THE FINAL MMO FRONTIER:
City of Heroes gets a lot of coverage here, and that's partly because the superhero MMO has an active gay community, one that's really good at getting the word out about their activities. I'm starting to wonder if the upcoming Star Trek Online will be the next MMO to have a major gay presence. The game isn't even out yet and there's an online community for gay players, the Stonewall Fleet. This shouldn't be surprising, considering the loyal gay following Star Trek has held.

Star Trek Online

It'll be interesting to see if Star Trek Online can capture the appeal of the classic sci-fi franchise. The game is being developed by Cryptic Studios, who gave us City of Heroes (and is also working on the Champions MMO), which has gamers hopeful. On the other hand, Star Trek Online is heading into new(ish) territory when it comes to being the Captain of your own ship; that aspect of Pirates of the Burning Sea didn't work for me and I can't think of an MMO that's become a hit with ship-based gameplay. It'll be interesting to see setting the MMO decades after The Next Generation will help or hurt the immersive feeling of the game. Still, undoubtedly there will be missions in the Mirror Universe (which was even able to give us a good Enterprise episode) which should be pretty cool.

Anyone excited about Star Trek Online? What are you hoping for in a Trek MMO?

THE REVOLUTION WILL BE POCKET-SIZED?
The gamers at LesbianGamers.com asked an interesting question recently, wondering if the iPhone opens up games to more gay content:

"Given the ease with which programming and distribution – via the Apps Store – has been made by Apple, one would imagine it is only a matter of time before some smart gay programmers are out there releasing gay themed RPG's, utilities and other software on the device. Apple are only charging a bare minimum set up cost for the ADK ($100 at time of writing) and they take care of all distribution and credit card transactions (though they take a 30% cut – which is more than fair) linked to the software developed (or you can put it up as a free application)."

Could gay-inclusive games like The Hook Up find their way on the iPhone?

"Technically the iPhone also has additional features your other gaming handhelds lack. Features like the GPS and camera could add additional functionality to games. These aside though the accessibility of the iPhone for developers is where it's way ahead of the pack and with this accessibility should – hopefully – come an array of games which throw old conventions out the window."

Basically, the gay gaming potential of the iPhone lies in open-source development, low barriers to distribution and the creative culture that Apples encourages among its customers. The website for The N (home to queer-inclusive series like Degrassi and South of Nowhere) has a lesbian-inclusive dating sim, The Hook Up, which, from what I've seen, is very popular and is about the right size for a mobile platform. Could the iPhone open the potential for these kinds of games to finally become available?

AFTER THE BREAK: Gratuitous beefcake, do you really need more?