So is the problem of the white main characters only, arising because the audience would reject the game if they don't have someone that looks like them at the helm? Would they reject it if it doesn't fit into their "belief system" e.g a black main character thats an "Otacon smart" Nobel Laureate? It seems more like developers are playing it "safe" so their games don't get rejected by thier audience which is predominantly white. The question is do the devs have to play it safe? Can they take risks? Would the risks sell?

These are the real issues and no one is answering them. People are only taking cop-out answers: "More western gamers=More western Characters"

the games are made to reach the biggest audience. for the industry that is usually having them white. just to see an example of this, look at ratchet after he was localized. insomniac completely changed how he felt to make him accepted.

im sure a lot of the asian games that dont make it over here dont have exclusively white characters.

Square has also stated that the want to appeal to more international(white) audiences. Perhaps thats one of the explanations of removing all Japanese characters from the cast even though the main character has always been white anyway. Does it have to be this way or is Square just paranoid of having an FF that doesn't sell?

 So you conclude that audiences are unable to accept main characters that don't think/look/behave like them?

On the otherhand; the pretty girls in those Square games are not blond actually; Tifa, Rinoa and Garnett have black hair, Aeris and Yuna brown, and Yuna looks East-Asian, Tidus actually also looks a half Japanese. That's as good as it get's. FF12 was really European, and what I have seen of 13, that one is also going to be 'European'. It's like with the cover of the Playboy, I once heard that if the put non-white women on the cover the issues sell less. So yes people prefer their own kind, with which they seem to better individualise.

I think Square is overdoing it. I think most of us actually would like some more diversity in the FF games; I don't mind seeing more Japanese, Indian or African characters. As long as they keep the main Hero white, the Western people will like it. :D.... Also, with the Western countries being so powerfull the last centuries, and in the last with Hollywood and other media; the white characteristics have become more and more associated with beauty. And in our heads beauty = good.

This is what I was getting at in the game sense of it. Thats why I claimed that the devs pander to a white audience.

Yeah true. Their idea of diversity is having lizard creatures in the game.

But that kind of behaviour you can not really blame on the average Westener. I think that if Africa would rule the world, and LA, New York, Londen and Paris were Accra, Lagos, Adiss Abeba an Khartoum, then we would have seen a lot African people in movies and games and less whites.. and if the world was rules by birds, we would mostly see birds in all media I think.

You know a lot about the world. Not that many westerners have any idea that those last 4 cities you mentioned even exist!