Yes I care. I would absolutely love to play a game as a Hispanic American character that isn't a stereotype. It'd be nice to have a default character like me and not have to create one on my own. It is what it is though and I end up playing as buff bald white dudes half the time.
Do you actually care what race/sex a main character is?
- Thread starter King of Custard
- Start date
BeatResetsTheWorld
Banned
I like to think of fighting games as a good example of what the issue is. Well, a good example of why diversity is a good thing. Take any of your favorite fighting game character select screens. Now imagine every non-white male character was removed except for 1. That's basically what the game industry is on a large scale
Yup
Pandora012
Member
It depends. If I'm playing an Rpg, I'd like the choice to pick gender. It's nice to have a different perspective.
FanDeNintendo
Neo Member
Not at all.
I thought Tekken has done a great job of being "worldly"....letting each character speak their native language, now including an Arabic character....really good representation of different cultures without being overly stereotypical
Xilium
Member
I feel MMOs are more about the progression grind and less about the characters and story. Your race/gender choice generally has little to no barring on how the game/story plays out and is purely an aesthetic choice. In single-player games, it is something that is more likely to be brought up, especially with more and more games having romance subplots.
DoktorEvil
Banned
GAF is a vocal minority of devout gamers in the large spectrum of gaming as a whole.
Why is it so shocking?
This is actually why representation is important, and I hope you aren't offended by me using you as an example. I don't mean this as a criticism of you personally, because it's entirely understandable.
Women, for the most part, have no problem relating to a male protagonist because we have had to do so for most of our lives. With so many stories being told from the male point of view, we learn early on that they are completely relatable. Now guys are obviously still capable of experiencing this, but they are also free from ever having to, since there are so many alternative options.
If there are more stories told from every point of view, you will encounter these different perspectives at an early age and automatically develop the capacity to relate to people who are different from you, which means you're way less likely to miss out on new experiences and ideas.
The lack of diversity across all media does a disservice to everyone, including white men.
yongeandcollege
Member
Don't care and prefer very simple character customization.
FrakkinFordy
Banned
Generally no, however I found during the ME games that if I was going to be staring at someone's arse for over 30 hours I preferred it to be a womans arse. I guess I'm shallow that way.
I think ultimately (for me anyway) the driving factor for me buying a game is whether the game is good or not. Gender doesn't really come into it, I like the gameplay in Bayonetta for instance, the fact that the character is female doesn't really come into it.
However, I probably do favour males given the choice. And I think that is more it being an extension of myself. If I was female I think I would probably prefer to be female for the same reasons.
Try playing more Japanese and Indie games. Tons of females and non-white dudes there. There's also some decent diversity coming up in the year:
Alien: Isolation - Female
Far Cry 4 - Tibetan? Male
Destiny - Custom Characters
Dragon Age: Inquisition - Custom Characters
Lords of the Fallen - Bald white dude
Bayonetta 2 - Female
Hyrule Warriors - Many female characters and much diversity
Captain Toad - TOAD!
R_thanatos
Member
No, human/alien/elf/demon/monkey/robot i don't care...
The character just need to be intresting.
The character just need to be intresting.
This is not simply about protagonists. It takes this forms in many video games because usually the character has no significance and could easily be replaces with any gender, ethnicity, body type or look.
But the demand for much more diverse representation in media, in terms of more characters of color, in more significant roles is very very old. I don't understand what you're even talking about.
Lords of the Fallen has a semi-customizable bald bearded white dude.
rokkerkory
Member
I don't care at all, as long as I resonate with him/her. It's more important that the main character has a good story, personality and stands for something I believe in.
I know.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I personally don't care intrinsically, except as a kind of appreciation of diversity I suppose. I know that my younger sister was drawn towards games where she could play female or more gender neutral characters though.
loaf of bread
Member
I prefer to play as my gender (male) in most cases. If I was a female I'd probably prefer playing as females. Race or species has no impact.
Does not effect my enjoyment of the game but when given a choice I will probably pick male. I also don't mind when playing as an already characterized female that isn't supposed to be "me" like Ellie or Lara Croft. Not playing a game based on any of this is idiotic.
Does not effect my enjoyment of the game but when given a choice I will probably pick male. I also don't mind when playing as an already characterized female that isn't supposed to be "me" like Ellie or Lara Croft. Not playing a game based on any of this is idiotic.
Diprosalic
Banned
not one bit.
Ultimately you're both saying the same thing.
The overarching problem isn't that the number of protagonists of a male or female persuasion is so off kilter, it's that in most cases, it doesn't matter whether the main character is male or female because the game puts little to no effort into understanding who the main character is, to a point where gender never actually factors into the gameplay or story based experience.
I think that's the bigger problem. Who cares if Samus is a girl if, for 20 years, she never spoke to anyone and no one ever spoke to her? Games need to get better about that kind of thing.
cubicle47b
Member
Generally not. I like to play as different races/sexes when given the option.
Jawmuncher
Member
I'll play anything so long as the game is good.
HOWEVER I highly prefer female characters in my games. Since they aren't featured as much as male protagonists.
HOWEVER I highly prefer female characters in my games. Since they aren't featured as much as male protagonists.
That demographic isn't going to change for the kinds of games we're talking about until more non white males are shown that they're actually part of the club. I know a lot of people don't think the race and gender of the main character matter, but they do.
The first Call of Duty I actually played was Ghosts, because it let me make a female character in the multiplayer (the portion of the game I care about). Yes, it's an FPS, so I can't see my character most of the time. But when that character dies, or is standing around on the menus, or whatever, I see a character that I actually have some connection with. Activistion said "we care about female players or those who identify as female enough to finally represent them in the game", and that action had a direct result on my feeling like I was a gamer the series cares to acknowledge.
For some people, representation doesn't matter, and that's fine. (Or it DOES matter, and they just don't realize how represented they've always been.) For other people, it does, and I've talked to plenty of people since getting more into the topic of inclusion in gaming that have said that when they don't see themselves representedat least to some degree in gamingit makes them feel like they aren't being invited to the party. So, they don't come.
My argument is this: unless you can argue why the race and gender of your main character matters, or unless you can actually make a character worth caring about*, then give me a choice. More and more games are showing that you can absolutely craft a compelling and emotional narrative around a character that they player has control over in these waysyou just need to not be lazy about it.
* I realize that "worth caring about" is a complex argument, because there's no one right answer to that question.
Have you played the Digital Devil Saga games? The games have really strong Hindu / Buddhist themes (in both their storylines and their art direction, enemy design, architecture) and they are awesome games as well.
And as for the OP, I don't care at all though due to genre preferences my leads usually end up as either anime teenage guys, anime teenage girls, ethnic stereotype martial arts fighters or anthropomorphic mascots. That being said I'd love to see a certain other game with a strong female lead... she'd be Norse... and a goddess sent to collect souls of dead warriors... if you get my drift.
Exactly.
Truth.
And caring doesn't mean it's all that matters. I doubt I'd turn down a good game because it had another gruff dude as the protagonist, but I do sometimes pay closer attention to games with variety in this respect. So I definitely care.
This seems to presume that everyone who engages in film criticism believes in the auteur theory, which is simply not the case.
I don't think anyone would classify the criticism happening in gaming as "academic" either, so drawing comparisons between the two isn't entirely accurate anyway.
And I'm not really sure where your reappropriation strawman is coming from. The common criticism is that games lack originality and vision from the moment of conception; not that a finished work should somehow be modified. Criticism of a finished film obviously isn't asking for reshoots.
Player_One
Banned
First, I am a white male individual, just to be clear.
Secondly I don't care, and nobody should. If the writer of a game has chosen to tell the story of character x, which happens to be race y and sex z, then fine. Who am I to tell him what to do?
When given a choice, lots of times I go with the default character. In Mass Effect, for example, I found the default Shepard good enough looking and the voice matched great with his face. I've seen some odd user creations in this game, which subtracted from the feel of the game by trying to use the editor and failing (I've yet to see a great custom Shepard).
Other times I try to create weird characters, like in Destiny beta, I chose to create an Exo Warlock. Or I sometimes create female characters, or whatever other options are there (in ESO i created a female redguard, for example). I like the games that give you choice, but it should be justified by the genre or story or something. THIS SHOULD NOT BE IN EVERY GAME. I don't want to play Uncharted as a woman, or Tomb Raider as a man, or Beyond Two Souls as Willem Dafoe.
I hated the controversy around The Puppeteer (great game, btw), when people were complaining for not having the option to play a female puppet. Well, dooh, it's a story about a BOY who lost his head. BOY.
I belive that people who have problems with the lack of choice in some games are the real racists/sexists/homophobes/etc., not the creators of the games. Because they are the ones that actually CARE what race/sex the character is and act with rage against the game (Far Cry 4 controversy, anyone). All the other people who don't care and aren't hateful against anybody, just enjoy the game regardless. Why is race, sex or sexual orientation an issue in 2014 baffles me. We are all people with equal rights and status. This is not and should not be an issue.
Secondly I don't care, and nobody should. If the writer of a game has chosen to tell the story of character x, which happens to be race y and sex z, then fine. Who am I to tell him what to do?
When given a choice, lots of times I go with the default character. In Mass Effect, for example, I found the default Shepard good enough looking and the voice matched great with his face. I've seen some odd user creations in this game, which subtracted from the feel of the game by trying to use the editor and failing (I've yet to see a great custom Shepard).
Other times I try to create weird characters, like in Destiny beta, I chose to create an Exo Warlock. Or I sometimes create female characters, or whatever other options are there (in ESO i created a female redguard, for example). I like the games that give you choice, but it should be justified by the genre or story or something. THIS SHOULD NOT BE IN EVERY GAME. I don't want to play Uncharted as a woman, or Tomb Raider as a man, or Beyond Two Souls as Willem Dafoe.
I hated the controversy around The Puppeteer (great game, btw), when people were complaining for not having the option to play a female puppet. Well, dooh, it's a story about a BOY who lost his head. BOY.
I belive that people who have problems with the lack of choice in some games are the real racists/sexists/homophobes/etc., not the creators of the games. Because they are the ones that actually CARE what race/sex the character is and act with rage against the game (Far Cry 4 controversy, anyone). All the other people who don't care and aren't hateful against anybody, just enjoy the game regardless. Why is race, sex or sexual orientation an issue in 2014 baffles me. We are all people with equal rights and status. This is not and should not be an issue.
I don't think it would change the nature of these replies. It's just that race and gender identification is somehow so much more important to (mostly) black people than it is to asians and whites. Someone had a good example illustrating that. "Describe yourself in 10 words". "Black" is usually under the first few words, where as "white" and "asian" doesn't even come up often at all, unless you're in another region.
Even if all games would be gender- and raceless, most people wouldn't care. Hell, we play games where you are a small red bar or an animal.
The only thing that changes with the race / gender, is the narrative point of view. For certain settings and stories, it's critical to play as a certain race / gender. When the gender / race doesn't play a role in a game, it also doesn't matter if he's white, black, asian, a dog, a stick of wood or something entirely else, yet people make it out to be so utterly important.
We should aim to get more diverse game stories and settings - with that, a diverse race / gender representation, when it counts, comes alone.
Fight the staleness.
dancegrenade
Member
I am black and I hate playing black characters. They never say the N word enough times or eat watermelon flavored chicken.
thatsracist.gif
thatsracist.gif
Deputy Moonman
Member
no don't care. i like good games regardless of race/gender of the characters in a game.
Intheflorsh
Banned
I just played three games in a row where the player character was a white dude voiced by Nolan North. That's fine, but it gets a little boring.
How dare I care about being able to play as someone that looks like me. You should understand, I mean it's not like you as a white male have ever been able to play as someone that looks like you.
King Tubby
Member
I prefer to have variety in protagonists of games. I don't really care about the specific race or gender of the main protagonist when it comes to buying a game, but I do get turned off when they're just extremely generic.
Firstly, you belong to the demographic with hands down the most representation in all types of media. It would stand to reason you wouldn't care, but why should "nobody"?
Who am I to tell him what to do? I'm the consumer he's trying to sell to, and a lot of the time the whole reason character x happens to be race: white and sex: male is simply because either the storyteller is a white male himself, which means we need more diversity in the industry (we do) or because the story teller thinks that will appeal to the broadest audience (in which case, agitating for more diversity is in fact productive).
I agree, racism, sexism, and homophobia should be dead and buried. But they aren't, and it would be nice to counter that with empowering depictions of marginalized people.
Firstly, you belong to the demographic with hands down the most representation in all types of media. It would stand to reason you wouldn't care, but why should "nobody"?
Who am I to tell him what to do? I'm the consumer he's trying to sell to, and a lot of the time the whole reason character x happens to be race: white and sex: male is simply because either the storyteller is a white male himself, which means we need more diversity in the industry (we do) or because the story teller thinks that will appeal to the broadest audience (in which case, agitating for more diversity is in fact productive).
I agree, racism, sexism, and homophobia should be dead and buried. But they aren't, and it would be nice to counter that with empowering depictions of marginalized people.
Oh, weaksauce and disappointing. Fixing.