Hahaha, that's great.

The average 18-25 male in the US doesn't read much beyond sports magazines.  This is why the American Booksellers Association has retargeted most of their adult-fiction shelf space for female readers starting about 30 years ago.  It's an ugly fact, but I can't do anything about that, so this is going to be a factor for any games publisher.

However, just because it's a factor doesn't mean 18-25 year old American men can't appreciate a good story or complex characters, just that a very large percentage also enjoy role-playing as characters that don't reflect their own lives.  I've been involved in software design and engineering for the past 28 years... do you really think I want to buy a game where I role-play a character who gets up every morning, drives the kids to school, sits behind a computer screen for 8-10 hours, drives home, eats dinner, etc?  Uh, no.  I want to be an archer or a swordsman or a government agent on an adventure with no real-life ramifications for my actions in the game, i.e. - if I die in the game I want to be able to reload and try again, not get buried and that to be the end of it.  I have to deal with real-life limitations all the time... games are about being able to do things that are very very difficult, rarely available, or impossible in real life.

There's nothing wrong with putting sophisticated, intelligent characters in video games (Mass Effect does this very well), as long as the context allows for it.  I thought Gears of War was about hardened soldiers who's natural ability to survive and training allows them to triumph over evil in the end.  Would I rather have Cole or a brilliant scientist in the trenches with me in that scenario?  What do *you* think? 

I hate to break this to you, but they do exist.  How many rappers are now in jail for pulling out guns and blowing away people they know?  Hmmm...

This doesn't represent the majority of African Americans, particularly not the people I work with, go to church with, etc.  But having people out there like 50 Cent probably does a heck of a lot more damage than a character like Cole in GOW... someone with guts, raw talent at what he specializes in, and a never say quit attitude.

 What's your definition of rapper ? anyone who can rhyme "Cat" with  "Mat" can consider themselves a rapper.How many rappers have done positive and constructive things like giving back to their communities,anti gun/knife crime campaigns? We wouldn't know considering the media doesn't care about that.

 I'm talking about people most often in the media spotlight , the most influencial names in Hip Hop Jay Z,50 Cent,Nas,Snoop Dog , they portray themselves as "Hustlas","Gangstas" and "Pimps" when in a actual fact they're nothing of the sort , just products being tailor made to the consumers needs.

Let me help:

I doubt they're "nothing of the sort". I guess it's a fabrication that P. Diddy was arrested with J. Lo some years ago.

The point is not this one.

Yes fazz, famous rapper have done "real" bad thing in the past
Yes Million, these guys are now "real" father, quit average cytizens and play with their past to sell more CD

OK

but at the end, for me, the picture that is shown by the media to the public, whatever this is true or not, is a stereotypical profil that play agaisnt people.

@fazz In what way does past convictions define what they are now ? It's lifestyles they had and aren't associated with anymore. None of the above have served anything above a year in prison.

I wouldn't make my mind up about white american blonde girls based on Paris Hilton and Linzy Lohan , how is 50 cent and Snoop Dog supposed to be reppresentative of the typical black american ?

 If Paris Hilton started talking about how she was gangster and a real thug boasting about her past criminal convictions you'd agree it was justification enough ? 

If Paris Hilton said how stupid and shallow she was, I'd believe her right away.

And it's not about if they really are or what not. It's about how they feel/are-in the need to fuel and live up to that stereotype (that some of those guys actually fill quite right), and how thanks to people like them, it spread to things like  videogames.