GayBlade

GayBlade videogame

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GayBlade
Developer(s)	Ryan Best
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS
Release	1992
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single-player

GayBlade is an action role-playing video game developed by Ryan Best and released in 1992. It has been thought to be the earliest LGBT-themed video game, but was preceded by 1989's Caper in the Castro. In the 2020 Netflix documentary, High Score, Best said that all his copies of the game were lost during a relocation. The game was later found with the help of the LGBTQ Video Game Archive. As of 2020, the game is playable via emulation on the Internet Archive.

Premise

The player has to fight hordes of enemies including rednecks and homophobic skinheads. The final boss of the game is homophobic conservative commentator and politician Pat Buchanan.

Legacy

The 2020 Netflix documentary series High Score featured Ryan Best and GayBlade in its third episode, about early RPGs. At the time of production in 2019, Best had lost all copies during a move from Hawaii to San Francisco years before and had been looking for any since then, which he had told the show's producers. As part of their research, the production team searched online, including contacting the LGBTQ Video Game Archive, to seek out footage and copies. During post-production, the producers were contacted by the Schwules Museum (Gay Museum) in Berlin, who had a copy that they were able to share with the producers, who after working with it, returned it to Best; this was noted briefly in the episode and expanded up in news reports the day of the series' release.^[4][5] Subsequently, they worked with the LGBTQ Video Game Archive, The Strong National Museum of Play and the Internet Archive to preserve the game and provide the game in both an emulated form and as a downloadable version.^[3]

Bibliography

• Jones, Malcolm (May 14, 1993). "GayBlade: The world's first pink fantasy game". Star Observer. Sydney.
• Nissenbaum, Dion (April 4, 1993). "Egads! Empress Nelda has been captured by the forces...". UPI NewsTrack.
• Provenzano, Jim (April 8, 1993). "Dungeons and Drag Queens". Bay Area Reporter. p. 46.
• "Taking a byte out of the bad guys". The Advocate. April 6, 1993. p. 10.
• Vigoda, Arlene (August 3, 1993). "Fun and games". USA Today. p. 1D.
• Clark, Joe (July 13, 1993). "Dungeons and drag queens". The Village Voice. 38 (28). p. 46.
• Cobb, Nathan (August 5, 1993). "Alternative cyberstyles". The Boston Globe. p. 60.
• "Chapter 118: Homosexual Tactics: Anything Goes". Pro-Life Activist's Encyclopedia. American Life League. 1997.