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Game Characters Are Too Male and Too White, Study Finds
LiveScience reports that researchers at the University of Southern California have discovered that females and several minority populations were greatly underrepresented in some of the best-selling video games from recent years. The study, which functioned as a virtual census, looked across nine platforms and the 150 best-selling games between 2005 and 2006. Dmitri Williams, who headed the study, told LiveScience that the team wanted to improve on previous studies by looking at the numbers in terms of games sold, instead of games made. While the results might not be shocking, they certainly don't mirror the country's population. Females made up 15-percent of characters, while Latinos were at 2-percent. The latter statistic was particularly surprising to Williams, as 12.5-percent of gamers are apparently Latino.
While the study didn't look at the reason behind the numbers, Williams says he suspects developers, who are mostly white males, tend to create characters that are similar to them. For some reason, gamers might prefer these fanciful characters to those that represent the real world. After all, a video game is an escape of sorts. But, it might not be a bad idea for a developer to tap into this under-served market. [From: LiveScience]
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Comments
15
Subscribe to commentsz0phi3lAug 5th 2009 7:35AM
As a Male Puerto Rican all I can say is: AND?
honestly I could care less if the main character in a game is male or female or if it's white or black, I play games to have fun, not to deal with garbage political correctness
DerinAug 5th 2009 7:58AM
It is not about political correctness but healthy diversity. Promoting a dominant culture can only lead to further alienation/separation of minorities.
"The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it. The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas; hence of the relationships which make the one class the ruling one, therefore, the ideas of its dominance."
SanskritAug 5th 2009 9:41AM
@Derin:
A friend of mine who is a game designer might get a huge kick out of this. She's African-American and would probably agree with z0phi3l: that how the games play are more important than having the happy global village onscreen.
Besides, Mario and countless characters coming out of Japan-made games are white...and those are designed by Japanese game makers, who, last time I checked, weren't white, contrary to the study above.
To me (and for the record, I'm Hispanic), this is much ado about nothing. Role models are more important in real life, not the virtual world.
GeorgiaAug 5th 2009 8:28AM
Why are there no complaints about all the college and pro basketball and football players being too BLACK. Do I detect a double standard?????????????
jesse.greathouseAug 5th 2009 9:09AM
Too white? Racists much?
ErnestAug 5th 2009 9:59AM
I am an industrial designer and African American, actually I am from the US Virgin Islands. I was so gifted I got a full paid scholarship to go to one of the top Art University in the US.
Te reality is there is not enough diversity in theses specialized field. Most of the colleges that you can get these degrees from are very expensive and privately run. Kids in the inner city never heard of the term Industrial Designer. These colleges accept a few minorities so that they don't be viewed as racist or none inclusive but the reality is they are accepting kids that have parents that can afford the high tuition cost. Another reality is most minority families don’t have the resource to pay for the high cost to attend these colleges. If you find a minority in these positions usually he is very creative and so advance in developing good ideas that it makes good business sense to hire that person. I have been designing and crating products for over twenty years and I can tell you every where I have worked I have been the only African American, sad buts its reality. I am hoping to open a design school in the future for disadvantage kids. This sucks that we are still having these problems in the 20th century but that’s the reality. Only way to combat the disparity is to be proactive.
TEXANAug 5th 2009 10:43AM
maybe there are not many Afro-Americans that have the talent or the interest in techno design work. it is not an ethnic talent, but the interest level in detail work may not correllate with ethnic development activities. There are maybe many logical explanations, but spare us all from it being some white person keeping the minorities (?) down and disadvantaged. There are more scholarships and free tuition available to minorities in American that EVER for white students. Look around in all facits of business, and you will find lower percentages of success in certain minority groups...some is a function of statistical demographics, and some is a function of disproportional drop out rates in high school. If kids want to advance in America today, it is up to them to take advantages of opportunities, and to go search them out too....not for anyone to feel sorry for them or to lament the consequences of failing to achieve.
ErnestAug 5th 2009 11:10AM
Texan, who said anything about blaming white people you sound racist to me. I said a lot of the disparity is base on resource and the lacks of knowledge don’t twist my comments. Some things you talk about are true but the reality is the lack of resource, knowledge quality schools and role models other than entertainers.
Tracie SmithAug 5th 2009 10:09AM
You know what they say? Art imitates life.
jshughes5Aug 5th 2009 10:40AM
For the love of god DON'T bring this P.C. crap into gaming. This is exactly the kind of stupidity that I try to escape from when I play games : )
blablablaAug 5th 2009 11:10AM
The Government will sign a Bill into law ...requiring white kids to play games featuring blaks....and blak kids to play games featuring asians....and indian kids to play games featuring Australian aborigines...so on ...Please God...let Al Qaida take out Washington.
TigreAug 5th 2009 12:47PM
Honsetly I could care less about race when it comes to gaming and this is coming from an African-American. The only thing I wish gaming companies would do is offer an option when it comes to gender. In racing games it gets a little old playing as a guy all the time.
WallyAug 6th 2009 3:09PM
People who design games and imagine plots, characters, etc do so using their own perspectives, and to cater to the demographic that buys their products ex. white males designing games etc. for a market that is dominated by white males. My only surprise is that they aren't more female playable characters, baring "girly" games. I rather enjoy as a man playing a female character that can kick ass.
Jon RosenAug 5th 2009 3:47PM
Of course, there's also the thing that people just need to get over the various pc bull****. The more we focus on race-this, race-that, etc.. the less chance it's ever going to go away.
Yes, there are more white and male 'stars' in videogames. As someone mentioned, look at all the Japanese-made games. They have more white 'roles' than most American-made games. That this study was done and anyone should feel the need to do anything about it is a bad joke in bad taste.
DerinAug 6th 2009 4:32AM
Same was said about sexism back in the day where game interfaces included an option to click and unclad a damsel (this was a battle game by the way). As I stated above, It's not about being politically correct or not offending anyone but that it promotes social segregation. And about the japanese making white males comment, I never said it was because of the makers themselves but the ruling idea, the trend if you will, that makes it even more interesting as we see the segregated party promoting the majority.
Apart from HL2 and a few other games, I've yet to see believable female characters. When it comes to race, even the remedy is tragicomical, in an attempt of (perhaps) positive discrimination, there are new faux roles created (such as the African American wise men (a la morgan freeman).