Black (or African American for the politically correct) video game characters
http://www.giantbomb...cters/46-69288/
http://richiebranson...ame-characters/
http://voices.yahoo....an-7805770.html

I am not even going to try and track Japanese characters as this list is probably incredibly large.

Do I think we could use more characters of all types and distinctions? Absolutely but I am more personally upset by the absence of native pygmys in video games or eskimos or so many other unrepresented sectors of humanity that raising race as an issue for one genotype strikes me as bleedingly arrogant. No offense intended but some taken.

As to the idea of multiple races in an RPG or MMOs. Yes it is a definite selling point that can work. With specific regard to black races...there are already a number of MMO's out there that already have this though I will admit there does seem less flowthrough of a black race as opposed to individual characters into the RPG genre...not withstanding the lack of flowthrough for many other racial genotypes for that matter.

Please don't misinterpret me as being against you in the ideas you raise. I agree with you in part. I just think your point is much smaller and less encompassing than it should be. I wish you the best of luck in making your game


Edit: for some reason read RPG as MMO - editing to cover

I think alot of it depends on making the character likable in their own way without putting in things like race and not wanting to look racist when they make a non-white character.

I'd recommend thinking of a decent character concept like say... mad scientist or action hero or whatever and just add the race in as an afterthought. After all, writing for the character and designing their abilities should be like 90% of what they are and what they look like is just a matter of artwork.

Think of it like how Samus Aran was, first all we saw was a baddass space mercenary in powered armor. Then we saw that she was a woman and then it was all "Okay, she's a baddass space mercenary and a woman, deal with it." Just don't make that their defining characteristic... or if you do find yourself unwittingly starting to flanderize them and bring one aspect of their character to the forfront above all else... have a spare trait on hand to run with instead. Maybe your character likes to collect guns or bullets or booze or something. Or they have a martyrlike need to put themselves between innocent bystanders and whatever horrible monster they are fighting... or they constantly wear a gas mask during a zombie apocolypse and cite that as the reason they haven't been reduced to a mindless walking corpse.

The hero and another character make their way into a hospital after escaping the zombies, the hero removes his gas mask to reveal he's black.

Hero: Man, that was starting to chaff.

Guy: Yeah... why do you wear that?

Hero: Why, because we're in a freaking zombie apocolypse! You think just because those things aren't biting you that it means you're safe? There's a million rotting corpses out there and they are either walking around biting people or bleeding into the streets... I'd set them on fire but that could set the whole city ablaze and we'd be sending zombie ash off to who knows where. Even if this isn't a virus there's still enough disease in a corpse to ruin your day.

*Hero puts his mask on*

Hero: Lets see about getting some more of these to give to survivors... and maybe some water purication. Don't drink the water around here and be very wary of anything that might feed on corpses.


So, my recommendation is if you want to have a non-white character is to give them a likable (or at least memorable) personality and then have race be secondary or a non-issue. I don't think race alone is going to be attracting any buyers so much as the game concept is, and it could push people away if they think its an obvious marketing ploy.

Plus... I think you can get away more with a badly done white character than a badly done black character. If Jar Jar binks had been named 'Steve' and talked in a sort of midwest accent then people might have disliked him but they wouldn't have accused him of being a racist stereotype (or maybe they would, who knows?).

Also, remember that Japan is pretty much racially homogenous, there are next to no black people in Japan because the Japanese people are white skinned and live on an island nation where immigration was quite limited ( I think the only dark-skinned people they could have come across would be indigenous australians and possible africans who either traveled eastward from Africa with the British or westward from the United States.

So one big reason why Nintendo has such a lack of black characters is that they are a Japanese based company and it's just not a common skin tone around there. I think actully that most japanese people have black hair (despite all the anime where it comes in blue or red or whatever) and that blonde hair is really uncommon and was commonly accosiated with western visiters.

I dont think race anything to due with anything this day and age. I will say that the race is probably based on the origin of the game.

Randel said what I would have said about Nintendo being a japanese company.

Also a lot of times its just politically safer to make white characters. This seems counter intuitive but, if you make a white character with a lot of problems and/or you are not the best writer no one claims its a stereotype of white people really, or at least people mostly aren't offended. But if you add a characteristic that fits a stereotype of another gender or race or ethnicity and it was totally accidental or race irrelevant, people will still tear your head off. Of course some people are just racist, but if you make a white character its just less likely to cause you a headache.

I did not raise race as an issue for one genotype. I gave one example about African Americans. I also did in FACT acknowledge that many races are not included in video games. How about you read the damn post before calling anyone bleedingly arrogant?

Have taken to personal mail with you so as to not throw the thread off track

Don't know if it would attract people. For me it would be a plus at least. I do like to have options. I'm still waiting on a game that lets you play as a different species, something non-humanoid. But I fear I'm in a small minority there