Kotaku: Video Games have a "Blackness" problem.
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http://kotaku.com/video-games-blackness-problem-1686694082
Read the entire article, it's great stuff.
You can replace "video games" with "NeoGAF, and it still would be as effective.
Read the entire article, it's great stuff.
Video games have a blackness problem. This has been a known thing for a while, and we do talk about it from time to time. But I'd like to keep talking about it.
When they appear at all, black video game characters are often reduced to outdated, embarrassing stereotypes. It's commonly accepted that part of the reason for that is that there simply aren't enough black people making video games. Surely if that changed, video games' depictions of black characters would improve, right? What else might it take?
I've never played as a black video game character who's made me feel like he was cool.…
You can replace "video games" with "NeoGAF, and it still would be as effective.
Good read.
Liked this part in particular:
Liked this part in particular:
I think people need to be open to a variety of blackness. Black people don't speak or act in a single way, yet game makers still rely on tropes to make characters seem authentic.
Only time games seem to get "blackness" correct are military characters. Mass Effect, Halo and so on... And that's because they don't jive talk or anything, go figure?
The one exception was Cole Train who was awesome because his voice actor don't fuck around
The one exception was Cole Train who was awesome because his voice actor don't fuck around
Cole Train and Sgt. Johnson are some great black characters.
Honestly couldn't think of many off top outside of the GTA characters.
Honestly couldn't think of many off top outside of the GTA characters.
Cole Train was perhaps the most stereotypical black character possible.
The only thing Epic forgot to give him and Dom were watermelons and a lawnmower
The only thing Epic forgot to give him and Dom were watermelons and a lawnmower
Steve the gay pilot in ME3 was a great character.
Except his last name was Cortez so now I don't know what to think.
Except his last name was Cortez so now I don't know what to think.
By blackaceOnly time games seem to get "blackness" correct are military characters. Mass Effect, Halo and so on... And that's because they don't jive talk or anything, go figure?I remember reading last year sometime about this as it related to Hollywood movies. It was talking about how the reason black people get cast as cops and military all the time is because other races see those roles as being kind of universal. So those roles are written so they can just be filled by whoever.
So maybe that same sort of thing probably applies to games and, for example, space marines in Halo. When originally drawn up, they probably aren't specifically writing the sergeant as being a black dude, whatever that means to the people writing the game.