News Gears of War reinforces casual racism

Only if you play it on Casual difficulty. If you play it on Hardcore or Insane difficulty, it will reinforce Hardcore Racism and Insane Racism, respectively

 

superfly johnson anyone? He was a balanced, non-stereotyped character...

Having said that, I think my fave black character from any game was taurus from interstate 76 and he was straight of a blaxploitation film. But then again that game was SOO00oo 70s.

 

N'Gai is awesome though, anything he says is therefore true, remember the good ol' days with him and Phil Harrisson

/me rocks in chair

 

maybe gamers like playing as the badass sterotype so companies keep making games with those sterotypes built in. Its not like we need to start making games with an american black president as that defies any stereotypes....maybe more games should incorporate black geeks with bad glasses....wait a minute, ea did the black 'acting' president in tiberium wars didnt they as lando cal from star wars was in it if i'm not mistaken.

just some quick off the cuff thoughts

peace

fatman

 

How can anyone win in this sort of situation?

You cast a black guy as the sterotypical, inner-street gansgter; you get slated for racism/stereotyping. Cast an Asian as a brainy math geek or triad member, you get slated for racism/stereotyping. Cast a native (North) american (or is it indian, Christ, I dunno anymore!) as the "wise" and prophetic elder, you get slated for racism/stereotyping.

Swap it around a bit and cast a black guy as the rational, all-knowing, well educated scientist, the asian as the dumb ass and the native american as the gangster, and you get slated for trying to "break the mold" and give a token role that would otherwise be _out_ of "stereotypical" character. :/

Until people just relax and stop being so ****ing PC about race issues and giving it so much attention, it'll never change.

 

Sums things up pretty well imo.

 

As a black man, people always accuse me of being a "Bryant Gumbel". I get really perturb about being called and Oreo cookie.. Now where is my Tom Jones CD, I need to relax..

 

Mmmm, Political Correctness.

Oh, wait. No. Retardation. Sorry, the two are so similar these days..

 

You see, that sounds like racism

 

I think it's awful that black stereotypes are being reinforced through media (looking at you san andreas) but I don't see the point in complaining that white people are also main characters "I am sick of playing the average white dude character". I can see were there's obviously an abundance of black stereotypes over white one's in the media but does that mean he's complaining that there's not enough white stereotypes in games. Maybe they should make an NBA game where all the white guys just sit on the bench.

Oh and one game that gets equality points.. HL2, yeah Valve!

 

Gimme a break. Nobody complained about Barret from FFVII being a total stereotype. It's the thing to do anymore, anywhere you can point out supposed racism, people line up behind you chanting support.

You can't tell me that StarCraft didn't use stereotypes to create some of the most beloved characters in all of gaming. There wouldn't be stereotypes if people didn't fill them. Just because 5 black people out of 100 don't like rap doesn't make saying "black people like rap." a racist statement. It's true. Just because SOME blacks don't doesn't make it a false statement.

I'm a skinny white gamer kid that listens to techno. Oops! I just got trumped by a stereotype =(

 

Stereotypes do exist and they exist for a reason. People just have to chill and not be so anal about it and stop making such a big deal out of any little thing.

RE5 does show an awful lot of black zombies, but the thing is set to be in Haiti (not so sure of this since i haven't really kept up to date on the game) where I'm pretty sure that at least 90% of the population must be black. I live in the Dominican Republic so we share an island, therefore I have been in contact with them my whole life and I can't remember of a single time when I have met or seen one who wasn't black. I know that there must be a certain amount of Haitians that are not black, but the vast majority of them are and therefore the stereotype is that Haitians are black. Nothing wrong with this.

I'm latin and it's no secret to anybody that the reputation that we have in most countries is that we are criminals. Does this offend me? No, because the reason for this is that most latin people living in other parts of the world are the ones who didn't get the best of educations in their home countries and left (most likely illegally) so they started doing a bunch of @#$%*! up things just like many other non-latin people do as well and that's why I don't feel offended when I'm playing San Andreas or any other "hood" game and I see another latin character robbing a liquor store.

I think all people should just ease up on the matter and quit being so touchy.

 

Read the article - they do call out Barrett as the worst example. The man has zero brains and a gun for a hand.

And Resident Evil 5 is set in modern day Africa, not Haiti.

 

Whats this guy doing talking about racisim......talk about a new legacy of kain game or even better a Soul Reaver game for christ sake I want one

 

Legacy of Kain?

I smell a possible comeback for Blacula!

 

I disagree with some of what N'gai was saying about racism RE5, but I do see why he might think that way. The impression I got from the RE5 trailer's characters (before they went nuts and started attacking Chris) was that they viewed him as a total outsider, and looked upon him with resentment. They appeared to have their own, functional, lifestyle and here comes some complete stranger sporting some authoritarian badge and a gun and they don't like that. I didn't pick up on the trailer portraying them as if they are already monsters, or hostile. Well, not until they went nuts, anyway. If you look at any documentary about these small villages in Africa, or go to one, it's a pretty accurate portrayal of what you might see. Open markets with lots of people walking around on the streets. Woman carrying big jugs around on their heads. Animals walking around in the street. Make-shift buildings and dirt roads, etc... And it's not too far fetched to think that a lot of people will keep their distance or give dirty looks at a complete and total stranger who shows up one day to do god knows what. It's just how it is in some rural places on that continent.

Plus, it being a trailer means that the developers have to try and create an atmosphere and give you a sense of what's going on without giving away too much information, but still keep the watcher interested and wanting more. In N'gai's defense, he did say he was going to reserve judgment until he actually plays the game. If only more people were as open minded as he.

 

Okay first of all Cole could have been based on his voice actor. Lester Speight is a former professional football player and a former professional wrestler. I have found on a few wikis that Cole is based on Lester and his talking. Also this "futuristic" city is not set that far in the future from our current earth. In fact the human like denizens of Sera are called humans. Also I like how that he is calling out racism in video games while developing an extremely sexist game series ever. It's no secret that the proportions of earlier Lara Crofts were physically impossible. It would be nice if some one could site my sources and look further into the making of Cole because if he can base his rant on assumptions so can I. I assume that Cole was based on the voice actors personality and not a racist development studio.

 

blast from the past here, but this is one of those discussions that i just have to pitch in my 2cents worth.

If you're going to argue "racism" in games, then i would firmly like to point a finger at just about (i have played a _lot_, but probably not all) every WWII shooter and a lot of films. Adn the stereotype pulls through to several games and films (especially films) NOT set in WWII

List of stereotypes involved there:
*Germans are inherently evil - check
*Germans all have bad accents - check
*Germans can't shoot for s*** - check.
*It's OK to kill 200 germans, but if one american dies, we have to play tragic music - CHECK.
*There never have or never will be Germans that disagree with Adolf Hitler's Point of view on National Socialism, Aryan race, lesser life forms, etc.
*Germans all LOVE Wagner
*Germans always have names like "Klaus", "Franz", "Fritz", "Heinz" or "Hans", with a surname that starts on "von" and ends on a phrase that means something in english but not in german "von Doom" "von Ckrackenfart"

Classic scenes in game:
COD5 - where you play the russian shooting the Germans in the back or executing the germans on the floor...

Classic scenes in movies:
*EVERY movie where they show the battle of the bulge... fun fact: the americans had the germans outnumbered and outgunned there. the Germans just had them scared and outpositioned. Deal with it.

*Saving Private Ryan - suddenly it's funny and publicly acceptable to shoot surrendering germans and when asked "What did they say" reply with "Oh... hans... i wash for dinner" in a fake german accent.



The people criticising "racism" in games always conveniently leave that out. Why? Because they'd have to look into a mirror and realise that they're stereotyping asses themselves.

Am i (as a German) offended by any of this? nope... not really. I Laugh about that s*** as much as i laugh when a Pool boy in Generic Sitcom #587 set in suburban America is called Jesus... I laugh as much as i do at every movie where a Brit is depicted as a drunken football hooligan. It's stereotypes, that's all. And everyone with an average education should be able to go "yeah whatever" at them...

 

cole train ahhah why don't they check out some pornos and see the racist stuff in there- I remember going over my friends and he had this porn he just had to show me.. it went like this- fat I mean 500 lb fat white lady and a skinney as a pole black dood- she was slapping him around telling him he couldn't hurt this, what do you call that!.. ect,, blah blah when it was all over she pulls out this huge ape dingaling from under the couch and waves it around- the line that will be burned into my brain for my entire life, in a raspy condescending voice she said "this thing is more of a man than you'll ever be!"

goes back to "what is seen, cannot be unseen!"

 

Just leave Black characters out of the game. They are too much trouble and there is no pleasing them.