Tony Perkins of the evangelical Family Research Council has produced a radio commentary called “Rebel Fleet Surrenders to Gay Empire” in response to BioWare’s MMORPG title Star Wars: The Old Republic, in which same-gender relationships are possible. My favorite two (admittedly out-of- context) double entendres are:
“Star Wars gamers have already gone to the dark side”
“It’s time to show companies who the Force is really with! “
Perkins asserts that BioWare had originally said that “gay” and “lesbian” don’t exist in Star Wars 2009. That comment he refers to came from a moderator on the BioWare forums, and was rescinded in a relatively short time period.
The nice thing about this is that it appeals to tradition. Video games have always incensed people across the political spectrum because of violence, scantily clad characters, racy storylines, language and the like.
But really, can we keep the politics out of games? Who cares if you can have a relationship with a same-sex video game character? If people are that distressed, they can choose to not buy the game- or just not use the feature. I think politics pervades enough of life as it is. I prefer my escapism be just that- escapism.
Leave a comment below to let us know what your opinion is, or discuss this issue in our forums!