Main Characters (Race in gaming)

A lot of the main characters in video games tend to look alike. Are we, as a society, responsible for this? Is it purely the fault of developers?

[Prince of Lies]

YAY

[FACTUAL evidence]

Sorry but only racist white people are allowed to ply online. /s

[Leon Thomas]

Uh, yes! Yay!

[BeastlyRig]

cj was the best ever! Bring him back!!

I'm black so I stay away from xbl chatting..

idiots on there.

[fluffydelusions]

Psn is just as bad now...used to be better but now cod,kz3, all big titles etc are no better than xbl

[saladthieves]

I agree with plbelanger. I play on both platforms quite regularly and from my experiences, I can confirm that there are idiots on both sides.

[BeastlyRig]

well at least on steam people can vote to kick or ban people from the server.

[RedDead]

Where there is a chat function there is also idiots

[yewles1]

Kratos is a brother. More people should recognize...

[Leon Thomas]

Kratos is voiced by a black man. The character is Greek. He's also the palest character I've ever seen. :)

[bobrea]

dad?

[wumster]

I'm a software engineering/game design major and I am brown skinned. My take on this is, if minorities like myself want to change lead characters, start your own company or start designing instead of crying.

If we put more effort into getting the proper education about making games instead of b&*ching, then we will have the opportunity to change things. IMO, until then, they can do what they want.

[TheKindRoost]

This^^^^, sir you win Internet and a bubble! Here I am not black, white or Asian and I have never given a second though the color of the main characters.

[Leon Thomas]

"Then, you do it!" is never a good argument. Sorry.

If I have a problem with my politicians, the most I can reasonably do is vote, not get elected to office. Highly unlikely.

If I don't like a television program, going to film school, creating a pilot and convincing a network to put it in direct competition to get the show I want off the air is not feasible.

If I have a problem with video games, going back to college, getting a second degree and committing myself to a new career that I don't want isn't a practical solution.

I wanted to create a discussion about the topic. It isn't crying, and the idea that we can't criticize game developers without being developers ourselves makes no sense. That also means we can't dislike a movie if we aren't filmmakers, dislike a food if we aren't chefs, etc.

[wumster]

Pump your breaks bud...no offense, if I came off that way to anyone. I hear this a lot and I just get tired of it. I don't like it, but guess what, I am going to school as well as educating myself on the side to be able to correct this problem that I see.

Do I think its a problem, yes, but I am doing something about it. Also, I never said anything about not having the power to criticize a dev without being a dev.

All I am saying is, we complain about everything (myself included), but we don't have the will to help change the problem. Not just minorities, but people as a whole.

Trust me, I meant no offense.

[SugarSoSweet]

Couldn't of said it better myself wumster

you can't rely on others to do for you.....

Anyway I enjoyed the podcast very much it was quite funny but really made some great points and got me thinking a little.

It's always nice to see some developers have characters from different cultures and ethnicies (not just black) but not everybody is going to do that.....

[KwietStorm_BLM]

That's like saying communication is worthless. I agree with what Leon Thomas said below. The "If you don't like, then you do it," doesn't help things. Yes, one can obviously do things differently if the roles are reversed, but opening up the discussion is necessary. It is important to appeal to the people who are actively scripting these projects and ensuring that they accurately portray the people they create. The topic is much deeper than games. It's not even about bitching..I really don't even know why you would say that.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

The only way things like this will change is by talking about it, so I thank the author for bringing it up. It's no different than movies. The hero or even just the "guy" is a white male. I'm no racist and I don't have a problem with white people getting roles, whether it be virtual or real life, but I do have a problem with going for the same thing over and over. Last I checked, we live on planet Earth, ALL of us, and whether some people want to accept it or not, we do all come from the same place. It's kind of sad that I actually get excited, or at the very least get a little happy inside whenever I see a black character as the protagonist in a videogame. And CJ from San Andreas doesn't even count. I love GTA, but that whole thing was just another typical portrayal of the black community. I'm very excited for Starhawk and I'm very excited that Emmitt is black, but I would be even more pleased if these games had more diversity. Many times, when the main character is anything other than the average white male, the character is just a stereotype of whatever race he "represents" in the game. I swear, Coletrane from Gears of War...man that whole deal is so tired, I don't even know where to start.

[wumster]

You made some valid points, but what if Jackie Robinson just talked about playing baseball?

[KwietStorm_BLM]

I'm not saying that nobody should step up to the plate (no pun intended), but at the same time, it isn't realistic to expect everyone with an opinion to make power moves. If I have an issue with government regulations, would you tell me to "either run for president or shut up?" It's great when people like Jackie Robinson open doors for other people, and honestly, that's really how things work. It's harder to be the one to stand out, than to be the one who just disappears into the crowd and goes about their business as usual. That doesn't change the fact that all of us have valid perspectives on the content that is being sold to us.

[SugarSoSweet]

I completely agree KwietStorm, variety is the spice of life....

[LOGICWINS]

As far as ur CJ argument, I feel that the only way u would have accepted the character was if he was a well educated black that lived in the Hamptons. The whole "Grove Street hood thing" FITS because GTA is about guns, violence, drugs, and sex. All Rockstar did was go from an Italian crime family to a black one. Predominantly black gangs like the ones in San Andreas DO exist in real life and all Rockstar wanted to do is put it in videogame form. Personally, I thought the character was great. I think what you want to see is a black man in a Nathan Drake leading role...this I can understand.

As far as Cole, well hes an entertaining character. I hate to say this,but its true. The black man is the most copied man on Earth. Epic knew that Cole's stereotypical black demeanor would appeal to people.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Yes, I would like to see a black male in a role such as Nathan Drake, but I don't want to see it done just to do it or just to appease people "like me." There is no reason why these roles cannot be more diversified. With CJ, no, I wouldn't have expected a dude from the Hamptons, but the reason that whole stereotypical portrayal irks me is BECAUSE of the lack of diversity. We get one black leading character in how many years, and that is what they give us. You know what I mean?

Cole is really just a joke, literally. Yea Epic knew what they were doing, but again, that is my problem with it. We get used based on these stereotypes, and because we are not represented in other ways, in other games, it annoys me that this token was even considered. He's big, loud, speaks like a clown, and it all just falls in line. I mean, as far as character depth in Gears of War (or lack thereof), you have to do a pretty good job to stand out, and he does just that for all the wrong reasons.

[Urmomlol]

I stopped listening to this crap when the host spent like five minutes talking about black guy's penises.

And you wonder why people think gamers are immature douchebags. Grow the hell up.

[deno]

Im russian and you don't hear me complaining about lack of russian characters in leading roles. Stop complaining and make your own minority studio, we like games based on our culture and likeness. And who are you to tell us what to do anyway? You don't see white people complaining about (bet) lack of white videos or shows.

[telekineticmantis]

duhhh! lol

[T3MPL3TON]

That's because there 90 channels that I know of that have so few people of color on them the only time you do see one it's just them trying to keep everyone lax... not to mention.. B.E.T. has white people on it all day. Eminem and other WHITE rappers/singers get as much video rotation as anyone else. Unless their music isn't popular. Besides it's called B.E.T. that's Black Entertainment Television. Of course you'll see more blacks than whites, that's the point.
Also, B.E.T. is now owned by Viacom which is a WHITE ran company.

Also also, Russians make up a large portion of lead roles in video games.. GTA4 which is one of the biggest games EVER featured a Russian/Serbian main character.
The second main character, Nico's cousin, was the same.

Outside of ShadowMan (+1 if you even know who that is) and CJ.
No LEAD characters are black. It's been stated before that the reason remains that companies aren't sure how that will play out as sadly people are still so ignorant that they'll refuse a game because the main character is black.

Rufus in SF4 was originally BLACK http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... They scrapped the idea in turn for a Blonde haired/fat White American. Even Viper is half white. Balrog/M.Bison/Boxer is the most foul of stereo types. DeeJay is the most stereotypical Jamaican EVER. Neither of which are actually important to the main story.

[SugarSoSweet]

1) The guy who made the video was white not black.

2) Russians for the most part are still White

3) I agree minorities SHOULD make their own studios you can't or shouldn't expect others to do for you.

4) Culture isn't synmonous with race ethier. You said you like games based on your culture and likeness but said you're not complaining about the lack of lead Russian characters.

[Myze]

Fact of the matter is, the complaint is that there aren't enough black people and too many white people. Why the hell does it matter what skin color a character is.

I agree with ethnic diversity in games, as that will actually change the story/attitude/voice actor/settings/etc. However, having a black guy instead of a white guy but doing the same things and acting the same way the white guy would sounds ridiculous, since at that point they ARE the same other than a pigmentation of the skin.

In no way am I saying they shouldn't have black/brown/yellow/red/etc. characters over white characters, but I just don't think it's important one way or the other.

As it was mentioned, a Russian may be considered Caucasian, but having a white Russian playing a role and a white American playing a role is definitely not the same thing. A black American is far closer (and imo, pretty much the same thing) to the white American than the white Russian is to the white American.

This all being said, I see no reason for more game character lead roles to not have more people of color.

(Should probably point out that Japanese companies are a lot different. They will rarely have people of color in there games, and while they look white, they are actually Japanese the majority of the time. Often times they will change their eye shape to a more westernized look, however, so they look like they are Caucasian.)