Most video games star white males.

[PhiMed]

Oh, good. Someone read a book for a humanities course and thinks that they discovered a term like "White privilege". This thread is ALWAYS fun.

Look, most people in the United States (the largest market for video games) are white. Most of the market for big budget games within that demo are male. Know your customer. It's a central tenet of business.

Suggesting that there's some sort of collusion-based social institution that secretly encourages racism with some sort of ulterior motive when there is a MUCH SIMPLER EXPLANATION is a rationalization created by weak-minded paranoid schizophrenics to explain why their own racism is justified.

Congrats. You bought into their fantasy.

Plus, way to go on selecting two games that allow for character customization that will allow you to create a character of any demographic and accusing them of being racist. "This game allows me to pick ANY race or gender! Clearly this is an example of white male privilege!" Please...

 

[AusGamer44]

Of course it doesn't bother most of you.Why should it? Most of you ARE white males.As a female gamer,personally I get sick of having to play a bloke in 95% of games.When I ask most of my male friends if they'd play a woman,most of them go,"Hell,no,it breaks the fantasy of me being in the adventure."And then you just expect women to suck it up and not complain that WE are denied the same thing.I don't mind playing as a bloke SOMETIMES,but it would be nice to have the OPTION to play as a female chr more often.I imagine being black or asian it's a bit of a drag to hardly ever play your race either.
The answer would simply be to do a Mass Effect more often and enable the player to choose the sex/race of the hero e.g an extension of the Shep/Femshep option.Surely it wouldn't be THAT much more work for the developer?I don't expect guys to be forced to play as women more than they're comfortable with,I would just like the choice of playing as my own sex to increase my immersion in the game.
Think of it this way:why do you think you can now buy black/asian barbies? It helps with the suspension of disbelief,and is more inclusive than just providing white dolls.All of us like to see ourselves represented in popular media/fiction.Why shouldn't it be the same in games?
Also, female gamers wouldn't be so uncommon.Your wife/girlfriend/would ***** less about the 40 hrs a week you spend gaming if she could see an escapist fantasy in your game that appeals to her.And escapist fantasies usually include being the same gender.
I get it that game designers are going after the dominant demographic.But by including us non-penis toting persons,they just might increase their appeal and thus their sales.
Girls and non-whites game too,y'know.We just wanna be heroes of an adventure as well.Why is that so hard to understand?

 

[CATS FTW]

How is it white "privilege" if I'm just going to take nathan drake and jump of cliffs and get beaten up by pirates, that's not a privilege that's a punishment. All kidding aside though, you're dead wrong, yes racism still exists, having the majority of characters in a genre be one breed of human or another though is not racism, it's just coincidence and practicality.

 

[GenericPCUser]

Don't you think it would be more racist if the only reason for including a non-white person in a game is because the game "needs to have one?"

That's another thing, why does a game need to have someone to represent all races? If someone were to boycott a game because the protagonist was a white male that would be just as bad, if not worse, than someone complaining about the character not being a white male. For instance, I could make the argument that white men are appropriately represented in sports games, even though white men make up a majority of the country's population.

I think the reason for white men being portrayed more often as the lead roles in a game has a little with actual decision making. Most game creators are white men, so when a bunch of white men a character, the viewpoint that is the easiest to represent are those of a white man.

 

[PhiMed]

Of course it doesn't bother most of you.Why should it? Most of you ARE white males.As a female gamer,personally I get sick of having to play a bloke in 95% of games.When I ask most of my male friends if they'd play a woman,most of them go,"Hell,no,it breaks the fantasy of me being in the adventure."And then you just expect women to suck it up and not complain that WE are denied the same thing.I don't mind playing as a bloke SOMETIMES,but it would be nice to have the OPTION to play as a female chr more often.I imagine being black or asian it's a bit of a drag to hardly ever play your race either.
The answer would simply be to do a Mass Effect more often and enable the player to choose the sex/race of the hero e.g an extension of the Shep/Femshep option.Surely it wouldn't be THAT much more work for the developer?I don't expect guys to be forced to play as women more than they're comfortable with,I would just like the choice of playing as my own sex to increase my immersion in the game.
Think if it this way:why do you think you can now buy black/asian barbies? It helps with the suspension of disbelief,and is more inclusive than just providing white dolls.All of us like to see ourselves represented in popular media/fiction.Why shouldn't it be the same in games?
Also, female gamers wouldn't be so uncommon.Your wife/girlfriend/friend with beenfits would ***** less about the 40 hrs a week you spend gaming if she could an escapist fantasy in your game that appeals to her.And escapist fantasies usually include being the same gender.
I get it that game designers are going after the dominant demographic.But by including us non-penis toting persons,they just might increase their appeal and thus their sales.
Girls and non-whites game too,y'know.We just wanna be heroes of an adventure too.

I think that's a terrible idea. When the protagonist is fully customizable, he/she/it loses their CHARACTER. Quick... who's your favorite Mass Effect character? I guaran-fucking-tee you didn't just say "Shepard". Wanna know why? Because Shepard has to be a boring wet blanket in order to fit everyone's idea of who that person should be. Bioware games have their place, but I'm glad there are games that don't adopt that model and actually tell a concise story.

 

[quantumsoul]

Whites and Asians will be the majority of game main character because of who makes the games. It's not racism. If more minority groups made video games this wouldn't be a problem.

Look at this video game from Kenya. Guess what? No white people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drxql-ktn4Y

Are they Not entirely sure why so many Asian games have white looking characters. It might have something to do with how anime characters are drawn. I think the rounder eyes are more expressive from a distance. If anybody knows what the real reason is, please tell.being racist?

 

[AwkwardTurtle]

So I read the first four pages, and then quit half-way through page 5 and just finished up page 6.

I feel like I have to comment after all that reading I did. So here's my opinion for whatever it's worth.

First off, I can most assuredly say that LilithSlave is kind of weird:

Seems a very typical white privilege thing to do to shift the blame so that something racist suddenly becomes irrelevant.:/

I have absolutely no idea what that statement means at all based on how it is phrased.

Also this person is not at all eloquent in making any real points other than pointing out the fact that "There are games with white protagonist".

Before going any further I think it's important that when having a discussion everyone fully and completely explain the definition of every term they use that the other party may not completely understand. Like so:

I think that a lot of people hear "white privilege" and, because they're not clear as to what is meant, they hear it as some kind of accusation, like it's a personal failing. It's not; your privilege is the advantages you have simply by virtue of being who you are, you can't help it, and we're all more or less privileged in some way or another.

If you are white, you have privilege over someone who is black, because you are not likely to be singled out for abuse because of your colour, or stopped by the police based on racial profiling, or discriminated against in education or employment. If one group of people are getting less than their fair share, that means another group is getting more, and that's privilege.

Personal note:Good job ms sunlight. Although, it would be better not to insult the person you are conversing with though.


After reflecting on the issue of race in games (and in media in general I suppose) I can say one thing for sure. As of right now there doesn't seem to be a universal solution that can be applied. So, there probably isn't any proven "right" answer as things are in the present.

These are my thoughts on the whole character creation thing.
Yes, in more recent times there is often a character creation/customization option that allows one to say "The main character isn't American/European looking at all, the main character can be whatever you want!" The nit I have to pick about this is the fact that the semantic point can be made is that my Commander Shepherd can be an Asian man,[sub]2[/sub] but the Commander Shepherd is the man on the box/poster/advertisements. That's clearly the design that the people behind the game felt best represented who they wanted to be the main character. When I discuss the character of Commander Shepherd with others they couldn't possibly know what my personal creation looked like and so, the "default" image that everyone thinks of when they hear Commanders Shepherd is that man on the box.

After a quick google search, I have to say that it seems that Fallout 3 did a semi-good job in hiding what their protagonist looks like, and so cheers to them.^^

Honestly, as an Asian man I can say that the number of white[sub]3[/sub] kind of disturbing when contrasted with the lack of Asian protagonists (in the games that I have played)[sub]4[/sub]. I can tell everyone here that I was absolutely ecstatic, overjoyed, filled with delight when I saw Hope as the main protagonist of Mirror's Edge. Never before had I seen an Asian female protagonist that wasn't at all being overtly "sexy" or portrayed as a "stereotypical oriental". She was just an Asian woman, that was all. That's just a little story of mine that I felt like sharing. I think it is a little too easy for "white" male gamers to take for granted the fact that there is quite an abundance of "white" male protagonists.

I have read many posters simply saying that many developers are "white" guys--->they write about "white" guys, or many video game consumers are "white"--->"white" guys will be the most profitable. Okay, so where is this statistic coming from? Just curious.^^ Please inform my unaware mind.

I feel like I have more to say, but I have homework that must be done. :3 I do find it interesting how quickly the majority of the posters here are to brush off or defend the fact that the issue being raised is not an issue at all. [sub]5[/sub]

[sub]1.I honestly can't tell how this thread is defining the term white so instead I'll say American or European.[/sub]
[sub]2. Well I got him to be Shepherd to look about as Asian as I could. That character creation system Bioware has going on is difficult for me. xD[/sub]
[sub]3. I am just going to use white in this case because it feels more natural to type, but please if I am using the term incorrectly, let me know. [/sub]
[sub]4. If anyone out there happens to know a lot of games where the main protagonist is Asian, please do let me know. [/sub]
[sub]5. Although I suppose it didn't help that the poster gives off the slight impression of being just slightly crazy.[/sub]

 

[revjor]

Are they Not entirely sure why so many Asian games have white looking characters. It might have something to do with how anime characters are drawn. I think the rounder eyes are more expressive from a distance. If anybody knows what the real reason is, please tell.being racist?

Random thought. But i seem to remember an article talking about one of the reasons that some Japanese gamers tended to avoid FPS games(aside from mad motion sickness) was a desire to know they were some completely different character. They couldn't properly escape into the game world unless they saw that plump mustachioed Italian guy or elf or whatever character you are.

I could see the same translating to this style of Japanese v.g. characters. They have to be drastically different or exaggerated versions of reality for escape purposes.

 

[Lurklen]

I'd like to see more diversity in protagonists, games or otherwise. I don't think it's an emergency but I don't see why it's all that difficult to do. As for the argument that most gamers are white males,so? Sonic was a blue hedgehog and he sold like crazy, pacman was a yellow circle with a mouth, no one had trouble identifying with him. Hell I bet more guys played Mrs. Pacman than women did. More importantly the games those characters were in were fun to play, that is what sells games.

Most first person shooter characters are just hands, like they're not even a whole person just hands that hold a weapon, so why can't those hands be brown? There are people who want it and it's unlikely to really alienate people who don't even think about it,(the majority) so why not do it? The worst that happens is we have a generic protagonist who's only difference from the herd is their skin colour, at best we get something new and interesting.

I mean I'm guilty of it too, I'm writing a story and the protagonist is a young white male I'm not sure why. It's just what popped in my head when I thought of the character, but honestly it doesn't really change anything about his character so maybe he'll be south american just for the hell of it.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

At least they aren't ponies

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

Assassin's Creed? But Altiar is arabic... Someone call Morgan Freeman, if his sound logic and voice of audible chocolate aren't enough to stop this troll nothing is.

 

[Bocaj2000]

Last time I heard anyone say this, It was on a youtube comment where someone posted "Watchmen is Racist because it doesn't have any black main characters". If the most important thing in a video game to you is the skin color of the main character, you are either playing the wrong type of games, or are in fact a racist yourself.

Or maybe the person is black.

Hell, I bought GTA: The Lost and Damned just because the main character is Jewish. I honestly cannot name ONE other game that has this.

We'll just have to agree to disagree. I personally believe that when buying a game the most important thing should be how much fun it is, not the ethnicity/religion of the main character. Also, the ethnicity of the buyer in comparison to a game protagonist shouldn't be a factor in deciding to get the game, and a black person not liking a game protagonist because they are white is just as racist as a white person not liking a game protagonist because they are black.

Also, I do feel like some games can add extra depth to a character by adding a differing religion, sexual preference, or race (Prey and Persona 4 come to mind), but I also feel that developers often just add a race to a character as an afterthought to make the game more politically correct.

I never said that race is a deciding factor, but it can be important if the buyer is a minority. I also buy games based on my biased opinion on "good." We agree on this. However, your "racist" argument is very nieve. THE ISSUE IS NOT a conspiracy of how the entire game industry is racist for having a predominately straight, white, male cast of protagonists. The issue is simply the fact that there are very few games with diversity (and no, making a white character darker doesn't count). The issue is that the industry is limiting itself to "blank-slate" characters instead of diving into some ethnic related issues. It's about taking risks. Also, as black gamers, it would kind of suck to grow up not being able to project themselves onto this "blank-slate."

How come every time race is brought up, WASPS dismiss it as "political correctness" instead of having an actual conversation? Political correctness and diversity are NOT interchangeable words.

 

[C2Ultima]

JC Denton can be black, pretty sure Shepherd can be too.

Shepard can be female as well.

 

[Ethan Asia]

Oh well.

Really, that's all we need to say. Race doesn't matter, they say, so why does this?

 

[scarfacetehstag]

I have to know, is not finding black women attractive as whole a racist? Is that a thing? Not a genetic per-disposition?

 

[-Dragmire-]

It seems to me that it's so common now that anytime someone deviates from that people look at it as 'trying to make some statement' and read too much into it. If the developer is not trying to make a statement on race/sexuality it's just easier to default to what people have accepted as the norm.

Naturally, games have chosen to do something different with the main character (ex. Portal) but for developers and/or publishers who don't want to risk doing something different, it's easier to go "just go with the usual white guy".

 

[FoolKiller]

Dear OP.

I appreciate what you've tried to do. I believe that while it may be true that the white male is the dominant protagonist of choice for a developer, the trend has gone away from that and allowed more and more choice in the matter in a game.

I have just done quick viewing of all the games I've cleared on 360 (since I feel this generation matters more than the past and I have played too many to count all). Here are the results of the 51 games checked:

PROTAGONISTS
25 Multi (where you can play as different ones either by choice of character or by creation)
19 white (although 9 of those must be white due to the nature of the source material and not by developer choice: this includes 5 Harry Potters)
1 middle eastern
1 Hawaiian (I hope I spelled that right)
1 asian
1 native american
1 robot
1 panda

(Note: Uncharted falls under the 'must-be white' category as well since its Francis Drake's descendant... more terrifying is Nathan Drake's personality and actions rather than his skin colour)

Granted, when you have a fixed race protagonist (even eliminating the source material fixtures) you have an 10:6 ratio of white to non-white. This still clearly favours white but it isn't as bad as it would seem initially.

Even more inspiring is that nearly half of the 51 games polled, there are multiple options or a character creation option that allows a player to create whatever they feel the most comfortable with.

Selection of a few choice games is something to note but nothing to worry about overall unless there is a trend going in the wrong direction.

So in conclusion of this aspect of the discussion, I prefer to think glass half full and look at the half that lets me choose what I want to play as.

As for the concept of white privileges, you are correct. There is still an advantage to being a blonde, blue-eyed, white, heterosexual male. But I don't think that the video game industry is demonstrating this to any great extent. I also believe that the trend is moving in the right direction.

Finally, I would like to point out the logical fallacy regarding the comments about attraction and such. Attraction is about discrimination. You are discriminating what you find attractive versus what you don't. If I'm not attracted to black women it doesn't make me racist any more than not being attracted to men makes me hate homosexuals.

Thank you for your time and the interesting discussion.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Does it matter? Most video game characters are American. I'm not offended by it.
Complaining about stuff like this just causes problems where there aren't any.

 

[Zyxzy]

I find the "male" part to currently be the most problematic. It is unnervingly difficult to find a non-sexualized female main character who isn't Samus Aran.

Though, video gaming is still probably better than Hollywood in the whole "white male main character" regard.

 

[Aeonknight]

Why are most protagonists white males? Because as soon as you put in a character of african descent, it's racist.

If you put an african lead, someone will think he was shoehorned in to avoid them pulling the race card. Which is in itself... pulling the race card. And that's before they even get to their arguements on how the african character is just a racial stereotype.

If you put in a white lead, someone will think of it as a disturbing lack of other ethnicities and start suspecting the developers are members of the KKK.


AKA someone will call bullshit whether you design your game inside or outside of the box of "generic white guy". Developers can't fucking win it seems.