Post by leunas on Feb 12, 2007 16:31:14 GMT -5
There's been a bit of talk over the weekend surrounding race in video games. In particular, the race of playable characters, and how that can make an impact on how much you identify, and thus get into, a game.
Chris Kohler took a stab at the topic, and came up with a reference to Scott McCloud's seminal work on comics, Understanding Comics:
You want to design your main character to be as abstract as possible, if you want the reader to identify with him/her/it. If you add a whole lot of specific detail to your main character, you are just adding differences between him and the reader.
Sounds...alright, but in the context of most video games, I don't buy it. Some of gaming's most memorable and popular characters are anything but abstract, ranging from the clearly defined (Lara Croft: white, British, rich, female) right through to walking cultural stereotypes (Mario, anyone from a GTA title). A lot of the appeal of Gordon Freeman as a character is that he never speaks and you never see his face, potentially adding to his "accessibility". Yet Gordon is a bespectacled, white, 30-something scientist.
Still...an interesting point/discussion. Me, I don't care who I'm playing as, but if your passions have been piqued, relevant links below. Luke Plunkett
The First 11 Black Videogame Stars [Microscopiq]
Wait, wait... Jade (BG&E) was black?? [NeoGAF]
"Jade Is Black?!": Racial Ambiguity in Games [Game|Life]
Article:
www.kotaku.com/gaming/race/race-in-games-give-a-$h1t-235639.php