(Just a quick warning mild spoilers for Catherine hear)  

I don’t want to get into the discussion of games as art, what I want to talk about is the power of fiction and words on society’s perception of the world. Things like Watchmen, Women at Point Zero, District 9, Lost Battalions, and McMafia really changed the way I look at the world and my responsibilities as a member of the global community. Society changing works are rare things indeed. They need to successfully convey a point and completely upend a person’s point of view without coming across as overtly preachy or chastising.

So I just finished Catherine and got the true lovers ending. It is revealed in the ending that Erika is actually transgender. I really didn’t know what to make of this at first and I didn’t really get a good grasp on it until me and my friend talked about it on our podcast, which can be found right here for the interested though the episode containing this discussion is not up yet http://nerfd.hipcast.com/rss/nerfd.xml.       

The great thing about Erika is basically that she is a normal person. Everyone seems comfortable talking with her and being friends with her. This positive and not overly emphasized portrayal is really a great thing. Catherine accomplishes this wonderfully by making the player care about a character before revealing that they are transgender. The player is forced to make a very real decision to accept Erika for who she is.   

My hope is that with games like this and Bioware’s Mass Effect and Dragon Age series they can not only portray gay and transgender characters in a positive light, but also a society and environment in which these people are excepted into the fabric Games may or may not be art but they can influence the way people think about themselves and their society.  
 
What do you guys think?  Agree, disagree?

There's a transgendered character in Catherine? That's pretty great, actually.

I would love to see a game with a big burly though man being constantly hit on by women, only to have to tediously repeat that he's gay every time. Also he doesn't hit on you every 5 seconds like in DA2, you're just bros.

Yeah, so apparently Erika and Vincent were friends back in school, among other characters. Definitely seemed like a very acceptive society or group of people, there were very subtle hints about it but you didn't know anything about her being a man until the end.

Erika was an interesting character, it was quite shocking to find out the truth! Good job Atlus for being so sneaky.

@Napalm: It isn't really that special, there are a lot of transgender characters in anime. In a new super hero anime that's really popular called "tiger and bunny" one of the main super heroes is transgender.

@Rey_Leone said:

@Napalm: It isn't really that special, there are a lot of transgender characters in anime. In a new super hero anime that's really popular called "tiger and bunny" one of the main super heroes is transgender.

I don't remember Fire Emblem revealing that he's transgender.

@Rey_Leone said:

@Daroki: Explicitly maybe not, but he refers to himself as one of the girls and it's telling that you knew exactly who I was talking about. Maybe he will have a very special episode.

Tiger and Bunny's been one of my favorite anime from last season, so if it's telling you that I enjoy the show too then you're spidey senses are dead on.

she's the best, atlus is the best

the worst part is I didn't even pick up on it until the true lovers ending, and I am transgendered! O:

There's a transgendered character in Catherine? That's pretty great, actually.

Movies have been doing this for years, I guess it would be cool if video games did too but the problem is games are often meant to be fantasy and an escape from reality. I can't feel real emotion or have a life changing experience when I spend the rest of the 8 hour game shooting down police helicopters.

Transgendered, huh? I haven't seen the true lovers ending myself yet, but the game hinted at it to where I had heavy suspicions. That's... Kind of cool, actually. Not too many subjects like that in games, and they approached it well (from what I've seen so far. Again, haven't seen true lovers).

she's the best, atlus is the best

the worst part is I didn't even pick up on it until the true lovers ending, and I am transgendered! O:

Yeah, it was a pretty awesome revelation.  It's handled about as well as I could have possibly hoped for, too.

@Laketown said:

she's the best, atlus is the best

the worst part is I didn't even pick up on it until the true lovers ending, and I am transgendered! O:

You're transgendered? This is actually better than Catherine having a transgendered character. I think that should be a testament to something.

@Napalm said:

@Laketown said:

she's the best, atlus is the best

the worst part is I didn't even pick up on it until the true lovers ending, and I am transgendered! O:

You're transgendered? This is actually better than Catherine having a transgendered character. I think that should be a testament to something.

eh, I get what your saying but it sucks so I wouldn't want to be celebrated for it.

@FluxWaveZ: Am I not allowed to celebrate and view diversity of our population as a good thing, or something?