Videogame Characters "Lack Diversity," Study Finds

[GideonB]

You know what's even better than diversity? Not giving a shit about what colour someone is.

I agree. You must notice difference before you can discriminate against it.

There is no problem with noticing difference. "Difference" isn't a dirty word. And you can bet that you notice difference. It's wired into us all as humans to try to make sense of our world. But like I said, noticing difference isn't inherently a bad thing. I find it suspiciously amazing that so many people here claim to be beyond all this.Making negative value judgments and/or associations based upon those superficial differences is where problems arise. This also includes internalizing images and developing negativity about your own group.

If a black kid sees black characters only as criminals and athletes (in games, movies, or TV), then that kid may internalize those images as being some sort of limitation and not strive for something more. A sort of 'this is how I am seen, so why bother?' A greater variety in representation can offer more realistic images.

I personally don't see why people need to be playing characters that look like them. I grew up playing a skiny blue hedghog after all

There is a difference. These studies tend to consider games that have human characters. Playing as Sonic or Pac-Man is obviously fantasy. But you as a (presumably) white male, have had plenty of opportunities to play a game and see 'yourself' in some form. There are many game protagonists who resemble you even if the hedgehog doesn't. That's what so many are ignorant of here.

See my above post regarding White Privilege.

More games with a choice of how your character looks and less pointless stereotypes would be the best way to correct any problems that could be occuring due to the similarity of characters.

This part is good. However, the storyline may not provide for this. Or you wind up with an silent PC (say, a Revan) and other characters acting differently toward you than if you had designed your character as __________ instead of __________.

I agree with you if developers did what you said then there would be a good thing but most aren't because they want money by following cliches although some games do take the piss out of cliches (The House of the Dead Overkill) which is good but there are too many games following space marine fridge man formula made up of 10% skin and 90% muscle and retardation. I think we need a new cliche to follow like something that requires it to be unique EVERY time!

 

[toasterslayer]

Solution: make games with only genderless, immortal, non-speaking aliens!

 

[Alex_P]

Well Dmitri Williams is right, the industry does lack diversity but he should've stopped right there though because that identity formation problem doesn't actually exist. If it did, it would happen no matter the ethnicity of the character because the player isn't playing themselves as the game's plot isn't subjective.

"Identity formation" in this context refers to external images of groups you belong to -- based on gender, color, culture, &c.

Mass media is a conduit for social values. It shows you how society expects you to act. (See also: "Nobody's Asian in the Movies".)

This is probably easiest to conceptualize when you think about gender first.

-- Alex

 

[nepheleim]

I would be very sad to find out that, somehow, my taxes went into funding this waste of a study.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

I usually call bulls*** whenever something like these happens. But this is probably the first study that insults videogames that is actually true! Although I personally think that with the advent of character creation this problem shall become obsolete.

 

[TheLefty]

This article had a good point if it was pointing out statistics but I odn't think anyone actually cares that much. I don't care if I have to a white person and I actually think it's funny how much of a stereotype I'm not. I about the "stereotypically white" black person you'll ever meet.

 

[annoyinglizardvoice]

You know what's even better than diversity? Not giving a shit about what colour someone is.

I agree. You must notice difference before you can discriminate against it.

There is no problem with noticing difference. "Difference" isn't a dirty word. And you can bet that you notice difference. It's wired into us all as humans to try to make sense of our world. But like I said, noticing difference isn't inherently a bad thing. I find it suspiciously amazing that so many people here claim to be beyond all this.Making negative value judgments and/or associations based upon those superficial differences is where problems arise. This also includes internalizing images and developing negativity about your own group.

If a black kid sees black characters only as criminals and athletes (in games, movies, or TV), then that kid may internalize those images as being some sort of limitation and not strive for something more. A sort of 'this is how I am seen, so why bother?' A greater variety in representation can offer more realistic images.

I personally don't see why people need to be playing characters that look like them. I grew up playing a skiny blue hedghog after all

There is a difference. These studies tend to consider games that have human characters. Playing as Sonic or Pac-Man is obviously fantasy. But you as a (presumably) white male, have had plenty of opportunities to play a game and see 'yourself' in some form. There are many game protagonists who resemble you even if the hedgehog doesn't. That's what so many are ignorant of here.

See my above post regarding White Privilege.

More games with a choice of how your character looks and less pointless stereotypes would be the best way to correct any problems that could be occuring due to the similarity of characters.

This part is good. However, the storyline may not provide for this. Or you wind up with an silent PC (say, a Revan) and other characters acting differently toward you than if you had designed your character as __________ instead of __________.

Some interesting points.

While you're right that I am a white male, that doesn't mean that I've ever actually felt represented by a character because he was a white male. On games where you control your character's appearence, I've never really gone much for creating me.

 

[Joeshie]

Honestly, I don't think I care how diverse the video game landscape is as long as there are good games out there.

I think the only way that video games will become more "diverse" is when more different kinds of people start making video games. Let's face it, right now most video game developers are white males and you can't really blame them if they want to make a video game where the main character is a white male.

 

[Alex_P]

Although I personally think that with the advent of character creation this problem shall become obsolete.

I think flexible character creation will only take you so far, though.

Stories are defined by their protagonists. You can't just drop any old character into a plotline and have it make sense.

-- Alex

 

[Xanadu84]

This is not shameful. Most people are white, most developers are white, there going to tend to make white characters. Games are seen as a male dominated industry, characters tend to be male. There's no evil plot going on here, and I think the involved scientists know this. What they are saying is that under-represented demographics might want to buy video games where there better represented. Video games filling this niche have a pretty good likelihood to succeed. Thank you science, job well done, now we have detailed facts instead of speculation, maybe it will help inspire game developers to broadening there horizons.

 

[Hallow'sEve]

I think this "Dmitri Williams " should get a real job and leave the usual bs to the tabloids.

And as for the "issue" at hand, it's not going anywhere, there's no public outcry about it and there's been no real reason to change it (aside from crying hippies). Besides, we all know that videogames are just a subliminal tool used to promote the superior Aryian race.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

My two cents:

1. I don't want quotas... I just wanna know why, in 2009, one year after we elected a black man president, the default video game hero is still a white guy?

Because companies are making money as is. Let's be honest here, we all knew that already. Asking the question past that implies another reason- THAT reason.

Saying "I don't want quotas", then complaining about there not being enough minorities in games is like going out on a crowded street and yelling "I'M NOT CRAZY! I'M NOT CRAZY DAMN YOU ALL!".

Did Nathan Drake HAVE to be a white male? Why couldn't Dom have been the hero of Gears? He actually had more of an emotional connection to the story, if I understand correctly. Why couldn't Kratos have been from Carthage? They were pretty badass there.

Ok, who's going to decide who gets to have the white character as the lead in their game?

The problem with this line of thinking is that you're not dealing with a single person having made the decision to not have any minority leads, you're dealing with individuals making independent decisions, and you can't point to any one of them and say "You, you there. You're the one who should have had a minority lead. You're the racist!".

 

[YuheJi]

Ok, who's going to decide who gets to have the white character as the lead in their game?

The problem with this line of thinking is that you're not dealing with a single person having made the decision to not have any minority leads, you're dealing with individuals making independent decisions, and you can't point to any one of them and say "You, you there. You're the one who should have had a minority lead. You're the racist!".

I think what he's trying to say is that developers could easily make a small change, and it wouldn't hurt the game in any way. For example, Lara Croft was originally a South American woman named Laura Cruz. But the character design and name was changed so that she could be more "UK friendly". Would it really make that big a difference on the game whether it was Lara Croft or Laura Cruz? No! But developers create white leads a majority of the time anyways.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

I think what he's trying to say is that developers could easily make a small change, and it wouldn't hurt the game in any way. For example, Lara Croft was originally a South American woman named Laura Cruz. But the character design and name was changed so that she could be more "UK friendly". Would it really make that big a difference on the game whether it was Lara Croft or Laura Cruz? No! But developers create white leads a majority of the time anyways.

First off, you're missing the point. You're talking about what a bunch of people who operate independently should do as if they were a collective. Is making a game with a white male protagonist wrong? If it's not wrong for one developer to do it, why is it wrong for the rest of them to? The fundamental logic the complaint is based off of is fundamentally flawed.

Secondly, you've given an excellent example on why they shouldn't bother. Too many white men? Ok, we'll have a woman. Oh, but it has to be a *minority* woman. Oh, wait, she's too stereotypical. No, now she's not "black enough". Trying to please the PC crowd is like trying to feed a fire until it's full.

 

[McMarbles]

My two cents:

1. I don't want quotas... I just wanna know why, in 2009, one year after we elected a black man president, the default video game hero is still a white guy?

Because companies are making money as is. Let's be honest here, we all knew that already. Asking the question past that implies another reason- THAT reason.

Saying "I don't want quotas", then complaining about there not being enough minorities in games is like going out on a crowded street and yelling "I'M NOT CRAZY! I'M NOT CRAZY DAMN YOU ALL!".

I like how you know what I'm thinking better than I do. I make the simple suggestion that there's no reason "white male" should be the default, and suddenly I'm a crazy person shouting in the streets.

Is the status quo so important to you that anyone who has the tiniest qualm about it must be a CRAAAAAAZY man?

Did Nathan Drake HAVE to be a white male? Why couldn't Dom have been the hero of Gears? He actually had more of an emotional connection to the story, if I understand correctly. Why couldn't Kratos have been from Carthage? They were pretty badass there.

Ok, who's going to decide who gets to have the white character as the lead in their game?

The problem with this line of thinking is that you're not dealing with a single person having made the decision to not have any minority leads, you're dealing with individuals making independent decisions, and you can't point to any one of them and say "You, you there. You're the one who should have had a minority lead. You're the racist!".

And again, you put words in my mouth. I'm not suggesting that anyone made a conscious decision to preserve things as they are. I'm not saying that we must force a change.

I'm simply asking... why does it HAVE to continue this way?

I'll give you an example: Chris Claremont.

Now, I think Chris Claremont is a horrible, horrible writer. I think his plots drag on and on, forever, without resiolution. I think his dialogue resembles nothing that any human being has ever spoken in the history of the English language.But one thing I can't fault him for, is that every time he created a character, he always asked himself "Is there any reason why this character HAS to be a white male?"

He thought outside the box. All I ask is that others do the same.

So, clearly, that makes me a raving lunatic.

 

[Merteg]

Ummmmm, does anyone really care about the race of the main character?

I play Call of Duty: World at War all day long and I'm not gonna say: "Oh noes! I'm a Nazi! I can't play on this team!"

I don't care what race my character is, as long as it doesn't effect my game-play in a big way.

 

[Anarchy In Detroit]

Lack of variety? True I suppose. I doubt most of us care though. I don't give a shit who I play as. San Andreas? Didn't care. GTA IV? Didn't care. Saints Row? Didn't care. Any game with customizable characters or character creators? Didn't care. Far Cry 2? I played as the chinese guy... I'm Polish. Rainbow six? I used a black dude. *shrug* Whatever makes sense in that 2 seconds where I decide these things.

This is so stupid. I can tell you now most of the people on my friends list on X Box Live are Latino and many of em are Uber gamers who want every last achievement. Do you think their interest in gaming was curbed because their characters weren't their ehtnicity? I think not.


And for whoever asked why Kratos in God of War couldn't be from Carthage... BECAUSE CARTHAGE IS NOT SPARTA. All spartans were strictly spartan. No dang funny talkin furreners allowed ya here!

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Wow... I can't stand shit like this. Trying to make everyone feel special? Does it really matter what color people are? I had to play as Louis once on Left 4 Dead and threw a temper tantrum because I wanted to play as a white guy. Grow up, people. This doesn't matter.