Arabs in games.

[Malty Milk Whistle]

Why are they demonised? Is it just because most modern shooters need some ethnic non american/english sods to blast into gory oblivion?
And when will this change?

Surely the entire people from ages 6-15 have had a predetermined mindset of arabs and muslims, and this CANNOT be a good thing.

So please, state your opinion or eat a falafel, whichever you prefer.

 

[Ranylyn]

I blame the wars in the middle east and propoganda.

Kind of the same reason why Russians are also a common enemy; because of older bigots on the dev team who remember a little something called the Cold War.

I wouldn't mind eating a falafel if you have any to spare, though.

 

[Zhukov]

Why are they demonised?

Well, in a nutshell: because 9/11.

Also because developers seem to struggle with the concept of a non-American protagonist.

I don't know if it's a problem exactly, although I did feel a bit bad for this one Palestinian guy I know when he said, "I'm kinda sick of every game making me shoot guys who look like my dad."

 

[Thespian]

Dude, I really fucking hate Falafel. It's just horrible. I became vegetarian and I tried all this new vegetarian food and I got this one falafel and it was terrible. Like, really bad.
I mean, it wasn't fresh, and it was some Irish brand so I'm sure it's not as good as the real thing, but I am forever biased against falafel now. Sorry.

That's totally unrelated to the topic, I know. I guess it's because these games are primarily western, and games will always paint targets who are not in their demographic and make a handy villain. It sucks.

EDIT: Holy crap I re-read this and that Falafel spiel is actually an excellent metaphor for people seeing a very very brutally small group of people do something very bad that's not representative of all of their people, but judging the entire ethnic group for it.
I didn't plan that at all. I just hate Falafel. See how I judge ALL falafel because of that one bad Falafel I had one time? It doesn't mean they're all bad.

Oh, but let me say this: If I could design a game and had to pick something to murder with great prejudice, it'd be Falafel

So I guess there's a lot of game developers out there who are as stupidly prejudiced toward ethnic groups as I am stupidly prejudiced toward Falafel.

 

[Spoonius]

Also because developers seem to struggle with the concept of a non-American protagonist.

Bloody Assassin's Creed. The original one I mean.

OT: I'm half-Arab, and I wish devs would stop being so closed-minded. Assuming that gamers can't handle ethnic protagonists is condescending PR bullshit.

 

[Malty Milk Whistle]

falafel themed snip

Dude I love you. But this is rather silly, and I look forward to games which could switch the stereotypical roles of villains and whatnot.

we need more posh british villains.

And meet the pyro.

And i could really do with a cup of milky brew right about now.

 

[Thespian]

N'aww, thanks.

But that's a good point. Virtually any military shooter would be more engaging if a posh brit was smugly mocking you at every turn. Look at Stephen Fry as Reaver in Fable 2 and Fable 3. Instant legendary villain.

We should all learn from the sublime cartoon, Kim Possible, which featured a smorgasbord of ethnically diverse villains. Such as Duff Killigan [http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/49/0968gr0.jpg/] and Señor Senior, Senior [http://images.wikia.com/kimpossible/images/4/4a/AnimalAttraction.jpg]

 

[Malty Milk Whistle]

N'aww, thanks.

But that's a good point. Virtually any military shooter would be more engaging if a posh brit was smugly mocking you at every turn. Look at Stephen Fry as Reaver in Fable 2 and Fable 3. Instant legendary villain.

We should all learn from the sublime cartoon, Kim Possible, which featured a smorgasbord of ethnically diverse villains. Such as Duff Killigan [http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/49/0968gr0.jpg/] and Señor Senior, Senior [http://images.wikia.com/kimpossible/images/4/4a/AnimalAttraction.jpg]

Oh god the memories.
I LOVED that show.

And on the notice of a smug british villain, what about this fine chap?
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xgGncZpsBl8/Sj1nrwpErlI/AAAAAAAAAGE/dvQgF_ovQUo/s400/The+Gentleman+Ghost.jpg

 

[Windcaler]

Im not sure I would say arabic people are demonized in games but terrorist groups certainly are (and IMO should be for the sole reason that they target non-combatants in their attacks). Due to 9/11 such groups are focused on for recent games because its a trend. An organization that goes out of its way to target non-combatants is, to me, unquestionably evil

To be fair, I can think of other para-military organizations that would make good antagonists. Such as the drug cartels in south America and some of the armies in Africa (especially those that use "child" soldiers). However such ideas arent used because of 9/11, as a society Americans tend to view terrorists as the greatest threat out there right now. The symbol of the twin towers is much more graphic then the more subtle effects of the poison the cartels spread and african armies pose no real threat to the USA

I think what we could really use is a game that portrays Arabic militia's and armies in a very positive light while keeping the same terrorist groups where they are. For example you could make an awesome game focusing on the Iraqs growing military forces and their struggles.

 

[Thespian]

Snippage

Is that... Gentleman Ghost? Like, the Hawk-Man villain?
If so, sweet because I love Gentleman Ghost!

Also, we must all bow before the undisputed king of english villains;

Snape would make Call of Duty way more interesting.

 

[Malty Milk Whistle]

Snippage

snipety doo da snipperty day

Indeed. I Shall proceed to cut your heart out....WITH A SPOON.

But what about Stephen Fry?

or for that matter, the bloke who plays count dooku...

 

[SckizoBoy]

Well, in a nutshell: because 9/11.

The dumb thing being that al-Qaeda are predominantly non-Arab... hell, Afghanistan is mostly Pashtun, Tajik or Uzbek with only 2% or so Arabs. The perverse irony as far as the western perspective is concerned is that the one of al-Qaeda's major targets would nominally be Iran...

So please, state your opinion or eat a falafel, whichever you prefer.

More irony, according to some sources, falafel was originally a Coptic Christian dish.

OT: Thus, I don't think Arabs are demonised in games, per se... fundamentalism, regardless of stripe, generally is (or at least it tends to be in the games I've played, before people start throwing titles at me).

 

[Zhukov]

Well, in a nutshell: because 9/11.

The dumb thing being that al-Qaeda are predominantly non-Arab... hell, Afghanistan is mostly Pashtun, Tajik or Uzbek with only 2% or so Arabs. The perverse irony as far as the western perspective is concerned is that the one of al-Qaeda's major targets would nominally be Iran..

A lot of people don't distinguish between Arabs, Turks, Pashtuns, Persians, Uzbeks and so on.

They're all just "those nasty, non-Christian swarthy people who hijack planes and plant IEDs."

 

[SckizoBoy]

A lot of people don't distinguish between Arabs, Turks, Pashtuns, Persians, Uzbeks and so on.

They're all just "those nasty, non-Christian swarthy people who hijack planes and plant IEDs."

And that's part of the problem... and 'the dumb thing'...

Not least because you neglect (and this is not an indictment against you or anything) Christian Arabs, of whom there are a fair few million... and in the main, a Persian would be tremendously offended if you called him/her an Arab.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Because racism. Particularly in vidya gaems.

 

[Black Arrow Officer]

Splinter Cell's villains are primarily non-Russian, thank you very much. There are very few Russian villains in the series. Splinter Cell 1 had Georgian and Canadian villains, Pandora Tomorrow had an Indonesian and American villain, Chaos Theory's main foes were Japanese and American with a few Koreans and South Americans mixed in, Double Agent had an all-American cast of villains with the exception of Dr. Yousef (I think that's his name), and Conviction's single player was made up entirely of American villains. The only time in the series where there's been Russians as the main antagonists is in Conviction's co-op, where they are unfortunately stereotypical and are presented almost entirely as criminals or rogue generals who scream "BLYYYYAAAAT!" and "SUKA!" every few seconds in embarrassingly fake accents. But for the most part, Splinter Cell has done a good job of keeping a diverse cast of villains.

 

[TheJesus89]

Because they aren't white people?

I'm really confused as to why there is so much confusion on matters like this. I mean you can sugar coat it all you want, but it's true.

 

[spectrenihlus]

Islamic terrorists are one of the biggest boogeymen out there right now who don't have a large market base (I really want to see how well Black Ops 2 is going to do in China lol), they only get beat out by the economic disaster we are currently going through but that doesn't really create easily defined targets to place your cross-hairs on.

 

[Wayneguard]

I can't even recall a game that I have played where arabs are generic bad guys. I play too many fantasy games...