The Lack of Diversity in Video Games

[¡Yiff Police!]

First off I would like to start things off with a little quote from the recent Gameinformer Magazine:3

" A USC Anneberg School of Communications study found that characters in video games don't accurately mirror the people who play them. For instance, the study says while Hispanic kids play more video games than white kids- citing an earlier study by the Kaiser Family Foundation - Hispanic characters make less than three percent of game characters. "For identity formation , that's a problem," says social psychologist, assistant professor, and study leader Dimitri Williams. he also believes that this kind of misrepresentation may keep some groups from becoming developers themselves, thus perpetuating the cycle."

It's sad, that our nation heck our World is full of all these different cultures yet in pop culture, television, graphic novels, and video games you mostly only see Caucasians. We rarely get a chance to see a Latino or African American heroes/heroines in video game. Some people don't understand the importance of a youngn' seeing a person of their minority/skin color do all kinds of great frets because establishes that yes if though you are minority, you too, can accomplish great things.

And on that note: do you think we will ever see a Gay character in a video game? I can care less on your views about Gay folks but their many people out there that now they are gay from a very young age. It would be nice for these people to have something look up too since they get berated all the time in the real world for just being themselves.

I hope true "CHANGE" happens in these upcoming years...Oh how I wish.

OF course, I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter

[Ghost]

Well first off i'd like to say that i do have a problem with a section of your post.

It's sad, that our nation heck our World is full of all these different cultures yet in pop culture, television, graphic novels, and video games you mostly only see Caucasians. We rarely get a chance to see a Latino or African American heroes/heroines in video game. Some people don't understand the importance of a youngn' seeing a person of their minority/skin color do all kinds of great frets because establishes that yes if though you are minority, you too, can accomplish great things.

This proves a point that an old teacher of mine had... which is that the most racists people on the face of this planet are the people who claim massive racism against them. Despite what the media, the NAACP, and all the other organizations think.... most Caucasians I've ever met don't give a rat's ass about what color someone is. People stress that TOO MUCH. A human character is just that... a human. Who cares if Mario was black and Luigi was his Mexican half brother. Big flipping whoop. Point is Mario is a person. Caucasians are people, Africans are people, Latinos are people. All of us, and half the video game characters are PEOPLE, and that's all they should ever be seen as. All these actions to make sure more minorities are in stuff are actually causing more dislike than anything. People hate being forced to do something. Angel put it best. A character shouldn't be African American just cause you don't yet have a "black character" The character should be whatever nationality they are. People need to quit focusing on skin color and just focus on this person, and that person.

Also, J.K. Rowling said it best about a gay character. "What makes a gay character different? Nothing" There is no real need for a "gay" character because in the end... what they do in a game is no different from what a straight character would do in the game.. take names and kick ass.

[kunekune]

Video games are not the only means of entertainment in the world. There are plenty of ethnic groups represented in Hollywood and in politics so why the fuss with video games? You want to make an icon that isn't real? I've never once looked up to a video game character as a means to build self-esteem because they aren't real. They live in an unrealistic world with unrealistic situations and unrealistic people. Counting these characters, be they white, black, Asian, or Hispanic, as role models would be very unwise.

[¡Yiff Police!]

Oct 10, 2009 19:25:54 GMT -5 Ghost said:

Well first off i'd like to say that i do have a problem with a section of your post.

It's sad, that our nation heck our World is full of all these different cultures yet in pop culture, television, graphic novels, and video games you mostly only see Caucasians. We rarely get a chance to see a Latino or African American heroes/heroines in video game. Some people don't understand the importance of a youngn' seeing a person of their minority/skin color do all kinds of great frets because establishes that yes if though you are minority, you too, can accomplish great things.

This proves a point that an old teacher of mine had... which is that the most racists people on the face of this planet are the people who claim massive racism against them. Despite what the media, the NAACP, and all the other organizations think.... most Caucasians I've ever met don't give a rat's ass about what color someone is. People stress that TOO MUCH. A human character is just that... a human. Who cares if Mario was black and Luigi was his Mexican half brother. Big flipping whoop. Point is Mario is a person. Caucasians are people, Africans are people, Latinos are people. All of us, and half the video game characters are PEOPLE, and that's all they should ever be seen as. All these actions to make sure more minorities are in stuff are actually causing more dislike than anything. People hate being forced to do something. Angel put it best. A character shouldn't be African American just cause you don't yet have a "black character" The character should be whatever nationality they are. People need to quit focusing on skin color and just focus on this person, and that person.

Also, J.K. Rowling said it best about a gay character. "What makes a gay character different? Nothing" There is no real need for a "gay" character because in the end... what they do in a game is no different from what a straight character would do in the game.. take names and kick ass.

I agree with you whole-heartily. People are people regardless of the complexion of their skin. I, too, hate when creator/writer/developer/etc feels like to have too or, like you put it, "forced" to add character of particular color/race/etc into book/game/t.v program. Yet, with that being said it wouldn't hurt to see different types of characters for a change.

Using your logic/perception, people can easily say let's there's no need for people different colors/races to be in certain things because people only care about the character themselves, right?

Please tell me why characters like Storm, Blade, and Forge are so impelling? One because they are deep and intriguing characters that also happen to represent different minorities. No matter what you slice it the world needs diversity, rather it be in humans, plants, animals, we need see more it.

I'm going to use him as example even though I not very fond of him, but President Barack Obama's main appeal was that he was Part-Black ( and I do stress the word "part"). Though I really wanted Hilary to be the next President, I do admit having a part Black President didn't sound bad either. AT THE SAME TOKEN, I didn't want him to win solely on the fact that his Black but rather for his politics and views on different topics and problems.

As for the Gay Character, your right about that too. I guess I meant to say a Gay Romance....Yes, many people don't like the idea of two guys kissing but again why not see it in video games? We seen awesome romances before, prime example: Yuna and Tidus! Again I'm not saying force a gay couple into a story, but it would be nice to see one soon.

[smashbro]

Oct 10, 2009 21:07:05 GMT -5 ¡Yiff Police! said:

Oct 10, 2009 19:25:54 GMT -5 Ghost said:

Well first off i'd like to say that i do have a problem with a section of your post.



This proves a point that an old teacher of mine had... which is that the most racists people on the face of this planet are the people who claim massive racism against them. Despite what the media, the NAACP, and all the other organizations think.... most Caucasians I've ever met don't give a rat's ass about what color someone is. People stress that TOO MUCH. A human character is just that... a human. Who cares if Mario was black and Luigi was his Mexican half brother. Big flipping whoop. Point is Mario is a person. Caucasians are people, Africans are people, Latinos are people. All of us, and half the video game characters are PEOPLE, and that's all they should ever be seen as. All these actions to make sure more minorities are in stuff are actually causing more dislike than anything. People hate being forced to do something. Angel put it best. A character shouldn't be African American just cause you don't yet have a "black character" The character should be whatever nationality they are. People need to quit focusing on skin color and just focus on this person, and that person.

Also, J.K. Rowling said it best about a gay character. "What makes a gay character different? Nothing" There is no real need for a "gay" character because in the end... what they do in a game is no different from what a straight character would do in the game.. take names and kick ass.

I agree with you whole-heartily. People are people regardless of the complexion of their skin. I, too, hate when creator/writer/developer/etc feels like to have too or, like you put it, "forced" to add character of particular color/race/etc into book/game/t.v program. Yet, with that being said it wouldn't hurt to see different types of characters for a change.

Using your logic/perception, people can easily say let's there's no need for people different colors/races to be in certain things because people only care about the character themselves, right?

Please tell me why characters like Storm, Blade, and Forge are so impelling? One because they are deep and intriguing characters that also happen to represent different minorities. No matter what you slice it the world needs diversity, rather it be in humans, plants, animals, we need see more it.

I'm going to use him as example even though I not very fond of him, but President Barack Obama's main appeal was that he was Part-Black ( and I do stress the word "part"). Though I really wanted Hilary to be the next President, I do admit having a part Black President didn't sound bad either. AT THE SAME TOKEN, I didn't want him to win solely on the fact that his Black but rather for his politics and views on different topics and problems.

As for the Gay Character, your right about that too. I guess I meant to say a Gay Romance....Yes, many people don't like the idea of two guys kissing but again why not see it in video games? We seen awesome romances before, prime example: Yuna and Tidus! Again I'm not saying force a gay couple into a story, but it would be nice to see one soon.

I like what you guys are saying here; I wouldn't care if the main character to a game was white/black/hispanic/japanese/whatever else. It could even make it more interesting. Unfortunately some stereotypes are hard to break, like when I think of TV shows, the general of being socially acceptable is to have a cast of mainly white actors, one or two black guys (one of them must be the first to die), and throw in a few asians. Unfortunately thats the way it is.

But the only problem with changing stereotypes is that the focus is now on the fact that the character is a different race or is gay, rather than the story. It would take a while to make it become the norm.

Don't get me wrong, I would play a game with a featuring gay character. Just like in real life, as long as it isn't always in your face, "this is so much better and different because the character is gay". I mean yeah, good for you, let's get on with the story.

Sorry I played Devil's advocate a little, but I would buy a game that had a different character (whether the difference be race, sexual preference, etc.) as long as the game was supposed to be good anyways.

[Angel]

You know, I've thought about this many times. Basically, if your story calls for an Indian girl.. then sure, go ahead put her in. Same with gay people and the etc. But as other people established in this, trying to force them into stories just to "raise the feeling that minorities could do anything" sounds like utter crap to me.

I don't know about American games, but Japanese games are made from anime, which is their animation.. and it's not necessarily a racial thing when it comes to that.. Japanese people have light skin tones so they draw their character's accordingly (they just don't care about hair color it seems. ;D ).. but they do include other races here and their.. just like Americans. Also, notice that many games are taking place in places like medieval culture, where in medieval Europe, you wouldn't be seeing too many different skin tones wandering around either. It's realistic that way.

But honestly, I'm tried of everything being racist to some people.

[smashbro]

a good example of being non racist is the Pendragon series, by D. J. MacHale. The main character, over time, falls for the main girl. To spare you from a long explanation, the series is about saving the territories, which are basically different worlds and times (10 territories, including Denduron, Cloral, First Earth, Second Earth, etc.) The girl's territory is basically a desert, and she is dark skinned, on Earth she would be called African probably. But the way it is written, you never think of her as being black, but as just herself. And while the other characters are mostly white, it makes sense. One territory is like medieval Europe, one lives in and out of the water, one the environment isn't described much because the people live in a large building where they enter their oven fantasies while their bodies are asleep, so they would be light skinned getting very little sun.

its just very natural, and you dont even think about it much.

[¡Yiff Police!]

I don't know why you guys and ladies keep scaring "RACIST!" and "RACISM!" here there. I never mentioned not having a minority in a game or whatever is racist. I like seeing minorities because adds diversity IMO. But it's not like I'm not going to buy a game just because it doesn't have Black or Spanish character.


Now Angel mentioned an interesting point, the main reason why we don't have or see many different represented in different things is because there isn't many minorities writing or making games. In order to see more minorities in games or in other forms of media, we need to see more minorities enter the video game industry.

[smashbro]

sorry for going off topic and talking about racism, but there really isn't any examples i could think of that fit unjustness of not having gays in games. it just proves your point.

there was a book i read, which included a character that was gay, but it was only referenced a few times casually, but other than that, he functions as a regular character. the book was historical fiction, about Roman times, where homosexuality was somewhat common. BUt the way the writer makes the character, it is not a big deal.