Hi Guys,

Been away a long while lately, what with moving house to someplace completely different and getting a new job and stuff, plus my whole youtube channel thing soaking up my free time AND playing games.

Im going to be hopefully updating here maybe once a fortnight with my usual reviews and blogs and things (I made top 500 reviewers today incidentally, yay!).

My youtube channel will still probably get most of my attention (Im LPing Dead Space on the PC at the moment) but in general things should balance themselves out more.

Game wise at the moment Star Ocean 4, Dead Space, Fatal Frame 3 and Tales Of Versperia are on the agenda. Oh and Overlord II (far too many games).

Hope you all are well and I apologise for not being around much lately, maybe things will be more settled now.

Well I promised I'd do a blog on this ages ago and didn't actually get round to do it as that other website I now frequent has distracted me :p . However it is now time for me to do so.

Im going to talk about ga-yness in gaming (stupid GS filters)gaming something that has recently been touched on by a number of websites (most recently Kotaku I believe) due to a spate of news coverage. Gay characters and scenarios in games are slowly but surely becoming more prevelant and for the first part of this series of blogs lets look at some of the more popular characters whos sexuality is more than a little questionable..

Vamp - MGS Series

Short of the fact he looks like he's pretty much taking Raiden from behind in some of the MGS IV fight sequences, Vamp actually is bi-sexual and it isn't just innuendo. I think Vamp (along with a few other MGS character I won't mention here) is an important individual in any list of gay gaming because hes part of such a major, testosterone fuelled franchise and dosen't meet the overly effeminate cliche which in terms of male characters who probably/obviously sleep with other guys we will see this is a fairly rare occourance. Normally I would consider him being bi a bit of a cop out (again something ill touch on in another post) but as we all know, all vampires are bi. So its fine.

Juhani - KOTOR

Juhani is in my opinion the best example of a gay female character in a video game, there are better realised gay and lesbian relationships in Mass Effect and Jade Empire for sure, but as the characters in thats sexuality alters depending on the leads gender I thought Id focus on Juhani as she stays gay even if you play a guy. Juhani's sexuality is proven clear by the way she can bond with a female lead (not nessecerily a romance, but a bond none the less) and the fact that if you kill her on her home planet her female lover pursues you looking for revenge.

Hana & Rain - Fear Effect II

From a lesbian character I like to a pair who I consider fall into the "cop out" category. Yes they have a romance, yes they are pretty hot (for PS1 ****sprites anyway) and yes they do manage to develop a relationship, but I considered their creators insistance they were bi a bit of a cop out, possibly to sell more games. But still! At this time gay characters in gaming were an extreme rarity so they did bring progress..

Cho Aniki Bros - Cho Aniki

Oh dear God. The Japanese are pretty keen on their overtly gay male stereotypes in video games but these two really takes the cake. If you really want to know more im sure you can find lots of lovely videos and images online and you can join them on their search for holy sperm.

Joachim - Shadow Hearts: Covenant

Now this is a bit different, he may be a bit flamboyant and over the top but Joachim is a mildly cliched g-y guy who works well. Whether it's him crying out "No I like men!" in the Veronica torture sequence or taking part in the Man Fest to show the true power of his manhood in his side mission Joachim provides great entertainment and is a pretty cool character at the same time. The right balance? Maybe..

So there a few important bi/gay characters to set the scene.. next time ill be talking more about various companies attitudes to gay characters in their games in more depth.

Oh and before I forget..

Bridget - Guilty Gear

O.K he's not gay but he kinda accidentally gets another guy to be... its complicated. But the key thing to remember is (yes I am going to use it)

.. is just one of the great lines the Prince quips in what I thought was the best entry in the franchise by far. Oh and it's a "next-gen" (Im using this term with increased dislike =p) game I actually like.

Yes you all know there will be a review link at the end of this post.. but first some more screenshots.

Well.. artwork more than screenshots I guess.

O.K this one is a screenshot!

ANYWAY here is my review:- http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/princeofpersiaworkingtitle/player_review.html?id=655722

No fancy text link as GS is endlessly broken on that front.

Please Comment. Rate. Appreciate. And tell me how Im stuck in the past after my previous blog. Oh and in case I forget http://www.youtube.com/user/MangaminxSUBSCRIBE (most of you have now =p)!

I'll be back with more thrilling blogging in the future!