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Ellie Gibson
Morgan Gray, senior producer at Crystal Dynamics, has said he's fed up with all the stereotypical black characters appearing in games - singling out Gears of Wars' Cole Train as a prime example.
His comments came in an interview with MTV Multiplayer, currently running a series of features about black professionals working in the games industry.
"I am sick of playing the average white dude character. I’m just done with it. And I’m sick of playing a black stereotype," Gray stated.
"There's no reason that Marcus Fenix in Gears of War couldn't have been a black guy... Cole Train on his own, no harm no foul. But what is Cole Train? Cole Train is basically like every other effin’ black character in a video game. Like here comes the urban stereotype.
"Where is this 1990s - not even 2000 - black slang, where does this fit in this futuristic world that doesn’t even take place on Earth? They go really far to do a lot of fictional justifications for this culture that they’ve built, and they go right back to this urban stereotype for the black character."
Gray was keen to point out he was not attacking Epic Games, saying he thinks Gears of War is "fun and gorgeous". However, he added, "It’s just a lack of thought, right? All it does is reinforce dumb stereotypes and it sort of reinforces casual racism. It’s almost like, 'Cue the drum beat, here comes the black character.'"
He also had a few things to say about the work of Japanese developers: "Their take on black folks in games has generally been poor. It’s either been here’s this ’70s pimp, here’s ultra hip-hop dude, or here’s a straight-up thug.
"F***ing Barret in Final Fantasy VII - they put a gun on the guy’s arm. It’s just like, 'Yeah, black guy with built-in gun.' Okay, that’s really, really weird. So it’s generally been s*** characterisations that are way racist or way just hokey racist."
For more from Gray, including what he thinks about Grand Theft Auto San Andreas and the Resident Evil 5 trailer, read the full interview.
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quantumsheep
10/04/08 @ 11:59
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I actually couldn't agree more. Too many stereotypes in games *in general* though.
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the_dudefather
10/04/08 @ 12:00
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attempting to think of any non-stereotyped black character in a video game.
but can't edit: oh! Eli from HL2!
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 10/04/08 @ 13:07
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thefilthandthefury
10/04/08 @ 12:04
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Anyone who playes on Xbox Live and hears the Americans knows that this is a reality, not just a stereotype. Anyone offended by it is a complete moron.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 10/04/08 @ 13:04
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(assumes this isn't a joke...)
What the hell is he talking about? A black guy with a gun for an arm is a stereotype? Planet Terror has a girl with a gun instead of a leg, should we be worried about women complaining about that being a stereotype? No, because generally most people are far more normal than that, and the nutters who complain should be ignored rather than pandered. Clearly he didn't see all of the stereotypical white meatheads in GoW. Or howabout the white nerd, Gordon Freeman. |
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I must admit it does always seem to be the typical white American hero in most games but personally I never see it as an issue as race never enters my mind playing games, until some twat screams about racism, like the RE5 trailer (and I'm mixed race).
As for Cole Train being stereotypical? I never gave a second thought about his colour or the way he acted, just another tough marine type bloke stereotype, plus the whole bloody game is a stereotype you twat! I'm interested though any black guys here who see it as an issue in gaming?
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 10/04/08 @ 13:10
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Right, so I clicked the link to read about how bad stereotypes are, and down the left hand side is a huge advert with some Girl in it advertising 'Hooters Girls'... some sort of job involving:
The Hooters Girl uniform consists of: White Hooters tank top, orange shorts, suntan hose, white socks, solid white shoes, brown Hooters pouch, name-tag and of course...a smile! The Hooters Girl uniform can not be changed or altered in any way. As well, the Hooters Girl uniform can not be sold to the public for any reason. Frankly, about as stereotypical a view of the airbrushed female as is possible. Presumably that is ok? Talk about double standards. |
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asphaltcowboy
10/04/08 @ 12:16
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Seems odd to have a guy working on Tomb Raider talking about stereotypes :/
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Madafunkola
10/04/08 @ 12:21
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But "Fiddy" Cent: Bulletproof (was that the game's name?) is OK because he is a REAL urban meathead in REAL life?
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you guyz might not like to admit it, but hes right.. when it comes to games the racial thing still shows ..when last was an asian or black or whatever the hero of a game?.. its always a white dude.. then a black charcter gets tagged along like Cole Train.. im Black, but i dont really care bout this tho as long as i can show that im black in a game like GTAIV online where you get to create your own character onlline so all this dont bother me
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PlugMonkey
10/04/08 @ 12:24
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Gears of War was one giant macho stereotype. I think singling out the black macho stereotype is a bit of a stretch.
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GamesConnoisseur
10/04/08 @ 12:26
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The heroes in games are 99 percent white/male/organic life form!
Sure there are odd exception and looking forward to playing Eastern European in GTAIV, the good way of handing responsibility for choice of hero is to put the power of custom avatar into the hand of player. Though that would not work for FMV unless in game engine cut scenes. Like quantumsheep said its not certain type that is being targeted, the games in general are full of sterotypes, everyone shares responsibility at what we reinforce in games. |
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asphaltcowboy
10/04/08 @ 12:27
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Mirror's Edge is going to have an asian lady as the protagonist - I guess they double-win!
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This guy is actually singling the black characters out even more. 99% of characters in video games are stereotypes no matter what colour their skin. And usually, the stereotype is almost deliberate to conform with a 'macho appeal', certainly in Gears of War.
They all take Michael Bay type movies as their inspiration. Look at the opening sequence to Transformers with the army guys in the helicopter. The whole scene is rife with racial stereotype. But it's a macho-Bay movie. It's low-brow entertainment - as are the games that he seems to be offended by. Instead of complaining about shallow entertainment getting it 'wrong' in his eyes, he should be looking at the more thought-provoking games that get it 'right'. Eli Vance, anyone? He's hardly a stereotype. And then, neither is Gordon Freeman. He's a ginger speccy scientist super hero, ffs. |
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thedaveeyres
10/04/08 @ 12:34
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I saw the headline and assumed this would be an article on the portrayal of big gay bears in fps's. Virtually every FPS character is a big gay bear (apart from Gordon 'God bless his rapist glasses and beard' Freeman).
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hammerstein07
10/04/08 @ 12:34
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I too don't even think about race in games. Stereotypes are all around on TV, movies etc. It's not just games.
I've read some of the comments on the full article (EGs extract makes it look a little more sensationalist than it is), and it's starting a full on discussion, which is actually a good thing. The only problem with pointing out the lack of black characters and trying to bring about initiatives to recruit more is going to cause more arguments, as witnessed in the comments on there. I'm for equality, we need some education first and to stop promoting the stereotypes in other forms of media, not just game. |
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Stormflood
10/04/08 @ 12:36
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Do we really need deep characters in a game where the object is to blow the fuck out of aliens?
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MightyMouse
10/04/08 @ 12:41
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He's got a good point, just because games have rubbish storylines doesn't mean that they should keep rubbish offensive stereotypes. It's true that games tend to be sexist, but there's a bit more awareness with the issue of sexism in games (perhaps because it's even more blatant).
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GitSomE UK
10/04/08 @ 12:41
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Well he has to be a tit if he takes Gears of war seriously.
Idiot. I quite liked the Cole Train character in Gears, he made me laugh. As for stereotypes he should have complained to MTV about MTV and it's rap stars before targeting games. |
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The guy is using a crap example, as others have pointed out, every character in gears is a stereotype and Cole Train was no different, it's not like he came rollin out in a pimped out ride bouncin up and down on hydraulics while eating KFC so I don't see the problem. I do think it would be nice to have a bit more variety in character though tbh. It does get a bit dull always having to be the guy from Uncharted in every single action game ever made...
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4thVariety
10/04/08 @ 12:51
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Hmmm sterotypes in videogames?
You must be talking about Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Women, Japanese Women in particular, and all Fantasy Races ever created. Other than that, no there is noooooooo stereotyping whatsoever. Wait... ...oh.. ...ok... ...I feel somewhat depressed of Whites being always portrayed as hunky, street-wise, world-saving members of a master race. *checks mirror*, *curses fate*, *asks himself what all this stereotyping says about the creators of these games* |
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Immediately after he goes on the massive rant about Cole Train, he says this: 'In “Halo 3” there’s the black Sarge. He’s fine, he’s the military archetype, but that’s great. That’s what the game is about. Here’s a bunch of military stereotypes in the future.'
Which shows how ineptly crafted his argument is. Marcus and the rest are quite clearly military stereotypes too, the only difference being that the guys at Epic obviously watched more Predator than Aliens when they were young. He applies the same double standards to GTA. GTA3 is fine, apparently, because people don't play it and think all Italian Americans are gangsters but those same people can't make that distinction with black people and gangsta culture. Another main point - and I just skimmed to the most interesting parts - was that "Valve could have made Gordon Freeman black." His point being - why not? It makes no difference to the fiction. That seems to be making an issue out of, well, nothing. If it makes no difference - what's the point? Finally - and most importantly, I think - he works mainly on Tomb Raider. Fucking Tomb Raider. And in an interview about stereotyping Lara's name doesn't even come up. EDIT: However, I do agree with him about Cole Train being not only a stereotype but - in terms of the setting - an anachronistic one. He was still immensely more entertaining than all the other characters, though.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 10/04/08 @ 15:26
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GitSomE UK
10/04/08 @ 12:52
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What would a non-stereotypical black person look like?
Umm Trevor McDonald from ITN news? |
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