Calling all LGBT gamers

Mathieu Dehlinger, a journalism student at Paris' SciencesPo, recently approached me and asked if I would be willing to answer a few questions for an article he's writing about LGBT gamers. (The resulting article will appear on Ludique Ta Mère, a game-focused blog started by some of the school's students.)

Anyway, Dehlinger wrote me earlier today and asked if I knew any "average" LGBT gamers who might also be willing to respond to his questions. My first thought, of course, was to see if any of you (yes, you) would be up for it.

Dehlinger's questions are pretty straightforward. What do you think about the term gaymer? Why are sites like gaymer.org and gaygamer.net needed in this day and age? How do you feel about games with gay characters and storylines? Why are games still behind the curve when it comes to representing the LGBT community? That sort of thing.

If you consider yourself to be a member of the LGBT community and you'd like to be included in this article, send me an e-mail (bochalla at yahoo dot com) with "calling all LGBT gamers" in the subject line and I'll forward it to Dehlinger so he can contact you.

Note: The design above was created by Andrew Kovacs (aka hige91 on deviantart.com).

The Great Gaymathon Review #20: Space Channel 5 (Dreamcast)

Game: Space Channel 5

Genre: Rhythm

Developer: United Game Artists

Publisher: Sega

System: Dreamcast

Release date: 2000

There are, in my famously (or not) humble opinion, a few must-play games for the dead-before-its-time Dreamcast. Among them: ChuChu Rocket!, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Rez, Shenmue and Skies of Aracadia. Oh, and this Tetsuya Mizuguchi-designed title. Yes, naysayers, at its heart Space Channel 5 is the video game equivalent of Milton Bradley's "Simon" toy, but the body that surrounds that blood-pumping vessel is what elevates this game to "must own" (or at least "must try") status. For starters, there's the game's graphics, which have a groovy, Jetsons-esque vibe to them. Then there's the extremely hummable soundtrack--composed by Naofumi Hataya, Kenichi Tokoi and Ken Woodman--which has a similar throwback feel to it. Oh, and let's not forget the story that ties it all ogether. It's completely silly--an alien race invades the planet (Earth, I think) and forces people to dance; "funky space reporter" Ulala, a Lady Miss Kier look-alike, comes to their rescue by defeating said aliens (and a few rival journalists) through dance-offs--of course, but what else would you expect from a game with a cover like the one above? There are just two things that keep Space Channel 5 from achieving perfection: 1) a sense of rhythm is required if you hope to get anywhere in the game, and 2) even if you have a sense of rhythm, the game sometimes fails to recognize it. Even then, the game is easily one of the more enjoyable and unique examples of the genre.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

I thought the graphics were better in the GameGear version

How would Rebecca Black's rather inane (I know, that's putting it mildly) hit single, "Friday," look and sound if it were a GameBoy Color title? Here's how a couple of comedy writers who call themselves Smales and Payne recently answered that question:



The imaginary game depicted in the video above was made using MS Paint, by the way, while the audio was produced by Nick Maynard. (The latter can be downloaded here for a buck.)

Is that a jar of bees in your pocket, Donkey Kong, or are you just happy to see me?

Is Donkey Kong shooting bees out of a honey jar on the cover of the oft-maligned Donkey Kong 3, or is he shooting them out of something a bit more, er, organic?



Blogger Drew Mackie asked a variation of the question above in a recent post (read it here), and after inspecting said piece of cover art I have to agree with him that the answer *could* be the latter.

Hey, I actually beat a gym leader in Pokémon Black on my first try!

For the first time since, oh, the game's second city (or maybe the third), I've beaten one of Pokémon Black's gym leaders--Skyla--on my first try.

Oh, and I finally caught Victini (below), the legendary fire/psychic-type Pokémon. Yesterday was the last day to get the Liberty Pass--which gives you access to Victini's hideout, the Liberty Garden--in the US, so I begged the hubs to help me get my DS (back) on line, grabbed the Liberty Pass, found Victini (in the basement of the Liberty Garden's lighthouse) and challenged him to a battle. I caught him on my third try--after tossing many regular Poké Balls, Great Balls and Ultra Balls his way, of course.

Anyway, I'm currently making my way through the mine shafts of Twist Mountain. After I complete that task, I'll probably re-explore some of the game's earlier locations using the HM 03 ("Surf") I recently received from Champion Alder before continuing on with my quest to ... do whatever I'm supposed to do to complete this game.

Are any of you still playing Pokémon Black or White?