I was reading that "Persona 5 is overrated" thread and remembered how many GOTY press lists it was on. Then I remembered how it displayed some of the most horrible, 1950s-era homophobic attitudes I've seen in a game. They treated gay men both as a joke and as dangerous sexual predators of boys. And yet press outlets lavished praise on the game. Gave it Game of the Year. I'm not singling Persona 5 out here, but can you imagine a film winning an Oscar in 2017 which treated gay people like predators and jokes? And yet that is what is happening in the game industry. The Game Awards, SXSW Gaming Awards, IGN, Polygon, Gamespot, Giant Bomb, Eurogamer, EGM, DualShockers, and others all gave Persona 5 either a GOTY, an award in a specific category, or presented it on their best of the year lists. I don't remember any of these press outlets even mentioning the homophobia in the game as they showered it with praise. NOTE: This is just one game, but we can all think of other games with similarly prejudiced attitudes (and please feel free to discuss those in this context).
What does that say about our industry? That we overlook marginalization and demonization of minority groups because we like the rest of the game, or gloss it over because it's our favorite IP? This blame goes all the way around -- on the studios who make sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or racist content, on the press who award these works with accolades, and on the purchasers of this content and the communities who defend the works (or the "culture"). We're all responsible for this, and I think it's past time we have and uphold a higher standard for creative works in this medium. Kids are playing these games, kids who are in these often-marginalized minority groups. They should not be told they are a public menace, revolting, or a joke by a game. No one should.
