Microsoft's latest PS4 promotion stunt.

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this is really disgusting. I hope it costs them X box one sales.

What is more, The game development companies refusal to not pander to homophobic and transphobic attitudes of conventionally gendered straight, immature boys is indicting of why the industry will never progress into a legitimate media form on par with movies, literature or music.

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/tran ... vent290913

So, because one game development company (Microsoft) chose to hire one comedian who made bigoted comments about one trans-gendered game journalist.... you extrapolate from this that all game development companies are pandering to homophobic and transphobic attitudes ?

And also conclude that this comedian's attitude will be responsible for the gaming industry never progressing into a legitimate media form ; comparable to the film and music industries (both of which create a great deal of output which is obviously quite homophobic or transphobic) , or books (which tend to be less bigoted against gay people and trans-sexuals than either films or music in a general sense) ?

Actually, there IS alot of that crap in that industry. And it's not just that, there's alot of simple sexist crap as well, with women in the industry having MUCH more trouble than men in every area (and having to deal with unpleasant comments and such). This definitely isnt the first story I've heard about this sort of thing.

It's a sad state of affairs, really.

The comedian and the others that posted hateful comments in this story really need to be kicked. By a horse.

Well, in this case, just Microsoft.

What is indicting of Microsoft is not so much there miscalculated choice of person to host their X box One expose but rather their lacklustre response afterwards and failing to issue an outright apology to Ms Dale for the humiliation they caused her.

Whatever though, its all good in the end. My PS4 is going to feel all the nicer when I am finally holding it, knowing i'm not funding a company that is complicit to bigotry.

As for the music, tv, film and literature industries producing bigoted content, a big important factor is context and genre. In movies for example, its difficult to produce a movie critiquing racism without having antagonist characters that espouse racist dialogue. Its very different when you've got comedians onstage being transphobic for the sake of getting cheap laughs at the cost of an individual in front of thousands of teenage boys.

Strawmanning what I said will get you nowhere.


I agree though, that it looks like a pain in the arse to be a female game developer unless you can somehow get hired by one of the companies who have a supportive atmosphere towards women ; both as employees and in the games which they make.

As for the PS4 and Sony.... well....

http://godivagamers.com/home/2013/2/21/ps4-its-not-for-girls

Obviously, a comedian on a stage is by definition not a computer game.

This complaint seems to relate to the comedy industry, rather than the games industry.

For comparison, I'm sure that various producers of films, TV shows and music have been at similar events (album or production launch events, for example) and have either hired comedians who make bigoted comments towards others ; or do this themselves.

I don't see how one stupid comedian's comments are indicative of the company's opinions, rather than a problem with the culture. as a whole. The gaming industry already has problems with being open to women.

Aye, definitely not indicative of the company itself. .....particularly when it's just some guy they paid to do one event.....

People always seem to look at it that way regardless though, because.... er..... because. I'm not going to try to decipher the "logic" used for that one.

I must admit that I make jokes about LGBT people in jest, but I make fun of Aspies, computer geeks, video games, counter-culture, and a bunch of other things that I DO identify with... That being said, this seems to be a sensitive issue to this person, and much as I wouldn't make fun of some ardent hippie's stance on marijuana, likewise...I mean, man, can't you just leave people alone?!

fair point i guess, but its still a far cry from having someone onstage specifically attacking a demographic rather than ignoring one without premeditated malice. Then again, even if women had been onstage another demographic could have found fault with the PS4 announcement. Why weren't there any black people who came on? Why weren't there any [insert group] on stage?

People on the internet lack common decency.

That said, this is still hurtful and cruel, and this kind of thing does harm people emotionally, no matter what we tell ourselves otherwise. I'm almost tempted to go on Twitter and tell her to ignore them.

Ugh. That's unbelievable.

Did this even actually happen, though ?
Reports seem conflicting...

http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/82038206.html

looks like we wont know unless footage of the event surfaces, could be a case of Millward trying to cover his tracks.

He shouldn't have said 'this person' either, why not use female pronouns?

Either way, going from the reactions of the crowd its indicting that the game industry from the fanbase up has a long way to go before its rid of the cancers of transphobia and homophobia.

If you're only going on hearsay so far, then it would be wise to wait until footage of the event can be viewed before forming opinions about what happened.

Why do you keep bringing up homophobia ?
I don't recall either reference source mentioning that the transgender person is homosexual... or indeed anything about their sexual preferences..

Uh, play call of duty on X box live for a while and it won't be long before someone throws a homophobic epithet.

Also largely that homophobia and transphobia tend to walk hand in hand.

Microsoft/Activision's impotence in grabbing the problem bull by the horns is indicting of indifference at the top level of the industry. Its only been since Black Ops 2 that you can flag someone for offensive language.