2. History
Video games have been around since the 1950s but
became popular in the 1970s. With majority of the
protagonists being white male.
In a 2009 survey of 150 games across nine platforms show
that:
•
fewer than 3 percent of video game characters were
recognizably Hispanic and none were playable.
•
Native Americans and biracial characters were non-existent.
•
African Americans enjoyed a rate of 10.74 percent, with a big
caveat; they were mostly athletes and gangsters.
•
black and Asian characters each have 3 percent
representation in the pool of main protagonists; Latino a mere
1 percent.
It isn't until later on in videos games that they become very
diverse. With people of colour not following their
stereotypes.
For example in the Walking Dead series has had
multiple protagonists that have been black or Hispanic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_video_games#Racial_representat
ions_in_video_games
3. How Native American people are portrayed in video
games.In the 80s there were multiple games for the Commodore 64 and NES featuring
Cowboys as the protagonists and Native American characters as the antagonists
or targets. Some of these games are:
•
Law of the West (1985)
•
Outlaws (1985)
•
Kane (1985)
•
Quick Draw McGraw (1990)
•
Hammer Boy (1991)
•
Cowboy Kid (1991)
•
Indian Attack (1993)
Native Americans in video games are often portrayed as either savages or as
warriors and shamans.
•
Nightwolf from Mortal Kombat is a tribal warrior wearing feathers and face
paint. His weapons is a bow and tomahawk, and can transform into a wolf to
defeat his adversaries.
•
In Banjo Tooie there is a magical shaman Humba Wumba, who lives in a
“wigwam” and becomes oddly sexualized in the sequel.
4. How black people are portrayed in video games.
Black people are often portrayed as loud, muscular and criminals.
•
Ethnic Cleansing
•
GTA
•
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune
•
God Hand
•
God Eater
The Walking Dead
•
In the Walking Dead game, it starts off with Lee sitting in the back of a
police car, handcuffed.
•
This immediately shows that this character is a criminal.
•
Throughout the game, the player controls Lee's actions, possibly making
him an unlikeable character to the rest.
Watch Dogs 2
•
The Protagonist is black but is seen as a criminal because the hacks into
top security.
Nadine Ross from Uncharted 4
•
She is muscular and is one of the villains in the game. While it is
reasonable that she would need to be muscular, she is the only black
major character.
5. How Asian people are portrayed in video games.
The lack of Asian figures in popular culture today may be connected to a long history
of anti-Asian racism in America. Majority of Asian characters are non-playable and if
they are playable they often use martial arts, kung fu and etc.
•
Street Fighter
•
Kung Lao and Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat are Kung Fu Masters
•
Metal Gear Solid
•
Tiffany Kim, Vivienne Lu, Not Ping and Sandra from Sleeping Dogs are sexualised and
weak.
•
Lady Shiva is a Kung Fu master from Batman: Arkham Origins
•
Say'ri is a samurai in Fire Emblem: Awakening.
•
Mei Ling from the Metal Gear Solid series is a young and pretty that resembles
the male fantasy of what they want Asian girls to look like.
•
Kenshi from Mortal Kombat is a swordsman with the fight styles of Tai Chi, Judo
and Ninjutsu.
•
Say'ri from Fire Emblem: Awakening is a female samurai who is introduced later
on in the game, wielding two katanas.
More examples of Asian characters who are stereotypes in video games:
https://datadesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/yichenshou_asian-stereotypes-in-
games-compressed.pdf
6. How White people are portrayed in video games.
White males are mainly seen as the strong protagonists in videogames. While white
females tend to be more of the side-kick/ support/ love interest.
•
Dante from Devil May Cry
•
Nathan Drake The Uncharted series
•
God Hand: Kicking and Screaming
Devil May Cry:
•
Dante from Devil May Cry is the protagonist who has super strength, agility,
resistance to injury and etc.
The Uncharted Series:
•
Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series has incredible luck, skill and strength.
•
He has survived multiple fights and falls, including him falling inside a church with a
large bell crashing down as well.
God Hand:
•
Gene and Olivia from God Hand are both white characters but are represented
differently.
•
Gene is the protagonist who wielder of the God Hand, a weapon of God-like
power. (Before he is in control of the God Hand he is a drifter until he gambles with a
bad gang and in exchange for money they cut his arm off.)
•
Olivia is a descendant of the family who had been the guardians of the God Hands for
generations.
7. How Hispanic people are portrayed in video
games.Hispanic people are often shown in videogames as
•
Ezio from Assassin Creed.
•
Rico from Just Cause.
•
Vega from Street fighter
•
Isabela Keyes from Dead Rising
•
King from Tekken series
•
Dominic santiago from Gears of War
Assassin Creed:
•
Ezio Auditore da Firenze is a fictional character in the video game series Assassin's
Creed. His career as an Assassin during the Italian Renaissance serves as central plot
of Assassin's Creed II, II: Discovery, Brotherhood, and Revelations, as well as the
animated short film Embers.
Just Cause:
•
Rico is the protagonist from Mulatto-Hispanic heritage with a strong Spanish
accent who assaults a military base.
Street Fighter:
•
Vega, also known as Claw, is a fictional character from the Street Fighter fighting game
series by Capcom. Vega is a mask-wearing, claw-wielding fighter from Spain who uses a
personal fighting style combining Japanese ninjutsu, French savate, American Zipota
and Spanish bullfighting, earning him the nickname of "Spanish Ninja".
8. Micro Analysis of Ethnic Cleansing.
•
Using the Genesis3D engine, the National Alliance created the game to be provocative and
promote their white supremacist messages.
About the game:
•
Ethnic Cleansing is a first person shooter where the player is apart of a "Race War".
•
The player controls a neo-Nazi or a Klansman and is tasked with killing
stereotypical African-American, Latino, and Jewish enemies.
•
The game ends with former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Music:
At the start of the game, there is a soundtrack that is played multiple times. It has western style
upbeat sound but the lyrics to the song includes racial slurs.
(This game is poorly made to their isn't a lot of good lighting or draw back. However the locations
in these games are dark, dirty and is full of graffiti.)
Black characters - When playing the game, you walk around the ghetto, shooting the enemies. The
black people wear nothing more than a shirt and jeans. Often seen in the streets and basket ball
court.
Jewish characters – They are not introduced until later on in the game. They wear long black
jackets.
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbBHNeK3Wus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_Cleansing_(video_game)
9. Micro Analysis of God Hand (2006).
About the game:
•
God Hand is an action 'beat 'em up' video game which take the
appearance of a western styled town.
•
It has a Western and Japanese-themed comedy with over-the-top
characters and storyline events.
•
The gameplay combines traditional elements of the beat 'em up genre
with new features. These include being able to map and string together a
lot of fighting techniques to the gamepad's face buttons in order to
create unique combo attacks.
Music:
The music in this game are not tided in with any of the characters you meet.
The music is influenced by the techno, rave, rock and funk genre.
Some of the characters who follow stereotypes in God Hand:
•
Japanese samurai master stereotype.
•
Elvis - The stereotypically Mexican, cigar smoking, loudmouth, gluttonous
demon from God Hand, he is one of the many villains you face throughout
the game.
•
Afro Fist - is a black male who is loud with a big afro. He follows the 80s disco
style with his bright yellow costume, which stands out from the setting
around him which uses a duller scheme of colours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l6fiTtXpvY
10. Micro Analysis of God Hand (2006).
About the game:
•
God Hand is an action 'beat 'em up' video game which take the
appearance of a western styled town.
•
It has a Western and Japanese-themed comedy with over-the-top
characters and storyline events.
•
The gameplay combines traditional elements of the beat 'em up genre
with new features. These include being able to map and string together a
lot of fighting techniques to the gamepad's face buttons in order to
create unique combo attacks.
Music:
The music in this game are not tided in with any of the characters you meet.
The music is influenced by the techno, rave, rock and funk genre.
Some of the characters who follow stereotypes in God Hand:
•
Japanese samurai master stereotype.
•
Elvis - The stereotypically Mexican, cigar smoking, loudmouth, gluttonous
demon from God Hand, he is one of the many villains you face throughout
the game.
•
Afro Fist - is a black male who is loud with a big afro. He follows the 80s disco
style with his bright yellow costume, which stands out from the setting
around him which uses a duller scheme of colours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l6fiTtXpvY
