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[Xenoboy]

He's a white Russian, no?

He doesn't look white to me and either way wouldn't a russian protagonist count in the thread anyway?

 

[SomedayTheFire]

He doesn't look white to me and either way wouldn't a russian protagonist count in the thread anyway?

So all non Americans count?

 

[Teuoxton]

He doesn't look white to me and either way wouldn't a russian protagonist count in the thread anyway?

It depends on what the OP defines as ethnicity I guess. Russians Italians and Irish are all different ethnicities among "Caucasians" just as Thai Chinese and Mongolians are among "Asians". The more the better I say, no matter where they are from.

Anyway Ivan is apparently part of

Spoiler

a group descended from Japanese ninja clans that fled to Russia, so he might not be completely Russian.

 

[Krejlooc]

Do things like Shenmue count? The protagonist is Japanese... but, half of the series thus far takes place in Japan.

Then again, the major theme in the series is being a stranger in a foreign country...

 

[PSqueak]

So all non Americans count?

It's a fact that, in the internet, when somebody says "white people" they actually mean "white americans".

 

[BrainZEROX]

i am at awe that we have yet to have an action franchise with a dark foxxy afro chick. For shame game industry.

We sort of already had one.

Don't ask me two though...

 

[silvermember]

If things change, then some won't be able to enjoy an unlimited number of games with protagonists that look like them. Diversity could bring about better understanding of other cultures, but games are supposed to be fun. Video games aren't social experiments. They are meant to allow the gamer to disconnect from reality and kill things.

If people have an issue with a character that is not their race, it speaks more about the type of person they are. Non-whites and female for most of their lives played characters that are completely different from them and they got over it.

Your reaction is a good reason why games are a should be a social experiment. Like it or not games have influence on people.

 

[silvermember]

I agree that I didn't think he was so bad stereotype-wise. The chocobo in his afro was was a little much but I laughed. He is easily the most relatable/likable character in that group of insane people.



Yeah, I know. Pretty sad that they have no faith in anything including freaking MegaMan.

You can be a walking stereotype and still be likable those are not mutually exclusive. I mean I like the guy but geez, I lol a lot.

 

[lazygecko]

If people have an issue with a character that is not their race, it speaks more about the type of person they are. Non-whites and female for most of their lives played characters that are completely different from them and they got over it.

Your reaction is a good reason why games are a should be a social experiment. Like it or not games have influence on people.

Case in point: The randomized character additions to Rust.

 

[Steel]

I wonder if the Prince of Persia games(any of them) count. I mean, yeah you have a Persian main character, but it's not like he's a minority where he's at.

 

[silvermember]

I wonder if the Prince of Persia games(any of them) count. I mean, yeah you have a Persian main character, but it's not like he's a minority where he's at.

The OP is talking about minority relative to where WE are aka U.S. Yes, some people here are from europe but neogaf is based in the U.S.

 

[wsippel]

But yet and still they end up looking like white males anyway. "Not human" is the new "She's actually 3,000 years old" it feels like.

I'm talking about things like this:

White? Absolutely. Male? Probably. Human? Certainly not.

 

[Ke0]

I'm talking about things like this:

White? Absolutely. Male? Probably. Human? Certainly not.

And those "non human" character don't make up a very large number of main characters, especially in AAA gaming.

 

[AndyLonn]

No, not really.

Even if you were going to argue about him being fantasy-counterpart Polish, he's in fantasy-counterpart Poland developed by a Polish studio. That's like arguing Persona 3 stars a minority because the main character is Japanese.

He's a mutant who gets discriminated for being different, how is he not a minority in the setting of the game

 

[Steel]

The OP is talking about minority relative to where WE are aka U.S. Yes, some people here are from europe but neogaf is based in the U.S.

Well, I meant that in the context of the Witcher being discussed.

Like so:

He's a mutant who gets discriminated for being different, how is he not a minority in the setting of the game

I mean, if the qualifier becomes that they have to be a minority in the game's setting, then it gets kinda confusing.

 

[Parakeetman]

I wonder if the Prince of Persia games(any of them) count. I mean, yeah you have a Persian main character, but it's not like he's a minority where he's at.

Ash Faruk from Front Mission 2. While his last name is of Arab origins

Farooq (also transliterated as Farouk, Farook, Faruk, Faroeq, Faruq, or Farouq; Arabic: فاروق‎, Fārūq&#8239 is a common Arabic given and family name derived from an honorific of Umar, an early Muslim leader. Al-Farooq literally means, "the one who distinguishes between right and wrong."

the main character is from Alordesh (modern-day Bangladesh).

Alordesh (modern-day Bangladesh), a member state for the Oceania Cooperative Union (OCU).[5] The formation of the OCU in the early 21st century led to rapid industrialization of developing countries such as Bangladesh. During the 1st Huffman Conflict in 2070, Bangladesh's economic growth flourishes with the OCU because of many war factories in the country. However, the economic boom begins to slow down in 2080, with a loss of foreign investments and pullout of several businesses. Five years later, the OCU offers to provide Bangladesh with foreign aid, provided it joins the union. The Bangladeshi economy resurges briefly during the 2nd Huffman Conflict. Anti-OCU sentiments grew after the war and in 2094, Bangladesh renames itself as the "People's Republic of Alordesh".[6] Four years later, the Alordeshi military, the Forces of Alordesh, staged a coup d'état. While the coup failed, it further increased anti-OCU support and led to a second coup in 2102.

 

[Thornton Reed]

How has no one mentioned

 

[Crimson_Gold]

If people have an issue with a character that is not their race, it speaks more about the type of person they are. Non-whites and female for most of their lives played characters that are completely different from them and they got over it.

Your reaction is a good reason why games are a should be a social experiment. Like it or not games have influence on people.

I was joking. I'm going to edit the post

 

[spindashing]

How has no one mentioned

He and Infamous Second Son has been mentioned.

 

[Lego Boss]

The OP is talking about minority relative to where WE are aka U.S. Yes, some people here are from europe but neogaf is based in the U.S.

Yeah l do mean that. It's difficult though when context is taken.into account, such as Wei Shen in Sleep Dogs, i.e. if there was a Japanese lead then he would be counted as a minority.

But for the purposes of discussion it's in relation to GAF's home, which is US and predominantly white - as a nation (but certainly not in specific areas such as Texas, New Mexico etc).

 

[Thornton Reed]

He and Infamous Second Son has been mentioned.

I scanned through the thread and didn't see any pictures. I thought Delsin was a great lead and a positive portraial of a Native American

 

[wsippel]

And those "non human" character don't make up a very large number of main characters, especially in AAA gaming.

It's a bit more complicated. They actually make up the majority overall as far as I'm aware, but are pretty rare in console centric AAA games. The problem is that "GAF" thinks AAA console games are a much bigger deal than they actually are.

 

[dragonlife]

How has no one mentioned

9th post.

 

[Rlan]

A while ago i was posturizing what the first non-sports, non-celeb, selected-first black main character was on Twitter.

Daley Thompson is definitely the first i think, as he got a ton of c64 stuff but he's sports. Michael Jackson is another, but he's celeb.

In terms of first selectable character, i think it's actually Adam from Streets of Rage, which is kind of cool and sad since he got stuffed into the kidnapped-princeas role in 2 & 3.

Other than that, the next might be Mick from Global Gladiators?

There's a breakdancing game on the c64.. But i might consider that a sport

Anyone think of anyone else?

 

[Steel]

.

In terms of first selectable character, i think it's actually Adam from Streets of Rage, which is kind of cool and sad since he got stuffed into the kidnapped-princeas role in 2 & 3.

Well, he kinda played pretty much like Axel, so I get why they replaced him. And adding in this badass to replace him in 2 was a good change imo:

 

[spindashing]

I scanned through the thread and didn't see any pictures. I thought Delsin was a great lead and a positive portraial of a Native American

Try the search function next time, lol.

 

[888]

That is one right off the top of my head.

 

[silvermember]

Well, I meant that in the context of the Witcher being discussed.

Like so:



I mean, if the qualifier becomes that they have to be a minority in the game's setting, then it gets kinda confusing.

If you want to talk about geralt you will have to talk about him in the context of discrimination. However this isn't really the topic about it, even though there is a correlation between race and discrimination. This topic seems to be more about ethnicity in terms of racial than about discrimination.

ADDED: Is this character from an underrepresented race or ethnicity? I think that is how you should approach this particular topic.

 

[FullmetalPain]

 

[redcrayon]

Well, he kinda played pretty much like Axel, so I get why they replaced him. And adding in this badass to replace him in 2 was a good change imo:

You had Skate as well.

I always played Adam in SoR, and didn't feel like him and Axel were any more similar than Axel and Blaze or Adam and Blaze.
As far as I remember, they were marked for strength, speed and jump, with Blaze losing out on strength, Adam on speed and Axel on jump. They all played really similarly, it's only when you got to SoR2 that Axel and Blaze became slightly more differentiated through their combos and special moves with Skate and Max on the extremes.

Also, regarding the OP, Streets of Rage wasn't released in the 80s, it was '90/91 as far as I remember.

 

[Steel]

You had Skate as well.

I always played Adam in SoR, and didn't feel like him and Axel were any more similar than Axel and Blaze or Adam and Blaze.
As far as I remember, they were marked for strength, speed and jump, with Blaze losing out on strength, Adam on speed and Axel on jump. They all played really similarly, it's only when you got to SoR2 that Axel and Blaze became slightly more differentiated through their combos and special moves with Skate and Max on the extremes.

Also, regarding the OP, Streets of Rage wasn't released in the 80s, it was '90/91 as far as I remember.

I couldn't honestly remember if Skate was black. Weird, cause he and Max were my two favorite characters. As for the Axel, Blaze and Adam differences, I think Blaze had a bit of uniqueness to her moves and throwing style, whereas adam and axel were pretty much the same beyond the stat you're talking about. But yeah, I agree that the characters only really became distinct from one another in SOF 2.

 

[shoreu]

If people have an issue with a character that is not their race, it speaks more about the type of person they are. Non-whites and female for most of their lives played characters that are completely different from them and they got over it.

Your reaction is a good reason why games are a should be a social experiment. Like it or not games have influence on people.

Lol wow dude change really we should just get over it and settle for what we have right? We got over it because no one was going to change them for us. Now when we finally have a chance for some AAA spotlight and people like you tell us to get over it.

 

[redcrayon]

I couldn't honestly remember if Skate was black. Weird, cause he and Max were my two favorite characters. As for the Axel, Blaze and Adam differences, I think Blaze had a bit of uniqueness to her moves and throwing style, whereas adam and axel were pretty much the same beyond the stat you're talking about. But yeah, I agree that the characters only really became distinct from one another in SOF 2.

Ah, fair enough, I haven't used Blaze in SoR1 for a long time! Skate was Adam's younger brother, I think. Always nearly brought a tear to my eye when there's a still of him hugging Adam in the SoR2 end sequence, then one of him sitting on his bro's shoulders as the sun comes up.

 

[Rlan]

Well, he kinda played pretty much like Axel, so I get why they replaced him. And adding in this badass to replace him in 2 was a good change imo:

For sure, andeven though he's the first selectable character, he'a really downplayed in everything else -- he's not on the cover of the game, and he's completely omitted from the Game Gear version. Him being first selectable is almost some mind game trick to make you realize yoi can play the game cooperatively, as most players probably ended up picking Axel as their main character.

 

[neojubei]

Afro Samurai

 

[BKK]

I wonder if it has to do with Nintendo being based in Japan and thus not very concerned with black representation, but it's rather unfortunate that they have hardly any black characters considering how well they seem to represent women, at least.

Every Nintendo-published Wii U game that came out in 2014 lets you play as at least one female character.

Well...

 

[DC1]

It's sad that Lee is probably the first minority character I can think of right now that I actually enjoyed playing as. That is, one from a well made game that was also successful commercially.

And then they

Spoiler

killed

him.... Typical!

 

[DC1]

I love exploring this topic, purely from an educational perspective. What 2K and Ubi have/are doing is bridging the gap of education and history that make conversations like this safe and productive.

 

[Brine]

And then they

Spoiler

killed

him.... Typical!

This was a very ambiguous spoiler.

 

[DedValve]

And then they

Spoiler

killed

him.... Typical!

Clementine takes over in Season 2 being both black and a female and a child. That was a doozy.

Whats great is that people love the walking dead BECAUSE of Lee/Clementine not despite it.

Spoiler

Although there are some people who will challenge the idea that Clementine is an african american.

 

[retroman]

Ah, fair enough, I haven't used Blaze in SoR1 for a long time! Skate was Adam's younger brother, I think. Always nearly brought a tear to my eye when there's a still of him hugging Adam in the SoR2 end sequence, then one of him sitting on his bro's shoulders as the sun comes up.

Yeah, that ending is great. I always get a bittersweet nostalgic feeling whenever I hear that beautiful theme

 

[DC1]

This was a very ambiguous spoiler.

I appreciate the compliment.

 

[K.Sabot]

2 recent ones i can think of are Starhawk and Prototype 2.

 

[DC1]

Clementine takes over in Season 2 being both black and a female and a child. That was a doozy.

Whats great is that people love the walking dead BECAUSE of Lee/Clementine not despite it.

Spoiler

Although there are some people who will challenge the idea that Clementine is an african american.

And this is why Lee is such a powerful character: Well written, and firmly grounded in believability. By far, one of my favorite gaming characters of all time.

 

[The Lone Courier]

Nick Mendoza from Battlefield Hardline

 

[Samara]

Dance Central is mostly people of color. 4 African american, one asian, 2 latinos, 1 portuguese, on 3 caucasians
Lee.....one of my favorite. Badass dude.

 

[Ke0]

It's a bit more complicated. They actually make up the majority overall as far as I'm aware, but are pretty rare in console centric AAA games. The problem is that "GAF" thinks AAA console games are a much bigger deal than they actually are.

I doubt it honestly. Only way I can see that is if you bring in mobile games.

 

[jackissocool]

How has no one mentioned

He was mentioned and discussed more than once.

 

[retroman]

A while ago i was posturizing what the first non-sports, non-celeb, selected-first black main character was on Twitter.

Daley Thompson is definitely the first i think, as he got a ton of c64 stuff but he's sports. Michael Jackson is another, but he's celeb.

In terms of first selectable character, i think it's actually Adam from Streets of Rage, which is kind of cool and sad since he got stuffed into the kidnapped-princeas role in 2 & 3.

Other than that, the next might be Mick from Global Gladiators?

There's a breakdancing game on the c64.. But i might consider that a sport

Anyone think of anyone else?

I suddenly remembered this C64 game from 1983:

 

[DC1]

I suddenly remembered this C64 game from 1983:

I had this game on the "notched" other side of my 5" floppy.

Don't judge me.