J Station X: Atari releases Pridefest, a mobile game that allows people to make their very own LGBTQ Pride events, restoring colour and Fun to a desolate city.
J Station X: In a new interview, Atari discusses the importance of making games for the LGBTQ community and its plans for mobile game Pridefest.
Why you have to focus on a certain group? Just make good games, that's all that matter.
I'm more than sure, that Metal Gear Solid, Half-Life, Diablo, Resident Evil and a whole bunch of other good games were enjoyed by all spectrum of games, no matter your skin color, sexual preferences or religious beliefs.
There just weren't enough same sex interactions for me in Diablo. I bought it with the expectation of getting some boy on boy action.
People conflate political correctness mind-washing with advertising. The various groups that exist all have money to spend and anyone serious is gonna make money on them all. There are people who, while being disgusted by bigotry, will placate to them too for their money. Fox News pioneered a business off of that. If you don't want to see boy on boy action stay home and stay away from the internet lol. Either way, I think that that there are better ways for Atari to go after that market that are a lot more interesting and classy. I do believe that real advertisers know how to balance their personal views with their ultimate goals, which is to maximize money. Its not for everyone though.
Why can't you just accept that it's their time and money and they can make whatever game they want? What happened to freedom of speech and freedom of expression? Isn't that what the right has been holding their rallies about? I guess it's not about wanting freedom of speech it's about wanting freedom of discrimination.
Are you being deliberately stupid, sigrid?
Please point out in staticall's comment where he called for censorship?
It's alarming how many agrees you got with your arrogant, ignorant statement.
Wouldn't he be expressing himself? He didn't say they "couldn't" do whatever they wanted he suggested they "shouldn't".
Who's threatening violence and shutting down speeches again? Saying that people CANT speak if it goes against what they believe?
That's the difference. It's one thing to have a differing opinion and voice opposition. It's another thing to say that someone else CANT express thier opinion or aren't allowed to speak because of that opinion.
Although after writing this I realize you probably don't care about what liberty and freedom really means.
I never understand this type of comment, because it doesn't actually address the point raised. If someone says something is bad, to try and rebut them by saying that someone has a "right to do it" is a bizarre thing to say, because it does not conflict with the original point.
For example, if I say "Coca Cola is bad for you", and you say "people have a right to drink Coca Cola", we see how ridiculous this becomes, because I never said that Coca Cola should be banned, but that people perhaps ought to voluntary choose not to drink it. If you choose to engage with my argument, you would have to say that Coca Cola is a healthy drink.
Now, I'm really struggling to see where the argument you rebutted expressed a desire to ban LGBT video games. So the only conclusions to be drawn are that you either misunderstood what was said, or chose to try and deceive for the sake of argument.
"Just make good games"
Well, what if it is a good game? I don't see why having a gay character means it can't be good.
Hey, if this will be a good game, i will definitely try it out!
But when developer firstly says that their game is for certain group, for me it's a big red flag, because that means they're have nothing to say about gameplay, plot, graphics and so on, which is much more important aspects of the game, IMO.
What is it to you what games they make? I imagine you didn't read the article right? If you did you would know that it's about Atari refreshing support for an already existing game, "Pridefest". They said that's a priority right now as far as LGBTQ games are concerned.
It's not like all the games in production are suddenly going to be LGBTQ focused so calm down.
you know what? How about just making a game with a gay lead without making an announcement about it?
he/she kicks ass, can do anything and everything a heterosexual or bisexual character can do and loves to be with the same gender romantically.
Like if Nathan Drake didn't have Helena as a love interest but a dude but it'd be the same story line, then would it have the same appeal? Heck I'd play it either way. But in our hetero normative society, other gamers wouldn't play it either way? They'd say dude is gay and they wouldn't touch it, even though it is naughty dog and a sure fire game of the year (hypothetically).
So my question is, to the general population does a gay lead appeals the same way a hetero lead does? And why can't we have gay characters that appeal to those who seek variety in their gaming experience?
Literally every game has target demographics. Typically, it's 18-35 year old men, because (for what I'm sure is a large variety of factors) they're the ones who buy the most.
Them announcing their game is targeting LGBT people is no different than say, Obsidian or BioWare announcing they're targeting Baldurs Gate fans (which has actually happened with Dragon Age Orgins, billed as a spiritual sequel to Baldurs gate, and Pillars of Eternity, billed as a revival of the long dormant CRPG.)
The only difference, is that certian people make anything involving LGBT people "a political statement" or "putting pandering over gameplay" or whatever, while ignoring or being unaware that the vast majority of the AAA gaming industry has been specifically pandering to their tastes for 15+ years now. I'm sure all the muslims and arabs all over the world were *thrilled* to play as a bunch of white americans who slaughter them by the thousands in CoD. Oh wait. The game was targeting Young/middle aged white men who were afraid of muslims in the post 9/11 US and western Europe. I'm not saying CoD is racist or shoulnd't exsist, I'm saying it's target audience is quite clear and while other people *can* enjoy it, just like straight people *can* enjoy Dream Daddy, that doesn't change what the target demographic was or how the informed the game.
These things aren't mutually exclusive. You can have a target audience of or including LGBT people and also be focused on making a good game. I don't expect Atari to manage that, because they're Atari, but that doesn't negate the point. Examples? Well the previously mentioned Dream Daddy. Whatever you think of ME:A, and DA:2/Inquisition, the widly acclaimed Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, as well as Dragon Age Origins made a point of including LGBT people. GTA: The Ballad of Gay Tony. Fallout New Vegas.
Yeah, that so annoying as example hollywood is forcing and suddenly its full ofLGBT characters.
Typo
The representation of LGBTs in the media is way off from what you see in real life. And many times having a gay charachter just seems out of place. It rarely adds anything to a story line instead it often times is just obvious that the character is gay for the sake of it.
We don't have to pretend that queer is normal. So many times an LGBT character will just be used a shock/wow factor.
That's because a lot of idiots are still bigoted toward the LGBT community.
4% of Americans identify as LGBT. So, if 1 in 25 characters you see in games or movies/TV is gay, then the demographics would be correct. I'd wager that the number of LGBT characters is less than that, so the gripe isn't that there are too many.
It's that there are any at all.
Though there are times when being gay adds something. Titus Andromedan(The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) wouldn't be as great a character if he wasn't so flamboyant.
beepbeep thinks that the only games that can have LGBT characters are gay games. lol
Wow. It's like an entire segment of the population was edited out of since the dawn of popular media.
Atari is just trying to become relevant in a gaming scene once again by stirring a controversy topic.
The Christian right's main objection to LGBT rights is centered on acronym size, Marxism, and feminism? That would be news to them. lol
How is it controversial? Them saying what their intended target demographic is would be the same if Activision declared CoD is being made to cater to the teenage boys who love mountain dew and junk food. Everyone knows it is they just haven't said it. Now would that be controversial?
Only ones making it controversial are people who have an issue regarding people who are a part of the LGBT community.
Someone above said it affects gameplay somehow. That's actually the dumbest bullshit I've ever heard.
Atari partners with LGBT Media to better promote 'Pridefest'.
LOL! That was easy. Its actually not related to Atari Box but I understand how some people have been programmed to shut down when they hear something like this.
Yeah WE are the ones who are programmed. HAHA. This is all totally 'normal' right? Shouldn't you be out pulling down monuments or some other such nonsense? Don't want your safe space getting too cramped.
Ugh.
More political nonsense.
Atari just went off the radar completely for me.
Unless they specifically meet my equality needs and do something to promote heterosexuality too, i think I'll avoid them.
F you Atari. You just lost me.
I am not supporting companies that make political stands. I will grab some popcorn and see how well this sells for you. I love how companies now want to release products aligned to less than 2% of the buying audience. Guess what....it has CONSEQUENCES. The other 98% are getting sick of this CRAP.
J Station X: Atari releases new mobile game Pridefest, allowing players to create their own LGBTQ Pride. But some question whether Pridefest exploits the LGBTQ community
Its incredible how Atari just wanted to publish a nice little game that shows gays in a positive light and suddenly its abusive.
Queer I think.
How does it deviate from homosexuality? IDK? A Person acts like a gay but is straight?
I have no idea.
@TWB
I just had a look and I think it means Questioning. Seriously, are they going to keep adding more and more terms?
Some have said jokingly that next they are adding "P" for pedofile. Thats based on the few articles that have been subtly hinting that pedos are also being oppressed...
It's like trying to decipher text message short hand. They'll run out of letters eventually, but I guess numbers are infinite. Maybe emotes or something. Possibly Sanskrit.
I don't find such games interesting, but I'm all for supporting the LGB community. So, hopefully this will do well.
If Atari can find a niche, good on them. It's certainly not non-casual gamers, because they're pretty much done making full games, what with Alone in the Dark's awful sequel and that failed Asteroids tower-defense project.