Racism in the gaming industry in America?

I mean what I have seen it is purely noticeable that companies hire mostly white people in the industry. Once in awhile they will hire that minority just to appease the Affirmative Action law. I myself am minority and trying to get into the industry. I know I have strong work and was even told by people at Disney, but I have yet got into the field as of yet. I even tried entry level positions.

If you look at some companies team photos you will see nothing, but white and occasionally once in awhile you get a token in that picture. I kind of laugh at companies that state they are an EEO company and yet all one color. I know there are really talented minorities out there and wonder why they haven't been hired? it is really odd in my book and I have written this on many of forums and got no reply from anybody in the gaming industry on this.

Just look at the games that come out like Resident Evil 5 or DragonAge Origins. In DragonAge Origins all the humans are white. I mean they do give you a way to colorize your character other than white. But none of the main characters were different color. In Resident Evil 5 you have Chris Redfield going against all black zombies in Africa. In all of the Resident Evil games I don't remember the virus being created in Africa. I think they wanted some controversy since it worked with Rockstar games.

A few games also had some main characters that were non-white like GTA series, but they were just using a stereo typical black person living in the ghetto style persona.


So if anybody works with the gaming industry is it true there is some sort of Racism in the field? I probably won't get a response though. I will personally keep on trying and figure out what gaming companies want in an artist.



[edit on 2-7-2010 by dragnet53]

[edit on 2-7-2010 by dragnet53]

Well, it seems to me if you have the talent and skill, you should be hired. If not, then there is racism. That's all there is to it.

Here's my take on it:

Imagine if whites and blacks were switched for a moment. Imagine a white child that grows up in a fatherless household in a poor section of town. The child tries to do everything he can to better himself but soon realizes that his own people no longer want to associate with him because he's trying to be like "the man" that's been holdin' them down (in this case "the man" is the rich black America). The child now feels no sense of confidence in the direction he was taking and decides to simply fit in with his own crowd so he can finally stop being joked by the kids in his neighborhood.

Now imagine the black child that grows up in an "o.k." household. Still no father at home but that's because the father is dead from a firefighting incident. The black child has been a computer nerd his entire life and while middle school may have been rough, high school is a totally different story. He's not outcast by his entire race because he acts "too black". No, instead he's still able to make plenty of friends and continue on with his passion because the people around him support his positivity and drive to succeed.

In this made up little world, I can guarantee that just about all of the American workers of the gaming industry would be black.

I think it depends on where the studio is located. If you see a game coming out of Asia, most of the names of the developers are Asian. You wouldn't go to a market in Japan and say, "why are all these Asians here? They must be racist". (I'm not sure that this claim is even true. I think that I see plenty of names of all backgrounds as the credits roll. )

As far as the characters in the game being "white". I think they are just trying to appeal to their target market. I would imagine that a lot of the people who buy games are Caucasian so they make the main character white. It's the same reason that the women are hot bimbos; their main demographic is male.

(I can't explain why the protagonists in games that are created by Asians for an Asian market have Caucasian features. I see it all the time in Anime and games, but I don't know why it appeals to them)

reply to post by dragnet53


Most definitely there is racism in the gaming industry:

Ethnic Cleansing (2002) is a controversial computer game developed by Resistance Records, an underground music label owned by the National Alliance specializing in Neo-Nazi and white supremacist bands. In the game, the protagonist (the player can choose either a skinhead or a Klansman) runs through a ghetto killing black people and Latinos, before descending into a subway system to kill Jews. Finally he reaches the "Jewish Control Center", where Ariel Sharon, former Prime Minister of Israel, is directing plans for world domination. The player must kill Sharon to win the game. - en.wikipedia.org...

How these games are allowed to be made is beyond me.

But these are very much isolated incidents and are heavily criticised by the mainstream gaming industry.

As for the latest Resident Evil game - I really don't see the problem. If I am correct (and I'm no expert on these games) the other games in the series were set in America and featured predominantly white zombies.
Moving the setting to Africa would just have been an aesthetic decision; especially five games into the series.

Interesting topic though

I know I have strong work and was even told by people at Disney, but I have yet got into the field as of yet.

???? no capido.

Maybe you have less talent than you think. Or you're giving off the 'victim' vibe during interviews.

if you have the talent and skill, you should be hired.

I disagree, if you go in with an attitude, why should you be hired? I wouldn't hire anyone that I saw would not get along with their co-workers, no matter how talented or EEOC qualified they are.

reply to post by dragnet53


I know that i'm going to be flamed for this one. To get into the gaming industry, you have to know people. Period. It's like any other entertainment industry there is. If you want a job doing game design and development, you have to network with that group. You have to be willing to take unpaid internships and be someones gopher for years. This isn't an easy industry to break into at all, it's much easier to get a job as a game programmer and even then you start out doing gopher work.

Maybe the reason you haven't made it is because you don't know the right people or you really aren't as good as you think you are. I highly doubt it's racially motivated. Have you even had face to face interviews? What's your location in the country? Do you live near any of the big development houses? What's your resume and background like? Have you done any solo non-profit design work? The only way you'll get a job is if you know someone, or make yourself known to them, otherwise i'd look at another avenue of employment.

Unfortunately I think that your attitude that the reason you're not hired is racial doesn't make you a very good fit for that industry anyways.

If you just look in some of the industry magazines like ; "Anamation Magazine", "gamedeveloper", "Game Career Guide (by gamedeveloper)", "MCV" and more main stream magazines like; "Edge", "gameinformer" and "Electronic Gamer". You will find article after article of companies doing yet another round of lay-offs. My company has let go 3 senior staff in the last 3 month and we are only taking interns until we goto publisher. As far as the demographics, we are fairly diverse, with people from south Americia and a couple from Europe. I will admit we have no one of color (to the best of my knowledge) but I know for a fact that race is not seen as an issue with us. We thrive on the diversity of different backgrounds and cultures as do many other companies. I will not try to defend other companies and their practices since I've only worked with this one company in the industry but at the June E3 there was a very diverse demographic of people there. The majority was white, but I would wager 15% was not.

Edit to add: U2U me if you are interested in an internship, I can pass it up to the right person. Name, email and programs you are trained in.

[edit on 2-7-2010 by Cassey222]

If they wont let you into the industry, then make your own way in.

Get the financial backing by showing your talent to investors, and start your own company.

Hmmmmm. I play WoW. The only racism there that I can see is that Trolls are considered bad, while gnomes are considered good. You can make your human charachter black, white, or inbetween. The undead, however, don't get that luxury. If they have skin, it can be shaded any where from grayish, bluish, or greenish.

Resident Evil 5 also included an African sidekick, Sheva Alomar. I wouldn't consider it Chris versus Africa.

reply to post by LiveForever8


The game Ethnic Cleansing was made by a private company for private release so basically while I dotn agree with it there allowed to make it becuase its not for sale in the general market but only through small timers who made it.

Originally posted by Lolliek
Hmmmmm. I play WoW. The only racism there that I can see is that Trolls are considered bad, while gnomes are considered good.

You can make your human charachter black, white, or inbetween. The undead, however, don't get that luxury. If they have skin, it can be shaded any where from grayish, bluish, or greenish.

Gnomes are not good. They are evil, terrible little creatures. I should know; I play two!

Originally posted by dragnet53
I mean what I have seen it is purely noticeable that companies hire mostly white people in the industry. Once in awhile they will hire that minority just to appease the Affirmative Action law. I myself am minority and trying to get into the industry. I know I have strong work and was even told by people at Disney, but I have yet got into the field as of yet. I even tried entry level positions.

If you look at some companies team photos you will see nothing, but white and occasionally once in awhile you get a token in that picture. I kind of laugh at companies that state they are an EEO company and yet all one color. I know there are really talented minorities out there and wonder why they haven't been hired? it is really odd in my book and I have written this on many of forums and got no reply from anybody in the gaming industry on this.

Just look at the games that come out like Resident Evil 5 or DragonAge Origins. In DragonAge Origins all the humans are white. I mean they do give you a way to colorize your character other than white. But none of the main characters were different color. In Resident Evil 5 you have Chris Redfield going against all black zombies in Africa. In all of the Resident Evil games I don't remember the virus being created in Africa. I think they wanted some controversy since it worked with Rockstar games.

A few games also had some main characters that were non-white like GTA series, but they were just using a stereo typical black person living in the ghetto style persona.


So if anybody works with the gaming industry is it true there is some sort of Racism in the field? I probably won't get a response though. I will personally keep on trying and figure out what gaming companies want in an artist.



[edit on 2-7-2010 by dragnet53]

[edit on 2-7-2010 by dragnet53]

Dont blame whites for your and your races failures. You cry racism when you dont succeed in life. Its blame whitey.

just the same old scape goat bullcrap.

Slavery was 200 years ago for christs sake? when the hell are blacks gonna let it go? when are you gonna let go of a grudge? when are you gonna stop blaming me for what my fore fathers did? i never owned a slave in my life but the vast majroity of black people want....no EXPECT me to feel guilty.

And you wonder why the african-american community is such a freakin mess. maybe because its all 'whiteys' fault. its not YOUR fault. Its whitey. the WHITE MAN.

With all do respect this makes me pissed.

You blame white people for your own failures and call the race card. maybe it never crossed your mind that maybe you SUCK......and you need to get a new career?

Maybe if you and other minoritys got over your VICTIM mentality. Things would get better for you.

But i doubt that....blame whitey.

Maybe the majority of people in the gaming industry are white because blacks and other minoritys are not as good as white people at those things?

Screw affirmative action. why should i hire a black person over a white person if the white person is better and has a better attitude?

Who do i choose.

white Matt-who is better at everything and has a better attitude.

OR

Black tyrone-who while good is not up to matts level. oh and he walks around sagging his pants and has gold teeth and carrys around ebonic type language.

Who should i choose.......

YOU MAKE ME SICK



[edit on 2-7-2010 by proudcaptalist]

Originally posted by dragnet53



Just look at the games that come out like Resident Evil 5 or DragonAge Origins. In DragonAge Origins all the humans are white. I mean they do give you a way to colorize your character other than white. But none of the main characters were different color. In Resident Evil 5 you have Chris Redfield going against all black zombies in Africa. In all of the Resident Evil games I don't remember the virus being created in Africa. I think they wanted some controversy since it worked with Rockstar games.





[edit on 2-7-2010 by dragnet53]

[edit on 2-7-2010 by dragnet53]

It wasn't created there. At the end of Resident Evil 4, the organism that makes the people mindless is taken from the main character. It continues in africa where it was spread I believe. Probably because Albert Whesker could no longer operate in western countries.

Why is it only in an issue when the zombie characters are black?

Do you know how many zombified spaniards I slaughtered over the course of Resident Evil 4 and no one called racism?

Not this issue again, why do some people alway seem to scream Racism in everything?.

www.youtube.com...
Enjoy
www.youtube.com...


Now please can we talk about the real issues?



[edit on 2-7-2010 by Agent_USA_Supporter]

[edit on 2-7-2010 by Agent_USA_Supporter]

reply to post by proudcaptalist


you sir, are proof that racism still exists....

i get sick of the victim mentality as well, but your post was disgusting...

Most of the time I avoid logging in, I just read every-ones insightful comments and stories about events or rumors. However right now is very different, as I am logging in to state my believes on this subject.

Subjects like these come up all the time in my world, as I am a gamer and have been for as long as I can remember. Interestingly enough I've written on subjects like this so perhaps I will post the link to that at the end of this.

Let us start off with Resident Evil 5, which is in fact set in Africa. However I would like to point out that this is the brain child of a Japanese man, and probably his team within Capcom. Here are two pages that someone concerned about all of this may check out.

www.usatoday.com...

latimesblogs.latimes.com...

In the second link, two "black" actors were asked about this subject. Here's a quote for all of you. Oh by the way, the secondary character in the game is a African female.

"Resident Evil 4 was located in Spain, so there were Spanish zombies," Storm said. "Now we're in Africa. And guess what? The zombies are African."

Next on my list is the mentioning of a game called Ethnic Cleansing. Have you ever seen this game in a store? Case closed, because anyone can make a game and put what they wish in it.

I believe that these days racism is basically a card people can throw out to blame another party for whats wrong in their life. In fact most of the racism I've personally experienced revolved around ME being WHITE. That's a subject for another day.

Dragnet53, next time you plan on setting up a case on racism in gaming, think it over first. Does anyone remember a case where 50 Cent killing in the middle east being called racist? Nope.

Grand Theft Auto is set in the city with a variety of characters from all walks of life, and all parts of the story are a brainchild of the original creators. Just because "ghetto" characters are present doesn't make the player or the creators racist, it hurts your case that you never mention the other stereotypes in games other then your own skin color.

Video games are meant to entertain, people like you are the reason we have video games that are toned down. If a game is set in a KFC, I would expect to see KFC workers. IF a game is set in Walmart, I would pray that Walmart workers are there.

See what I'm getting at? Good luck getting a job with views like that though. Oh and don't get me started on BET and other "black" entertainment groups and magazines.

www.helium.com...

Yeah, I hear Japan only hires whites for its software positions as well.

The gaming industry has to be one of the most liberal I would say of any industry, they need new ideas for games, otherwise they fail. To be progressive on games and regressive on social issues... doesn't make a lot of sense. If you look at statistics I'm sure you'd find whites graduating with computer science majors at a higher percentage than the general population.

Getting into the gaming industry is tough for anyone. It's highly competitive so they'll scope up anyone they find to be an asset.

[edit on 2-7-2010 by ghaleon12]

Originally posted by ghaleon12
The gaming industry has to be one of the most liberal I would say of any industry, they need new ideas for games, otherwise they fail.

Hah.

Hardly. Console shooters have all been the same for several years now. JRPGs have all been near clones for decades.

It's gotten to a point that as long as the game isn't terrible a company will at least break even. If then, it's a recognizable franchise it will do better and if it looks pretty people will mess their pants for it.

Good, original games are much harder to find and rarely make money for their creators themselves, they tend to be small projects that break their creators into larger companies. Portal is an excellent example. It started as a school project (Narbacular Drop) got found and the creators got picked up by Valve to team up and eventually create the massive hit Portal.

[edit on 7/2/2010 by eNumbra]