Metro Weekly

”Ballad of Gay Tony” draws interest, confronts homophobia of videogame players [video]

”I’m the only man in the history of this town with the best gay and straight clubs at the same time, and I’m about to lose everything!”

Dialog from the title character in the video game release ”The Balad of Gay Tony.” The newly released trailer does not allude to anything overtly homoerotic about this release, and Tony ”Gay Tony” Prince is not actually the main character in the game, but the use of the word “Gay” in the title alone is a major breakthrough in visibility. The gamer community is notorious for the public exchange of foul, anti-gay insults. And, if Rockstar Games‘ latest guns-and-cars game proves to be  popular, it could be a much-needed boost for future GLBT inclusiveness. Unfortunately, this add-on for ”Grand Theft Auto IV” is only available to owners of the XBox 360. (GayGamer.net)


”i was waiting for the next content!!! yahoo!!! allthough they made the world gay…into a gta title…THATS NOT COOL AT ALL..! but the ingame shit does look cool!! so good shit! rock*…just change the title!”

Comment taken from marceloguiliano a conflicted gamer commenting on G4TV’s YouTube channel  about the latest Rockstar Games release, ”The Balad of Gay Tony.’‘ The videogame is actually a downloadable extension for XBox 360 players of Grand Theft Auto IV. This is the second extension in the long-running series, and much has been speculated over the reaction of it’s strong fan base to a title containing the word “gay.” Gay and lesbian characters and randomly generated pedestrians with cartoonish, stereotypical gay personalities have long been included in the violent series of games that focuses on anti-heroes performing criminal activity. (G4TV Youtube) (Rockstar Games)

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