It was an ambitious project to tell The history of video games from a queer point of view. The characters, the stories and the people behind the Games, a space and a visibility that you otherwise often denied. The Gay Museum has opened in this space in the exhibition “Rainbow Arcade”. Here, video games are considered to be outside the heterosexual mainstream. Over 100 exhibits from 30 years of video game history will be shown and explained.
Germany was for video games long a hard place, they were seen by the media but usually only as a potential youth sport, and violence is glorified. That cultural and social discourses of mirroring in video games, and this, in turn, affect is only in the last few years, part of academic and public considerations. Therefore, it is important to note that there is now a subculture in the subculture – Queerness in video games – an exhibition is dedicated.
the visit can First visitors to each of the examples, read up on how queer characters in video games have been negotiated. The question of which of the first Trans-may have been a character, is about not-so-easy to answer – have been made to a gender identity but often only vague hints. That Queerness has just been shown in the early time of differentiation of the medium as “different” and negative – often in the Form of effeminierter men – is part of this chronology, such as the many video games today, a variety of sex and sexuality shapes.
The Indie sector gives impetus for more diversity
in addition to the characters and stories in video games, the exhibition is also dedicated to the people behind the video games. They are divided into two groups: developers of the so-called AAA-area, where millions of video games will be spent on the mass market and in the world, with large-scale advertising campaigns distributed as well as on the other side of the Indie developers who make smaller games, and often no financial strong sales in the back.
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to order, especially from the Indie sector, the impetus, more diversity allow. Because, where there is less Profit and more of the artistic expression is at the centre, had also Queerness. Developers like Robert Yang, invent games, which often have a political approach and confront the player with a queer sexuality in a AAA game until today unthinkable.
a queer history of video games and the aggressive reaction of players on queer content and the people who work on them. The insults in Online Games, as well as the death threats, which has received the feminist media critic and blogger Anita Sarkeesian. She had put in a YouTube series with women in video games apart. On a wall of the exhibition of hate-filled Tweets to see the Sarkeesian were sent. Printed this to hang one above the other and extend up to the ceiling – a depressingly-impressive Station of the “Rainbow Arcade”. Here also works, what else is a disadvantage of the exhibition, gives you their Knowledge, but almost exclusively through Text. There are a few game stations, which act more as a complement to the many texts than Vice versa. The most interactive Medium, is made tangible by writing. The many issues are often connectionless, side by side.
a Lot of charged topics, only tried cracked
Instead of focusing on some exemplary aspects of the queer video game history, has been to squeeze everything into this exhibition. Therefore, a brief Text panel is then about the working conditions of queer people in addition to a scarce treatise on Sex and Gender in Japan, and same-gender loving couples in a Western video game. All incredibly charged topics that are only touched on, out of context.
One of the premise of the show is that there is Queerness in the video game culture. That may be true, but again: no context. What exactly is video game culture? And how it has developed over the decades? What is meant is only the video game industry? And what is with the culture that has developed around video games and then mad has diversified? In addition, the German point of view, is not treated in this story. The exhibition is the ambitious claim at the end is hardly fair.
the Gay Museum, the to 13. In May, Mo, Mi, Fr 14-18 PM, Thu 14-20 Clock, 31.12. closed new year’s 14-18 Uhr
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Queer characters in video games Gay clubs and fell in love with a girl
Matthias Kreienbrink
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