The Advocate: Apple's Gay Poster Boy

The Advocate published another of my articles on its website today, this one about Steve Demeter, the guy behind the hugely popular iPhone game, Trism.

I had a great time talking with Demeter for this article, with the following being my favorite part of the conversation:

“I’m totally out in my private life, but I’m not sure about being out professionally. I’m not worried about a backlash or anything like that, I’m just not sure that my being gay has anything to do with my business and the kinds of games we’re creating. It’s not like we’re making ‘gay’ games.

“I’m proud of the fact that I’m gay and that some of the guys who work with me are gay, but at the end of the day all that matters is that we put stuff out there that’s high-quality and that makes people happy.”

Read the article in its entirety here.

Another Tingle teaser

Another ad teasing Tingle's return to the Nintendo DS appears in this week's issue of Famitsu, according to various sources (including IGN.com). This teaser provides even less information than the one that appeared in last week's issue of the popular Japanese gaming mag.

That ad featured a tiny image of Tingle being carried by a balloon and text that read "fairy?" This week's ad features a larger image of the character along with text that reads "ah!"

Expect more information on the as-yet-unnamed title tomorrow, as a note on Nintendo's teaser site (click on the television in the lower-left-hand corner of the screen) suggests that's when a trailer of some sort will be released.

Microsoft still hemming and hawing over gay gamertags on Xbox Live

Are the folks at Microsoft going to allow a game with "gay" in its title to appear on the Xbox 360 before they allow players to use the same word in their Xbox Live gamertags? It sure seems like it.

Earlier this year, Stephen Toulouse, the company's program manager for policy and enforcement on Xbox Live, told The Advocate, “We have heard clearly that customers want the ability to self-identify [and] it's our job to provide this in a way that cannot be misused.”

During the recent E3 Expo, however, one of Toulouse's colleagues, Corporate Vice President of Xbox Live Software and Services John Schappert, told Kotaku's Stephen Totilo, "We continue to look for ways for people to personally express themselves and you can look for more features coming to Xbox Live, but [we have] nothing to announce right now."

When asked if Microsoft would have the issue ironed out by the time Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony is released this fall, Schappert replied, "I can say that we are working on [the] issue."

USC students creating a "gay video game"

John Christensen, a doctoral student in the University of Southern California's Department of Psychology, recently e-mailed me to let me know he and a few of his colleagues are creating an online video game aimed at the LGBT community.

According to Christensen, the game, which is expected to be released next year and will be free to play, allows players to "go on a series of 'virtual' dates and hook-ups with different characters. Your character will even be able to have virtual sex on these dates.

"It's kind of like a 'choose your own adventure' game," he adds, "that is designed to be very sexy while also addressing some of the social and health issues facing gay and bi men, including tips on how to find the perfect guy and how to avoid STDs."

Christensen and his crew are looking for a bit of help while they fine tune their product. Anyone willing to fill out an anonymous survey on the project's website (www.virtualsexproject.com) will be entered into a drawing for $200. Additional volunteers will be asked to test and provide feedback on the game when it's released next year.

"Princess Peach likes cake" - and other musings from the made who made Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto

Wired's Chris Kohler recently spent some time chatting up the man who created Mario, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto. The entire interview is worth a read, but if you don't have the time or interest, here's my favorite quote:

"With New Super Mario Bros. Wii ... we’ve had some battles over the story elements. They always want to have these dramatic scenes where Princess Peach gets kidnapped, but I always tell them, no, it’s fine — Princess Peach likes cake, so you can just have them use cake as bait to kidnap Princess Peach, and that’s enough. I was thinking they could have these big ships come in, and they’ve got these big chains all over them, and they drop a plate down with cake on it (laughs)."