Should gay gamers boycott Shadow Complex?

Should gay gamers boycott Shadow Complex? That was the question posed by one NeoGAFfer yesterday. What prompted the query? Well, the Xbox Live Arcade title is based on Orson Scott Card's sci-fi novel, Empire, and Card, according to the NeoGAFfer in question, "is a notorious homophobe."

Twenty-four hours and hundreds of comments later, NeoGAFfers are still discussing the subject--as are visitors to GayGamer.net and Gamasutra.com, both of which have posted op-ed pieces devoted to the controversy.

"When Shadow Complex was announced, I personally was torn," shares Gamasutra's Christian Nutt. "I'd already long since made the conscious decision to not support Orson Scott Card directly with my money." On the other hand, he also "would like nothing more than to play a new game developed in the vein of some of my personal favorites--Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Super Metroid."

GayGamer.net's Dawdle was similarly torn by the situation, though he did offer up a solution. "I think if you're obviously too disgusted to enjoy the game, avoid it and speak out," he writes. "However, if you want to play the game, play it... but offset the hate: If you buy Shadow Complex, donate $5, $10, $15--if you can spare it--to a gay charity."

In addition, "in message boards or user reviews, in blogs or tweets, if it comes up, let people know exactly what Card has said on the matter and where--and damn him with his own language."

Steve Demeter: The man behind the Americanization of Mother 3's Magypsies

I recently interviewed Steve Demeter, creator of the successful iPhone game, Trism, for an article that can be found on The Advocate's website. After grilling him (not really) about that title for nearly an hour, I geeked out and asked about his involvement with the fan translation of Nintendo's cult classic GameBoy Advance game, Mother 3.

Apparently, Tomato (aka Clyde Mandelin, the man responsible for getting the project off the ground) approached Demeter early on in the process and asked him to play a key role in the game's translation.

"He knew I had been involved with [the unofficial release of] Earthbound Zero back in the day and said he'd love it if I could put my stamp on this game as well," Demeter remembers.

Unfortunately, the timing wasn't right and Demeter couldn't assist with the translation. He also couldn't help edit the translated script, the second option offered by Mandelin.

Despite the fact that he was knee-deep in the development of Trism, however, Demeter couldn't turn down Mandelin's third option: translating the text related to Mother 3's fabulously flamboyant Magypsies.

Mandelin's only demand, according to Demeter: "He wanted me to sass it up. And that's just what I did. I basically thought of some of the queens I've met in the Castro as I worked on each character. I could hear their voices in my head. I took hold of those personas and put them into the game."

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."