m_shortpants
Member
Altair from AC?
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Ethnic Minorities - "Forgot about them".
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Altair from AC?
BinaryPork2737
Unconfirmed Member
I think it's an important issue. Games shouldn't just focus on one race of people. They should be just as diverse as real life. Normally I wouldn't bring up the issue, but since this a thread dedicated to the issue, it should be discussed.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
You should consider playing To the Moon on PC. It is an adventure game. The protagonist is neurotypical, but the secondary non-player protagonist is autistic, and the game wrestles with the impact of neurodiversity on relationships and social connections. I personally enjoyed it and thought it was a thoughtful reflection on the subject. It is also written by someone who is either autistic or who has personal familiarity with the subject matter.
I will warn you that another poster I know who has played the game felt the game's ending reflects poorly on its treatment of autism. I personally didn't get that, nor do I think it was the intent, but regardless of if you end up enjoying it or not, I think you'd probably at least enjoy seeing the issue treated in a game, and perhaps want to discuss it after completion to see whether or not you were able to relate to the experiences presented.
Recommending this game of course does not take away from the idea that it would be nice to see the issue represented more broadly.
Mr_Antimatter
Member
I wouldn't expect a lot of blanks in a japnese game, given blacks are very rare in Japan. Heck, foreigners are pretty rare as a whole of their population period.
None the less, you actually do see a pretty interesting variety of races real or imagined, in Japanese games. Granted, due to 'anime' style art, it's damn hard at times to tell what race they are suppose to be.
bobbychalkers
Member
Killer 7 is still #1 in diversity in my book, shame we might not see something like that again from a big publisher again.
You'll go far here.
lol
Haunted
Member
For anyone interested in the topic, check out the excellent presentation Manveer Heir gave on the topic of diversity in the industry at this year's GDC.
One of only three panels (I think) that got thunderous applause and standing ovations from the crowd this year.
I think OP hasn't been looking closely enough, as I feel that GDC's advocacy talks were more numerous and more populated than ever before. The call for more social awareness has seen a real resurgence within the industry as well as from outside forces (gaming sites etc) recently.
One of only three panels (I think) that got thunderous applause and standing ovations from the crowd this year.
I think OP hasn't been looking closely enough, as I feel that GDC's advocacy talks were more numerous and more populated than ever before. The call for more social awareness has seen a real resurgence within the industry as well as from outside forces (gaming sites etc) recently.
Muscle Wizard
Banned
Which is also funny as the meta story is about conflicting culture and ideologies.
The Assassins creed games are the most multicultural game I've seen. The games goes from Arab to Italian to Native American to welsh-born British and African to French.
King Gilga
Member
I'll be happy enough when 'token brown guy/girl' is at least thing in games, like it's happening in TV.
This has to be a joke post...
This has to be a joke post...
Uncle Rupee
Banned
Choosing from the top selling 150 titles isn't exactly indicative of anything. That's such a ridiculously small pool. The list also obviously excludes titles like Wii Sports that allow you to make your own characters whatever ethnicity you like, not to mention games that don't even feature representations of people at all - like most racing and puzzle games. What would a game like Tetris or Angry Birds have to do with a "study" like this, yet they are a part of the top 150 selling games. And what about games like Sim City? Just because you don't see representations of people of color doesn't mean they aren't living in your city!
I think in some ways we're reaching that slippery slope of inclusiveness versus the impossible task of making everyone happy. Where does this sort of thing start and where does it end? You can't please and not offend everyone. It simply isn't reasonable to attempt doing that. It inevitably ends in failure.
CrackPebbles
Member
Some diversity would be nice, I can't even find characters to cosplay as.
Garcia Hotspur is cool. Like a Mexican Dante.
Garcia Hotspur is cool. Like a Mexican Dante.
My point is, when I meet someone, or play a character in a game, or watch a character in a film, I am not thinking about their race. I only find myself thinking about the 'race' of others (if that even exists any more), when someone brings it up whilst discussing racism/discrimination. I think making an active effort to put more black people into your game for example is borderline racist in itself, because 'race' is in your mind when it really shouldn't be in this day an age.
As a girl who is a person of color...
I don't care too much, I just want the character I'm playing as to be kind, attractive and probably male. :/
But more inclusion would be nice now that it's becoming an active issue. I can't really think of many black women in games. The most recent characters were in TLoU and BI. And both of them were...well, they weren't treated well by the white male protagonist. xD
They are almost always the character who is too assertive and undesirable to be a love interest. But also not strong enough to be an actual fighting character either. Black women in the media is...strange.
I don't care too much, I just want the character I'm playing as to be kind, attractive and probably male. :/
But more inclusion would be nice now that it's becoming an active issue. I can't really think of many black women in games. The most recent characters were in TLoU and BI. And both of them were...well, they weren't treated well by the white male protagonist. xD
They are almost always the character who is too assertive and undesirable to be a love interest. But also not strong enough to be an actual fighting character either. Black women in the media is...strange.
True. Still though, More options wouldn't hurt. And of course, we're speaking only of one demographic.
Do you even need to ask that lol
--
As a white dude with brown hair myself, I strongly dislike the lack of variety in video game protagonists. Whenever given a choice, I'll usually select a female character. Whenever a game is shown for the first time and I see a white dude with brown hair protag, I let out an audible sigh and become a little less interested to be honest.
Are you white?
I think a major problem with Video Games is that they're quite limited in the stories or experiences they are producing. The industry is so profit driven that something different, whether it's the color of a character's skin or even the gameplay itself, cannot be that divergent from the norm.
If the market was more supportive of newer experiences and games that weren't so driven by violence and established forms of gameplay/progression, developers might have a greater incentive and desire to diversify their characters.
I don't know if it's true but I doubt I'm the only one who feels as though indie titles and smaller more creatives games seem to more often involve less stereotypical characters and experiences.
If the market was more supportive of newer experiences and games that weren't so driven by violence and established forms of gameplay/progression, developers might have a greater incentive and desire to diversify their characters.
I don't know if it's true but I doubt I'm the only one who feels as though indie titles and smaller more creatives games seem to more often involve less stereotypical characters and experiences.
Zomba13
Member
My Avatar is white, like me, and I don't see white people act like that either, and even then, do black people act differently than whites? Like, are they tougher and bigger and more manly because they are black so they shouldn't have the same, stupid and weird ass animations?
You can't use Avatars as a good or bad example of ethnic diversity in videogames. Yeah, they can be any colour or gender but they are still soulless creatures with no character that exist to make money for MS from selling virtual clothing and appearing in horrible kinect games.
Also I liked Sazh. Dunno what that says about him, me or the other characters in that awful game but he was one of the more real and sympathetic characters (he just wants to save his adorable son ;_
.King Gilga
Member
Please tell me what fantastical imaginary Utopia you live in where race is not an issue and how many drugs do I have to take to get there?
Gentleman Jack
Member
Why shouldn't 'race' be in our minds?
RMS Gigantic
Member
To the Moon falls under the category of "supporting character that fits the description but is never explicitly stated by the creator to be autistic" category I mentioned. It's like the main protagonist of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, where the book has a top-notch portrayal of the mind of an autistic person, even though the author knew virtually nothing of the disorders when he wrote it.
I might give the game a shot, though. All of what I know of it comes from its Wikipedia article and its wiki.
SomedayTheFire
Member
Christ.
"I'm so 'not racist' that I don't even notice different races... Atleast until the real racists have to ruin everything by bringing up the subject!"
wth..
This response is almost entirely orthogonal to my initial post. Companies are welcome to hide behind the bottom line if they like -- although inclusivity increases their potential markets -- at which point social opprobrium will have to do the job.
I'm okay with either. You can do it because it's the right thing to do, or you can do it when your customers hold your feet to the fire under the withering hail of social media. One of those is better for companies in the long run, but short sightedness is certainly common.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
One of the biggest challenges is that representation doesn't mean stereotype or tokenism; so while minorities of all sorts want to be represented, they want to be represented in a way that captures their full stature as a person rather than reduces them to one element of who they are.
Uncle Rupee
Banned
Is Mortal Kombat in the top 150 best selling games? Chief Thunder (Killer Instinct) and T. Hawk (Street Fighter) were also apparently ignored.
Except videogames don't really do that for white people either.
For what it's worth, Nightwolf is fucking badass.
Funny you say this, since Japan did produce this guy that reps Bangladesh;
Ash Faruk protagonist of Front Mission 2. I wish the game come out properly in English (I know there is an unfinished fan translation), I hear the game is pretty good.
Let's not forget that this is a problem for all kinds of media- not just video games.
Even games that allow you to create your own character will still feature the white guy on the cover.
(dude was banned but color blindness contributes to racism as it ignores the systemic inequalities that still exist in society today.)
Even games that allow you to create your own character will still feature the white guy on the cover.
(dude was banned but color blindness contributes to racism as it ignores the systemic inequalities that still exist in society today.)
Glad someone brought this up, it did cross my mind whilst reading it.
I don't really know anyone who acts like their XBL avatar, and I would not attach those actions to a particular race either. I'm not sure why doing so wasn't questioned in the article.
I think you need to consider learning more about race and the different manifestations of racism. There is no denying that there are systematic biases that favor whites versus anyone else in the United States, for example. Ignoring the issue of race and taking a color-blind position may seem noble to you, but you are essentially maintaining the status and letting racial disparities persist.
IdreamofHIME
Member
It's amazing, because he is. That poster shows you who is more ignorant.
It's worth noting that some of the biggest movies of the past few years have been big because they stopped appealing just to men and brought in women as well. I can't even begin to number the amount of women I know who went to The Avengers because they thought the male leads were all sexy.
Appealing to just one demographic is foolish and myopic. We need more diverse casts, and there's literally nothing stopping us from doing that.
I thought it was pretty cool that AC3 featured a Native American man and AC3: Liberation featured a half black, half white woman. Unfortunately, they both turned out to be terrible games, and not just in terms of gameplay. I felt that Connor's heritage and culture were squandered and his character overall was poorly written. Aveline was handled better though; her background was a key part of her identity and of the story. I thought Adéwalé and ACIV: Freedom Cry was fairly well written too. I always find it refreshing when the characters, or the gameplay, or another major aspect of a game is non-typical. Makes the game stand out even more to me. Devs should try it out more.
Fun fact:
http://thegrio.com/2011/11/11/blacks-play-games-but-dont-design-them/
"I don't see race". Never gets old.
http://thegrio.com/2011/11/11/blacks-play-games-but-dont-design-them/
"I don't see race". Never gets old.
Damn, those results are pretty damning (especially the figures for Hispanic representation, that one resonates with me). Unfortunately, I don't see the industry changing any time soon. To fix this you'd need more minorities involved in the development process, but that isn't going to happen until initiatives come about to draw them in (or make the environment more welcoming to them).
Game developers are often white men making games for a largely white male audience, a combination of people sticking to what they know and catering to a major gaming demographic.
Game developers are often white men making games for a largely white male audience, a combination of people sticking to what they know and catering to a major gaming demographic.
1. It got worse due to AAA budgets exploding, thus causing games to be cookie cutter and safe in character design.
2. Lack of minority developers, its the age old problem of writing what's familiar to you. Its like how speculative fiction was dominated by male readers, because all the writers were male. Once more female writers came aboard, so came the female readers.
2. Lack of minority developers, its the age old problem of writing what's familiar to you. Its like how speculative fiction was dominated by male readers, because all the writers were male. Once more female writers came aboard, so came the female readers.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
Cryengine would be nice.
Muscle Wizard
Banned
Racism has been dead ever since the release of LocoCycle.
Mr_Antimatter
Member
I have to point to games like Infamous SS here in that regard. Is the MC a native american? Yes! Does it reflect in parts of his personality and background? Yes again.
But is he a stereotype? Not in the least.
You are right though, it's sometimes hard to highlight a characters background or race, without making them a walking stereotype for that culture. Some series pull it off, others crash and burn at it.
this can not be real life.
MidnightCowboy
Member
I don't want to pile on with everybody, but this is extremely ignorant. Yeah we've made huge strides over the years, but to deny race plays a factor in society is plain foolish. Maybe for you it doesn't, but for millions of people around the world it still does.