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Why are there still so many white men in video games

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K

Kater

Banned
Anita Sarkeesian made a tweet about the still unchanged landscape of a still mostly male dominated video game landscape when it comes to protagonists and I agree with her that it is indeed troubling how focused the game industry seems to be on only white adult male characters.

Here is her tweet:

https://twitter.com/femfreq/status/477524903852126208
femfreq3adj1.png


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85M3LnoHz6o
Here is the link to the video that she linked to in her tweet.

There were only a Mirror's Edge 2, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Bayonetta 2 and (and Bayonetta 1 of course) at E3 which featured a female protag... and that was it. Also a handful of games like Splatoon and Hyrule Warriors were you could play as a female character.

It's really a problem for me as well as for a lot of other people that we mostly get those middleaged caucasian male characters and not a lot of an alternative to that.

So, what do my fellow GAFfers think of all that? Should it stay as it is or do you think that the game industry should introduce more female characters?

Edit: I wasn't aware at the time I made this thread that the thread title could make people offended, seems like I was wrong and I apologize for being insensitive. The right term would've been 'Caucasian' instead of 'white'.
...

TotalBiscuit seems to have a similiar stance on this topic as me.

https://soundcloud.com/totalbiscuit/the-discussion
13 min long

https://twitter.com/Totalbiscuit/status/477944960810242049
Here's the tweet.
 
G

georly

Member
During treehouse it was mentioned that 'more than half' of the playable characters in Hyrule Warriors are female.
 
B

bigbaldwolf86

Banned
You forgot Tomb raider as well

Edit: The list of games where you can play as a female

Tomb Raider
Splatoon
Hyrule Warriors
Infamous First Light
Destiny
Mirrors Edge
Bayonetta 1 & 2
Hatsune Miku

Am I missing something?
 
J

James Scott

Banned
That guy in the middle of the picture you posted is not white
femfreq3adj1.png

but yeah, a ton of white men in videogames. At least we got to see games like Splatoon with a mostly female cast.
splatoon-concept-art-1.png
 
G

Gilby

Member
Because it's primarily white males making games still. Once the industry is more diverse hopefully the characters will be too.
 
K

Kid Ska

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
It's infinitely easier to market white men and gaming is first and foremost a business. Not saying it's right, just saying why.
 
K

Kater

Banned
georly said:
During treehouse it was mentioned that 'more than half' of the playable characters in Hyrule Warriors are female.
Click to expand...

But they aren't really the main protagonists of they game. are they? I'm talking about female characters in the leading role.
 
P

-PXG-

Member
The industry is mostly comprised of white dudes and most people who play and buy video games are white dudes...
 
G

gngf123

Member
At least Nintendo are okay with adding playable women in their games. A lot of the industry could learn a thing or two from them.
 
Ray Wonder

Ray Wonder

Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
The percentage of white males buying the product are probably pretty close to the percentage of white male lead characters. That "fact" came straight out of my ass.

I would love to see a chart comparing the two though.
 
P

PairOfFilthySocks

Member
Now this is just a wild guess, but I'm going to assume it's because big publishers are mind-bogglingly risk-averse and pursue the largest audience for games with depressingly cynical precision?

But no, that's just crazy talk. I'm sure it's all because game developers fear and hate women.
 
H

Hubb

Member
El_Gato said:
But they aren't really the main protagonists of they game. are they? I'm talking about female characters in the leading role.
Click to expand...

If it follows the normal Dynasty Warriors formula, there really isn't a "main" protagonists. I haven't followed the game though, so I don't know how they'll handle the story in it.
 
W

Warewolf

Member
It's a perspective thing right? There are a lot of white people making games. It's hard to create from a perspective outside your own.
 
BibiMaghoo

BibiMaghoo

Member
Warewolf said:
It's a perspective thing right? There are a lot of white people making games. It's hard to create from a perspective outside your own.
Click to expand...

People that write books have managed it for a long time though, so why can't people that make video games?
 
G

GQman2121

Banned
-PXG- said:
The industry is mostly comprised of white dudes and most people who play and buy video games are white dudes...
Click to expand...

Basically this. But this isn't an issue in just the gaming industry. Many actresses in Hollywood struggle to land leading roles in major films too.
 
M

Momentary

Banned
I'm pretty sure there were more than 2 females that were shown in games. I'm guessing Tomb Raider, Guilty Gear, Persona, and all that other stuff doesn't count. It's changing slowly, but these things... They take time.
 
J

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
PairOfFilthySocks said:
Now this is just a wild guess, but I'm going to assume it's because big publishers are mind-bogglingly risk-averse and pursue the largest audience for games with depressingly cynical precision?

But no, that's just crazy talk. I'm sure it's all because game developers fear and hate women.
Click to expand...

I love the disingenuous way people dismiss diversity problems in gaming. It used to upset me, but now I just think it's sad.
 
H

Heyt

Banned
The face of feminism is female, patronizing and usually white and nobody seems to tweet much about it.
 
Honome

Honome

Member
bigbaldwolf86 said:
You forgot Tomb raider as well

Edit: The list of games where you can play as a female

Tomb Raider
Splatoon
Hyrule Warriors
Infamous First Light
Destiny
Mirrors Edge
Bayonetta 1 & 2
Hatsune Miku

Am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Transistor
Child of Light
Contrast
Borderlands 2
Remember Me
 
D

Dragonborn

Member
Because that's the main audience and devs don't want to take any risks. Most devs are also white males so it makes sense that they'd want to make games for white males. I see nothing wrong with this (I say that as a non white male).
 
R

ryamkajr

Banned
Why are there so many metrosexual "men" with bad fashion sense and really sharp pointy hair that defies gravity in JRPGs? Why can't these games represent men as they really are with normal hair?

I AM BEING OPPRESSED BY JAPANESE FEM-GUYS!!!!!

wah wah wah
 
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