Lesbian Gamers

Morgan Gray & Racial Stereotyping in Games

There’s an interesting interview over at MTV Multiplayer with Morgan Gray, a Senior Producer at Crystal Dynamics. What makes this interview so interesting to me as a lesbian gamer are the obvious similarities between how Gray feels about racial stereotyping and diversity in games;  when contrasted to the lesbian dilemma-they’re very analogous. Gray is “half-black and half-Caucasian” and a seasoned gamer sick of what he’s seeing in games.

We kind of covered one of Gray’s points in an article awhile ago titled Alternate Realities – The Queer Question. Gray brings into question the Gears of War character of Cole Train by stating “Cole Train is basically like every other effin’ black character in a video game. Like here comes the urban stereotype. Where is this 1990’s — not even 2000 — black slang, where does this fit in this futuristic world that doesn’t even take place on Earth?”

Rock Band pricing and cute drum pads

If you live in the USA you've had Rock Band since November 2007. If you live in Canada you got it a month or so later. If you live in Europe you'll finally be getting Rock Band at the end of May 2008, but man will you be paying for it.

Americans pay on average around $170 USD for the full game and instruments. When the game launches in Europe next month it's going to cost gamers around $355 USD for the same thing. Australia is also expected to be stiffed by pricing, assuming the title releases in the region at all (since rumors are now suggesting it may not).

All that depressing Rock Band news aside, we thought we'd bring you the cute Mushroom themed drum pads by creative types Jennifer and Vance. You can check the full pics HERE.

Gay Girls Who Game - Epi Thirteen

Gay Girls Who Game bust out the microphones and companion cubes in this action packed episode. We say 'action packed' because 1. It makes it sound more exciting and 2. It features real life sports!

Episode Thirteen of the vlog (thanks to AfterEllen.com and LesbianGamers.com) also features the usual viewer feedback, SEGA Bass Fishing on the Wii, more Singstar than Celine Dion could handle, Dana Scully and loads of other gaming talk!

Without further ado you can catch Episode Thirteen of Gay Girls Who Game HERE.

Gears of War 2 - Character Info

More Gears of War 2 info has arrived and as far as female characters go, it's not sounding too good ladies. Firstly there's Anya, you may recall she played the disembodied voice in the first Gears of War. She's back in the second and will apparently "play more of a role in the sequel" yippee... "getting her face in the action as an image on a video screen. Image? Oh well that sucks.

Other female characters mentioned in the article-that appeared in Game Informer magazine-include Maria Santiago, wife of Marcus Fenix's partner Dom. He'll be rescuing her in Gears of War 2, because let's face it that old chestnut NEVER gets old. Also it shows at least one of the characters has a wife, thus suggesting heterosexuality. The only other name mentioned is Dizzy, a "stranded soldier / truck driver" whose gender isn't mentioned, but let's assume it's a guy *sigh*. Dizzy was the name of a cool chick in Starship Troopers though, so you never know.

Thief 4 in the works?

Thief Deadly Shadows and the previous Thief games by Ion Storm Inc / Looking Glass Studios (published by Eidos) were hugely popular and thought by some gamers to define a new stealth genre. Good news for Thief fans is that Eidos Montreal may be working on a new Thief title (Thief 4).

The studio is said to be working on two AAA titles that revive successful franchises. One we know is Deus Ex, the other apparently begins with a T, hardly a difficult clue set. We really hope it's Thief as it was awesome (only let the new one have a playable female character that can woo the ladies) - Fingers crossed. Now if only Eidos and developer Kronos would get cracking on Fear Effect 3.

Xbox Wii60 - Wii controller for Xbox 360?

Rumor that Microsoft were working on a Wii styled controller is old news, but what is new is a schematic for the controller that's appeared at the MTV website. According to the piece the schematic comes via a developer who was briefed on the new motion sensing controller.

If true it seems MS owned Rare has been given the task of working on and designing the new controller. It is also said Rare are working on Mii like avatars that will be "more detailed than what Nintendo has allowed" and "aren't tied to a controller when in use, as Xbox Live profiles currently are." All sounds interesting and hardly surprising given Sony too jumped on the motion sensing wagon. If the controller is real (and one would assume it to be a good business move), we may have more concrete detail on it by years end.