Feedback -- BioShock 2 Edition, With A Little Mass Effect 2

UltimaRatioRegum

In regard to the whole games dealing with more controversial, hot button issues like abortion and gay marriage.....I don't really see it happening in any big releases. The reason why is pretty simple, money. Much like the film industry, I don't see any major publishers dumping millions of dollars into a game that features content that could potentially turn off a lot of their key demographic.

For instance, in the first Mass Effect you could develop relationships with your crew members that could result in essentially a lesbian sex scene. Now before all you sci-fi nerds have a conniption fit, yes, I know she's technically an alien. Whatever. Anyways, what's interesting about this is that while I appreciate Bioware allowing players this kind of freedom, it seemed a little strange that they didn't go all the way and allow you to foster a gay relationship. Maybe it's something in Kaiden's eyes, but I couldn't help but feel that maybe at one point they were actually mulling this over.

Now the reasons for this kind of omission, if Bioware was even mulling this over in the first place, is pretty obvious. Anybody who's ever played any online multiplayer knows that the general gamer community is usually less than friendly to the gay community. The gamer community is, after all, full of super-manly-jock types after all. Super-manly-jock types are totally down with some Girl's Gone Wild in Space action. Super-manly-jock types, however, not so amused by two dudes getting it on in zero gravity. In Bioware's mind, that's a few million in revenue that they just lost because they wanted to be fair.

If we're going to see this kind of polarizing content in games, I can only see it coming up in smaller, indie games, not the next Halo killer. Again this mirrors the film industry, where you won't see that kind of stuff in big summer tent pole films, but you will see racist robots.