3 ms·

There are loads of games with characters from every corner of the planet as playable characters. Why do people always pretend they don't exist? Just having a c

There are loads of games with characters from every corner of the planet as playable characters. Why do people always pretend they don't exist? Just having a cursory look over my collection on steam: * Streets of Rage had black, white, asian, men and women. * Street Fighter had every nationality on earth represented. * Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Almost all the characters were black. * Grand Theft Auto V - One of the main playable characters is Black (there are 3) * Sleeping Dogs which is set in Hong Kong so they are Chinese. * Yakuza Series - Japanese. * Prey (the first one) you play a Native American. * Prey (the new one) you appear to be of Asian decent (probably chinese if I were to guess as the surname is Chu). * Assassins Creed - Altair is a Arab. * Assassins Creed 3 - Ratonhnhaké - Mixed Native American and White. * Kratos - Greek * King Pin - Black * Aladdin - Arab * Loads of Micheal Jackson games (Black) The Grand Theft Auto series on its own has sold million and millions of copies. I am still not including all the games where you can literally design your character to be anything you want. Or all the strategy games where you can choose your historical factions such as Age of Empires. > If I were nonwhite I think I’d want to be included in some games, yes. Have you ever thought that other people don't judge or identify characters in their entertainment on what race they are? I couldn't give a monkeys the race of a game protagonist. It literally doesn't enter into my mind. Why are you soo pre-occupied with it is the real question? It only seems to be rich white people in the US (nobody cares about this shit in Europe btw because our identities are based on our nationality) seem to care about it.

benrbray 6y ago
> It only seems to be rich white people in the US seem to care about it I do think there is a kernel of truth to what you're saying, but I don't think it's right to dismiss entirely the fact that representation IS important. Historically, "rich white people" have been in control of the media, so it's great to see this group becoming more self aware. Sure, from time to time there is some overcorrection, but eventually things will settle down and the world will be better for it. We should let people with compelling stories tell their stories! Now that streaming is the norm, there's room for everyone, now that we're not limited to only the stories which are marketable for primetime. Speaking from my own experience, I have been so so happy to see so much positive representation of LGBTQ characters in mainstream television / movies lately. As a kid, I had no positive examples of LGBTQ adults in my life, so I had no choice but to struggle by myself. Whether we like it or not, many children learn about the world through television. It would be difficult to express in words how deeply moved I was to learn that Disney Channel aired a children's show ("Andi Mack", [1]) with a gay main character, whose relationship with another male character was a major plotline. Shows like this give LGBTQ kids characters they can relate to, and gives non-LGBTQ kids a positive story about someone who is different from them. That children today might not need to deal with the same pain and isolation that I felt as a kid makes me so incredibly happy. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andi_Mack#:~:text=Andi%20Mack%20is%20the%20top,the%20news%20as%20being%20historic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andi_Mack#:~:text=Andi%20Mack%....
- himinlomax 6y ago
  I certainly don't mind LGBT characters, but the itemized tokenism present in such franchises as Star Trek: Discovery is so blatant it's ridiculous. One bi-racial homosexual couple, check. One overweight female scientist, check. One non-binary, check. One African American lead, check. One Asian captain, check. Ok I think we're good for now, we'll revisit the list when they add more letters to LGBTQIA.
- forest_dweller 6y ago
  > I do think there is a kernel of truth to what you're saying, but I don't think it's right to dismiss entirely the fact that representation IS important. This idea is insidious. Firstly people have to remember fiction is fiction. The reason why the first few seasons of Game of Thrones was compelling was because the world they lived in didn't have any modern sensibilities in it. The more they threw in modern sensibilities the worse the show got (thought the action scenes for the most part got better). There was some show recently where Black slaves in the USA had taken power over the whites and a white KKK member from another dimension somehow got transported there. Some decried the show and wanted it banned. I thought it sounded excellent, because it was soooo divorced from reality. Same with the "Man from the High Castle". The setting in which the enemy won WWII was compelling. Secondly just randomly pushing people into roles for the sake of representation ends up cheapening any genuine effort. The Wire was brilliant because the huge number of black people being in the show made sense. At the time I didn't actually notice that most of the cast was black. You know what the end result is. It made me notice skin colour when I didn't used to and made me start to resent any effort (no matter how genuine) because I know there is probably some quota involved somewhere to pander to a demographic. > Historically, "rich white people" have been in control of the media, so it's great to see this group becoming more self aware. It isn't self awareness though. They are projecting their prejudices onto the rest of us. This includes places where it just isn't relevant and makes almost no sense. How dare they project their prejudices onto me in an effort to absolve themselves of guilt, then have the gall to tell me that I am the one with the problem when I object to it. Fuck them! I clearly remember when I decided I wouldn't watch anymore broadcast television (this was about 8 years ago now). There was a show hosted by Scottish Comedian Frankie Boyle that was infamous for his offensive comedy. On that show there was a rich Canadian woman on the TV telling people in the audience that all men had done through the centuries was raping and beating women. Then there was a black musician called "Akala" telling me the British Empire institutions were guilty of perpetuating racism. He seemed to be obilvious to the fact that he was on a British Institution being broadcasted to every home in the country. Other the gross oversimplification of history. I had nothing to do with it (nor did my family as they were all very poor). It would be like blaming today's Germans for what Hitler did. It is absolutely disgusting. You know what the end result of this is? It made me hugely suspicious of any claim of sexual misconduct or racism. It is the classic story of the boy that cried wolf. > We should let people with compelling stories tell their stories! Now that streaming is the norm, there's room for everyone, now that we're not limited to only the stories which are marketable for primetime. Maybe I am getting old but I remember a lot of this already happening. I am not saying it was perfect and I don't disagree with it in principle. Recently "Black Panther" was released. "The first black super hero" they said. People seemed to forget Wesley Snipes played Blade for 3 movies (starting in 1997) and they were the first Marvel Movies and made the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe viable as it showed that a comic book property could be successful. Before that we had the "There are no female action heroes" they said. Forgetting all thrillers in the past with heroines, a whole movie franchise called Aliens, Cherry 2000, Nikita, Tank Girl, Buffy and a bunch of other movies I have probably forgotten about where the woman had taken charge of the situation and won the day. People increasingly think that the world before they were born didn't exist.
BlueTemplar 6y ago
> nobody cares about this shit in Europe btw because our identities are based on our nationality This seems to be changing : in France young Muslims are now placing Sharia above the secular law : https://www.marianne.net/societe/laicite-et-religions/des-francais-farouchement-laiques-fracture-chez-ceux-de-confession-musulmane-les-resultats-dun-sondage-exclusif https://www.marianne.net/societe/laicite-et-religions/des-fr... Note that the USA (and European Union, and of course the Muslim countries) are blamed for the dissemination of this dominant communitarian model.
- forest_dweller 6y ago
  It is an unfortunate export from the US that seems to have made it way over the pond.

benrbray 6y ago

> It only seems to be rich white people in the US seem to care about it I do think there is a kernel of truth to what you're saying, but I don't think it's right to dismiss entirely the fact that representation IS important. Historically, "rich white people" have been in control of the media, so it's great to see this group becoming more self aware. Sure, from time to time there is some overcorrection, but eventually things will settle down and the world will be better for it. We should let people with compelling stories tell their stories! Now that streaming is the norm, there's room for everyone, now that we're not limited to only the stories which are marketable for primetime. Speaking from my own experience, I have been so so happy to see so much positive representation of LGBTQ characters in mainstream television / movies lately. As a kid, I had no positive examples of LGBTQ adults in my life, so I had no choice but to struggle by myself. Whether we like it or not, many children learn about the world through television. It would be difficult to express in words how deeply moved I was to learn that Disney Channel aired a children's show ("Andi Mack", [1]) with a gay main character, whose relationship with another male character was a major plotline. Shows like this give LGBTQ kids characters they can relate to, and gives non-LGBTQ kids a positive story about someone who is different from them. That children today might not need to deal with the same pain and isolation that I felt as a kid makes me so incredibly happy. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andi_Mack#:~:text=Andi%20Mack%20is%20the%20top,the%20news%20as%20being%20historic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andi_Mack#:~:text=Andi%20Mack%....

himinlomax 6y ago
I certainly don't mind LGBT characters, but the itemized tokenism present in such franchises as Star Trek: Discovery is so blatant it's ridiculous. One bi-racial homosexual couple, check. One overweight female scientist, check. One non-binary, check. One African American lead, check. One Asian captain, check. Ok I think we're good for now, we'll revisit the list when they add more letters to LGBTQIA.
forest_dweller 6y ago
> I do think there is a kernel of truth to what you're saying, but I don't think it's right to dismiss entirely the fact that representation IS important. This idea is insidious. Firstly people have to remember fiction is fiction. The reason why the first few seasons of Game of Thrones was compelling was because the world they lived in didn't have any modern sensibilities in it. The more they threw in modern sensibilities the worse the show got (thought the action scenes for the most part got better). There was some show recently where Black slaves in the USA had taken power over the whites and a white KKK member from another dimension somehow got transported there. Some decried the show and wanted it banned. I thought it sounded excellent, because it was soooo divorced from reality. Same with the "Man from the High Castle". The setting in which the enemy won WWII was compelling. Secondly just randomly pushing people into roles for the sake of representation ends up cheapening any genuine effort. The Wire was brilliant because the huge number of black people being in the show made sense. At the time I didn't actually notice that most of the cast was black. You know what the end result is. It made me notice skin colour when I didn't used to and made me start to resent any effort (no matter how genuine) because I know there is probably some quota involved somewhere to pander to a demographic. > Historically, "rich white people" have been in control of the media, so it's great to see this group becoming more self aware. It isn't self awareness though. They are projecting their prejudices onto the rest of us. This includes places where it just isn't relevant and makes almost no sense. How dare they project their prejudices onto me in an effort to absolve themselves of guilt, then have the gall to tell me that I am the one with the problem when I object to it. Fuck them! I clearly remember when I decided I wouldn't watch anymore broadcast television (this was about 8 years ago now). There was a show hosted by Scottish Comedian Frankie Boyle that was infamous for his offensive comedy. On that show there was a rich Canadian woman on the TV telling people in the audience that all men had done through the centuries was raping and beating women. Then there was a black musician called "Akala" telling me the British Empire institutions were guilty of perpetuating racism. He seemed to be obilvious to the fact that he was on a British Institution being broadcasted to every home in the country. Other the gross oversimplification of history. I had nothing to do with it (nor did my family as they were all very poor). It would be like blaming today's Germans for what Hitler did. It is absolutely disgusting. You know what the end result of this is? It made me hugely suspicious of any claim of sexual misconduct or racism. It is the classic story of the boy that cried wolf. > We should let people with compelling stories tell their stories! Now that streaming is the norm, there's room for everyone, now that we're not limited to only the stories which are marketable for primetime. Maybe I am getting old but I remember a lot of this already happening. I am not saying it was perfect and I don't disagree with it in principle. Recently "Black Panther" was released. "The first black super hero" they said. People seemed to forget Wesley Snipes played Blade for 3 movies (starting in 1997) and they were the first Marvel Movies and made the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe viable as it showed that a comic book property could be successful. Before that we had the "There are no female action heroes" they said. Forgetting all thrillers in the past with heroines, a whole movie franchise called Aliens, Cherry 2000, Nikita, Tank Girl, Buffy and a bunch of other movies I have probably forgotten about where the woman had taken charge of the situation and won the day. People increasingly think that the world before they were born didn't exist.

BlueTemplar 6y ago

> nobody cares about this shit in Europe btw because our identities are based on our nationality This seems to be changing : in France young Muslims are now placing Sharia above the secular law : https://www.marianne.net/societe/laicite-et-religions/des-francais-farouchement-laiques-fracture-chez-ceux-de-confession-musulmane-les-resultats-dun-sondage-exclusif https://www.marianne.net/societe/laicite-et-religions/des-fr... Note that the USA (and European Union, and of course the Muslim countries) are blamed for the dissemination of this dominant communitarian model.

forest_dweller 6y ago
It is an unfortunate export from the US that seems to have made it way over the pond.