Have you jumped off of Xbox Live due to homophobic comments from your fellow gamers? Well I’ve got the answer. Some of the people behind Live are homophobes too. 

Jamie Durrant is a gay video game producer at Microsoft who works with a team of homophobes. I can’t decide what shocks me more. The fact that Mr. Durant endured name calling like “Fag Boy Jim”. Or the sad realization that the people taunting him were grown men who should have known better. 

I’m sure there are lovely and open minded people working at Microsoft. Unfortunately, the company is allowing itself to be seen as a homophobic sausage den. I don’t feel comfortable gaming online for this very reason: I’m sure to encounter sexual harassment. As a woman who would like to work in the gaming industry I’m incredibly disappointed. 

It’s time to carefully revise the community standard’s on Live so that gay gamers are not punished for being harassed. I also see a business need to recognize the diversity of employees and customers in a business as global as gaming. Revising HR standards to embrace the diversity of today’s workforce would be a great first step.

[Via - DailyMail]

Update: I want to thank my readers (Eye-Shuh and Denis) for pointing out that this case is still being investigated. These are alleged claims. But I’m definitely interested in the story. I believe it’s worth discussing and I’ll be following it to see how it develops.

For some, video game testing is a great way to break into the gaming industry. So if you want a career in gaming, I might have the right gig for you! Today I received a note from Kaos Studios’ Mitch Cross.

We’re actually going to be running a focus group very soon!

Check out the flyer I’ve posted in our group and message me with your email if interested and I will get you a questionnaire and more information.

THANKS!

Mitch Gross
Community Manager
THQ|Kaos Studios

It seems like this is closer to a focus group rather than a game testing session but it’s a great oppotunity for game tester newbies. If you want to learn more, join Kaos’s Facebook Group and send a message to Mitch. 

For more information on becoming an awesome video game tester check out Nixie’s post, So You Wanna Be a Video Game Tester?

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Well not exactly.  This might be a first for the video game industry. Using our beloved LoL Cats to sell us stuff. Cat-Advertising. 

[Via - Gawker]

Is this how people should market to girl gamers?

I have a couple of thoughts.

• I don’t know what this game is about (based on the box art)
• The use of real poeple on the cover makes me doubt the quality of the game. 
• My god that picture is the definition of cheesy. 
• Bring on the cheese!

Ngai just posted about this on Twitter. Lara Croft is set to make a return to the movies. The movie will be a key component of the Tomb Raider rebranding effort. I wish them the best of luck. I just hope it makes me less sick of her. Am I experiencing Tomb Raider fatigue? [Stares at Ms. Pixel banner and screams]

[Via - NGai and Hollywood Reporter]

This is part One of the series “The Inevitable Re-Branding of Lara Croft”

I’m a fan of the Tomb Raider (TR) series. I knew in the back of my mind that Underworld was coming out last fall. However, I never saw the usual gaming blogger buzz and tweets of anticipation that lead up to a hot game’s release. I think we’re all kind of done with Tomb Raider. And I’m so incredibly sick of my banner right now. I haven’t found the time to get into photoshop to erase her out of it and come up with my a new logo. [I'll be doing that this weekend]

Here is what every Tomb Raider game entails:

• Predictable puzzles and trails 
• Lara’s gorgeous physique running through a jungle  
• A lame and uninspriring villian 
• Pummeling said villain with a gazillion bullets 
• The End 

The game isn’t worth 60 dollars. It’s too much like the 7 installments that came before it. 

A Bomb Named Underworld

Underworld didn’t do as well as its previous installments. The dismal sales led Eidos’ stock to plunge. To remedy the problem Eidos wants to re-brand Lara Croft as ”more female friendly” to widen it’s potential consumer base. Yes. Thats right. Women are to blame for Underworld bombing. Not the mechanical game play issues that have plagued Tomb Raider since its birth. Or the fact that Eidos has played their ‘digital boob card’ a few times too many.

Lara’s (Overloaded) Sex Appeal

I know plenty of female gamers that adore Tomb Raider in spite of Lara’s intended gamer boy appeal. This is what she is known for. And Eidos worked so very hard to pigeonhole Lara as a sex symbol:

1) Her breasts are huge.

2) She was one of the first women in gaming to break into mainstream pop culture. The Tomb Raider films were headed by fellow sex symbol (now turned uber mother) Angelina Jolie. 

3) Before a TR release a vacant model dressed like Lara Croft is put on display for gamer boy consumption.   

This was an effective strategy for the 90′s. The industry picked up on the more vocal and male components of the gaming segment and gave them what they wanted. With that said, it’s impossible to turn back now. She is a sex symbol to be embraced or passed over.Her handlers should either accept that or move on. 

 

I loved playing Street Fighter on the Super NES. There was only one female character back then. And her name was Chun-Li. She was cute and powerful. Most importantly, she had massive thunder thighs. Chun-Li’s gravity defying kicks and combos set the mold for female fighters that followed.

Capcom is attempting to revive the Street Figher brand by leaning on Chun-Li’s star power. They’ve placed her front and center on the game packaging for the new Street Fighter game. Unfortunately, they’ve allowed the movie industry to mangle the next street figher movie.

Streetfigher: The Legend of Chun-Li is shaping up to be an awful straight-to-DVD bomb. The movie’s producers seleceted a size zero light weight to play Chun- Li.  And I suspect she’s lacking in acting chops because she wasn’t given any lines in the trailer. 

[Via - I Watch Stuff]

Today, I came across this video from Alice of Wonderland. It’s probably a marketing stunt but I honestly don’t care. It’s clocked over 300,000 views on Youtube after being posted for less than 24 hours. My fellow tech bloggers and youtubers don’t seem to care if it’s fake either.

*[C]ould be fake, could be marketing, is beyond awesome. I italicised that, because it so is. [ Alice - Wonderland]

*Most likely a commercial viral, and maybe even fake, but does it matter? beyond awesome [ Andy Baio - Waxy.org]

*espenlg (8 minutes ago) – I hope you guys understand this is just a fake viral ad for Guitar Hero? Cool though [ Via -  Bike Hero Comments]

*bnuiransder (7 minutes ago) If that is… still pretty awesome. [ Via -  Bike Hero Comments]

My takeaway? You can’t beat delicious content. Even if it’s a bloated marketing scheme. It looks like this took one LONG take. But it was definitely worth it.

The Institute for the Future is launching an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) to save the world. Superstruct aims to “address real-world problems by harnessing the wisdom of the crowds.” The game’s release comes on the heels of the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression. With many people feeling powerless against the tide of changing times, SuperStruct offers the chance to collaborate with others to address the culmination of the human race’s folly in 2019.

An MMO that lives in Social Media

Superstruct is played on forums, blogs, videos, wikis, and perhaps even twitter. Players are presented with bleak scenarios of the future and react. I know this might be difficult for some to wrap their heads around (I’m still figuring this out myself) so I’ve developed a quick guide on how to play the game when it launches on October 6, 2008.

How to Play

1. Read the Scenario (Living life 10 years from now)

Put on your imagination cap. It is the year 2019. A computer called the Global Extinction Awareness System (GEAS) is now live and has delivered a forecast on the threats facing the human race. The initial report lists five main threats to humanity: Quarantine, Ravenous, Power Struggle, Outlaw Planet, and Generation Exile. The forecast predicts that these will culminate in our eventual extinction in 2040.

Ok you can take off your imagination cap now. Notice how the threats listed could all conceivably happen. The scenarios are defined by a unique set of “future parameters” taken from the IFTF’s forecast research.  Wars over energy resources and global hunger issues are real and could worsen in the future. The IFTF hopes that this game will get people thinking about how we could deal with these threats in the coming years.

[Via - IFTF ]

2. Using Social Media to Play

Now its time to play! Put your cap back on. Imagine yourself living life within these parameters. The Ravenous Scenario foresees the collapse of the food supply chain in 2019. We are inventing new ways to feed ourselves. The video below describes this Superthreat.

Mexico, China, Middle East and the processed food industry are the hardest hit. In Austria over 100 university students have mounted trains with hatchets and bio hazard bags. The students are calling for the slaughter of the region’s chickens after the birds were diagnosed with the Avian Flu.

Would you travel to Austria to participate in the University student riot? Would you take similar actions if you found out your local food supply had been contaminated and were faced with government inaction? How has life changed for your family, friends and community? Document your journey. Set up a video blog, twitter account or join a forum to discuss solutions to these problems.

3. Stay tuned for more information on SuperStruct.

The game is set to launch on October 6, 2008. More information on the game can be found here. You can also connect to over 700 people on the SuperStruct Facebook group here.