Should these at least be options in most games?

Maverick

Maverick

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In today's times should gamers be able the choose the race and sex of their protagonist? In the grand scheme of things in the world, what race/sex a game character is, doesn't really matter. But since this is a gaming web site, its relevant. I think minorities would love to see more of their own race in games. African Americans are almost never the main heroes in games, and Latinos have it even worse. US games hardly feature Asian Americans as well. Asians are in games, but thats because as you know, a lot of games come from Japan. And if minorities do make it in games they are uasually in sports games or they are stereotypes. Many VG Blacks & Hispanics speak in slang/ebonics and/or are uber violent. Look at GTA: San Andreas, Bad Boys, The Suffering (I can't tell what race Torque is) & Midnight Club 3 just to name a few. Women get Lara "melons" Croft and DoA: Volleyball.
Yes there are some non-stereotypical minorities in games like Splinter Cell, Resident Evil, Metroid, Half Life, Halo and Metal Gear Solid. But they're mostly "who cares" characters. I guess my point is I don't see what's so hard about giving the player the option to choose race and sex. Would it really matter if Sam Fisher was African American? If Kratos was Latino? If Sly Cooper was a woman? IMO it would change little to nothing.

Your thoughts?
 
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Resident Evil had Carlos. That is enough to make the who series just a wadd of stereotype. I hated him so much!

But American-based games are doing a lot of games where minority-looking characters (depending on if the game is actually in this world or not). Grand Theft Auto has whatshisface from that game that got pulled from the shelves. Sudeki has Buki. Elderscrolls has the option to change your person into any race, including the often-falling-on-hardship blue people. Metal Gear Solid is incorporating lots of minority characters, and they aren't nobodies either (Fortune, Vamp, Vulcan Raven, Sniper Wolf).

Anyway, Japan-produced games are going to stick to their spikey haired arians with the sporadically included person who actually LOOKS Asian. But American-produced games are incorporating more and more minority characters.

As for characters...good gameplay is good gameplay. If a game has an entertaining battle system, it is worth playing. However, if it is out of place to have a minority character, like having a bunch of Asians or Africans smack in the middle of God of War, which takes place entirely in ancient Greece, then they shouldn't. Or even putting a bunch of white people in Onimusha Warlords, that wouldn't be right. But if it takes place in America, they should place minority characters throughout the game.

As for females in games...well, I don't think any of that will be changing
 
I say yes. Star Wars: Jedi Academy let you chose male or female, the race, etc. and it was great. In fact, come to think of it. most Star Wars games lets you do that, even the ones with really deep characters (take for example Bioware's stunning Knights of the Old Republic RPGs , which let you play as a male or a female).

FPS games, where you only see a weapon and a hand aren't as important (althlugh it wuld still be fun to be able to do so) but in any 3rd Person or Adventure game you should be allowed to choose- why not? ANything that adds depth to the game experience is a good thing, right?

Word of note: many Adventure games have female-only characters (Syberia, Legact: Dark Shadows, etc.) but this is likely because the demographic for such titles is weighted more heavily to women. The money follows the customers after all... :)
 
i agree with much of what was said here but sometimes the storyline doesnt allow for you to be able to magically play as a different character, and i think that should be respected too. in both ways. more single player games which feature a static character (because of the actions he/she will take in the game...needs to be static)... which are minorities.

however, it's also true that about the customer. i mean if i had the choice, i'd still choose white males because that's who i am and i want to feel like i can identify with the character more.

but i dont think its fair to make everyone else do that, no.
 
While I agree with you wholeheartedly. Not all minority characters are "bad"

Barret from FFVII was actually a decent character. I can name some openly gay characters in games, (really gay, not just in the minds of bored teenage girls) that are oustandingly done.

I think the games that are most guilty of this are the american video game makers. I can understand why Japanese makers don't do it. Not many different nationalities in Japan. So it tends to go with what you know attitude.

I *HATE* Rockstar. Don't even get me started on the way females and other minorities are shown in their games. I think they are the worst of the lot.

But the main thing is, that we as gamers, make an issue about it. If enough of us make a stink and demand change, eventually it will happen. One of the reasons I do my panel(Girl Gamers: An Introduction to Women In Gaming) at several cons, to get awarness out. I am always happy to see a full room everytime. I have also been used as a reference for a couple college papers(my biggest achievement!)
 
In 3rd person games I always play a female if given a choice. If I have to stare at someone's back-side for hours and hours... I know- shallow. Sue me.

Well, OK that and let's face it... 99% of all male game models are just as stereotyped as female ones. Nearly every male game hero is pretty much built like a comic hero- muscles upon muscles upon muscles. Gordon Freeman notwithstanding (who we never see, BTW) there aren't too many game heroes that look like, well, GAMERS, which begs the question: is it that while male gamers RELATE bettter to that kind of iconic figure, or is it more a wish-fulfillment kind of deal? Either way, I'm not going to criticize (I like a nice escape from reality as much if no more then the next guy), I'm just curious...
 
Jade Empire. Asians, no whiteys. If I could I'd be an asian dude in every game that I play. Why? Asians are just crazy.
 
Beth said:
I can name some openly gay characters in games, (really gay, not just in the minds of bored teenage girls) that are oustandingly done.

I think the games that are most guilty of this are the american video game makers. I can understand why Japanese makers don't do it. Not many different nationalities in Japan. So it tends to go with what you know attitude.

I *HATE* Rockstar. Don't even get me started on the way females and other minorities are shown in their games. I think they are the worst of the lot.
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Uhh...what openly gay characters are there that aren't lesbians who were inserted simply so guys could be thinking "damn, they're lesbians, that's definitely gonna result in girl on girl action! I must buy!!!"?

But there aren't that many big American publishers, and they often do include minorities, though some/many are often cliches. Except the Sarge from Halo...You in Morrowind...You in KOTOR...and so on.

And I don't like Rockstar either....high five!

:highfive:
 
They sell porno mags to a man for pretty dresses....

But he is a strange character that is actually well done.

No Mary Sue's in this game. And Hero is not as angst as most. *cough Cloud Squall*cough*
 
I just wanted to say that I agree with the issue raised in the original post. In a world of ever growing diversity there the entertainment industry has been lagging behind. Perhaps because the businesses tend to be run by old, white men...but I digress.

While I'm not sure I agree with the idea that every game grant you this option, I think it should be a big feature in upcoming games. The technology is there for sure, but nobody wants to utilize it. Sometimes the gender is also important to the character in many story-driven games...take Metal Gear Solid for example. Snake is basically a man bred for a single purpose who seems to be less believing in that purpose more and more. He has this sort of "rebel without a cause" air to him that would sort of be weird if it was a female character (that and all the hitting on anything without a Y chromosome, but I guess that wouldn't change too much either).

Anyways. Long story short: Yeah games should start implementing the ability to choose your gender and race, etc. However, the same standard should not be applied to all games as something like gender or race can have a significant impact on the direction or feel of the storyline as a whole. For better or worse.
 
I like the basic idea of the thread as well. One of my favorite aspects about games is replayability. Adding any sort of customization to the character, even if it is purely aesthetic, adds to the replayability.

However, I will also reveal my chauvanism and agree with ImagoX: I like the female characters.

Oh, and I love lamp.
 
Ronan said:
I just wanted to say that I agree with the issue raised in the original post. In a world of ever growing diversity there the entertainment industry has been lagging behind. Perhaps because the businesses tend to be run by old, white men...but I digress.
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Have you seen a movie in the past 10 years o_O Minorities in movies isn't a problem.

And Snake stopped having a problem with fighting. In MGS2, he actually fights for what he believes in.

The main reason there aren't many "make your character" things is that so many games have established characters. I mean...Mario? Sam Fisher? Solid Snake? Samanosuke? Sonic? Would their respective games really be complete without their characters included? Plus, creating alternate storylines is a difficult and costly process. And often if they actually do it, they don't do it well (case and point, KOTOR).
 
spudlyff8fan said:
Uhh...what openly gay characters are there that aren't lesbians who were inserted simply so guys could be thinking "damn, they're lesbians, that's definitely gonna result in girl on girl action! I must buy!!!"
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I think Fear Effect 2 had two lesbians in a game without trying to attract guys. I may be wrong, but it seemed to surprise many people, like it was a secret. Eidos didn't seem to flaunt the idea of their game having lesbians in it, IMO. I didn't finish the game, but from what I played/saw there was never a scene where you could say "that was just for 13 year old boys". It just seemed like it was another part of the story to me.
 
spudlyff8fan said:
Have you seen a movie in the past 10 years o_O Minorities in movies isn't a problem.
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ya i gues. but i still think most movies just try to have a token minority. they usually fit into some kind of archetype. and a lot of times they are not important and/or die off quickly. i'm not saying that there arent plenty of movies which do utilize minorities as a real deep character without expoiting or stereotyping...but i'm saying that a lot of movies dont.
 
Yeah that is what I meant as well. Aside from a handful of actors (namely Halle Berry and Denzel Washington) there are no actors of visible minority that really get any other parts than the guy that dies, a drug addict, some bodygaurd for the evil white man (the bad guys are usually white), or just some brainless comedy. Women probably have it a bit better off but even then there aren't a whole lot of strong roles for women that don't require a certain bust size or...whatever the term for "ass size" would be.
 
Side note: Morgan Freeman is in every movie ever. He isn't usually a central character, but he's in everything.
 
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