NotebookJ2
Member
A long time ago when I was much younger, you could have easily called me someone who was primarily a PC gamer. This was back in the 1990s, mind you. Now Im aware of all of the benefits that PC gaming has over consoles, and the fact that the console outlook isnt looking good right now. I can concede with the fact that the PC is probably the best gaming console there is due to the sheer flexibility of it and the fact that its infinitely easier to make an independent game on it compared to a console for obvious reasons. I consider myself well aware of the power of the PC.
So why have I been so apprehensive of it for so long? Well, it all has to do with a certain meme I call the PC Master Race.
Now Im sure youre all asking me right now But Notebook, thats just a stupid meme that doesnt mean anything, and nobody actually uses it anymore! Well first off, while it is indeed nothing more than a stupid meme, it is also a side effect of just who makes up the PC gaming audience, but more on that particular aspect later. I want to get to the second part first.
Ive encountered this meme back when it was still in vogue at the end of last year/beginning of this year, when I was thinking about getting into hardcore PC gaming scene. Now Ive encountered my fair share of stupid memes and fanboys over the years on the internet so Im not surprised to see my fair share of idiots get into things that I like, but it was kinda different with the PC gaming scene. I had definitely expected the PC gaming scene to be a lot more mature than the console gaming scene. I mean after all, I had assumed that the PC crowd was a lot older and wiser not to fall to the same pratfalls compared its console counterpart from what I had read from numerous sources.
Not only did I find the PC crowd to be full of the same type of idiocy the console crowd suffered from, Ive also found some seriously disturbing things being spouted out that well, quite frankly disturbed me as a person of color [that means Im a black person], because up until then I had only heard two sets of people describe themselves as the Master RaceNazis and a certain evil Time Lord. And one of those two are fictional.
Notebook! I know youre telling me now while shaking your fist in protest, Are you calling PC fanboys racist!?!? Calm down, Im not calling anyone racist. Its justhow do I say it? I think were all aware that the gaming industry isnt exactly the most progressive industry when it comes to diversity. Sure, things are slowly getting better with time, but thats not what Im getting at. And uhm. Yknow what? Ill just be flat out honest here. I am very wary of being a part of a crowd who presents themselves as majorly white proclaiming theyre a part of a master race of any sort.
But Notebook, youre black, not Jewish! Well, that is true, but Im pretty sure the Nazis didnt like black people, or that there is no such thing as black Jewish people. But as anybody can tell you, being a black person is a very different experience from being a white person. As a black person youre aware of some things that white people are just not aware of unless they are taught.
To put this in perspective, lets say that there are two teenagersone is black and the other is white. They both have an interest in PC gaming and they saved up enough money to buy parts to upgrade their computer so they go down to Seemingly Harmless PC Gaming Store to buy stuff. SHPCGS just happens to be having a big sale with everything 50% off for that day. Everything is all fine and well until they enter the store, where just about everything is drenched in Nazi memorabilia. Turns out the slogan for the sale is 50% off for everyone who is willing to become a part of the Master Race or perhaps something a lot less wordy than that. The black person, who has suffered from discrimination before [not necessarily from Nazis mind you] is in utter shock. However, that isnt the worst part, the black teenager sees his friend wearing the free, snazzy Nazi uniform that comes with every purpose.
Why are you dressing as a Nazi and what the hell does it have to do with video games!? The black teenager cries out as he tries to shake some sense into the white teen. Its just a joke. The white teenager replies, Theres no need to get all offended by it. Besides, its totally true. PC gamers are totally superior to console gamers. You should be glad to be a part of the master race! Were all post-racial now, right?
The black teenager, so completely baffled at what he just experienced, leaves his friend and the store behind, goes back home, and chucks his PC in the trash. The entire incident left him with a horrible view on PC gaming in general and he decided to spend the rest of his life as a librarian, forever free from anything related to video games.
You can say that I was in fact that I was that hypothetical black teenager, except I did not chuck my PC into the trash or dedicate the rest of my life as a librarian. I did however become completely disillusioned on how not different the PC crowd was different from the console crowd.
But it wasnt like they called you any names! It wasnt like someone called you the n-word on X-Box Live! Why dont you grow some skin!? You may ask? Well, theres a load of difference between the overt, pointy white hood variant of racism everybody hates and the subtle ignorance of knowing that youre still the other. Theres few of the former but a lot, and do I mean a lot more of the latter. The master race meme is an example of those more subtle forms that stem from ignorance. Whats worse is that you cant exactly fight this form without it becoming a huge hassle because its pretty much everywherealmost always in the place you would at least expect it. I have tough skin, but its energy draining to put it on all the time so sometimes I just expect to turn it off when I want to relax. I thought the PC crowd would be one of those areas where I could avoid it, but I found out the hard way that it wasnt.
Its been a long time since then, and although Im not as an opponent to PC gaming as I once was, Im not entirely excited getting into something that suffers from subtle ignorance. I gotta be on guard to make sure if any ignorance comes up, Ill be ready to handle it.
Of course, it was inevitable that I would have to get over it, since I am interested in playing video games of all sorts, but what about someone whos a person of color who wants to get into video games for the first time? How would they handle being a part of the master race? I can definitely guarantee if it was someone else who wasnt as interested as video games like I am, theyd be completely turned off altogether.
Now remember waay back when I mentioned about who makes up the PC gaming audience? Well I cant exactly word this in any way that wont rile up any feathers but its white people. I mean, Im not trying go all white people are evil or anything like that; you have to understand that in America at least, being white person is just a completely different experience from being a black person. Theres no getting around that. White people have privilege of being the default when it comes to video game protagonists, not so much anybody else. This isnt about THATS RACIST or anything like that its just how things are. Which is why I kinda find the entire The PC library is diverse thing hilarious because, while its true that the PC library by default is diverse in one way, its hardly diverse in another certain way.
Yeah, Im sure there is some obscure game out there that stars a lesbian black female that I havent heard of, but the problem is that theres a very high chance that the majority of the PC gaming audience would reject it at first glance regardless of whether or not its an actual good game or the right style.
Then just play games that dont star white protagonists! Just play games that allow you to create your own character! You maybe saying. Well, biggest problem is that there arent many games out there that dont star white protagonists if they arent something else. And create-a-character only really works with certain games as well. Its just having something that is different from the norm can be enough sometimes.
Ill give my own example. When I was young, Independence Day was one of my favorite movies ever. Yeah, I know its pure cheese and there are lots of issues with the plot like Jeff Goldblums MacBook and what that one Cracked article mentioned, but lets forget all of that for a second. The biggest reasons why I loved it is because the hero was a black male. For the first time in my entire life, I saw a black man [with the help of a [former?] Jewish man] go up against an evil alien race and be responsible for saving the entire world. He wasnt a drug dealer or a criminal or anything like that. He was just a simply family man just doing his best to protect the world from some scumbag aliens.
Now what am I trying to say with all of that? I think the PC platform is perfect to create epics starring PoC not being stereotyped but imply doing some badass things like punching aliens saving the urth. Its essentially an open-ended platform that doesnt have to deal with things like publishers and all that. And yes, I know there are some PoC protagonists out there, Im not trying to say that theyre arent. But in order for us to get more, we have get more PoC interested, and things like proclaiming to be part of a master race that doesnt involve Time Lords is not the way to do it.
Thats why I didnt like the PC platform for awhile. Sorry for this being so long, but I figured out that there was no point in trying to pull punches when it comes to things like this anymore.
So why have I been so apprehensive of it for so long? Well, it all has to do with a certain meme I call the PC Master Race.
Now Im sure youre all asking me right now But Notebook, thats just a stupid meme that doesnt mean anything, and nobody actually uses it anymore! Well first off, while it is indeed nothing more than a stupid meme, it is also a side effect of just who makes up the PC gaming audience, but more on that particular aspect later. I want to get to the second part first.
Ive encountered this meme back when it was still in vogue at the end of last year/beginning of this year, when I was thinking about getting into hardcore PC gaming scene. Now Ive encountered my fair share of stupid memes and fanboys over the years on the internet so Im not surprised to see my fair share of idiots get into things that I like, but it was kinda different with the PC gaming scene. I had definitely expected the PC gaming scene to be a lot more mature than the console gaming scene. I mean after all, I had assumed that the PC crowd was a lot older and wiser not to fall to the same pratfalls compared its console counterpart from what I had read from numerous sources.
Not only did I find the PC crowd to be full of the same type of idiocy the console crowd suffered from, Ive also found some seriously disturbing things being spouted out that well, quite frankly disturbed me as a person of color [that means Im a black person], because up until then I had only heard two sets of people describe themselves as the Master RaceNazis and a certain evil Time Lord. And one of those two are fictional.
Notebook! I know youre telling me now while shaking your fist in protest, Are you calling PC fanboys racist!?!? Calm down, Im not calling anyone racist. Its justhow do I say it? I think were all aware that the gaming industry isnt exactly the most progressive industry when it comes to diversity. Sure, things are slowly getting better with time, but thats not what Im getting at. And uhm. Yknow what? Ill just be flat out honest here. I am very wary of being a part of a crowd who presents themselves as majorly white proclaiming theyre a part of a master race of any sort.
But Notebook, youre black, not Jewish! Well, that is true, but Im pretty sure the Nazis didnt like black people, or that there is no such thing as black Jewish people. But as anybody can tell you, being a black person is a very different experience from being a white person. As a black person youre aware of some things that white people are just not aware of unless they are taught.
To put this in perspective, lets say that there are two teenagersone is black and the other is white. They both have an interest in PC gaming and they saved up enough money to buy parts to upgrade their computer so they go down to Seemingly Harmless PC Gaming Store to buy stuff. SHPCGS just happens to be having a big sale with everything 50% off for that day. Everything is all fine and well until they enter the store, where just about everything is drenched in Nazi memorabilia. Turns out the slogan for the sale is 50% off for everyone who is willing to become a part of the Master Race or perhaps something a lot less wordy than that. The black person, who has suffered from discrimination before [not necessarily from Nazis mind you] is in utter shock. However, that isnt the worst part, the black teenager sees his friend wearing the free, snazzy Nazi uniform that comes with every purpose.
Why are you dressing as a Nazi and what the hell does it have to do with video games!? The black teenager cries out as he tries to shake some sense into the white teen. Its just a joke. The white teenager replies, Theres no need to get all offended by it. Besides, its totally true. PC gamers are totally superior to console gamers. You should be glad to be a part of the master race! Were all post-racial now, right?
The black teenager, so completely baffled at what he just experienced, leaves his friend and the store behind, goes back home, and chucks his PC in the trash. The entire incident left him with a horrible view on PC gaming in general and he decided to spend the rest of his life as a librarian, forever free from anything related to video games.
You can say that I was in fact that I was that hypothetical black teenager, except I did not chuck my PC into the trash or dedicate the rest of my life as a librarian. I did however become completely disillusioned on how not different the PC crowd was different from the console crowd.
But it wasnt like they called you any names! It wasnt like someone called you the n-word on X-Box Live! Why dont you grow some skin!? You may ask? Well, theres a load of difference between the overt, pointy white hood variant of racism everybody hates and the subtle ignorance of knowing that youre still the other. Theres few of the former but a lot, and do I mean a lot more of the latter. The master race meme is an example of those more subtle forms that stem from ignorance. Whats worse is that you cant exactly fight this form without it becoming a huge hassle because its pretty much everywherealmost always in the place you would at least expect it. I have tough skin, but its energy draining to put it on all the time so sometimes I just expect to turn it off when I want to relax. I thought the PC crowd would be one of those areas where I could avoid it, but I found out the hard way that it wasnt.
Its been a long time since then, and although Im not as an opponent to PC gaming as I once was, Im not entirely excited getting into something that suffers from subtle ignorance. I gotta be on guard to make sure if any ignorance comes up, Ill be ready to handle it.
Of course, it was inevitable that I would have to get over it, since I am interested in playing video games of all sorts, but what about someone whos a person of color who wants to get into video games for the first time? How would they handle being a part of the master race? I can definitely guarantee if it was someone else who wasnt as interested as video games like I am, theyd be completely turned off altogether.
Now remember waay back when I mentioned about who makes up the PC gaming audience? Well I cant exactly word this in any way that wont rile up any feathers but its white people. I mean, Im not trying go all white people are evil or anything like that; you have to understand that in America at least, being white person is just a completely different experience from being a black person. Theres no getting around that. White people have privilege of being the default when it comes to video game protagonists, not so much anybody else. This isnt about THATS RACIST or anything like that its just how things are. Which is why I kinda find the entire The PC library is diverse thing hilarious because, while its true that the PC library by default is diverse in one way, its hardly diverse in another certain way.
Yeah, Im sure there is some obscure game out there that stars a lesbian black female that I havent heard of, but the problem is that theres a very high chance that the majority of the PC gaming audience would reject it at first glance regardless of whether or not its an actual good game or the right style.
Then just play games that dont star white protagonists! Just play games that allow you to create your own character! You maybe saying. Well, biggest problem is that there arent many games out there that dont star white protagonists if they arent something else. And create-a-character only really works with certain games as well. Its just having something that is different from the norm can be enough sometimes.
Ill give my own example. When I was young, Independence Day was one of my favorite movies ever. Yeah, I know its pure cheese and there are lots of issues with the plot like Jeff Goldblums MacBook and what that one Cracked article mentioned, but lets forget all of that for a second. The biggest reasons why I loved it is because the hero was a black male. For the first time in my entire life, I saw a black man [with the help of a [former?] Jewish man] go up against an evil alien race and be responsible for saving the entire world. He wasnt a drug dealer or a criminal or anything like that. He was just a simply family man just doing his best to protect the world from some scumbag aliens.
Now what am I trying to say with all of that? I think the PC platform is perfect to create epics starring PoC not being stereotyped but imply doing some badass things like punching aliens saving the urth. Its essentially an open-ended platform that doesnt have to deal with things like publishers and all that. And yes, I know there are some PoC protagonists out there, Im not trying to say that theyre arent. But in order for us to get more, we have get more PoC interested, and things like proclaiming to be part of a master race that doesnt involve Time Lords is not the way to do it.
Thats why I didnt like the PC platform for awhile. Sorry for this being so long, but I figured out that there was no point in trying to pull punches when it comes to things like this anymore.
