I didn't even need to read the article/watch the video because I thought this was common knowledge but, though I guess I shouldn't be surprised, it seems some posters weren't aware?
This is one of those things that is a non-issue on a small scale - obviously some villainous characters should be dark-skinned. No group is a monolith and quality representation means you want to hit the entire spectrum of personalities, etc. The issue is the overwhelming and reoccurring pattern that ties dark skin to evil time and time again (or also light skin to purity). It gets extra awkward when you have narratively-driven palate swaps (which seem to be the jumping off point for this conversation). Like I'm not going to lose a minute of sleep over Evil Ryu or whatever but it is part of a larger, problematic pattern. It should also go without saying this applies only when you are talking about human skin-tones and not like blue or green or whatever colored people.
I think/hope this just becomes less of an issue as well get more varied representation of characters of different ethnicities across gaming. That might be a bit trickier if these conversations aren't being had worldwide because its a bias that's very easy to fall into if you aren't paying attention. I for example don't think the people making Kingdom Hearts are making there character designs with malice in their hearts but they still are diving head long into these stereotypes and that's a problem.
This is one of those things that is a non-issue on a small scale - obviously some villainous characters should be dark-skinned. No group is a monolith and quality representation means you want to hit the entire spectrum of personalities, etc. The issue is the overwhelming and reoccurring pattern that ties dark skin to evil time and time again (or also light skin to purity). It gets extra awkward when you have narratively-driven palate swaps (which seem to be the jumping off point for this conversation). Like I'm not going to lose a minute of sleep over Evil Ryu or whatever but it is part of a larger, problematic pattern. It should also go without saying this applies only when you are talking about human skin-tones and not like blue or green or whatever colored people.
I think/hope this just becomes less of an issue as well get more varied representation of characters of different ethnicities across gaming. That might be a bit trickier if these conversations aren't being had worldwide because its a bias that's very easy to fall into if you aren't paying attention. I for example don't think the people making Kingdom Hearts are making there character designs with malice in their hearts but they still are diving head long into these stereotypes and that's a problem.