Unintentionally Homophobic, Virtually
Filed by: Prince Gomolvilas
December 29, 2008 10:00 AM
http://www.bilerico.com/2008/12/unintentionally_homophobic_virtually.php (http://www.bilerico.com/2008/12/unintentionally_homophobic_virtually.php)
As if the animated virtual world of Second Life, playstation home.jpgwhich has led to real-life divorces, weren't enough to keep geeks occupied and separated from more important things like, oh, reality, Sony recently launched PlayStation Home, yet another animated virtual world, this time created for the PlayStation 3 video game platform. But barely weeks out of the gate, PlayStation Home is already stirring up an unhealthy bit of controversy.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle:
Michael Marsh, an 18-year-old gamer from Norwalk, Conn., wanted to set up a gay/straight alliance club in PlayStation Home, Sony's new free 3-D virtual world component for the PlayStation 3.
The problem was that the words he was using - "gay," "lesbian" and "bisexual" - were being filtered from text chats and were not being allowed in the naming of clubs or in postings in club forums.