My primary black influence is a gentleman in his late 40s. He's originally from Montserrat, an island located in the Caribbean.
He has a slight islander accent, he's roughly 5' 4" (he's a small guy), he's compassionate, wise, caring, respectful, but he's seen a great deal in his life and he's tough as nails. He's probably one of the few people I know who could genuinely beat me in a fight.
Every white person I've seen who knows him looks up to him, without exception, even the wealthy white people who hire him (he's a master chef and runs the kitchen in a country club).
He's the inspiration for two of the characters I've created, one who's black-irish (his last name is Ryan and his middle name is Ozzie, making him an O. Ryan). The other is a more direct interpretation of him, a character who runs his own business with a team of employees he hand picked on a journey around the country.
So yeah, I see a lack of black protagonists as well as the typical stereotyping. I agree that crappy storytelling overall in the gaming market is to blame, though. It's going to take a pretty good writer to put a REAL black protagonist on the map.
Who knows. Maybe it'll be me some day...
"I mean, c'mon, Viva Pinata, a game with massive marketing, didn't sell worth a damn to the "sophisticated" 360 audience, despite near-universal praise--is that a sign that 360 owners are a bunch of casual ignoramuses that can't get their heads around a 'gardening' sim? Of course not. So let's please stop trying to micro-analyze one game out of hundreds and using it as the poster child for why good, non-1st party, games can't sell on Wii. (Everyone frequenting this site knows this is nonsense, and yet some of you just can't let it go because it's the only scab you have left to pick at after all your other "Wii will phail1!!1" straw men arguments have been put to the torch.)" - exindguy on Boom Blocks
