game of Thrones, which means the usual houses will be present, but not necessarily in the form to which we've become accustomed. For those book worms who devour the series, the following houses are represented:
Targaryen
Stark
Tully
Arryn
Tyrell
Baratheon
Martell
Lannister
Perhaps what I am interested in is how this plays as an RTS. In my mind, the various events of the books, and how Martin tells them, are a game of chess, which each move provoking other moves. Instead, this will theoretically put you in the shoes of one of the heads of the houses, but controlling the various people and armies, of whom we seem to get the barest of senses in the books themselves (beyond being there for slaughter and theoretically being fought for or dismissed). As even the finest wrought plans can be disrupted if you stall too long, it may well be that this style of play will be for the best.
Further plans for those eight houses beyond just campaigns? Eight-player multiplayer will apparently be available, though the campaigns will likely be the focus of highlighting details of historical events Martin has only mentioned in passing through the books. Given the possibility of failure, it's intriguing to imagine alternate histories for the books that have released.
As to more about gameplay? Not much more as yet, though I cannot see this being an RTS particularly suited to being able to click as fast as possible, though I could always be mistaken. However, this little bit that has been teased seems to support that this will be a somewhat different RTS game: "It is also very possible, by cleverly using all the low blows the game allows you to use, to earn victory without ever entering an open war or recruiting any army. A real first in a real-time strategy game!"
The goal is to win the Iron Throne, but whether you decide to do that through diplomacy, an army, economic strength, or underhanded methods will be up to you. Considering how even some major players in the series continue on without a large military might behind them, this does seem to make sense in that regard.
Perhaps one last intriguing detail? Apparently Game of Thrones: Genesis will be releasing this month, on the 29th. So, given that you have a few more weeks, I suppose the question I would have is what elements are essential to players and fans in such a game?
A short while ago, a trailer and site appeared for Slavery: The Game. As one can imagine, there was some confusion and horror based around the trailer and the premise it offered:
What I find intriguing is Latoya Peterson's take on the matter over at Racialicious, however. Namely, that the trailer that is shown above is problematic in that it is one-sided. As a counterpoint, Peterson mentions Age of Empires: The Conquerers, where you could take on the role of both conqueror and conquered, thereby learning a bit about the needs and progression of either side.
The issue is not a game about slavery, essentially. Games very often seem limited in what territories they can explore, with every war game that tries to discuss current events causing an uproar while we praise and give accolades to films and memoirs that do much the same. The difficulty is the perception of games, and the above trailer for a fake game, seems to bring forth painful realizations of how others may well perceive games.
Yet, looking at many games, do they really offer many better alternatives? While they may not go into detail about our history of slavery, how many strategy games allow you to assimilate other cultures, bring down revolts with increased military presence, and commit genocide in order to remove an opponent from the playing field? I think the key in this instance is that it isn't personalized, and often it happens to these blobs of civilization for whom we have no real connection.
While it is no longer contemporary, I still recall playing Colonization, and in retrospect, the fact that I could not ever play the Native Americans seems a shame as well as largely disappointing at a missed opportunity. After all, Colonization is already playing with history, in that you can decide someone other than the English take control of the area of land we now know as the USA. How much more interesting would it have been to have the Native Americans in that mix? Perhaps this is why I loved Alpha Centauri so much. While you couldn't play the native lifeforms present on the planet, you could work with them. You could herald their cause, or completely subvert it.
Among the great things about games are their ability to allow each one of us to see something different because of how we play. While we may always pick up something different in films or literature or a painting on the wall because of what we perceive and our own experiences, games add the element of what we have actually done.
In the case of an actual Slavery: The Game? This passage from Peterson's piece linked above asks some pertinent questions:
Great civilization games not only explore history as it happened, but also the way it could have been. If Slavery: The Game was realized as it exists in the clip, it would be an epic fail. But if someone felt like working with the nuances and complications of the practice, it could also turn into something amazing. Many African American history museums have a permanent installation on slavery as part of the story of blacks in America. Most recently, when I visited the Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, I checked out their "And Still We Rise" exhibit. We started in an exhibit dedicated to the African continent, then walked through a recreation of a slave ship designed to explain the rigors (and horrors) of The Middle Passage. I couldn't help wondering how we could create a game from this experience, something that is interactive on a different scale. What stories would we follow? Where do we start? What are the motivations of European slave traders and African slave traders? What types of betrayals occurred? How do we program to show the difficulty of surviving the middle passage? How does a person other someone else so completely as to sell them? How does one stoke the fires of an uprising? Could we play as a policy maker debating the merits of abolition? Of entry and escape? Is the main character Harriet Tubman or John Brown or Fredrick Douglass Game or Nat Turner?
These sorts of concepts are ones I would like to see some games explore (I realize games are often about making money at the top levels, so not every one could explore these issues). There are many types of concepts that could be explored here. Starting from the Stonewall Riots and affecting political change for the LGBT community? The difference between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.'s ways of achieving parity and deciding to choose one or the other for a different campaign (note: not one in which the other is your direct opposition). The various disputes and issues surrounding any number of other continents or countries?
It's certainly an intriguing concept about which to think.
The stories range to quite a few different topics, from dealing with loss, to helping deal with anxiety, diseases, and various other things we come across in life. Not surprisingly, that list includes one trans woman's story of finding herself in female protagonists. Morgan McCormick tells the story of that initial click with Perfect Dark, proceeding to Eternal Darkness, and how games that featured male protagonists still allowed her to look at some of the strong women that surrounded them (such as the Metal Gear Solid series). The full story looks into more games, and how Morgan has seemingly found herself in a more comfortable position in her life with her gaming girlfriend.
Then there's James Abrazado, who details using an MMO to make that initial step into coming out. It's a story with which I can personally sympathize. His story centers around City of Villains, and making a friend in a virtual space to whom he could come out, and who accepted him, encouraged him, and helped him during that period of his life. As coming out stories go, it's certainly a lesson in how we can make use of digital spaces, where we don't have to be our real names, and can test out our identities.
There's also Shawn King, who used games early on to just escape from life. Any form of media can offer escapism, and videogames are no stranger to such fact. However, he found later in life that the fact that he could have same-sex romances in games life Fable meant that he could explore that facet of himself and learn to accept it. Whenever people argue against having this content in games, this seems like the perfect example for why it should: any medium in which you can be represented, is a medium that can help you accept yourself in safety. It is no replacement for eventually interacting with other people, but as King displays in his piece, it can provide you that stepping stone on to other shores.
These stories also make a case for how a safe space in a game or game community can help people deal with any number of important life changes.
Do you have your own story? How Games Saved My Life's submission guidelines are right here.
Via Andriasang, we have word from Famitsu scans about some future Atlus plans.
First is that similar to P3P there will be a remake of Persona 4 for a handheld, though for the Vita this time. Renamed Persona: Golden, we can expect a new character named Mary, some online capabilities (being able to ask friends for help if you're about to perish in dungeons), as well as other bits and bobs here and there. This particular game caught the eye of some gay gamers due to the exploration of Kanji presented.
We don't have a firm release date for the Vita on PAL or US shores, so the fact that this is set to release in Spring 2012 may well make it a 'launch window' type title that may well entice some fans.
Further, there appears to be a title coming to us called The Ultimate In Mayonaka Arena: a fighting game for home consoles featuring characters from Personas 3 & 4. The devs behind this particular game? Arc System Works, of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue fame. Apparently this will take a few months after the events of Persona 4 and feature a story of some manner, but not too many more details.
Also, Persona 5? In the works, but beyond that, Andriasang had little else more to say beyond the staff involved.
A large part of my PC gaming youth was spent both enjoying Master of Magic while simultaneously cursing its bugs. I have never quite played a mage- and turn-based strategy game that quite captured its feel, though I keep hoping. Therefore, the above trailer for Warlock: Master of the Arcane gives me a teensy, tiny sliver of hope.
Many will be quick to tout out the initial failure of Elemental, though they will quickly also state that Paradox generally fails to disappoint.
As for the game itself? This is the current feature set advertised:
Research and master dozens of spells, conjure strong enchantments and find out powerful spell combinations
Use the forces of three races, along with summons and wild creatures
Innovating city management system with less routine actions
Epic battles with large armies marching across the landscape
It is set to take place in Ardania, meaning it shares its world with the Majesty series. Currently, it's set for a Q2 release in 2012.
I suppose this makes me question what it was about Master of Magic that so entranced me, and what I would expect from this title. A strong selection of magic branches would certainly be among them. Good selection of avatars. The ability to have heroes and artifacts, with some RPG elements there.
It also went beyond just the Civilization series by bringing up a separate tactical battle screen for units. While Heroes of Might and Magic would do the same (and I do love that series), it felt entirely differently focused.
• hello kitty wall stickers on Judge Dredd Vs. Zombies: The Trailer: Things i have always told people is that while looking for a good on the net electronics shop, there are...
Are you gay and working in the games industry? If you are interested in networking with other folks like you within the industry, try joining the Gay Game-Industry Professionals mailing list.
Click here for all the details!
