Another gayming blog for your reading pleasure

It's no secret that I'm primarily a handheld/console gamer (see "The game that got me to buy a ..."). I've been intrigued by PC gaming (especially MMOs) for quite some time, but I've just never gotten into it.

In fact, my most recent foray into the world of PC gaming happened back when Second Life was still the hottest thing around. I had a blast creating a cute, muscle-y avatar that only somewhat resembled my real-life self (isn't that how it always is?), but I didn't have a blast when I entered the game's expansive world. Some jerk kept pestering me (which was very lifelike, I have to admit) and, well, I signed off about five minutes after I started. I haven't been back since.

PC gaming is pretty much all that's talked about on the Gamer Girl News site, though, so all of you MMO lovers might want to pop over there from time to time. I won't mind, really--especially if you bring some of her readers back here. :)

(The Ballad of) Gay Tony is such a tease

I don't know about you, but the first question that came to my mind when Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony was announced earlier this year was, "How gay is it going to be?"

I thought developer Rockstar North might answer that question this morning when it released the first trailer for the much-anticipated add-on but, alas, I was wrong.

The game certainly looks good--assuming Grand Theft Auto is your thing, of course--but I was hoping we'd get at least a tiny glimpse at the gay side of Liberty City.

Considering Rockstar promised in a press release that accompanied the trailer that the Xbox 360 title will contain "guns, glitz and glamor," I'm hopeful the final product also will contain a bit of "teh gay" when it hits real and virtual store shelves on Oct. 29.

The game that got me to buy a ...

Someone over on NeoGAF recently started a thread devoted to "system sellers," i.e., must-have games that push people to buy a particular system.

I have yet to add my two cents to that discussion, but I thought it might be fun to do so here.

So, without further ado, here are the systems I've owned over the years and the games that forced me (yes, forced me) to buy them.

Consoles:

NES: Kid Icarus (and Metroid)
SNES: Super Mario World (and Final Fantasy II/IV)
Genesis: Shining Force
TurboGrafx-16: Bonk's Adventure (HuCard) and Ys: Book I & II (CD-ROM)
SuperGrafx: Daimakaimura (Ghouls 'N Ghosts)
Nintendo 64: Super Mario 64
PlayStation: Final Fantasy Tactics
Saturn: Panzer Dragoon
Dreamcast: Jet Grind Radio
GameCube: Animal Crossing
PlayStation 2: Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
Wii: Wii Sports

Handhelds:

GameBoy: Super Mario Land
GameBoy Advance: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
DS: Final Fantasy III

Sadly, I don't yet have a PSP, a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360, but here are the games that make me want to get all three of them as soon possible:

PSP: LocoRoco
PlayStation 3: Little Big Planet (and Valkyria Chronicles)
Xbox 360: Pac-Man Championship Edition

So readers, which games got *you* to buy the systems you've owned over the years? I'm all ears! :)

Is this one of the best LGBT blogs in the world?

I seriously doubt it, but who am I to argue with the fine folks at the Manchester, England-based Lesbian & Gay Foundation? :)

Here's a bit of background, in case I've already lost you: In late June, the Lesbian & Gay Foundation posted to its site a list of "The 100 Best LGBT Blogs." Somehow, my little 'ol (hardly ever updated) blog made the cut.

I originally thought the folks at the Lesbian & Gay Foundation just Googled "gay blog" and based their list on the first 100 search results, but then I read the commentary (written by Grahame Robertson - not sure who he is, sadly) that accompanied the mention of my blog:

“Not only did I have to struggle with coming out as a gay man, I’m also a closet gamer too! Luckily, there’s a burgeoning gay gaming community out there, and this excellent blog - written by a gay gamer in Washington – is a great mix of tongue-in-cheek humour, real enthusiasm for the subject, and politics (check out his coverage of Microsoft’s recent run-in with the gay gaming community). Would love to see it updated a bit more frequently though.”

Thanks to the Lesbian & Gay Foundation and especially to Grahame, I plan on posting to this blog much more frequently from now on :)

BTW, you're probably wondering why I'm only posting this news now. Well, to be honest, I didn't know I had made the the Lesbian & Gay Foundation's list until this morning, when someone posted a congratulatory comment to this site!

The Advocate: Are Video Games Getting Gayer?

Well, it seems 50% (or more) of my posts these days promote articles I've written for The Advocate. Sorry about that. The good news is that I plan to post much more frequently from now on - which should mean that self-aggrandizing additions such as these should be fewer and farther between.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand: the article I wrote for The Advocate. The headline - "Are Video Games Getting Gayer?" - says it all, I think. My answer to that question apes the answer given by the folks I interviewed for the article: Sure, but they still have a long way to go.

For example, Brenda Brathwaite, a veteran game designer and the author of Sex in Video Games, told me that while video games have grown up a lot in the last few years, “we still haven’t seen the kind of normalization [of LGBT characters and story lines] that we’ve seen in movies and on TV for some time. We still haven’t had our Brokeback Mountain moment.”

Don't expect that to happen until more members of the LGBT community involve themselves in game design and development, she adds. In the meantime, “a bunch of straight guys will be trying to make games for the gay community, just like they used to try to make games for women.”

Here's a link to the full article - http://www2.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid107493.asp - in case anyone's interested.