Video Games Are a White Man's World

[General Chaos]

While I find some flaws in the methodology, this is nevertheless a provocative read (if not necessarily news to any of us):

http://www.miller-mccune.com/mediator/v ... hites-1380

Any thoughts on how one might study this differently, whether this is necessarily a bad thing, how it can/should/is changing? I think this is worth having a constructive discussion about, not necessarily here, but in the gaming community in general.

[lisalover1]

Does it really matter? People of all races and both genders come together to play video games. I think that articles like this try to break that unity by making it sound like video games are meant for a single race and gender; an idea that is absolutely ridiculous.

[General Chaos]

Does it really matter? People of all races and both genders come together to play video games. I think that articles like this try to break that unity by making it sound like video games are meant for a single race and gender; an idea that is absolutely ridiculous.

That is one way to interpret it, and I must admit that was part of my initial reaction. On closer inspection I don't think this article is suggesting that games, game makers, or the community in general are racist; just that characters in games do not represent the diverse cross-section of game players. I am a white man so it's very difficult (and I believe unfair) of me to assume that a non-white male, female, or white female would feel a certain way when playing as a white male character surrounded in the majority by other white male characters.

[J T]

Videogames are definitely behind the times for being racially progressive. For example, I was surprised when I first played Left4Dead that there was a black character (Louis) who wasn't either a gangsta or a sports star. He even wore a tie! Oooh, WOW!

[MrPopo]

You know what would be an interesting follow up? Demographics of game developers and compare them with demographics of in-game characters.

[KholdStare]

Does it really matter? People of all races and both genders come together to play video games. I think that articles like this try to break that unity by making it sound like video games are meant for a single race and gender; an idea that is absolutely ridiculous.

That is one way to interpret it, and I must admit that was part of my initial reaction. On closer inspection I don't think this article is suggesting that games, game makers, or the community in general are racist; just that characters in games do not represent the diverse cross-section of game players. I am a white man so it's very difficult (and I believe unfair) of me to assume that a non-white male, female, or white female would feel a certain way when playing as a white male character surrounded in the majority by other white male characters.

Eh, I'm black and truth be told I could care less about the race of the in-game characters. I've had discussions about it but it just doesn't bother me. But like J T said when you do find a black character like (Louis) it is surprising. I do realize that alot of black characters represent thugs, rappers, or sport stars but whatever. I play alot of RPGs so of course I'm used to the in-game characters being white. But I play games for the games, not the race of the characters. I know that the gaming world is diverse and that some people would love for the games to reflect this, but it just doesn't make a difference to me. When I play a game I'm focused on having fun, not the skin of the characters.

[Ack]

May I just take a moment and say that, while there have been some games intended heavily for African American audiences, they've not been exactly...productive.

50 Cent: Bulletproof
Def Jam Vendetta
Rap Jam
Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style

I would like to note that I don't necessarily feel that games featuring African American males revolving in worlds of crime are necessarily bad things. For instance, the character CJ in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. While I realize that in one sense, it's pretty stereotypical to have a black man grow up as a gangbanger, I've always seen the GTA series as satire, so I felt that this was making a statement about the message put forth by many of the artists of the African American community. I also felt it was a joke on all the folks I know who bitched about playing a black person(and yes, I do know a few who did), especially considering that I feel it was the best of the PS2 GTAs.

But I think we need to realize that there are many black characters who are nothing short of iconic, at least to me. I can't imagine the Mortal Kombat without Jade and Jax, for instance. What would Street Fighter be without the M. Bison/Vega/Balrog combination? What about Zack and Lisa in the Dead or Alive series? What about black comic book characters like Storm, Spawn, or Blade in video games? What would the legion of sports titles be without African American athletes? What about African American main characters or supporting characters in games like Crackdown, Half-Life 2, Halo, Starcraft, Final Fantasy 7, Men of Valor, Call of Duty 4(yeah, I thought the rap song was stupid), Shadowman, Diablo 2, Resident Evil: Outbreak, Killer 7, Killer Instinct. Heck, there are black characters in Way of the Samurai and Bushido Blade 2. And there's the entire Redguard race in the Elder Scrolls games.

And there are other games that take it into account, such as the random ethnicities one can end up in the Battlefield games. Granted, there's still some stereotyping(consider how often the black men you see in games are smoking cigars, or are gangsters, or rap for instance). But they're there. And hopefully we'll see more as time goes by.

And yes, I've made characters of other ethnicities in games.

[Dylan]

But I play games for the games, not the race of the characters. I know that the gaming world is diverse and that some people would love for the games to reflect this, but it just doesn't make a difference to me. When I play a game I'm focused on having fun, not the skin of the characters.

I agree, that's exactly how I feel.

[General Chaos]

When I play a game I'm focused on having fun, not the skin of the characters.

I feel the same way about character race and gender. In fact, I often choose a female and/or non-white character when the option is presented. Perhaps because part of me sees video games as a form of escapism, I enjoy playing a character that doesn't look like me.

That said, I would at least hope that any game with a create-a-character option would allow for different skin colors/gender, and I think most now do. Just recently in Fat Princess I've customized my character with the "Scottish" skin tone, which is pretty much as pasty white as you can imagine.

One last note on this article: I told my wife about it and as she so often manages to do, she cut through all of the sociological jargon and bullshit and simplified things quite a bit, commenting that "uh, yeah it's because a bunch of white boys make the games." Humorously enough she used to date a game developer.

[General Chaos]

But I think we need to realize that there are many black characters who are nothing short of iconic, at least to me. I can't imagine the Mortal Kombat without Jade and Jax, for instance. What would Street Fighter be without the M. Bison/Vega/Balrog combination? What about Zack and Lisa in the Dead or Alive series? What about black comic book characters like Storm, Spawn, or Blade in video games? What would the legion of sports titles be without African American athletes? What about African American main characters or supporting characters in games like Crackdown, Half-Life 2, Halo, Starcraft, Final Fantasy 7, Men of Valor, Call of Duty 4(yeah, I thought the rap song was stupid), Shadowman, Diablo 2, Resident Evil: Outbreak, Killer 7, Killer Instinct. Heck, there are black characters in Way of the Samurai and Bushido Blade 2. And there's the entire Redguard race in the Elder Scrolls games.

Good list. I was thinking about Diablo 2, actually. I loved that the paladin class was represented by a black man, and I loved playing that class as well.