Eyebrows in the gaming community are being raised after the release by an amateur developer of a “homebrew” game (meaning a game that is developed by consumers for gaming platforms that are not typically user-programmable) for the Nintendo DS. Developer Huntercool released the game RanAway 1.0, an avoidance game. The goal of the player? Avoid the gay people.
Reports DS Fanboy: “Here is the ‘protagonist,’ a jaundiced, wavy-mouthed boy trapped in a teal box. His genitals, to which we’ve applied a mosaic filter for the benefit of our younger readers, are exposed for reasons unexplained. A school of blocks swims around the screen, typifying the legions of square-shaped gay men that roam the streets. All of them, assumedly, are mesmerized by his five-pixel-long organ, unable to resist its draw. To advance, you must avoid the predatory boxes and keep your heterosexuality intact. Mere contact with the enemy, even for just a second, could suddenly condemn you to a life of effeminacy and corrupted morality. If you can outlast the timer, the game congratulates your agility: ‘You safely avoided the gay mob. Good job.’ Failing the task, however, brings up an image of two male characters from popular anime/manga Naruto, kissing, embarrassment on their faces. The bottom screen reads, ‘You got hit by a gay person. Game Over.'”
Writes GayGamer.net, “Yes, the graphics are amateurish, and the gameplay would seem to be beyond basic, and it’s likely created by a teenager with too much time on his hands and too much hate in his heart. But at the same time, it’s worth noting the existence of this hateful little title. Right now the object of the game is simply to avoid the gay blobs. But what if Huntercool’s next project is a game in which you not only avoid the gay blobs, but also kill them? At what point does this go from offensive to scary? The whole thing would be comical if it wasn’t so sad and unfortunate. Sub-8-bit graphics aside, we have a “little boy” running away from gay men and their ‘kiss of death.’ Sigh. This is the world we live in, folks.”
Homophobic homebrew on the DS [ds fanboy]
Homophobic Homebrew On The DS [gaygamer]