Meet "Grand Theft Auto IV"'s Anthony "Gay Tony" Prince

With the release of Grand Theft Auto IV expansion pack The Ballad of Gay Tony coming at the end of next month, Rockstar Games has revved up their marketing machine, which has meant a variety of peeks at the game, including wallpapers, screenshots and game trailers. The latest teaser gives non-GTA players an introduction to the expansion's titular character.

Judging from the trailer, Tony has all of the qualities required to become a powerful business owner in the cutthroat realm of Liberty City. He's materialistic, ambitious and willing to resort to violence. This isn't GTA IV's first bit of gay-inclusiveness, the main game has protagonist Niko Bevic meet up with an old army buddy Bernie Crane, who has come out since moving to Liberty City.

The expansion pack looks like it'll follow Tony's attempts to stay one step ahead of the mob (to which he owes money), while also trying to break out of a downward spiral brought on by spending "too much time in nightclubs" and having a boyfriend who is a "drug-dealing idiot". It also looks like we'll finally get to visit Tony's famous gay nightclub Hercules. Hopefully, we'll also catch up with other gay characters like Bernie and closeted politician Bryce Dawkins.

Grand Theft Auto IV's Gay Tony and Bernie Crane

The expansion doesn't let you play as Tony but as his bodyguard/right hand man Luis Fernando Lopez. Still, this strikes me as another groundbreaking moment for gay representation in video games. Tony's no role model but he's carved out his own sphere of influence in Liberty City.

If he's like his GTA counterparts, he'll be giving the player orders instead of begging for help (like Bernie does). We still haven't reached the point where a major game has a player character written as gay (as opposed to games where the player can decide if their character is straight, gay or bisexual like in <Bully, The Sims, Fallout 2 and Fable) but this gets pretty close.

Check out the trailer which has some NSFW language. What do you think? Me, I'm feeling ready to take another stab at that infuriating street race and another 60-70 (according the the walkthroughs I've been reading) missions so to get to meet with Tony.