Home Gaming in Color comes out of the closet

Gaming in Color comes out of the closet

2 min read
73

Gaming in color

Gamers come in all shapes, sizes and orientations. If people didn’t already know that, they’ve obviously been living in a cave or closet somewhere. A community of gay gamers have made a movie and it’s finally ready for your eyes.

Started as a Kickstarter project, Gaming in Color explores the LGBTQ presence in the game industry. It aims to give a voice and message to people who have experienced discrimination or abuse in gaming culture, and looks at the challenges to, as well as growth within, the queer communities in gaming. Here is the movie’s trailer:

Speaking to Polygon, the film’s director, Philip Jones, explained:

A lot of the film’s message is aimed at people who don’t understand the need for queer characters or the fight against bigotry, so we’d also hope to have a lot of straight people seeking to learn in our audience,” Jones told Polygon. “The queer gaming community has always existed, and it’s only been getting stronger as the years go by. This film has been a long time coming. The eloquence of our cast members and the demand from our fans really shows that this film needs to be made, this is a story that deserves to be told.

The film is now available, and you can go over here to buy it. What’s nice is that you can pay $1 or more for the video – pick your price and give the movie some support.

I do understand that the LGBTQ community needs support. They are under represented in all games that aren’t made by EA. But then, women also need support, and so do minorities, and so do international characters. Even Bioware’s gay friendly Shephard was only able to save the galaxy because of his/her overwhelming American machismo charisma. I’m keen to see games in general be more expansive and inclusive with their characters – regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, it would just be nice to see a greater variety. That said, games are moving in that direction already. Still, if you want to support the cause, go throw money at the movie.

Last Updated: April 24, 2014

73 Comments

  1. Kromas

    April 24, 2014 at 14:36

    As Jimmy Carr once said. “There are much more deserving charities that I don’t give money too first”

    Reply

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    April 24, 2014 at 14:41

    I don’t understand, we’ve had elves in games for years.

    Reply

    • Wincethis

      April 24, 2014 at 14:43

      lol

      Reply

    • Wincethis

      April 24, 2014 at 14:44

      PS. OVG’s comment for the week!

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        April 24, 2014 at 14:49

        say what?

        Reply

        • Wincethis

          April 24, 2014 at 14:51

          His comment, for this week, shall be, comment of, the week… Maybe. Aren’t you but 0.5 behind him now? 🙂

          Reply

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 14:52

            What’s going on? 🙁

          • Wincethis

            April 24, 2014 at 14:56

            It’s all a lie. It basically comes down to how many kittens you feed to Geoff., True story.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 15:00

            I didn’t know he was a vagitarian.

          • Wincethis

            April 24, 2014 at 15:07

            BWAHAHAHA

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            April 24, 2014 at 15:08

            GG

  3. Wincethis

    April 24, 2014 at 14:45

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      April 24, 2014 at 14:54

      What about Batwoman? Or am I being sexist?

      Reply

      • Wincethis

        April 24, 2014 at 14:57

        Eish, you went there…

        Reply

      • Jedi JJ

        April 24, 2014 at 15:12

        Batgirl*
        Batwoman sounds old.

        Reply

        • Wincethis

          April 24, 2014 at 15:14

          Ageist?!

          Reply

          • Jedi JJ

            April 24, 2014 at 15:17

            We can do a completely non-gender, ageless version like Immortal Batperson.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 15:20

            What do you have against the dead? Necrophobe.

          • Jedi JJ

            April 24, 2014 at 15:22

            There is just no pleasing you people.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 15:25

            What do you mean “you people”?

          • Jedi JJ

            April 24, 2014 at 15:26

            If I said: “There is just no pleasing you” then it would’ve alerted the “that’s what she said” police.

          • Wincethis

            April 24, 2014 at 15:29

            HAHAHAHA 😉 Oh YOU

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            April 24, 2014 at 15:31

            That’s what she said

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 15:41

            She also wasn’t pleased when I said, “try harder”.

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            April 24, 2014 at 15:42

            BOOM!

          • Wincethis

            April 24, 2014 at 15:21

            Ahh, you are… Favouritist to bats!

          • Jedi JJ

            April 24, 2014 at 15:22

            Immortal Generic-Animal Person. ?

          • Her Highness the Hipster

            April 24, 2014 at 15:23

            stop being such an ableist

          • Jedi JJ

            April 24, 2014 at 15:25

            Damn!
            What about just an initial?
            Or maybe I should just stop trying.

          • Wincethis

            April 24, 2014 at 15:25

            LOL

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          April 24, 2014 at 15:16

          Reply

        • Her Highness the Hipster

          April 24, 2014 at 15:17

          we’re not girls, we’re women! #feminism
          also, any one can be batman – regardless of gender 🙂

          Reply

          • Wincethis

            April 24, 2014 at 15:20

            I’m… Oh can’t be bothered *throws cape over shoulder and heads to pub…

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 15:53

            Is that a cape or a technicolour dream coat?

          • Jedi JJ

            April 24, 2014 at 15:21

            But there was a batgirl. I don’t recall a batwoman ever.
            Thought it’s true, anyone can be Batman.
            Except Impossible Man who, as far as I know, was genderless in the beginning.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 15:24

            There is a Batwoman, who has her own comic. 😀

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batwoman

          • Jedi JJ

            April 24, 2014 at 15:26

            Oh. Didn’t know that. How do I not know that?

            And, for reference, here is Impossible Man’s info. So I think he’s the safest bet in this discussion… http://www.comicvine.com/impossible-man/4005-7590/

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 15:30

            He sounds like the Marvel version of Plastic Man :/

          • Jedi JJ

            April 24, 2014 at 15:35

            BUT! With the Impossible Man’s species no one had names, because technically they were all the same person. Damn commie bastards.;)

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            April 24, 2014 at 15:24

            I dare say the Batsuit would be far more comfortable around the pants area for girls… I mean women…. But the body armour may become a bit of a problem.

          • Mark Treloar

            April 24, 2014 at 15:28

            So if you dressed your cat as Batman that would make you….Alfred?

      • Mark Treloar

        April 24, 2014 at 15:26

        The correct PC response would be Batperson.

        Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      April 24, 2014 at 14:57

      Indeed

      Reply

  4. Umar's Sin

    April 24, 2014 at 14:51

    They show a clip of Titanfall and state that more and more games are being made to cater to a hetrosexual male audience, but I don’t get it, to me, video games just seems to cater towards people in general. In most cases, it’s not trying to be biased really. We have games ranging from Pokemon to Heavy Rain. Does having gay characters/gay relationships help to diversify video games and cater towards gay people? So if Titanfall or CoD had gay characters then would it still be geared towards hetrosexual males? I might be a bit ignorant, but what exactly does a game need to do in order to cater towards gays? I mean, to me, I don’t care if there are no Muslim characters in the game or even if I’m playing a game where the cast is fully female.

    I’m not trying to offend anyone, just, how do you cater really to all these demographics

    Reply

    • Rags

      April 24, 2014 at 15:03

      They only care about 1 thing. Money. These folk know the ‘social justice’ crowd with their pigeon sized brains will throw money at them.

      Reply

    • Matewis Jubilai

      April 24, 2014 at 15:04

      It makes my head hurt honestly…

      Is LGBT discrimination in a
      game due to the persistent negative portrayel of such characters? (I’m also not
      quite sure how that would manifest)
      or is the lack of LGBT possibilities for game characters?
      In the first instance, I am against discrimination, but in the 2nd instance I’m sorry : I don’t give a hoot…

      Reply

      • Umar's Sin

        April 24, 2014 at 15:08

        Yeah exactly, like what is the issue here? They keep stating that the gay community is growing within the industry and that more devs should make games catering towards them, but like…Why? The natural evolution of media will create diversity, videogames generally appeals to everyone. How does CoD appeal only to Hetrosexuals? I don’t understand really what they want.

        Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      April 24, 2014 at 15:07

      That’s what I’ve been asking myself as well.

      I think the whole thing boils down to the fact that gays etc; feel like they are in the minority and being “picked” on in a sense by the industry in general. Specifically from the players.

      Just look at what happens to anyone who openly admits they are gay online and watch the hate flow.

      I understand that they just want to be seen as any other gamer and I’m cool with them raising awareness of this.

      But as you said, I am confused about how games are geared towards any 1 demographic. As far as I see games are geared towards gamers. Doesn’t matter what orientation or race you are.

      You run around and shoot things or solve puzzles or whatever. That’s something anyone and everyone can do and enjoy.

      I honestly don’t feel a game needs to have any specifically aimed ideas or notions to try and include anyone.

      If it fits with the game then by all means go for it. If it doesn’t then it shouldn’t be there. Not because the industry is trying to cut out anyone but simply because it doesn’t suit the specific game they are making.

      In fact, just to throw this in there but as an example this whole thing of chosing relationships in game make next to no sense to me. It really does nothing for me and I don’t feel it helps the game (Like Skyrim for example).

      But in Mass Effect it makes complete sense because it can affect actual story line down the road. This story line then needs to make sense. So if it makes sense to allow a same-sex relationship to put in a story twist somewhere great. If not then don’t spoil the story by trying to force a brick in place that won’t fit.

      Am I making sense here?

      Reply

      • Umar's Sin

        April 24, 2014 at 15:13

        No exactly, look at Dragon age where your child that you conceived saved your life at the end, same-sex relationship wouldn’t have worked, but if there was a scenario where it would work then fine, include it, and I feel that developers would add it if it makes sense also. Video games are video games, it’s all fantasy, I too do not like the idea of a game catering towards any one demographic. We never cared about this when we had 8-bit graphics. A game should just be enjoyed by anyone. Now if there was discrimination going on then cool , I can see their point, but calling out games like Titanfall makes me just think…”What the hell are you trying to achieve here”….

        Reply

        • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

          April 24, 2014 at 15:21

          Exactly!

          If a game was created that straight out insulted any one demographic I’d be the first to call foul whether it was aimed at gay, lesbians or whoever. It wouldn’t be right. Not in the least. No matter who they are people are people and should never be made to be “lower” because of their beliefs or preferences.

          But if the game isn’t doing that (such as Titanfall for example) then you are just blowing a lot of hot air.

          The game is a shooter game where the idea is to get a titan on to the field and then proceed to blow sh*t up. Where exactly is there space now to cater for gays, lesbians, social clics, religious beliefs, political views, food choice, platform preference, language, ethnic group, personal whatever belief or preference of each and every gamer on the planet?

          Reply

          • Umar's Sin

            April 24, 2014 at 15:46

            Exactly man, so Titanfall is just a game about blowing sh*t up. I’m a bit tired of people trying to attach all these labels to gaming. Video games have no preconceived notions attached to them. Why do you have to label yourself as a gay gamer, or female gamer…what difference does it make. You play WoW, I play WoW, everyone plays WoW and everyone is a gamer

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            April 24, 2014 at 15:50

            Sies. I don’t play WoW. How dare you insinuate that I, as a non WoWer, am not a gamer!

            *Starts up movement of people who don’t play WoW who feel insulted by the industry for not catering for us in WoW*

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 15:51

            You totally overlooked the fact that he called WoW players, “gamers”. I nearly died laughing at that one. *innocent whistle*

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            April 24, 2014 at 15:56

            hahahahahahahaha

          • Umar's Sin

            April 24, 2014 at 15:57

            Yeah well go play…go play…well!…SCREW YOU MAN!

          • Umar's Sin

            April 24, 2014 at 15:52

            Damn you, Just you wait for my documentary!!

          • Her Highness the Hipster

            April 24, 2014 at 19:17

            i agree – not a fan of labels. also, perhaps the LGBTQ is just as prejudiced – we don’t know the sexual orientation of any of those Titanfall pilots. Why can’t they be gay men and women shooting enemies? They might just be – there’s nothing to denote sexual orientation – it simply isn’t a part of gameplay.

          • Umar's Sin

            April 24, 2014 at 20:28

            Yeah exactly that man…What does gay characters have to do with the gameplay in any case…They are the same as us. If a straight guy and gay guy are fighting in a war in a game, I would like to think both men would probably fight the same way..What would be different in terms of gameplay?When you’re playing a game, you don’t stop to think, I wonder if Marcus Fenix likes man ass…Can’t we just play games and enjoy them for whatever they are…when did things get so complicated Zoe??? I feel tired lol

    • Her Highness the Hipster

      April 24, 2014 at 15:28

      In all honesty, I think Bioware does it really well. It’s not even a question if you can or can’t have a relationship with a man, woman or alien. anything goes if it makes even vague sense. and you can play as any gender, and modify your character to be all shapes and sizes.

      Reply

      • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

        April 24, 2014 at 15:30

        and that’s cool because it works for the game. But can one really expect every game to be like this?

        Reply

        • Jedi JJ

          April 24, 2014 at 15:31

          Duke (or Duchess) Nukem would have a very odd new dynamic to it.

          Reply

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 15:32

            lol. Have you seen a new animated show called Chozen?

          • Jedi JJ

            April 24, 2014 at 15:43

            Nope.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 15:50

            It has a very odd new dynamic. And that’s all I’m saying.

          • Jedi JJ

            April 24, 2014 at 16:02

            Will check it out. Only started Archer the weekend. I blame my friends for not telling me about it earlier.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            April 24, 2014 at 16:09

            O_O Then they’re not your friends!

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            April 24, 2014 at 15:34

            Lol

      • Umar's Sin

        April 24, 2014 at 15:43

        True, they do it well, and it’s cool you have the option..but still, what exactly about Titanfall and the like caters towards Hetrosexuals and what do they want for it and other games to cater towards gay people. Why does there need to be a push for games to cater towards any demographic. I’m against discrimination for sure, but gaming is about the enjoyment of the game, and sure gay characters will help you connect more I guess if you’re of that orientation but still, I mean, we have a game like Tokyo Jungle where you play as animals…geared towards no one, enjoyed by everyone

        Reply

  5. Rags

    April 24, 2014 at 14:58

    Aww, the professional victims these days. Getting real tired of your shit!

    Reply

  6. HvR

    April 24, 2014 at 15:39

    Agghh!!! THIS IS SO STUPID!!!

    On what level are LGBQT gamer discriminated against??????

    I need one example.

    They are complaining under representation besides the fact that the MAJORITY of games are sexuality neutral because it doesn’t matter. The main characters in CoD and BF can be gay or straight or bisexual IT DOESN’T MATTER FOR THE CONTEXT OF THE GAME!!!!

    Let a bunch of us start an organisation because the majority of Afrikaans and South African characters are terrorist or merciless mercs.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      April 24, 2014 at 15:39

      They’re not? My copy of Far Cry 2 disagrees.

      Reply

  7. Pieter Smal

    April 24, 2014 at 19:55

    I am bisexual… or asexual… whatever. I have a boyfriend. BUT I still do not understand the goal of this video… what?

    Reply

    • Umar's Sin

      April 24, 2014 at 20:32

      Lol….at least I don’t feel like I’m being prejudice here lol….most people here don’t understand either.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Wait… Did Henry Cavill just tease a Mass Effect project?!

The Witcher actor is teasing something on Instagram that is seemingly related to Bioware's…