Similar to the last series, topics of discussion include the perception of black people in games, the struggles with diversity in the industry and how it affects the end product (i.e. the game). Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Gears of War's character Cole Train are discussed on multiple occasions. Concluding his interview, Croal threw out an idea for a Dance Dance Revolution title that would actually teach you how to dance, which the rhythmically-deficient folks at Joystiq would love to get our off-time hands on.
(Page 1) Reader Comments
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And that is why you are an eeediot.
It was a joke, relax...get off your politically correct soapbox.
RACISM DOES NOT EXIST. There is NO such thing as racism. Last time I checked Homosapiens were the last and ONLY humanoid species left on Earth.
You can be Ethnist, NOT racist. There is ONLY 1 human race with many different ethnicities.
I wish I could be alive when the day finally comes that everyone on this planet is referred too as Human.
NO Jews, Christians, Muslims, White, Black, Buddist, Hindu etc. etc. JUST HUMAN, that is all any of us ever were, and that is ALL we will ever be.
No groups to spread the separation of humankind. Nothing.
I AM HUMAN, I AM ALIVE.
James, I did say species, specifically Humanoid species. I am aware of the dictionary definition of race. In my opinion, dictionary or not...it is still out of ignorance that most people on this planet think they are different races and NOT the same species. That is why I said what I said.
"Yes, I'm well aware we all originated in Africa and have ONE common ancestor, but we have evolved differently."
Prepare for Fernandos and pals to give you some shit for saying that, some people around here do not like what the OVERWHELMING evidence shows us and prefer to live in Organized Ignorance.
"For more info, listen to The Skeptics Guide to the Universe (back episodes)."
Thanks, I will check it out. Just out of curiosity, I am going to guess that you are not from the United States or at least you live NORTH of the Mason Dixon line.
Do you overreact to everything in day to day life like you do on the internet? It's a joke, though I could try and come up with some form of defense, "hey collforever, does every black person with dreadlocks look the same to you?"
That was a joke.
I have seen way too many times posters on this blog get their panties in a bunch over a joke. I have been numbed by the crying and moaning on here so I thought that you were doing the same.
Now that I know you were kidding in response to the 1st sarcastic comment....BRAVO to you sir.
I don't think kids talk much about heroes who work "behind the camera." They definitely don't as much as they talk about entertainers.
Love it!
I expect a follow up report on white guys in the gaming industry.
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"Something about black people? Like we aren't normal people we need to have our own reports??? RACISM!!"
Here in Mexico we separate everything too, but not as racist as americans have, we have:
short and tall
fat and skinny
old and young
rich and poor
city people and county people
nice person and bad person
Now the used to call our people "latinos" since there were to many countries to learn, then they started calling people mexicans, since all they heard was Mexico. Now they call all latinamericans "browns", at least they are enough now to be segregated by race like the american tradition tells us.
And I agree that the term "African-american" is offensive, africans and europeans came at the same time, so I don't see why you guys have accepted the term. you all are the same gringos to me.
And I love the GRINGAS too...
The fact of the matter is that, equality is quite equal just yet.
You've got the patriarchal (or phallocentric to use another fancy word) white male dominated industries. Last year, this was about women in gaming, this year it's about blacks. Two underpresented groups in gaming. The main purpose of this stuff is to change social attitudes and raise awareness so that we can live in a truly equal society.
And please, don't try to act like racism doesn't exist...
But I don't think 1 dedicated month in the whole year that black people should really be celebrating thier history and whatnot instead of just a month, is too much to ask for.
Why should whites settle for a month when the rest of the year already belongs to them?
Plus, being given a month to placate a few vocal activists isn't as hot as it sounds.
Of course, this isn't a perfect world, so perhaps my theory is just wishful thinking.
This argument just reminds me of the concept of hate crimes. They're retarded an only further segregate our country.
i mus tsay though, the stereotypes in video games is rather over-the-top, but so are most things in video games..so thats something that smoothens out over time as well i guess.
as for debikul, i hope you're joking.
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Haha funny.
ur dislexic
haha
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Consult the voice actor's previous work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzToNo7A-94
In addition, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Why do we have stuff like this? Why do we need to profile black professionals? What if we had a white professionals talk? Wouldn't everybody call that racist?
So many people pride themselves in being supporters of racial equality and diversity yet go out of their way to single out one race for a pat on the back. To me, that's not saying that blacks are equal. It's saying blacks need special attention because for some reason, when they're succesful that's a big deal. It's expecting less from blacks than whites. How is that not racist?
Some might counter that history or economic status justifies this sort of thing, but people who say this are ignorant of both. It simply makes no sense.
Political correctness is a sham; it's a "big business." Those who truly believe in racial equality won't discriminate (whether positively or negatively) based on race.
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There was a time when main characters were one race, and females were seen as half naked etc. Now games are becoming more diverse, even females getting better roles, take Heavenly Sword for 1 example and the days of DOA type women are dying out. Although there will always be games to portray women in that way to appeal to drooling men.
Same with race, different cultures and races have more parts in games, which is a great thing to see. What we need now is more cultural icons of different races in the industry.
Now, if you're an American of European descent, you have the privilege of having adequate representation in virtually every field imaginable. That same level of representation doesn't exist for non-whites, so it's refreshing to cite instances where the status quo is occasionally broken, especially in an industry where nearly all non-whites are portrayed in embarrassing and unfavorable ways.
Your outrage shows a lack of empathy on your part. Were you really oblivious to the fact that, with the exception of articles like the one in question, just about all profiles ARE profiles of white professionals? Sure, it isn't explicitly racist when most game coverage centers entirely on white players in the industry, but you find it explicitly racist when a bit of coverage is focused on blacks? Wow... next time be more direct in your convictions without trying to sound so noble.
I lack empathy? Wow. Do you even know what race I am or did you make an assumption to that end as well? You totally mischaracterized my argument and position:
"Sure, it isn't explicitly racist when most game coverage centers entirely on white players in the industry, but you find it explicitly racist when a bit of coverage is focused on blacks?"
There are two things wrong with your argument. First, I have never seen an example of game coverage focusing on white players because they are white. Perhaps you could give me an example? Second, if I ever did see that, you assume that I would not have the same amount of outrage. That is totally untrue. If I saw a profiling of white gamers strictly because they were white, I would be just as pissed off. Don't make the mistake of thinking otherwise.
And you say this industry portrays "nearly all non-whites" in "embarassing and unfavorable ways." That simply is not factual.
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Sorry, world is not like that.
And don't even get me started on the word “African American”... BS as that would make me an Irish-German-Russian American. They are no more African than I am. And BTW I'm not trying to offend anyone but I'm simply tired of seeing races getting special treatment for simply being a specific ethnicity. Fair is fair and we've all paid our dues in one way or another. That is the main reason there is so much wrong with our country (USA) today since everyone is always fighting over being black, white, asian, etc as we should simply be classifying ourselves as Americans!
FifthE1ement
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1) Very few Irish people were ever enslaved. The whole population was not tricked and sold by there own people to work all day with no chance of freedom, treated like true animals instead of mere servants and did not last as long with then major tolerance issues afterwards. Basically, the majority of the intolerance ended in the 80's. The short small and only stint of Irish Slavery by the Brits ended in the 17th century. Huge differences.
2)While I do not like pride, I do not see any reason why you should not be proud of who you are. However, the difference between "Black Pride" and the "KKK" is huge. Mainly, the Black Pride stuff I have seen never resulted in them thinking they are vastly superior and then going out on a crusade to kill all the white people they see.
When that happens, the situation will truly be equal and I bet it will. But for now, you can have white pride, but you can thank the "ghost of the south" for ruining something as simple as the wonderful Saint Patrick's Day. :)
Yet the ignorance persists...
KKK is an 'offence'.
I kid of course, but if that were true, you know why? Because i really don't know many game creators unless I'm a huge fan of there game or it's a person from a company involved in Public Relations. And maybe even then it's two or three people I'm aware of. Bottom line, I don't know what you look like and I don't really care to know, either. I'm just here to play your games. If you're white, black, asian, whatever, all i care about is you NOT fucking up the sequel.
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The reason I care is because I like the diversity. People from all over the place bring new things and I think with the way things are we are stuck in a rut.
Also that with diversity we can then equal the other industries more than just superficially like we do now.
I also relate this imbalanced issue to why minorities in games are written so poorly.
Now do I mean every black person in a video game has to be P.C. black men who are lawyers ala Bill Cosby? No. I do not really mind the watermelon eating Jim Crow rejects because you will meet those people in real life too.
The problem with games is that EVERY black guy is a Jim Crow reject. So then you either start questioning it or start thinking that everyone is like that. Hence the stereotype.
I do not blame White Americans and Japanese people for doing this because you only write things that are familiar to you. If you write about something you are not familiar with, you end up looking to common perception to dictate how things are. Thus why Square Enix made as something as dumb as Barret.
I think the solution to this problem, and most of the other problems this industry has is education. I realized at GDC'08 that I am like one of 8 people that played video games young and then when I reached 12 said "I want to make these things for real."
Think about it. Kids are told they can be doctors, rappers, lawyers, magicians, priest, actors, movie directors. I never ever hear kids who want to be game designers, or programmers, or testers ect.
I think we need to make an awareness group that travels to various schools to teach kids when they hit pre-teens (when you are being told that if you have a penis you like sports and if you are girl you like makeup) that teaches them about games and how their games are created.
I think if the options are opened up then we can see some real diversity and influx into our industry, and the others will go away to become smart consumers and critics of the form. When those children grow up, they will then truly add gaming to the ranks of movies, tv, books and plays.
Then I can die happy. :)
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people always try to use topics like this to "vent" thier (unsolicited/unwanted and usually horribly skewed) race views and race/gender relation issues.
no one cares. keep it moving.
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