racism in videogames

[Cyrus Hanley]

I'd like to see Americans be the bad guy for once. Not just a few evil Americans but the actual nation be evil. Europe, Russia and China would set up an alliance to stop the evil American menace.

Is there even a game with britain as the bad guys? Most of the people here are complete cunts but they're always the good ones :/...

Off the top of my head, there's the Project Nova level in Call of Duty: Black Ops.

 

[Mr. Eff_v1legacy]

I think alot of the so-called racism in video games is people simply looking too deeply into things. For example, the often cited racism in Resident Evil 5, to me, was always ridiculous. The game took place in Africa. The ethic composition of Africa is primarily black.

Where are all of the people complaining about Medal of Honour, Call of Duty and the myriad of other WWII FPS games being "racist" against Germans?

 

[DanielBrown]

Well, Sean B from Dead Island is a black guy. His background story was pretty much;
father died in jail, mother is a crackwhore, raised by his grandmother, now he's a voodoo gangsta rapper.
Seemed pretty damn stereotypical to me, but he's still awesome.

<3

 

[Suijen]

I think alot of the so-called racism in video games is people simply looking too deeply into things. For example, the often cited racism in Resident Evil 5, to me, was always ridiculous. The game took place in Africa. The ethic composition of Africa is primarily black.

Where are all of the people complaining about Medal of Honour, Call of Duty and the myriad of other WWII FPS games being "racist" against Germans?

Not to mention that the real assholes in the game are whiter than snow.

 

[ChupathingyX]

As for the OT, Brits always end up evil or dead (just like in Hollywood films). I'm not much of a patriot but it's really starting to piss me off now.

Pfft at least ye get to be evil.Irish characters always seem to be your stereotypical sweary violent drunks(see Irish in RDR And Sean Devlin in The Saboteur for a few recent examples off the top of my head).I genuinely cannot think of a single game that has an Irish character who is just a normal person

By "normal", do you mean non-"sweary, violent drunk"?

If so then Ewan in Mercenaries 2 is a "normal" person.

 

[AngleWyrm]

I think we should put in a petition to have only one in-game person model. It will be a medium grey, of unidentifiable sex. All your companions will be this character. And all your enemies. And everyone will spout the exact same boring lines.

Then we will be FREE!

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

I'd like to see Americans be the bad guy for once. Not just a few evil Americans but the actual nation be evil. Europe, Russia and China would set up an alliance to stop the evil American menace.

Is there even a game with britain as the bad guys? Most of the people here are complete cunts but they're always the good ones :/...

Civilisation 4: Colonisation.

The British are one of four possible bad guys (along with three other powers of Europe) in your quest to settle America and build up a decent economy/army to fight the inevitable arrival of the British/French/Dutch/Spanish to crush you.

The rulers in the animated "headshots" are truly over the top in their caricature.

But the British/French/Dutch/Spanish were the colonial powers of the day, so it only makes sense that if you're playing a colonisation game, you'd be in direct competition to those countries.

Also if you try and tell me that British/French/Dutch/Spanish imperialism didnt make them worthy of being the "bad guys" then you dont know much about that period in history.

However that doesnt mean im not tired of the Brits being the bad guys, not so much in games (although there are examples of that) but mainly in hollywood films

 

[MetalDooley]

Hm. Never played GTA IV. Well, not meaning to be defensive in a fanboyish way, but Rockstar has always enjoyed taking refuge in audacity. It could be they just like offending the Irish. You know it's a good joke if someone's offended.
I could be wrong, however. I guess we'll just have to see.

To be honest I'm not even offended.It's just more a case of "ah not this again".Like most stereotypes the whole Irish stereotype thing has just been done to death at this stage and when something is overdone it stops being funny

 

[ImmortalDrifter]

my personal picking point: Russians, every second shooter these days has russians as villains

I wouldn't state it as racist, kind of a compliement actually. Russia is one of the few nations that could pose a threat to NATO/America. Honestly I view Russia and America as Red and Blue in today's modern shooter enviroment. (in multiplayer)

Now the seen in France in MW3? That was racist. I doubt the Russian army would murder civilians for no reason.

OT: There aren't many examples of racism in videogames that aren't specifically designed to be racist. Which would be equate to finding Nazi ideals in Mein Kampf.

 

[GenericPCUser]

The Dead Rising and Street Fighter games have always seemed pretty racist to me...maybe Capcom games as a general rule. I mean, come on...Dee Jay, T.Hawk for realsies Capcom?

Dee Jay fights with Capcom's interpretation of capoeira, an African martial arts disguised as dance and created by slaves (obviously slaves had a bit of trouble throwing fireballs.)

Would that make more sense if it was preformed by a white person? Also, Dee Jay isn't the only black candidate, the most respectable person in the game, Dudley, is black.

And T. Hawk... I don't consider the obvious Native American stereotypes they used as racist so much as historical interpretation. It's not like they have him chugging whiskey and smoking peyote, the only bad thing about T. Hawk is that he's low tier.

 

[MetalDooley]

By "normal", do you mean non-"sweary, violent drunk"?

If so then Ewan in Mercenaries 2 is a "normal" person.

I'd actually forgotten about him(probably because he has a scottish name)but yeah he's a decent example

 

[nothtr]

Strongly want to see a game about revolutions; ie, American Civil War 2. How racist could that be? ;O

 

[spartandude]

I think alot of the so-called racism in video games is people simply looking too deeply into things. For example, the often cited racism in Resident Evil 5, to me, was always ridiculous. The game took place in Africa. The ethic composition of Africa is primarily black.

Where are all of the people complaining about Medal of Honour, Call of Duty and the myriad of other WWII FPS games being "racist" against Germans?

Completely agree on the RE 5 point

on the german point, its that most devs show all german in ww2 as evil puppy kicking, baby seal eating nazis, rather than as actual soldiers just fighting for their country

 

[The Night Angel]

It's already been said, but the Irish, why do we always end up being the typical crazy drunkard like we're related to Jack Sparrow but with even sillier voices??? Again, someone said it already but a sterling example of this is 'Irish' in RDR, even the name was just annoying and lazy. Now that's off my chest, think I need a drink....

 

[Special_Agent_Goodwrench]

This thread seems to be less about racism and more about negative stereotypes.

Anyway, I agree about the Russians. It's gotten old a while ago, and their goal seems to nearly always be bringing back the glory of the Soviet Union. Would be nice to see them being expanded beyond that at least. Also not all of them drink vodka and wrestle bears as a favorite pastime.

In addition, being a Ukrainian, I'd really appreciate if whenever Urkraine appeared or was mentioned in a game, it didn't always have to do with nukes/Chernobyl. Yeah, I know, Chernobyl was a huge SNAFU, but correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think there's a single game (Cossacks notwithstanding)that paints Ukraine in a different light.

 

[kortin]

Well, Sean B from Dead Island is a black guy. His background story was pretty much;
father died in jail, mother is a crackwhore, raised by his grandmother, now he's a voodoo gangsta rapper.
Seemed pretty damn stereotypical to me, but he's still awesome.

<3

Sam B knows only one lettah and that is gaspedul.

Really, I don't have a problem with most racism in video games as long as they're an integral part of the story (Skyrim being a chief example).

 

[joe-h2o]

I'd like to see Americans be the bad guy for once. Not just a few evil Americans but the actual nation be evil. Europe, Russia and China would set up an alliance to stop the evil American menace.

Is there even a game with britain as the bad guys? Most of the people here are complete cunts but they're always the good ones :/...

Civilisation 4: Colonisation.

The British are one of four possible bad guys (along with three other powers of Europe) in your quest to settle America and build up a decent economy/army to fight the inevitable arrival of the British/French/Dutch/Spanish to crush you.

The rulers in the animated "headshots" are truly over the top in their caricature.

But the British/French/Dutch/Spanish were the colonial powers of the day, so it only makes sense that if you're playing a colonisation game, you'd be in direct competition to those countries.

Also if you try and tell me that British/French/Dutch/Spanish imperialism didnt make them worthy of being the "bad guys" then you dont know much about that period in history.

However that doesnt mean im not tired of the Brits being the bad guys, not so much in games (although there are examples of that) but mainly in hollywood films

I agree - in the context of a historical game like that, there are really no other selections. I was just pointing out that the game existed, and that they certainly make no bones about it - the Europeans are cartoonishly "evil rulers". (Of course, perhaps they deserve it, given the historical events of the time with Empire Building).

 

[Hides His Eyes]

just a general discussion: something disgustingly offensive in a videogame, stereotypical background charachters, villains or the opposite, whatever that may be, or just something minorly offensive but not outright racist.

my personal picking point: Russians, every second shooter these days has russians as villains

assuming the game is a military shooter, which enemy nation would you find less offensive?

There's no love lost for North Korea.

If every second shooter then had us kill Koreans, I think

just a general discussion: something disgustingly offensive in a videogame, stereotypical background charachters, villains or the opposite, whatever that may be, or just something minorly offensive but not outright racist.

my personal picking point: Russians, every second shooter these days has russians as villains

assuming the game is a military shooter, which enemy nation would you find less offensive?

There's no love lost for North Korea.

Personally I'd like the modern military shooter genre to fade away now, it outstayed its welcome a long time ago. But if it refuses to go out with dignity, then I agree it could at least try and be a little more inventive and relevant, and stop having its gamers shoot Russians. How about a multi-cultural force of mercenaries?

As for the OT, Brits always end up evil or dead (just like in Hollywood films). I'm not much of a patriot but it's really starting to piss me off now.

Then maybe shooters shouldn't go; Modern Warfare 2 had a predominantly British-American task force solving the USA's problems, and Modern Warfare 3 has two British soldiers running around like James Bond even after the US declared them international criminals.

Yes but the people you kill are invariably Russians.