GameInformer

hey it worked with ff13. so its all good.

I actually have discussed this issue multiple times with my friends, and I've come to this:

People of racial ethnicities get at least SOME time in the spotlight.Like:

Sazh

Bo Jackson

CJ Johnson

Kratos (Yeah!)

Sean

Balrog

Dee Jay

Drebin 893

Sargent Johnson

Doc Lewis

Riddick

Sgt. Foley

Louis

Garcian Smith

Marcus Reed

Torque

Mike Leroi

Albeit only Kratos had a main role, and half were NPCs. (Well, maybe Louis had SOME of the storyline.)

yea sazh is actually a good character

Um... What is Kratos? I thought he was greek? Greeks are white... Then again, I've never played GOW series, so I wouldn't know.

Not all Greeks have to be white, thank you very much.

all right times up, lets do this, LEEROY JENKINS, EAT THAT CHICKEN, FUNNIEST SHET EVER.LOL GOOD TIMES IN WOW.

Gamer_1985:

I was reading the new game informer issue and on page 18 there is an article called the Gender Gap. Quite frankly female characters in games top Hispanic, Asian and African American with Whites at number 1.

This is a real serious issue that has been hurting the gaming industry for decades. I'm Hispanic myself and I don't see myself buying games like I used to because of this. That's why I'm glad for games like Mass Effect and World of Warcraft where you can customize yourself to be the hero. People are tired of using characters that don't appeal to them.

In World of Warcraft for example or any other MMO there is a huge number of female gamers and people of other races that I play with and chat with and the reason is that we can create our virtual self. This is what needs to change in the gaming industry. They have to give us complete creative control of our main character and let us customize it to our liking. The story can still be there but the only thing that changes is the model and the voice.  Then anyone can be the hero. Wouldn't you like that.

Imagine every game you played that was single player. Then when you beat t there's nothing left. Now giving you the option to change the character will completely change the game. Which means your sisters can play it and other people as well because it appeals to them and not the developer. The developer has to think of the player buying the game not themselves. That's the main reason I believe no one is buying games as they used to because its over-saturated with male white protagonists.

I'm Hispanic myself and I don't give a flying **** what race, ethnicity, or gender the protagonist has.  There are a wide variety of reasons people don't have appeal towards a character.

No I would not.  Sometimes a character's design strongly factors into the way he fits into the game and how the game itself is designed.

If I beat a game once and there's nothing left, that's poor game design.  Options to change the character has absolutely no change to the game itself if all you're changing is skin and voice.  There's a lot more to a game than a character model.  If someone dismisses a game on the basis of a character model, that's there problem and not the game's.  Ideally, a developer should develop a game that fits their creative vision.  If it's a good game and marketed properly, it will sell well.  Show me numbers that prove "no one is buying games as they used to" due to discontent with the main character.  To discount the economic factors of the gaming industry is unbelievably myopic on your part.

And here I thought I was walking into a decent discussion and I enter instead to a cluster**** rant of a guy with race issues.

I really don't think of anything when buying a game except, "Will this game be worth the money." I play games as a stress reliever so that I can be in my own world for a couple of hours. I don't care if the character is customizable or not. If I like the action or thinking process it takes to play the game then I will rent it first and give it a run through. If I like it then I will go and buy the game. I understand what you are saying, but really though games are not raciest or anything else like that.

@?   Wow. Are you really that ignorant? Ancient Greeks were white. Don't mean to sound racist or anything but pretty much all of ancient Europe and still modern Europe is white.

Political Correctness has gone to your head stop drinking the kool aid. If the story is not meant for a minority it doesn't mean it has to have a minority in it. That's facisit

I'm asian and female and really I don't care about character customization.  I mean sure it's fun to kind of make a character look like your self.  But I was never really into the whole doll dress up thing.  I want to jump into a game and right into a story without having to spend thirty or so minutes getting my character to not look like a NPC.

Lol, a huge part of narrative and the "story" you claim to enjoy in games stems from a preset character in many cases. I've noticed often that when you create a character the story suffers heavily. For instance: GTA series & the Saints Row series. Similar games. Both sand box crime games, yes? GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, IV... sets you a main character ( white yes, then cuban, then black, then Russian lead characters) all have intricate stories. Saints row has you make a character, male or female, and pick their voices and stuff...  and the result is a ridiculous, unrealistic story. Perhaps not the best example but I think if your idea was taken to heart that would be the end of creative story in games. That'd be like projecting an image of someone else in a movie...

Also Im not too concerned if my sisters can play afterwards.

EASY LIST:

1. If you enjoy customizing your characters and love games that include that, your probably an RPG gamer. You cannot expect all games to have an RPG element any more than FPS shooters expecting all games to have FPS elements.

2. Environment is a huge part of the protagonists' race.  Take RE 5 for example. You have Chris Redfield, a character players already connected with through the RE storyline, and the new protagonist Sheva, who was a race relative of the locals.  If RE 5 had taken place in, say, Mexico, then Sheva's character would have most likely been Hispanic.

3. If the race of the character is what is causing you to fail to connect to him/her (im not assuming you do but this is here for anyone who might)  then you just may have some serious racism issues that you should reflect on and try work out.

MatsudaTohu:

@?   Wow. Are you really that ignorant? Ancient Greeks were white. Don't mean to sound racist or anything but pretty much all of ancient Europe and still modern Europe is white.

Some Persians married Greeks, and their children weren't white. And you don't sound racist. You sound like a jerk. 'CUZ I AINT IGNURANT

chuckle you guys calm down now. although it is true they did marry other in other nations but anywho calm down before this is locked for to much flame starting to stir