110°

The State of Minorities in Gaming - Twinfinite

Since Black History Month is wrapping up Twinfinite wanted to touch upon an issue that is relevant to it: the general state of minorities in gaming. Now before the article starts, one has to clarify what is meant by the term “minorities.” Since the standard use of the word refers to all people of non-Caucasian origins, that will be the definition this article will be referring to. A couple of weeks ago, Twinfinite released a list counting down the top minority characters in gaming. The response was a little different than anticipated. That surprising response made them take a long and hard look at gaming culture as a whole and they thought that this feature would be a good outlet for them to share their thoughts

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I_LOVE_MYSELF4074d ago

I don't notice anything about the current trends involving the race of main characters in video ganes. If it's a human lead then it's a human lead. Colour / race doesn't matter, right?

MikeEaton4074d ago

I think it's a nice idea to think that humanity has achieved this point where race isn't a factor and that it doesn't matter.

As a white person (and I'm assuming you're white as well), it's easy to say "Well, race doesn't matter". That's because you can live your life without having to think about whether someone is being rude to you because of the colour of your skin. It's literally not something that enters into the mind of an average white person. It's not a condemnation and it's not meant to make anyone feel guilty, but that's the way it is.

I_LOVE_MYSELF4074d ago

The fact I am white doesn't make me immune to other people being rude to me because of the colour of my skin, but I see your overall point and agree with it.

loserbam4074d ago

In a perfect world, race would have no bearing, but of course, we don't live in a perfect world.

broli40004074d ago

Man Asians and Pacific Islanders have it so good. They are a full 25% over what they represent in the real world.

All joking aside though, it is an issue. From your previous article, there really aren't even any good minority characters. The best one was from San Andreas and that was a thug criminal.

Mutant-Spud4074d ago

Do you mean "good" in a moral sense or "believable".
Here are a few.
Wei-Shen, Sleeping Dogs.
Marcus Reid, True Crime NYC.
David Anderson, Mass Effect

How many violent,negative, insane and perverted White characters are there in video games compared to non White?
Where's the non White equivalents of Handsome Jack, Postal Guy, Buck Hughes or Hoyt Volker?

Muazimus-Prime4074d ago

By good I meant that aren't stereotypical gangbangers, loud soldiers, etc. You named 3 out of a handful which is the problem. For every protagonist of color, there are countless other cut from the same cloth white protagonists. Regardless of who is making the game, shouldn't they try to appeal to the majority of people in the world (from your own words) to maximize their profits??

Mutant-Spud4074d ago

For the record European people are the minority, we're only about 8% of world's population so from an objective point of view this article is silly, but we must press on because this is so silly it must be nipped in the bud.
Guys it's impossible to argue with the race griefers they're not rational people. The image of violent White male is a Leftie's ultimate fantasy because it conforms to their warped world view, even though the stereotype is offensive and not at all representative of White men.
Yet here they are complaining that there aren't enough non White or Female characters mowing down hordes of enemies, pulling off carjackings and slaughtering commuters in airports.
Can you imagine the screams of horror from the Race Griefers if "No Russian" was "No Xhosa" and featured African terrorists slaughtering the African patrons at Oliver Tambo airport in Johannesburg.

As I said, they're insane and you can't reason with a Race Griefer, there are certain violent stories and in game behaviours which under their rules you can only do with White characters because they are terrified of "Negative" stereotyping of non whites, yet they complain about games not being inclusive?
Don't look for the logic in it.

MikeEaton4074d ago

'Minority' is a bit of a misnomer because racism is not about math; it's about power. In South Africa during apartheid, whites were a drastic minority yet no sane person would argue they were the victims.

I suppose I could go on, but seeing as your argument is to resort to histrionics and name-calling it's probably not worth my time. Thanks for reading the article (I'm going to be a nice guy and assume you actually read it...you did, right?) and have a nice day.

Mutant-Spud4074d ago

So what? Do some reading the ANC killed twice as many people as the AWB, most of them Black Africans.
Are you seriously suggesting that video games are a method of power projection by White supremacists?
Funny, most White supremacists see them as promoting race mixing, negative stereotypes of Whites and African American gang life.
It's really not worth your time arguing with me because you know you'll lose based on the fact that your position is a house of cards, all I do is pick at a thread and because of it's inherent contradictions the Anti racist position unravels straight away.

Muazimus-Prime4074d ago (Edited 4074d ago )

Ok let's go by your reasoning that Caucasians are the global minority. Why, then are they 85% of the characters in gaming white? Shouldn't, by your logic, the majority of video game characters be of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin origins???

Mutant-Spud4074d ago

Who makes the bulk of the games? Why shouldn't the people who make the games represent themselves in their art?
Nobody complains about Dynasty Warriors or Persona do they?

broli40004074d ago

I think with a term like "Race Griefer" you are kinda setting yourself into not a good spot and you look very much biased. I'd also like to see what source where European or white people are a minority.

idsanty4074d ago

Personally I think gamers just need to start being nicer to each other. It's a racist, sexist, homophobic, and generally prejudice issue. My least favorite thing is this idea that just because people are online they can be treated without respect.

Mutant-Spud4074d ago (Edited 4074d ago )

The negative behaviour really only occurs in multiplayer in certain games, you see kids who have African Avatars in Call Of Duty running around screaming racial eptihets all the time.
It doesn't matter if you make all the characters sexless, raceless robots the negative behavior will keep occuring because it's really got nothing to do with games in the first place.

Show all comments (19)
80°

Nintendo's Massacre Of The 3DS And Wii U Is Finally Complete, Regrettably

Hanzala from eXputer: "The cruel hammer of Nintendo has fallen. Farewell, 3DS and Wii U, you surely brightened my life and many others; you won't be forgotten."

280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple10111d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref10d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde10d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander197210d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville10d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21839d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos9d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 9d ago
isarai10d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref10d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan10d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis0079d ago (Edited 9d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander197210d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

10d ago Replies(3)
Einhander197210d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

10d ago
10d ago
Zeref10d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde10d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander197210d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander197210d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier10d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto10d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21839d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto9d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 9d ago
Hofstaderman10d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts10d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts9d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic9d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

Show all comments (43)
90°

Nintendo's War Against Player-Made Content Will Hurt The Company In The End

Danish from eXputer: "Nintendo has historically gone against player-made content and emulation of its games. This has done much to harm the company's image."

XiNatsuDragnel17d ago

I agree nintendo hire some these folks to help in your games it'll help imo.

banger8816d ago

They need to stop announcing these mods and fan remakes until they're finished. Finish it, upload it, and then if Nintendo dmca's it tough shit. Once it's online, people can share it around, even if the original download gets taken down.

Jingsing16d ago

True, but most modders need constant admiration during the process to motivate them.

PRIMORDUS16d ago

Yup, once it's a torrent nothing can be done Nintendo is helpless at that point. But it would be wise if they just had a site on the dark web, it's also easy to use with Tor and no one will bother you.

mastershredder15d ago

This is all coming from the mouth of short-sighted fandom and grifting madness.
No.... it wont. There is a clear defined reason why they don't. This is nothing new. Make your own shi7 from your own original ideas especially if you are trying to capitalize of it it. Duh.

Yeah, hire people that have zero respect or understanding for an established process. Wow. Yep. Totally makes sense.

shinoff218315d ago

Those guys that made that sonic game got a gig from sega or something along those lines and that game was dope as hell. One of the best sonics as of late.