Most video games star white males.

[LilithSlave]

That's not an explanation, that's an illogical excuse. The majority of people in America who don't find black women attractive, do so because of white privilege.

This is not a troll thread. Not pretending that racial issues don't exist is not tantamount to trolling.

 

[LilithSlave]

Answer my questions.

You know, I don't have time to respond to every single person responding to me at once. Be patient.

And no, I'm not "shifting the blame", I don't bloody blame movies for games having predominantly male protagonists, that's just absurd. And no, not having a black protagonist is not "racist", how could it be that? Most game developers are white males, who can easier connect with other white males, it's that bloody simple. Almost all African movies star an allstar black cast, does this mean that those Africans are racist? Of course not.

Now you're just being silly and pointing fingers.

The movie industry has a white privilege problem. The video game industry has it even worse.

Just because other media have a white privilege problem does not mean that the video game industry does not have a white privilege problem.

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

Let's not blow this out of proportion. Not everything has to be rated either "perfect" or "Klansmen". Jumping straight to unfair extremes is why nothing of value ever gets discussed in threads like this.

EDIT: Also, LilithSlave, you want to avoid the implication that mere disagreement is tantamount to wrongdoing. It's very easy for people to perceive comments that way and they will use it to cast you as a bully. Hope you don't mind the input.

 

[Kahunaburger]

ITT: people rage at OP for stating the obvious.

 

[LilithSlave]

Actually, taking a little break from this thread for a bit. Deleted my post and will reword when coming back soon. Not trolling, but yes, I need some time to think about my responses closely. I'm not abandoning this thread, I hope. But I do want some more time to respond and need a little break.

I also have some things I need to do right now. Making responding to all this a little overwhelming.

 

[veloper]

If someone did a serious count, I'd wonder how the white guyretty girl-ratio would really turn out.
Games like Tomb Raider, Bayonetta, Bloodrayne, NOLF, Silent assasin, Armored princess, Mirror's edge, BG&E, Dreamfall, etc. are hardly an uncommon sight.

Also, does it really matter what it looks like on the box in this digital age, because I'm tempted to contest ME as a male lead-only game (I got it on Steam, after a couple price drops, so it's just a game with a choice to me).

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I can't accept this as being some kind of conscious cost-effective strategy designed to maximize revenue. But rather from a lack of creativity.

Also these "profitable strategies" tend to lead towards creatively bitching out and generating carbon-copied "safe" content. Which I think many of us agree to be a disappointing aspect of the gaming industry. Unless you're a fan of carbon-copied "safe" content.

I don't see this as some kind of subtle racism issue or white-privilege, but rather a disappointing lack of creativity.

At least that's what I think.

Read what I said again. I don't believe I said anywhere that I'm a fan of "carbon-copied safe content" - I'm merely acknowledging its existence. In reality, I miss the way games were back in the late '90s/early 00's.

Anyway... you can choose not to accept it all you like, but the writing is on the wall here. The gaming industry has made a shift from creativity to profitability. It's the reason why you see the same types of protagonists over and over again, the same stories over and over again, the same settings over and over again, and the dreaded term "streamlined" being introduced into new installments of older series'. It's because niche markets don't make the kind of money that broad markets do. By appealing to the most people possible, they make the most money possible, or so they seem to think - and justifiably so.

You can put your head in the sand about it, or you can acknowledge it and call it out for what it is - and what it is happens to be a real goddamn shame. Read interviews with developers and I guarantee you'll see it. Things being changed or "streamlined" to meet publisher demands rather than the creativity of those making it is a ridiculously common complaint, and unfortunately because this stuff is selling like hotcakes to the masses according to plan, the issue is only going to keep getting worse before it gets better. If it gets better.

So, to keep on topic, that's why I think you're seeing the repetition. It's not a matter a racism, it's a matter of numbers.

 

[Savagezion]

The average gamer is a white male, and most white male gamers prefer to play white males. Hence the most profitable strategy is to make your game start a white male.

... explains exactly why most protagonists are white males. That's pretty much it, in a nutshell.

Catering to the majority audience is just good business, and the gaming industry IS a business. If you want to see a major shift in representation with main characters, then you need to also see a major shift in the distribution of your audience.

This. This isn't some strategy employed to rob minorities of a gaming experience. It is a business strategy employed off of market research. IF the market changes, so too will the business strategy employed.

 

[GrandmaFunk]

The majority of people in America who don't find black women attractive, do so because of white privilege.

This is an extremely silly comment.

I'm a white male, I'm rarely attracted to black women...or blonde women. But I am attracted to asian women and indian women.

It has nothing to do with privilege or racial bias, ppl are just attracted to certain traits and some groups of ppl don't generally have those traits. that doesn't mean that your non-attraction to ppl in that group makes you racist.

---

I also don't really get how the skin colour of a character being the same as yours is some kind of privilege.