Hot Dates and Fairy Tale Romances

I really enjoyed this article, I enjoyed the article because it doesn't focus on violence in video games like everyone else does-but it focuses on sexuality in video games. It looked at Final Fantasy 9 and The Sims. One thing that was brought up repeatedly about FF9 was the Erotic Triangle theory- i thought it was so interesting and It would have never even crossed my mind! The theory is that there is a sort of triangle between the person playing the game, the avatar, and the love interest. Its like they begin to fight and pawn over the love interest. I was completey mind blown by this, who would have thought of it? What i also found interesting was when it was stated that the main character does not have many details and at times may even look androgynous when you are playing with it, but when they cut to little video you can tell that its a boy. It allows for the player to be able to identify more with the character-girls can see themselves in the character as well as boys. In the sims you have the option to create whoever you want, different skin colors, body types, sexes etc. You can even choose to live with a man if you want and aren't backed into just being in a heterosexual relationship. i think the game has made strides in making it a world where people can all really relate to their actual lives. True, in the game homosexual marriage is not allowed but having a child is, so i think we are really making progress in a sense. The article also discussed how heterosexuality is considered to be the norm- in FF9 your love interest is a woman(like so many other games) and on top of that the main character is always commenting on other women. It makes me wonder how homosexuals and women feel playing a game like that-where you are constantly reminded that being hetero is "normal." Game makers truly have to start developing games where people can actually identify with the characters- not just an androgynous character they kinda identify with. I think a game where you can choose to be a man who wants to have woman as a love interest or a man who wants a man as a love interest! the same goes for women! I think it would be a great stepping stone in getting more people interested in video games.