Are Your Game Makers A Bit Too Happy?

While doing my daily check of the various gaming related internet sites on the net, I found THIS nice little gem tucked away somewhere (in the closet?), and thought I'd give it a few lines of commentary. Allow me to start this off by publicly stating that I have no ill will towards anyone who just so happens to fit the description of gay. Since what you do has zero bearing on my life, I am neither for you or against you. You do your thing, and I'll do mine. See? Now everybody's happy!

Now that I've taken care of that nice little disclaimer, I have to ask the obvious question that crosses my mind when I see an article like this. Just what does a person's sexual orientation (like the way I got all PC with that one? Thought so.) have to do with making a great video game? Go ahead and mull it over for a bit. I'm sure there's a myriad of reasons you can name off the top of your head. Done? Great.

So as I was saying before….. Are the two actually connected in some way that I'm obviously overlooking? Have we reached a point where up and coming developers of the fine art of video games will need to add the "I'm gay" tag somewhere on the resume in order to get noticed? I can see it now….

*Somewhere behind the scenes at Rockstar*

"We have two fine applicants for the next installment of Grand Theft Auto. Both have Masters degrees, and their work history is flawless. Each graduated at the top of their class, were captains on various sports teams, did missionary work overseas , and somehow managed to run the local chapters of the 4-H clubs in their respective hometowns. Most impressive.

Now let me see….Hmm… This one guy is married with two kids, yet somehow managed to crank out a couple hits for Konami while doing his internship there during college. But wait; I spoke too soon. The other applicant is claiming to be homosexual. With that background, he's going to take our development house to new levels! Decisions, decisions. "

Now I've played my fair share of video games, and I'd bet that somewhere along the line a non-heterosexual person was involved in the development process of a few of them. I'll even take it a step further, and state that they could very well have produced some of the greatest games ever known to man. *snicker*

The truth of the matter, is that the whole idea of it is pointless. It ranks right up there with talking about how many minorities or females are involved in the development process. When it comes down to it, developing a great game is a mixture of having a skilled group of people who know how to work together, with a little bit of luck sprinkled on for good measure. So to all the various game developers, I send you off with this. Leave the social baggage to the ACLU, and keep doing what you do best…cranking out those games we love to blow our paychecks on . No one really cares about the rest.