Having a diverse cast isn't what made Captain Planet bad.
Would you think the show would have been better with an all white cast?
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Ethnic Minorities - "Forgot about them".
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Having a diverse cast isn't what made Captain Planet bad.
Would you think the show would have been better with an all white cast?
This is silly, racism at such a systematic level isn't just because some executive is a racist. Most of it is based on objective metrics, white leads will likely be sold more than black leads. This is because of systematic racism, it's not conscious, it's just the invisible forces of how things are done. The problem is that you need to occasionally disregard what's "normal" and spotlight other people even if it is entirely an arbitrary choice.
And GTA:SA having a black anti-hero protagonist particularly stereotyped as a gangbanger is not very helpful even if it is more than nothing. How about putting them in intelligent roles too?
No one should be against it. Basically the world is arbitrarily diverse, there is no reason why you are what you are, you just are. Here's a good post about the matter: http://www.heyash.com/in-defense-of-arbitrary-diversity/
I believe the change has to come from within. Just like better representation of female characters in games require more female studio team members, heavily integrated in the creative process, so too should the industry strive to include a larger group of people from different ethnicities in order for change to occur.
block tower
Member
uh what? black is a vague term to define a skin color not a ethnic group. you can be "black" and be from the Caribbean and have your own dialect and nuances to speaking, while you can also be considered "black" and be from Atlanta, Georgia and have your own dialect and nuances to speaking. your really misunderstanding what "black" means, it just isn't exclusive to being African American. so your question doesn't make much sense because your definition of black people seems to be very one dimensional. how someone speaks regardless of skin color or ethnic background is genuine to who they are, if someone doesn't speak in a way that you envision they should, that is a problem with your perception of the world.
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
Funny, your comment highlights the problem. There's no black monolith. There's a ridiculous wealth of diversity of black people in the world, who don't act or speak at all similarly, and who come from completely different cultures.
Thank you.
Mugatu
Member
I'm a white male but I play games in a big part for escapism - to do things I can't or can't easily/cheaply do in real life. I'd rather not play myself, another white male, in every game.
I don't look to game characters as inspiration, I look to them for fantasy. I'm all for more diverse set of gaming characters - I get enough of being me in real life.
I don't look to game characters as inspiration, I look to them for fantasy. I'm all for more diverse set of gaming characters - I get enough of being me in real life.
Manic Mouse
Banned
Much like the sexism issue in games, there are some opinions that border very close to censorship territory in this thread (dictating to creators what they can and can't make).
Mugatu
Member
Except as consumers we don't have the power to actually force them to do anything legally so it's not censorship at all. Additionally, it is our money so if this is a concern then vote with your wallet - that's neither pro or con but it again shows that this has nothing to do with censorship.
That is game entitlement to the extreme.
Here is an example,
Because I am a black male gamer,
"Only a black person can kill a black person in a video game".
"A white person killing a black person in South Africa is racist".
"A white person killing a black person not in Africa is not racist".
And Chris Redfield has been the main(?) protagonist in Resident Evil franchise. He is not an invented main protagonist for Resident Evil 5 to hold some suspicion. If Chris Redfield was re-designed for Resident Evil 5 or if the main protagonist was one random black person that would have been political correctness.
And why? Because a sequel must follow the story-line/plot. Capcom cannot just introduce one random black person for the sake of it.
Marketing could have been better.
radios shipping overview
Member
There's a difference between perpetuating stereotypes out of ignorance or myopia and employing them because they are what people will understand and, reciprocally, culturally more relevant. The latter is an aspect of language and knowledge that can be mitigated, seldom "rectified".
I'll use the following post to elucidate my point. Although it's taken out of context and had a different intent, I'll let it represent the opposition and borrow its choice of words.
Let's fill in the gaps and say that the ethnically homogeneous country is Japan and the stereotype is one of African-Americans.
Wouldn't it be comparatively easy for a modern Japanese to recognize and portray an image of an African-American that has its basis in reality, i.e. giving her or him personality, quirks, knowledge and traits that are in no way attributable to something as superficial as the color of her or his skin? Sure!
However, we're steeped in ignorance again, of another, less obvious kind.
Where did this particular stereotype come from in the first place? I think it's almost safe to assume: from a stereotype found in significant American cultural products, products that have formed the primary basis for absorbing and classifying related information not just in Japan, but pretty much anywhere else.
From this perspective, all over the world (in our example except for the US and, arguably, educated people here and elsewhere) the stereotype is simply (and regrettably) more intelligible than reality. Cultural products want to communicate with -- not educate -- people on a common ground, therefore a stereotype will seem preferable, if it is more relevant than what is actually the case.
I don't in any way mean to excuse racial stereotyping with this. It's intellectually offensive and angers me personally when I see it. There, too, is ignorance to ascribing it simply to ignorance or myopia, however.
(Again, I'm not saying this is what Stumpokapow was doing, this is just shadowboxing and the post casts a good shadow.)
We're living in fortunate times. People are calling shit out, more and more are able to freely communicate with (and educate) everybody else and represent themselves as individuals and/or members of a culture. Games will start to reflect that, even Japanese ones.
I'll use the following post to elucidate my point. Although it's taken out of context and had a different intent, I'll let it represent the opposition and borrow its choice of words.
Let's fill in the gaps and say that the ethnically homogeneous country is Japan and the stereotype is one of African-Americans.
Wouldn't it be comparatively easy for a modern Japanese to recognize and portray an image of an African-American that has its basis in reality, i.e. giving her or him personality, quirks, knowledge and traits that are in no way attributable to something as superficial as the color of her or his skin? Sure!
However, we're steeped in ignorance again, of another, less obvious kind.
Where did this particular stereotype come from in the first place? I think it's almost safe to assume: from a stereotype found in significant American cultural products, products that have formed the primary basis for absorbing and classifying related information not just in Japan, but pretty much anywhere else.
From this perspective, all over the world (in our example except for the US and, arguably, educated people here and elsewhere) the stereotype is simply (and regrettably) more intelligible than reality. Cultural products want to communicate with -- not educate -- people on a common ground, therefore a stereotype will seem preferable, if it is more relevant than what is actually the case.
I don't in any way mean to excuse racial stereotyping with this. It's intellectually offensive and angers me personally when I see it. There, too, is ignorance to ascribing it simply to ignorance or myopia, however.
(Again, I'm not saying this is what Stumpokapow was doing, this is just shadowboxing and the post casts a good shadow.)
We're living in fortunate times. People are calling shit out, more and more are able to freely communicate with (and educate) everybody else and represent themselves as individuals and/or members of a culture. Games will start to reflect that, even Japanese ones.
Manic Mouse
Banned
Wanting to censor something has nothing to do with whether or not you have the power to do so. Many opinions here are that the games being produced right now are somehow "wrong" because they don't represent minorities, and they NEED to change (words were used in the post I quoted). That's a desire for censorship. Censorship is wrong.
Indeed, that is how the free market works. It's also why all the social-justice warrior blogging and threads like this aren't going to change anything. If you are offended by the lack of X minority in games then don't buy them, and make games representing them. That will change the status quo (or maybe not if the market decides it).
Of course there is a problem if the sole reason for games starring straight, white males is that they sell better and actually it has nothing to do with racism, sexism or homophobia.
BumblebeeCody
Member
I'm Indian Asian/English(dem brown skins, doe) where is my representation? Seriously, black people are "represented" far more often than anyone else. Heck, this entire thread seems to be dedicated to being more diverse yet the only people brought up are black people. At the end of the day I couldn't care because it seems to be a very shallow argument.
I personally have no issues of being underrepresented.
I think it's quite sad too that people consider Sazh to be stereotypical or that Resident Evil 5 is racist. Looking at them superficially then yeah, you're ignorance would be right, but context is everything and Sazh isn't stereotypical nor is RE5 racist.
*Chocobos aren't chickens.
Ehrm, what about Sheva? Black character, never seen in the series before. She is exactly what you said Capcom didn't do.
ScriptedReality
Member
yeah i kinda sit back and enjoy games for what they are. Its sad because i expect if they add a black character he'll be like the 15 other black characters . I get that some of us do act like that but damn. Can I get some diversity? I liked the guy from prototype 2, hes just like one of my uncles but lets not copy and paste the same personality onto every black character.
And yeah Sazh was a cool character. But You know damn well everyone considers chocobos to be giant chickens. Smh.
And yeah Sazh was a cool character. But You know damn well everyone considers chocobos to be giant chickens. Smh.
you need to understand the difference between criticism and censorship.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Hopefully I can add some diversity to this problem in the coming years.
My Haitian grandpa who was pretty much as black as you can get, had blue eyes.
it's funny that a lot of the people defending the status quo of awful stereotypes in games are basically saying "developers shouldn't need to research their subject matter"
people laud the portrayal of Not-NYC and Not-LA in GTA IV and V respectively even though rockstar north is based in scotland. if they developed their games entirely based on popular american media featuring those two cities it would be nothing but cliches, but clearly they did their research and put a lot of effort into accurate and nuanced portrayals of the settings for their games.
apparently asking japanese developers to do the same for black people is just too much.
people laud the portrayal of Not-NYC and Not-LA in GTA IV and V respectively even though rockstar north is based in scotland. if they developed their games entirely based on popular american media featuring those two cities it would be nothing but cliches, but clearly they did their research and put a lot of effort into accurate and nuanced portrayals of the settings for their games.
apparently asking japanese developers to do the same for black people is just too much.
Forceatowulf
G***n S**n*bi
This shit. Right here. Times a thousand.
There is literally no argument to be made against it, not even "A bunch of games will be bomb tho!!" because there are numerous instances of games with minority characters that did well. And if developers start making diverse protags and casts the norm, people will buy it. The more diversity in games the better. Even if it's done for the sake of being done.
Unless a character has a specific reason for being a certain race/gender that is deeply tied to the story of a game, why not take that as an opportunity to diversify? The market is flooded with white male protags, why not spread the love around for fucks sakes?
Hot fiery fucking truth right here.
Many of us aren't making arguments about one race versus another though. It's a thread discussing various aspects of racial/ethnic representation in gaming. If you don't feel adequately represented, then say something about your culture that you wish were reflected more strongly. I've made a few posts in this thread supporting more diversity in gaming, not one of them were made with black people in mind specifically. I'm Mexican-American, I would love to see more characters that share that lineage in gaming. But I'm not going to complain that black characters have a much bigger representation compared to everyone else. Because I know even that sort of representation is not good enough, and often relies on stereotypes. There are plenty of good posts in this thread offering different perspectives of the benefits of diversity, and addressing your complaint about one group getting a bigger focus versus another. If you feel the arguments being made here are shallow then you haven't taken the time to seriously read through the thread.
MagnaderAlpha
Member
I'm that way too. Gaming is a form of escapism, just like movies. I could care less WHO I play as as long as the game's fun and, if the character is written with development, it's on a human level. It's the same for movies. I can watch a movie and the main character could be totally different from me in race, ethnicity or even gender, but if they start to talk about really human things such as emotion and the little things in life that we all notice, a connection is made. You can have empathy towards others who have suffered. You can laugh with those who are joyous, cry with those who are sad, feel fear for those who are terrorized, all on a basic human level. And in games, to me, it doesn't matter if the characters are white, black, brown, or even a blue hedgehog or artificially created robot, as long as they are capable of relaying some sort of feeling, that's all that counts.
To me, more so the basic human feelings are more important than culture(of course, that's just me). I'm critical regarding characters being written as stereotypes because when you write characters that adopt those types of personas, they tend to be nothing less, nor nothing more than just that. Real people are ALWAYS more than that.
But it is obvious to me some people play games(just like watch movies) with the goal of relating to character trends on a superficial level. I can accept people like it but I will never understand why. Is it because they are so into a way of thinking or trend that this "role" takes priority over their own individuality? It really IS a role. You join a clique, act like a goth kid, a jock, a valley girl, it's all a "trend role". How much of it is really you depends on how much you let it overpower your individual being. Maybe people who want to play as characters like themselves do so to be reminded who they are(or what role they are playing). If you are seriously confident in who you are, you really wouldn't be afraid of exploring other avenues regarding race or ethnicity(even gender) within games. In the end, we are all human, first and foremost. We all feel, we all think, we all ponder questions about life and love. We even question our traditions and parents. This is what it means to be human.
Fucking this
We need much more than mere censorship. Creators gonna create, but what they create can be, is, and continually will be affected by the systems in which they operate.
The status quo of our society has to change. The systems in place that create and maintain these socio-economic imbalances and fucked up perceptions and such need to be removed.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
That there's a reason why people are ignorant or myopic doesn't mean they're not ignorant or myopic, it means they need to actively spend time trying to overcome the barriers to understanding. Southern white males have many historical, cultural, familial, religious, and social factors that ingrain in them the racism visible in parts of the south, so it's understandable that it happens, but this doesn't absolve them of responsibility to affirmatively try to overcome those barriers. I have a great deal of empathy for someone struggling to understand, but relatively little for someone who is self-absorbed enough to not reflect on how their environment has shaped them and how the way they behave, including as they create, affects other people.
Rest
All these years later I still chuckle at what a fucking moron that guy is.
Serbs and Croatians are white, so no, not really.
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
Your not caring doesn't magically make everything fine
vasametropolis
Member
I could never figure out if Cole Train in Gears of War would be considered offensive to the majority of black people or not... It was always my opinion that Epic made him a bit too stereotypical, but I'm not black so I don't feel I can fairly judge that.
I'm honestly not too sure why games still shy from the race and gender thing so much. Movies have had leads of all kinds for a few years now (though could be better) and everyone seems to have adjusted to it just fine.
Sexuality is a different story and that's in another thread today that I'm not visiting again due to crazy escalation. What is it with GAF today? I'm getting all tense :|
I'm honestly not too sure why games still shy from the race and gender thing so much. Movies have had leads of all kinds for a few years now (though could be better) and everyone seems to have adjusted to it just fine.
Sexuality is a different story and that's in another thread today that I'm not visiting again due to crazy escalation. What is it with GAF today? I'm getting all tense :|
Cole was partially based on a silly and bombastic character that his voice actor played in some TV commercials. On his own, I don't think Cole is all that problematic. It's when you look at the bigger picture and see how many games have a "Cole" that the issue of stereotyping becomes apparent.
Oh man, after having been in the LBGT representation threads for so long I feel bad for not having noticed this one as well!
Representation of minorities is super important to me, too.
My dream main character is a bisexual man of color *_*
Representation of minorities is super important to me, too.
My dream main character is a bisexual man of color *_*
i basically need a game about Oberyn Martell.
Really? Other than Remember me I think they are one of the big problems. RE5 only got Sheeva because of backlash from the e3 black zombie incident. Since then we havent seen anything in the RE universe.
That being said I hope in the future there will be more non thung/ cop/ military/ weapons dealer minority characters
I didn't follow the marketing of the title, nor the general reaction to it. However, this is more or less my reaction to the character Sheva. In all honesty though, with that particular title and the general location setting, I don't really see Chris or Leon being required characters as playable protagonists for the main campaign on it. I'm not in the camp really getting the "world police force based in America" bit in regard to the anti-bio terrorism group. Thinking in meta terms, it seems like a Godzilla parallel all over again.
At the end of the day though, I don't care that much who they choose to put into the title, in spite of thinking that Sherry was going to be in it and being Wesker's hostage/puppet. Plot wise, that would have made a better argument for Clare or Leon being there though....
Black-Wind
Member
Nobody fucking knows. :/
Because "Artistic vision"? With a game that's being compromised all the time. Same thing with movies, the moment you're working with other people to make something big you're gonna have to compromise. Asking someone to think about diversity is no different than anything else.
"Cause they might make stereotypes"? If you put the same (or even half) amount of thought and research behind making a damn PoC or woman an actual character in their world as you put into designing that world you shouldn't have that problem.
oconnomiyaki
Member
At least we've had a character that fits that criteria. Just not a protagonist. And he didn't last long. But he did have an impact in the game/story.
Seeing this argument a lot, and it remains fundamentally broken. Nobody is saying there should be quotas or any dev forced to do any particular thing.
The call is for more diversity generally, not specifically.
Black-Wind
Member
1. I wouldn't call games "art" to be truthful. That's a whole other can of shit I don't wanna bring up here. But ...
2. Even a widely accepted form of art (Movies) is subjected to criticism over their depiction of different groups. Why shouldn't people look at this any differently? Why should people not wonder why something that's touching so many lives (young and old) isn't showing representation for the audience that consumes this product?
Zok310
Banned
I think once the development community expands a bit more, and we start to see more people of African descent or, non caucasian descent, filling director, writer, marketing or producer roles within video games companies. Then we should start to see a better or a more fair representation of people from other cultures and races in video games. And these people would have to be conscience individuals.
I mean we can really only really represent ourselves, and what i noticed is when you leave it up to others to represent you, your race or your culture they tend to highlight preconceived stereotypes of that race or culture they are trying to represent.
Being 30 something I try to stay away from content that have the token black guy, or the token (insert race here), the female with big ass and titties and small brain, the Arab on a carpet, the white guy that can fix everything or have all the answers and that can save the whole universe against all odds........all the time. All kinds of stupid shit like that.
I dont want my family or kids around it because our brains are like sponges, and we absorbs these things subliminally and grow up so unbalanced psychologically or to the point where some developer in Japan, for example, think Barrett and Sazh would make cool characters.
I remember reaching a point in my life where i had to struggle to look at things different. Surely the media, and other forms of entertainment that perpetuate these stereotypes can't be blamed entirely, but they sure as hell are not helping.
I mean we can really only really represent ourselves, and what i noticed is when you leave it up to others to represent you, your race or your culture they tend to highlight preconceived stereotypes of that race or culture they are trying to represent.
Being 30 something I try to stay away from content that have the token black guy, or the token (insert race here), the female with big ass and titties and small brain, the Arab on a carpet, the white guy that can fix everything or have all the answers and that can save the whole universe against all odds........all the time. All kinds of stupid shit like that.
I dont want my family or kids around it because our brains are like sponges, and we absorbs these things subliminally and grow up so unbalanced psychologically or to the point where some developer in Japan, for example, think Barrett and Sazh would make cool characters.
I remember reaching a point in my life where i had to struggle to look at things different. Surely the media, and other forms of entertainment that perpetuate these stereotypes can't be blamed entirely, but they sure as hell are not helping.
To address the few who stated it, the idea that the majority of games should continue having generic, white, male protagonists because it might be the "artistic vision" of the developers and should not be compromised is ridiculous. These same protagonists are the very result of corporate interference into what were originally more diverse and complex characters for the sake of avoiding financial risk.
Generic, white males are the perfect indicator of compromised artistic vision within the industry, or at the very least, the perfect indicator of a complete lack of artistic vision to begin with.
Generic, white males are the perfect indicator of compromised artistic vision within the industry, or at the very least, the perfect indicator of a complete lack of artistic vision to begin with.
Black-Wind
Member
Edit- ^^^ The truth as well.
I think that's some bull shit.
Yes, i think that having a diverse staff is a great step in the right direction. I believe Scandal credits their success to being "black made/ having a largely black staff" but that's not the only way.
Books have been being made for 100s of years staring people that don't look like the person who wrote them. Part of writing is having empathy and being able to put yourself in someone elses shoes and go to their world, to live through them. What you're afraid of are hack writers who rely on stereotypes.
I mean, hell, Philip Pullman has never been a lil girl yet he was able to make Golden Compass books. We're not limited to what characters we can make or what kinda stories we can think up just because we have never been w/e race or gender or even age. These are just lazy excuses for shitty story telling ... and that's the kinda stuff games are full of. Excuses as to why they're special snowflakes in media.
I think that's some bull shit.
Yes, i think that having a diverse staff is a great step in the right direction. I believe Scandal credits their success to being "black made/ having a largely black staff" but that's not the only way.
Books have been being made for 100s of years staring people that don't look like the person who wrote them. Part of writing is having empathy and being able to put yourself in someone elses shoes and go to their world, to live through them. What you're afraid of are hack writers who rely on stereotypes.
I mean, hell, Philip Pullman has never been a lil girl yet he was able to make Golden Compass books. We're not limited to what characters we can make or what kinda stories we can think up just because we have never been w/e race or gender or even age. These are just lazy excuses for shitty story telling ... and that's the kinda stuff games are full of. Excuses as to why they're special snowflakes in media.
This is so incredibly wrong.
Might wanna do some research before dissing a genuinely amazing black character.There is so much to sazh in the game.He is compassionate, kind and a devoted father.
There is nothing wrong with embracing african looking hair.A chocobo is not a chicken, its a trademark of FF series and he actually has a relationship with that creature.He is actually portrayed as the wisest , most civil man in the cast as well as a skilled pilot.His accent was balanced and he was well voiced overall.
He is actually a main character in the game with plenty of screen time and you can arrange into your party as you please.
Carries a gun ? Lightning carries a gun and tons of people in XIII use guns.I amnot sure where that factors in.
N
Noray
Unconfirmed Member
re: diversity for diversity's sake:
The concept itself is a fallacy. The concept is based around the notion that straight, white male is the DEFAULT STATE of human beings and everything else is an aberration. Saying you need to have "a good reason" to make a black/asian/female/gay/etc. character is ridiculous. Including a gay character doesn't mean your game has to have a sit-down with the player to tell them about gay rights, they can just exist, because gay people actually exist in real life, too. Shocking truth, I know.
Lee in TWD is a good example. He's a black character! But that isn't what defines him, ie. Telltale didn't have "a good reason", as some would call it, to make him black. He just happens to be black. Like a lot of human beings happen to be.
This article on Polygon about a gay soldier in Operation Raccoon City is a good read, also: http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/18/5612910/resident-evil-operation-raccoon-city-gay-soldier
The concept itself is a fallacy. The concept is based around the notion that straight, white male is the DEFAULT STATE of human beings and everything else is an aberration. Saying you need to have "a good reason" to make a black/asian/female/gay/etc. character is ridiculous. Including a gay character doesn't mean your game has to have a sit-down with the player to tell them about gay rights, they can just exist, because gay people actually exist in real life, too. Shocking truth, I know.
Lee in TWD is a good example. He's a black character! But that isn't what defines him, ie. Telltale didn't have "a good reason", as some would call it, to make him black. He just happens to be black. Like a lot of human beings happen to be.
This article on Polygon about a gay soldier in Operation Raccoon City is a good read, also: http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/18/5612910/resident-evil-operation-raccoon-city-gay-soldier
Speaking of Sleeping Dogs, I have asked some gamer from Hong Kong, not all of them are fine with the represent of their city, if you have some friends live in or come from Hong Kong or Shanghai, you should ask how they feel about the Chinese city representation in video games like Sleeping Dogs, Kane and Lynch 2 Dog Days and Biohazard/Resident Evil 6, that will be a interesting subject to expand your stereotype library.
Rhazer Fusion
Member
Not that I really mind, but I think the strange thing is from what I've seen I think Western developers actually create more diversity than Japan. It seems like most major video game characters in Japanese games are normally caucasian or "caucasian looking" males. I guess I am a little surprised that there are not more Asian protagonists in major Japanese games. Then again, I think this entire diversity subject is about image and marketability to most companies/developers. I think they feel that games with minorities will not sell as much or cannot be marketed the same way as silly as that sounds.
I understand what you are trying to say but as a black man he seems (look wise) generic. Egg shaped afro, guns, a bird. As a character he is much more than that but physically he comes off as a stereotype.
As for the guns, they are not the problem its the fact that the two major black characters both only have guns, Vincent had a gun, lightning has one as do others but black characters are rare in FF games so when they show up I know I want to see more crazy cool FF style character rather than stereotypical ones.
The best example I can give is SF, their whole cast is damn sterotypes, 2 out of 3 black characters are boxers and that gets boring they are fun to play as but you look at tekken, we have a Thai kickboxer and a damn NINJA, they look badass and not stereotypical these are the kinds of characters I want to see more of
You're forgetting Sean and Elena.
The problem of your argument is that you are forcing a suspicion; that the trailer of Resident Evil 5 is indeed racist, to take over the fact that a game used its/the(?) main Protagonist to a setting in South Africa. By claiming that Sheva would be more appropriate you are applying reverse racism because you claim that "only a black character would be more appropriate to be in South Africa and kill black zombies" on the basis of skin color alone.
In that respect it is a strawman argument to imply that a game with a "world police force in America" is promoting social and political agenda and by visiting a setting in South Africa it is doing social commentary. A game cannot and should not be held accountable on how current affairs are in the sense of not allowing its creativity aka story line to explore different world parts because of the fear of receiving controversy.
I would say that Call of Duty has more chance of doing that; "them Evil Russians" than Resident Evil if we play by the same cards.
In order for me to prove that what you see is a comic relief I would have to take my eyes out and give them to you. But here is an example,
and now let us look at this,
and that is where the comic relief reference goes. A black main character can either be thug4life or an entertaining-looking figure. In contrast with Lee from the Walking Dead or even Eli Vance from Half Life
To strengthen my point head over here - Black Video Game characters. 90% have got the intimidating approach, 9% the I-am-so-fly-and-funny approach and 1% being depicted as a decent human being.
You read a bit more into it than I meant. Basically, Sheva seemed to be an add in for (insert reasons) rather than integral to make the game work. How the game is being criticized or lauded is a bit along the lines of meta thinking, thus was the point of my Godzilla analogy. Whether or not that aspect is required in order to make the game fiction make sense is a different issue entirely and the series as a whole have many other fictional issues to deal with before getting really worried about that singular aspect specifically.
That being said, current affairs do influence creative works regardless of the medium regardless of the overall intent (intent is a seperate argument). How overbearing those current issues are within the title can putt off any individual. I'd like to think that most folks can look past that sort of thing, but when titles like bioshock get brought up, there are a lot more conversations about the political commentary than game mechanics. Of which I find saddening personally, since how the player is interacting with the world takes up far more time by volume within any title (excluding visual novels, or other media mediums like movies).
Wasn't clownboat referring to that quote in the OP?
Apparently do some people want a black character to behave/act black, whatever that means
Yes, I went to a NY state school with a diverse student population, but my senior-level computer science classes only had 2 black and 1 hispanic students. One of them went on to work in the defense industry, the others I don't know, but I doubt the gaming industry. The lack of black/hispanic people in STEM (at least, based on my college and work experience) is something I've always wondered about. A lack of minority outreach programs? Cultural disinterest in programming/math? A lack of decent K-12 STEM electives/after-school activities in minority-heavy districts?