Is Street Fighter Sexist/Racist?

[Qvar]

Nope, but you shouldn't pretend overly large breasts are not sexualized. It's just not intellectually honest. They are not there to help the women fight better. There are there to be fan service for guys.

Excuse me? You are the one here making absolute statements about what is everybody's intents (for people from a different culture, no less) and turn-ons, even for a sexuality different from yours. According to your statements:

1. Large breasts are sexualized. Well they certainly have their own category at porn pages... Just like pretty much every weird fetish you can imagine.
2. Either the muscles are sexualized or you can't sexualize a man, or at least you don't know how without it being directly pornographic.
3. Therefore figthing games are either equally sexualized or at least they try their best. And the dev are usually men like you and me. Seems unfair to judge them because, just as you, they don't know how to make men more fanservice than they already are.

 

[cikame]

These games are from Arcades, the characters need to be loud, flashy and exaggerated so that it grabs peoples attention, which is why people remember the names of characters from Street Fighter and DOA, and not Virtua Fighter.

Cammy may be wearing little, but it's nothing you wouldn't see at a beach, it's not like she's giving you a lap dance, Dhalsim is a magical indian sterotype, but i'm not sure that's ever been a bad thing, he also has the most unique moveset in the game so it's not like Capcom put less effort into him.

I think you may be abit too sensitive when it comes to depictions of people, RE5 was set in Africa where... suprise, there are black people, i actually find it weird how there are so many white people in that game, but it's something they had to add when people like you complained.

 

[NihilSinLulz]

I think you may be abit too sensitive when it comes to depictions of people, RE5 was set in Africa where... suprise, there are black people, i actually find it weird how there are so many white people in that game, but it's something they had to add when people like you complained.

...wow

First off, there are white people in Africa thanks to things like the British diaspora.

As for RE:5, it had you trekking through African tribal villages shooting spear-chucking Africans sporting face paint. Once dead, you made off with their gold. You could also get the Sheva DLC costume and do that entire sequence while your partner was sportin' her 'tribal costume' (basically underwear and bones/paint accessories).

Really, if you can't see how that's racist then you're probably one of those people who thinks its alright for kids to wear black-face for Halloween.

 

[Something Amyss]

It's a videogame.

That doesn't make it not sexist/racist.

You don't see me taking offense at how super Mario is a concoction of clichés about Italians, bad accent, moustaches and all (he just needs to eat pizza). XD

And I don't take offense at the racism/sexism in Street Fighter. I and others have literally said as much.

Are you honestly saying that Street Fighter is dehumanizing the characters, so they no longer are human beings, so we can no longer perceive Native Americans, Chinese, Indians, JAPANESE, as people?

Nobody's saying it dehumanises the characters. He said it dehumanised the culture. And if Japan is as bigoted as you claim, yes, they are dehumanising the rest of the world. Even if they don't mean it negatively. After all, America thought blackface was harmless fun.

And Japan gets much more positive representation in these games.

But then....

Well..... ok. It's a free world, and you're free to think that Street Fighter is offensive. I sure hope you weren't around in the '90s, because then you'd have found EVERY SINGLE VIDEOGAME from that period to be horribly racist.

It appears you decided the answer before anyone made it. Which is fine. It's not really much worse than you deciding my answer was the polar opposite of what I've explicitly said. It's just a shame than you won't engage in a cogent discussion.

By the way, I'd like to see you prove your claim that every game from the 90s was on par with Street Fighter. But you won't. You still haven't answered my question on other cultures and female genital mutilation.

Though talk, from someone who didn't even know that SF4's alternate outfits provided plenty of male sexualization. To the point that, when showed said examples, you said they were mods and fanarts. (Which just proved my point: you saw they were sexualized so you didn't think they were real.)

I accused the one piece of fanart of being fanart. I'm pretty sure I never even said "mods." What, in fact, did I actually say?

No, not really. The examples you give aren't horrible sexualised. A couple don't even look much different from what they've worn before, and one's a drawing. You really needed fanart for a fifth example?

One is a drawing. One. Again, you're making up a false argument.

And yet, you're the one saying I am making a strawman argument.

Because you are. You just did again.

Yes, let's ignore how you didn't know how the costumes of SF4 look like, but somehow felt entitled to judge wether the game was sexist or not.

Why not? You're ignoring that the core of my argument was that your examples still aren't sexualised. I paralleled them to superheroes, and you said something akin to "but that's different because ponies" and started trying to make up things I didn't say as a response.

Hey, let's also ignore how I brought an argument for how the males are as sexualized as the females in this game, and let's pretend my argument was "I am a woman and I said so".

I didn't ignore it. I addressed it. You were wrong.

Also, your initial authority was because you're a woman, which apparently gives you authority to speak on behalf of all women as to whether something's sexist. Ignore the fact that the topic creator is a black guy who said it was racist and you disagreed, so only your appeal to authority counts.

First thing: I'm a woman and also a rampant feminist.

You kept coming back to that.

Also, you claimed to be an English teacher, which is quite literally baffling given the issues you've displayed with English--grammar, spelling, punctuation. I normally wouldn't even mention this, but you used it as one of your qualifications in determining sexism and racism.

Whatever floats your boat. You've lost the argument badly by showing your lack of knowledge of the game and with your your lack of attention to the arguments I've explained against claims of sexism or racism in the videogame.

Your arguments were as bad as your claims to "victory." Saying you won doesn't make it so.

But, as I said, I am not going to repeat those arguments again.

You just did. However, they're no better now than they were before.

I will repeat myself, however, as this is an important point:

This series will include critical analysis of many beloved games and characters, but remember that it is both possible (and even necessary) to simultaneously enjoy media while also being critical of it?s more problematic or pernicious aspects.

Emphasis mine.

Or, you can ignore that, and make up random stuff. It doesn't matter, since anyone can just scroll through my previous posts.

Funny, since I can actually quote you and me and make it clear you're lying. You can't honestly think that people who have actually followed this conversation will think you're being honest. They'd have to completely ignore everything I said and use your strawman arguments to buy into that.

I agree.

I love Ivy from Soul Calibur. The whip sword is my favorite weapon in the game. BUT... One of the first things I do in those games is give her a more appropriate outfit.

I would much rather they toned down her bust size and gave her a more appropriate outfit from the beginning.

Just because the game, or individual character, has problems, it doesn't mean you have to hate it. It would make more sense to point out the problems. Pretending this issues don't exist, or are not a problem, or indeed attacking the person pointing them out, is making things worse.

On the plus side, at least you can give her a better outfit. A lot of games can't even do that.

Anyway, one of the big problems with criticism is that people take to the love/hate dynamic really fast. I think it's faster in gaming, but that could be skewed perception. But any criticism of games makes you a "hater." I mean, look at GTA fans who wanted a woman fired for giving the game what? 9/10? We have an all or nothing mentality where if you don't like something about a game, you don't like the game at all.

 

[DaViller]

I accused the one piece of fanart of being fanart. I'm pretty sure I never even said "mods." What, in fact, did I actually say?

Well the drawing you accoused of being fanart is not actually fanart, it is official concept art designed by capcom. It was someone else who thought the costumes where mods.

That does raise an interesting point though. If the alternative costumes are so ridicoulus in terms of alleged sexualisation that they can be mistaken for fanmods, then one can conclude theres sexualisation of both genders, you just don't see it. Tbh the fey long outfit that consists of nothing but a speedo looks like something straight out of Free! (an anime fanservice show made to appeal to women), so an argument for male sexualization is not unreasonable. Wether or not this "manservice" is actually effective is a different debate.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

I just imagined Street Fighter without stereotypes and exaggerated features... And it was boring.

 

[Kittyhawk]

Problem here is that SF characters are stylized, while also taking some influence from other places. As a japanese game, you should keep in mind that Japan doesn't have that many people of colour on its shores, so most of its influences it takes from film etc.

Putting Cammy aside, Balrog AKA M-Bison you can see is clearly based on Mike Tyson from when he was big, SF2 was tearing up the arcades and consoles. Ask yourself why would Capcom create a character this way? My thought is lack of people of colour to take influence from. T-Hawk is probably a similar story, Some may call it stereotyping but Capcom knew no reference and might have used photo references instead. I think what Capcom wanted was a wide range of characters representing each nation, so everyone can feel included to play. With the game being stylized, it won't be accurate in its characters, especially on the 16-bit consoles and arcade machines that these characters originally came from, which limits design.

As for the sexist bit, I'd say no. All of the characters are exaggerated by design to some degree. Dhalsim is skinny yet muscled, Zangief a muscle bound tank, Vega a lithe like quick character. I think you notice the ass, because that's what you perhaps like through culture or preference. You shouldn't expect fighting games to solve world peace, so try not to over think it.

 

[Caliostro]

Then we get to Cammy...

And fucking hell, right then and there I just figured out my sister is going to be a feminist...
Cammy's main attribute (besides me kicking ass with her character every time) is her as-athletic abilities. And also that booty don't lie!

But seriously, I Cammy also looks crazy as shit too. I have no problem with women being sexy in games as long as they can also be fleshed out, fully realized, 3 dimensional characters, but this is FUCKING Capcom. I didn't play the story, and maybe she's the best female character since Jade from Beyond Good and Evil, but something makes me doubt that.

Don't get me wrong here, with the hour I spent playing Street Fighter, I had a fucking blast. It was badass. I loved playing it. But I also felt dirty for enjoying it. I don't know guys, What is your opinion? I'd love to hear it.

Personally I think you're overreacting a bit on that aspect of Cammy. I think it's more relatively lazy characterization/milking typical japanese stereotypes than anything. Despite her seemingly "agile" playing style she actually hits like a truck. She hits a lot harder than, for example, a similarly "agile" male character such as Adon. And you have characters like Sakura and Makoto that are possibly 2 of the 3 hardest hitters in the game (the other being Oni). Remember, SF characters are built on nothing if not stereotypes/tropes...

If it makes you feel better she's one of the strongest characters in the current version of Street Fighter (too good actually).

I think there is only one sexist thing about street fighter (at least the IV series) and it is incredibly subtle: ALL female characters have bellow average health. All of them. Every. Single. One. In some cases it's justifiable, such as Cammy, since their offense is very strong and they have otherwise adequate defensive tools, but in other cases it's simply baffling. For example no one is quite certain why Juri, Makoto or Chun-Li have sub-par health... Makoto very briefly enjoyed being the only SFIV lady with 1000 health during the pre-updates Arcade Edition, but that was quickly "rectified" in the 2012 update.

If anything, I'd say THAT is a slight tinge of sexism bleeding, potentially unintentionally, through.

 

[Yuuki]

Sarcasm aside, have you not seen Dhalsim? How can anyone look at Dhalsim and not cringe a little? He is almost as bad of a caricature as Mr. Yunioshi from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

I'm not saying the people who make the game or enjoy the game are racist. However, the game clearly uses some racist stereotypes out of laziness.

So what should a character who can stretch his limbs 20 meters, breathe fire, levitate, teleport and practices Yoga supposed to look like?

I'd love to know the "non-lazy" response/solution.

I just imagined Street Fighter without stereotypes and exaggerated features... And it was boring.

100% spot-on.

Might as well make everyone as identical dudes with the same look/etc. But even then I'm sure some people will find a way to get offended.

 

[Olas]

I guess I don't understand how the Japanese are allowed to dictate to the world what is or isn't stereotyping and what is or isn't offensive. The way I see it racial stereotyping is racial stereotyping regardless of what the person who's doing it thinks it is.

So, to continue with the sexism analogy, if I created a piece of media that suggested that women should stay in the household and cook, it wouldn't matter so long as MY culture didn't consider that to be sexism?

Oh my, I know this might irritate you.... but... you KEEP not understanding my point. I actually wonder wether you're doing it on purpose?

Stop saying I don't understand, it's obvious now that that's just your default line whenever someone disagrees with you so there's no point in saying it further. I've understood since the first post and I understand now. If you honestly think I don't understand you're misguided, and if you're just saying it to annoy me: congratulations you succeeded but I'm just going to be ignoring that part of any future posts.

If a culture said women MUST stay in the household and cook, it would be sexist no matter how you look at it.
If a culture showed women staying in the household and cooking, and it didn't imply that's what all women do, it wouldn't be sexist.

But then some person from another culture would see that random depiction of women staying in the kitchen, not understand that the culture didn't do it in a offensive way, and cry out that it's sexism.

So now your the one defining what is or isn't offensive, I think a lot of people would disagree with you at least as far as the general idea is concerned. Perhaps a woman in a kitchen is a bit too basic an idea to indicate a clear and obvious stereotype. Thus the mere depiction of that wouldn't be a problem. However the characters in Streetfighter are often clear and blatant caricatures of their race/nationality which is why this discussion was started to begin with. You can't simply shrug it off as coincidental that T. Hawk, the native American street fighter, wears feathers in a headband and face paint on his cheeks.

You're right: there's a difference between thinking it's okay to show a woman in a kitchen because it isn't meant to imply anything about women, and thinking it's okay to show a woman in a kitchen because you don't think it's offensive to imply that women typically stay in the kitchen.

However with T. Hawk is almost certainly the latter case. It's impossible to argue that his gettup isn't meant to be indicative of his people, why else would they choose something so specifically similar to native American stereotypes?

I'm not going to discuss this further, because I have an habit of stopping my replies to a forum discussion whenever it feels like I am repeating the same exact thing with each new post I make.

But you haven't been repeating yourself, first you were saying StreetFighter wasn't offensive because it was all in good humor and the Japanese even did it to THEMSELVES, then you said it was okay because the Japanese didn't consider what they were doing to be offensive stereotyping, now it seems you're saying it's okay because the depictions aren't meant to imply that all people of a race/culture/nationality are the same.

These are different arguments you've been using.

So, I will say it for the last time. Street Fighter IV is not racist at all, because Japanese people don't perceive stereotyping as being the same thing as racism. (Further proof of that is how they've stereotyped their own culture as badly as every other in the game.)

It was mistaken of me to say it's "racist". That was the wrong choice of words as Streetfighter's portrayal of characters doesn't technically fit the definition of racism. But it is stereotyping races, as even you just admitted, which I (and many others) think is inappropriate in and of itself, regardless of how the Japanese feel about doing it. If an American TV show or cartoon did the same in a non-satirical manner it would likely be called out for it by the media. But since Streetfighter is a Japanese fighting game people have different expectations for it.

Japanese people know that when they show a Japane guy being a sumo wrestler or a karateka, it doesn't mean all Japanese are like that. Nor does it mean that all American Indians are big and tribal and nature-loving, etc. etc. They know those stereotyped are so exaggerated nobody would take them seriously.
But American culture had big issues with racism in the past, so what Japanese people (who never had racist problems since 98% of Japanese inhabitants are Japanese) don't understand is how their playful stereotypes might be perceived as offensive by some Americans.

While I'd argue that it's wrong to generalize any group, whether it's based on race, gender, religion, culture, sexuality, and even age in some cases; you're right that the Japanese don't share the sensitive history that Americans do. However the game is being sold in America as well and I think if the Japanese intend to market their games overseas they should be considerate of the values

Furthermore, as my example already demonstrated, the game isn't sexist at all because the male guys tend to be just as half-naked as the ladies. And some of the male costumes go borderline into sexploitation (hawaiian skirt, ripped outfit, thong, underwear....). And when a game sexualized both the boys and the ladies, it isn't sexist because it's equal opportunity fanservice.

I never argued the game was sexist in the first place, I was merely bringing up sexism to use as an analogy for the game's racial stereotyping. I do find the game's fan-servicey elements a little distasteful, but I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with it.

I'm sorry for people who disagree with me, but what I read so far is that people who think SF4 is sexist/racist are people who didn't even really play the game anyway.

First of all, you're being incredibly presumptive, you have no idea if I've played it and I have no idea if YOU'VE played it.

Second of all, why should it even matter whether we've played it or not? The game's actual fighting mechanics are irrelevant to the discussion at hand.

Thirdly, I have played and own numerous street fighter games, which share many characters with this one, so you're presumption that I'm unfamiliar with the series is wrong.

I'm also very curious about what people who think SF4 is racist/sexist would do when they see a REALLY offensive thing.

Unless something new is brought to the discussion, that's it. This is my view. Feel free to say I am wrong: I can't possibly convince everyone, especially when a person is already bent on bringing on their own view no matter how they keep showing they don't even know what they're talking about.

You're attempts at tongue in cheek ad-hominim are adorably condescending, but ultimately futile since you know nothing about me. Notice how I'm not making unfounded claims about you.

 

[Something Amyss]

Hey, hello. Are you the guy who knows so little about SF4, you didn't even know what the alternate costumes look like? How about you first discover what you're talking about, THEN move criticism against it?

Those alternate costumes you can't demonstrate as sexualised because they don't exist? I admit, I don't know enough about Street Fighter IV to know about costumes that only exist in your mind.

But I'm not sure why you failing to show even a single sexualised male costume demonstrates I don't know anything about SF4.

You're telling me Japan gets more positive representation? How, exactly? The second main character is American. Are you pissed because he's not the first main character?

Why are you inferring emotion on my end? If anything, that you have to lie about my argument would indicate you're far more upset than anyone else here.

And why does being the "main character" make something a stereotype/not a stereotype? Ken's a money-obsessed fame whore who may have grown up some since 1/2, but he's still a brash, arrogant 'Murrican.

I didn't answer your question since it had absolutely nothing to do with the discussion, so I ignored it out of pity for you. But you're bent on making a fool out of yourself, therefore you want to make sure nobody missed your crazy argument, and repeat for a second time that it makes perfect sense to compare a stereotyped Native American or Japanese fighter to.... female repression and genital mutilation.

I'm sorry; I tried not to call you out on that, but you just asked to.

I didn't compare the two. You said that you cannot judge a culture externally. I wanted to see if you actually meant that. Therefore I offered examples. I mean, I don't even know why you're calling it female "repression." That sounds awfully judgmental of what they're doing. You can't judge other cultures externally, right? That was your own argument. So you must be cool with it.

It's official concept artwork, dude.... my gosh. I'm done.

Prove it.

When you don't even know what the OFFICIAL concept artwork looks like, and call it fanart, and when I tell you it's the official concept art, you shamelessly insist that it's fanart....

This is the first time you've mentioned it as concept art.

Be warned: I will not reply to you again unless you write something that makes actual sense or, at least, shows you know something about the videogame.

This is like the fourth or fifth time you've claimed that. It's a shame that you're still trying to dodge cogent discussion by looking for excuses. I'm pretty sure you know you have no argument

Well the drawing you accoused of being fanart is not actually fanart, it is official concept art designed by capcom. It was someone else who thought the costumes where mods.

Thanks for the clarity.

That does raise an interesting point though. If the alternative costumes are so ridicoulus in terms of alleged sexualisation that they can be mistaken for fanmods, then one can conclude theres sexualisation of both genders, you just don't see it. Tbh the fey long outfit that consists of nothing but a speedo looks like something straight out of Free! (an anime fanservice show made to appeal to women), so an argument for male sexualization is not unreasonable. Wether or not this "manservice" is actually effective is a different debate.

One cannot conclude that from the evidence given. Simply accusing something of being a mod doesn't make the point that it's "manservice." As I've already mentioned, this is the "comic books sexualise men more than women!" argument. Can you demonstrate any real points of titillation?

Even Yuuki wasn't conceding they were sexualised.

 

[Something Amyss]

If a culture said women MUST stay in the household and cook, it would be sexist no matter how you look at it.

Again, you said we couldn't judge a culture from an outside standard. You can't say that and then make arguments that it's wrong in this situation because ponies.

 

[Rastrelly]

I am fucking terrified to read all this -ist shit. I am tired. I don't swear usually, but this is getting fucking insane. You know what, TS? You are sexist. Yes, you. You know why? Because you belong to one or other sex. How dare you? You must be more tolerant! Stop being sexist! Remove all your sexual characters - both primary and secondary. And you're racist too for same reasons! Let's all fucking stop existing for we all and each represent all the fucking -isms there by our mere existence!

You cannot fucking understand why Cammy exists at all? That this "sexist" depiction was made with a single purpose - to attract male audience? HOW THE FUCK IT CAN NOT BE SEXIST?! HOW?! Can't you - and everyone like you who start such threads - just fucking understand that this is a PRODUCT created with certain DEMAND in mind, and that this is how FUCKING ECONOMY WORKS!

I just don't get it. Are you all gone mad? Why every second thread created is about how something offends someone? If something offends you - don't buy it! If enough people won't buy it - it won't be produced any more or will be changed. This is how liberal capitalist society works. This is what you all seem to accept and consider the best form of social co-existence. But as soon as anything hurts your feelings - you all suddenly become flaming socialist and start hang fucking "-ism" badges everywhere!

Shame on you. Just shame on you. And they call themselves civilized. Advanced. No, you aren't. You just think you are. You only changed the direction of your hatred.

I am starting to consider leaving Escapist.

 

[ExileNZ]

(you've been quoted enough, you know what you said)

People are going into a lot of detail here, but there's a simpler way of looking at it. If SF was an original property that got announced today, it'd be seen as offensive for a number of reasons. But racism isn't one of them.

Street Fighter 2 came out in the early '90s, to a largely immature and developing gaming market. Not surprising, then, that the game is a huge pastiche of campy stereotypes. That's what got people's attention back then. That's what sold. And of course that's the kind of stuff companies were putting out. But also that's what was recognisable to Japanese kids regarding other countries - and that was the target audience.

But the point here isn't just "It's not racist, it's just stupid". The point here is that SF4 is an evolution of SF2, and changing the formula too much pisses off the fans (EX earned a LOT of bile for playing slow and looking blocky). So in staying faithful to the source material, it basically has to keep trying to modernise the same old band of colourful caricatures (read: offensive stereotypes) without changing them too much. In a way it's self-crippling, but at the same time the series is so ridiculously well-known that people tend to be familiar with SF2 anyway.

Regarding sexism, yeah, it pretty much is, but it's getting better. I find it hilarious the number of people who are using Chun Li as a less-sexist example. Cammy shows you her ass? Chun Li used to show you her boobs! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WeCH9uSlCE). This vid's comparatively tame, but make no mistake - that was a translucent plastic top in older releases, and in some versions you could see her nipples. Clearly progress takes time, but it does happen.

As for Cammy, she's no Jade, but she is one of the more interesting characters.

Ultimately though, don't feel dirty for enjoying good, stupid fun, which is what this is.

 

[Savagezion]

I just don't get it. Are you all gone mad? Why every second thread created is about how something offends someone? If something offends you - don't buy it! If enough people won't buy it - it won't be produced any more or will be changed. This is how liberal capitalist society works. This is what you all seem to accept and consider the best form of social co-existence. But as soon as anything hurts your feelings - you all suddenly become flaming socialist and start hang fucking "-ism" badges everywhere!

Shame on you. Just shame on you. And they call themselves civilized. Advanced. No, you aren't. You >areing of< you are. You only changed the direction of your hatred.

I am starting to consider leaving Escapist.

Haha, I know how you felt when you typed this. Sorry man, but misery must really love company. This site could make me want to rip my hair out and Kotaku did make me leave for the same reason. I edited one of your lines to drive a point for you better, I hope. Saying Cammy shouldn't exist means that males who like sexuality in women are not allowed to be a demographic. At the same time, it is argued that females need to get more marketing towards them like this sexualizing men. That, I don't have a problem with. Over-sexualized characters should be allowed to be in games and not be criticized for existing as fanservice in my book. Not even Tera Online or one with straight up naked people. Perfect World made a lot of real life money on selling dicks for your character avatar. All a sexualized character does is put an emphasis on their body. A natural thing.

Let's look at Skyrim real fast. You can't be fat. You MUST be idealized. Both as a man and as a woman. I would love if I could make a mage who is a big fat guy or girl. And I mean like over 300 pounds big. I wouldn't sexualize them, but I want the character creation option. Dragon's Dogma is the closest a game has coming to offering that. Across the board its one of the few games to even offer it, period. I would probably also make a fat paladin or fighter.

I don't know. You probably know what I am talking about. I don't even know if it is going anywhere specifically. I had to take a break from the community myself on many occassions. This community loves tripping on pebbles sometimes because it is important to polarize everything to the extreme. If you love it, I hate it with every fiber of my being kinda thing. It makes me feel bad when I walk into a TES thread and I do hate Oblivion. I mean I hate that game. I don't hate the developers and I don't hate people who like it. But I fucking hate that game. I hate it like I hate WoW. Many on here will hate 'me' for saying that. They will hate me more if I list why. It isn't just Oblivion or WoW either. It's how we talk about games in general.

The good news is there are a lot more adults in gaming nowadays as gaming matures that they eventually find their way online and into communities. The bad news is things like this often repel them back away.

EDIT: BTW, I quoted you to let you know there are those who exist that agree with your point perfectly. I just don't know if we are low in numbers or can't be bother to post because:

 

[Karadalis]

"This is sexist... that is sexist... that cardboard box is sexist!"

Come on people.. it has been 2014 for two months now.. cant we finaly find the next yearly topic that everyone gets pissed off about for no reason?

Like with the whole violence shtick... we even had a crazed lawyer for that!

How about animal cruelty in video games! We could make pokemon the next satan of gaming! Oh wait.. peta tried that allready.. hrmm..

What else... oh! We could blame gaming for financing crimes! You just NEED the next Mass effect or World of warcraft expansion! So people steal stuff and sell it to finance their next fix! We could have some half assed statistics about 100 or so "random" people and see how many are criminals that we somehow can connect to like games!

Totaly called it here on the escapist! The next big nonsense issue with gaming is financing crimes!

 

[Maximum Bert]

1. I just said that their intent was not to be racist. I said they were being lazy. It is easier to come up with an ethnic stereotype than it is to design a unique looking character from scratch.
2. You can tell a lot about what a person thinks by their actions.

You think the character designs were lazy? I think not. A large portion of street Fighter 2s success was down to the character designs it was quite literally revolutionary at the time everyone had all these crazy things they could do and had a very distinct design, were they ethnic stereotypes in part yes almost assuredly but lazy ethnic sterotypes I think not they managed to pack a lot of character into each one and each was very well designed and has stood the test of time.

For proof look at the size this thread has gotten to. You mention a Street fighter character and people know a lot of them even though they dont play the game hell even my old man knows what Ryu and Chunli look like and who they are and he has never touched a game. For Street Fighter IV I dont think all of the characters are amazing but they are all very distinctly designed and to be honest unless the game has some other gimmick that allows them to get away with poor design in gameplay and characters like the original Mortal Kombat then bad character design will sink a fighter its not like you have many ways to imbue them with personality SF in particular just has their looks, moves, and voice clips oh and the horrible openers and enders to the story.

So anyway I really think you are dismissing the quality of the character designs its easy to dismiss them as mere stereotypes but thats like saying oh yeah theres the Japanese Sumo and Karateka guy and gal theres the american soldier theres the chinese woman wearing a china dress but thats hardly much of a description if I said to different artists draw a Japanese sumo for the game I think you would find a lot of different interpretations. The good character artists would make a memorable character (like E. Honda in Street Fighter) while the ones not so good would likely make a character that is forgotten.

Im surprised this thread is still going lots of people know about the SF characters to some extent it seems which is really quite an accomplishment for the series especially in such a niche genre (which it pretty much carved out itself with SF2 The World Warrior).

As for whather its Sexist or Racist I dont believe it is I really dont think there is any malicious intent behind Street Fighters characters at all. Now can people still be offended well hell sure they can ive offended people by smiling at them before in customer service because `I was taking the piss` apparently whereas I was actually just smiling because its kinda encouraged in my job if I stood there showing no emotion or scowling then people would be just as offended I bet but for different reasons. Ok thats was a little off topic but whatever.

 

[Alistar_Helloise]

Yes, very well designed too at that and a very good game. Albeit the story and the idea is kinda dumb.

 

[Eve Charm]

Is it racist? = Yes
Is it sexist? = Yes
Is that something that took anything away from what became the most popular and played fighting franchise to date? = NO!

There is never going to be anything that is popular and doesn't follow any trope in existence. As long as it's fun people shouldn't care cause you can't get through life criticizing every little damn thing you see in real life.