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Forums - Gaming - Why do 99% of videogames pander to white (especially American) audiences?

ArtznCraphs on 10 July 2008
Soleron said:
ArtznCraphs said:
 

 

 Symptomatic of the game industries' inability to craft narratives and concepts with real world truths, and why games are not being taken seriously next to film.   Even fantasy fails without nods to truth.

 So American militaristic and law forces are always the good guys, or heroes, even though militarism is not a very heroic or moral concept, and many police are "just doing my job/whatever I'm told)."   Black culture can only exist in primitive poverty or crime ridden urban sprawl, or athletic competition.  The only conflict worth portraying is saving the world-kingdom/killing god(s) and it can be done by a ragtag group of young people.

 

Games. are. not. moral. lessons.

Games. are. escapism.

You do realize I'm replying to an idea someone else put forth.  I like to actually acknowledge people's points in a somewhat relevant manner instead of throwing my hands up and "oh well, it's just games n' stuff"

 



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shanbcn on 10 July 2008

Assassinscreed is the best selling new IP this generation and guess what? The main character is Arab! PoP series main character is Iranian.



Pristine20 on 10 July 2008
mike_intellivision said:
Two interesting games

Capcom's 1942 -- Japanese company makes a game where you are trying to defeat Japan.

EA's Battlefield 1942: American company makes a game where you can play as US, UK, USSR, German, or Japanese soldier.

Is that the exception that proves the rule? (In other words, Japanese game-makers may over compensate whereas occasionally American ones will experiment).

Mike from Morgantown

 

 Ineteresting point you make there. But this shows that the main heros are not chosen at random as some people like to belive but you may be right that the Japanese overcompensate.

In response to the RE5 comments, I would have loved to see the internet response if RE5 featured a Darfur agent shooting down hordes of white zombies in Pittsburgh.



"Dr. Tenma, according to you, lives are equal. That's why I live today. But you must have realised it by now...the only thing people are equal in is death"---Johann Liebert (MONSTER)

"WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives"---Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler

Pristine20 on 10 July 2008
shanbcn said:
Assassinscreed is the best selling new IP this generation and guess what? The main character is Arab! PoP series main character is Iranian.

Altair is only technically Arab. He looks white and you can barely even discern his features with the hood he has on. PoP is a similar case scenario. Also Persia is only technically Iran. Do you really think the PoP series would be as popular if it was called Prince of Iran?

 



"Dr. Tenma, according to you, lives are equal. That's why I live today. But you must have realised it by now...the only thing people are equal in is death"---Johann Liebert (MONSTER)

"WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives"---Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler

bardicverse on 10 July 2008
ArtznCraphs said:
bardicverse said:
Pristine20 said:

1. Celebrities are beyond how regular people are defined.

2. Its worth noting that the ones with black characters as leads are called "True Crime" and "Grand Theft Auto". These are not people that "save" the world if you get my drift.

 

 

Ummm... you do realize that the True Crime games are about being a cop and busting gangs/mafia?

That's Pristine's point. Black characters get to play in the streets and ghettos fighting other brown skinned people, but not
Spira fighting Seymour Natis

 

 

That's not what pristine's point was. He was saying that the hero of those games is not a person who "saves" the world.. in other words, you're playing as a seedy character. Yet in TC:NY, you play a cop, a respectable position.



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rocketpig on 10 July 2008
Pristine20 said:
mike_intellivision said:
Two interesting games

Capcom's 1942 -- Japanese company makes a game where you are trying to defeat Japan.

EA's Battlefield 1942: American company makes a game where you can play as US, UK, USSR, German, or Japanese soldier.

Is that the exception that proves the rule? (In other words, Japanese game-makers may over compensate whereas occasionally American ones will experiment).

Mike from Morgantown

 

 Ineteresting point you make there. But this shows that the main heros are not chosen at random as some people like to belive but you may be right that the Japanese overcompensate.

In response to the RE5 comments, I would have loved to see the internet response if RE5 featured a Darfur agent shooting down hordes of white zombies in Pittsburgh.

Honestly, I doubt there would have been much talk about it at all.

After all, the first RE games took place in the USA. I doubt the protagonist's skin color would matter one bit to most gamers.

OT: I think we see an overwhelming majority of white protagonists because of the industry. Historically, video games have been made by white people for white gamers. This is definitely changing but until there are a significant amount of non-white programmers and game developers, that probably won't change much.

It's not really racist, people just have a habit of gravitating toward what they know IMO.

 




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rocketpig on 10 July 2008
Pristine20 said:
shanbcn said:
Assassinscreed is the best selling new IP this generation and guess what? The main character is Arab! PoP series main character is Iranian.

Altair is only technically Arab. He looks white and you can barely even discern his features with the hood he has on. PoP is a similar case scenario. Also Persia is only technically Iran. Do you really think the PoP series would be as popular if it was called Prince of Iran?

 

No, but now you're confusing the issue. Iran and the West have a very hostile relationship politically. It wouldn't do well because of politics, not because of race, the same way a game in 1988 featuring a Soviet general attacking Western Europe wouldn't have sold well.

 




Or check out my new webcomic: http://selfcentent.com/

shanbcn on 10 July 2008
Pristine20 said:
shanbcn said:
Assassinscreed is the best selling new IP this generation and guess what? The main character is Arab! PoP series main character is Iranian.

Altair is only technically Arab. He looks white and you can barely even discern his features with the hood he has on. PoP is a similar case scenario. Also Persia is only technically Iran. Do you really think the PoP series would be as popular if it was called Prince of Iran?

 

 

Ok, these excuses are pretty pathetic. What about new game Afro-samurai? I don't think Prince of persia or Altair looks like whites. You will find these types people in Arab countries and especially Iran.



superchunk on 10 July 2008
shanbcn said:
Pristine20 said:
shanbcn said:
Assassinscreed is the best selling new IP this generation and guess what? The main character is Arab! PoP series main character is Iranian.

Altair is only technically Arab. He looks white and you can barely even discern his features with the hood he has on. PoP is a similar case scenario. Also Persia is only technically Iran. Do you really think the PoP series would be as popular if it was called Prince of Iran?

 

 

Ok, these excuses are pretty pathetic. What about new game Afro-samurai? I don't think Prince of persia or Altair looks like whites. You will find these types people in Arab countries and especially Iran.

They look white, to people who do not live in the Middle East or are around Middle Eastern people a lot. Basically, if you ask and average Western person what an Arab/Persian person looks like (for one they would think that is the same thing) they would describe a darker brown colored person with dark hair, eyes, etc.

 



Gamerace on 10 July 2008
shanbcn said:
Pristine20 said:
shanbcn said:
Assassinscreed is the best selling new IP this generation and guess what? The main character is Arab! PoP series main character is Iranian.

Altair is only technically Arab. He looks white and you can barely even discern his features with the hood he has on. PoP is a similar case scenario. Also Persia is only technically Iran. Do you really think the PoP series would be as popular if it was called Prince of Iran?

 

 

Ok, these excuses are pretty pathetic. What about new game Afro-samurai? I don't think Prince of persia or Altair looks like whites. You will find these types people in Arab countries and especially Iran.

I'm with shanbcn on this one.  What do you think Arabians/Persians look like??  I live in a city with lots of people from the middle east, including my friends and in-laws.   If you didn't know their background you'd easily assume they were 'white.'  In fact most people think my Syrian friend is from France for some odd reason.