Kotaku post calls for more black people in video games. Readers' heads explode.

[VerbalIntercourse]

Key market united states.

Demographics. White 223,553,265 72.4 %
Black 38,929,319 12.6 %
Asian 14,674,252 4.8 %

How many people play video games? maybe 15% of population. Let's just assume that.

whites 33 million.
blacks 5.7 million.
Asians 2.1 million.

How many actually buy more than one game a year?
How many actually buy more than one game a month?

The number just gets smaller and smaller.

Game companies spend major money R&D and game development. They have to make that back in sheer volume alone, so it only makes sense to target the majority.

This is capitalism. If there was big money in catering video games to black americans, then it would already have been done.

 

[marcuz]

Key market united states.

Demographics. White 223,553,265 72.4 %
Black 38,929,319 12.6 %
Asian 14,674,252 4.8 %

How many people play video games? maybe 15% of population. Let's just assume that.

whites 33 million.
blacks 5.7 million.
Asians 2.1 million.

How many actually buy more than one game a year?
How many actually buy more than one game a month?

The number just gets smaller and smaller.

Game companies spend major money R&D and game development. They have to make that back in sheer volume alone, so it only makes sense to target the majority.

This is capitalism. If there was big money in catering video games to black americans, then it would already have been done.

you're basically inferring that whites wont play games with black protagonist, which isn't true.

like i said before, the walking dead game is about a black man. gets game of the year and critically acclaimed ratings. one of TTG highest grossing games.

GTA San andreas, one of the highest grossing games of ALL time.

only game i can think of that would be considered a flop is prototype 2, even though it still made the studio money

 

[Mikael Blowpiff]

If only Kotaku readers realized that there were xenophobic, sexist, smart-dumb gamers of color. The brotherhood would be

 

[Primetime]

Man, shut the fukk up.

If "Black Gamers are a very small portion of the market" why does ever fukking study done on gaming demographics show African American's buy and play more video games than every other demographic?

Same thing goes for movie. African American go to the movies more than any other group.

So the idea that we only make up a small portion of the market is and always has been bullshyt.

What kills me with these cacs is how they all
huddle around this "1 Reason Why" femnazi horse shyt but if you speak on race in the industry it's an OUTRAGE.

then why is it when good games are made with black protagonist, they do well? hell, TWD just won game of year and it was based off a black guys adventure.

reminds me of how people say the same shyt about black sci-fi movies. like Blade wasn't the first movie to put marvel comics on.

White gamers are cool with dragons, orcs and aliens but the idea of a black man being in their video games has them bugging out.

i know right

I personally have a longtime personal dream of just having a studio and financing a AAA game (it could be indie in this day and age), and making a old school RPG...I mean straight turn-based shyt, epic scope. Real final fantasy stuff and and making majority of the cast be black and perhaps even a black main antagonist.

I think people are afraid to make black villains in game, or making black paragons too. Its like people relegated black game avatars to those strange anti heroes or comic relief. As if black folks are incapeable of PURE good or PURE evil...i think it says something about the view the rest of the world has on us. Like we only exist in the in-between. You can't tell me some of these Chicago nikkas wouldn't be capable of some Kefka like destruction if they were given the right tools.

I cringed everytime Cole Train came onto the screen like

Lee from Walking Dead was great character but in the beginning in the police car I was like, not again

The same guys who be saying "It doesn't matter what race the characters are" tend to be the same ones who flipped the fukk out about CJ being the protagonist in San Andreas.

But yea. Basically. And its funny when these population statistics are brought up. Like, its cool to have limited to downright shytty portrayals of blacks (you kno... when they acutally are present)... because they're "only" 12% of the US population and the 66% of the population that spends much of their time watching a sports league thats 60+% black (nfl), 70-80% black (nba) and listens to music that include a sizeable number of artists that are black... would suddenly have a hard time "accepting" quality video games that involve the presence of black people in differing leadership roles... despite games like walking dead, san andreas, and this next GTA game (that you know will do numbers) proving such a dumbass idea wrong anyway.

And to green negs point, yea, you'll have all these different aliens, fantasy creatures, humanoid animal things, whatever the fukk else acting all noble being used for alpha/lead roles in the supporting cast but then they wanna look sideways when it comes to them colored folks lol.. on some "..gotta keep them 12% darkies in their place... and fukk it, even if the plot isn't set in "America" or is about saving the world... i mean hell, worse case scenario we'll just have it take place in a fantasy world where people who look like "them" don't exist..."

shyt kinda reminds me of the walking dead comic vs the tv show, where the comic stars a white guy and his son + a group of others, but arguably the 2 most important supporting characters for the first 40+ issues was a black man (tyreese) who was the co-leader of the group and a black woman (michonne)... but the tv show wanted to switch shyt up and give them shytty representation that was several steps down from how they were originally intended (and replaced Ty early on with 'T-Dogg', who we wouldn't get into)... but why? Is it really because they felt the 66% white population in the US would only feel "comfortable" watching if tyreese and michonne aren't likeable alphas who others look up to for leadership/companiship? or can we just be honest and admit the producers are just cac'ing out there while the white comic book author (and game developers) arent, despite dealing with the same 'majority demographic'?

In gears of War, all white ppl. Then one brotha with the cliche quotes. Then DOM who they ended up killing
The newest Gears of War wont star the usual white boy, but the other white boy in the group

Sorry Cole Train baby, wooooooooo

lol and Cole Train with his loud ass ignorant self may've been the most popular (outside of Marcus) if not entertaining Gears character to the masses but of course the new developers who took the series are going to have him take a backseat to ol billy from the power rangers ass Baird in their relaunch. Because i guess Cole as the lead, when he was essentially the lead/star of the B team unit in the last game, would be too much too soon in 2013. it would scare off 88% of the population.

 

[marcuz]

shyt kinda reminds me of the walking dead comic vs the tv show, where the comic stars a white guy and his son + a group of others, but arguably the 2 most important supporting characters for the first 40+ issues was a black man (tyreese) who was the co-leader of the group and a black woman (michonne)... but the tv show wanted to switch shyt up and give them shytty representation that was several steps down from how they were originally intended (and replaced Ty early on with 'T-Dogg', who we wouldn't get into)... but why? Is it really because they felt the 66% white population in the US would only feel "comfortable" watching if tyreese and michonne aren't likeable alphas who others look up to for leadership/companiship? or can we just be honest and admit the producers are just cac'ing out there while the white comic book author (and game developers) arent, despite dealing with the same 'majority demographic'?

 

[Dre Space Age]

I die a lot in games. I'd prefer the person falling into a pit of hellfire be white

That's fukked up.

 

[Dre Space Age]

The general apathy I encountered when I made the Black Gaming site was enough to make me realize that n!ggaz just ain't ready.

 

[iamstr8fire]

That's fukked up.

What up blood? What up cuz? It's all black. I love us.

 

[VerbalIntercourse]

you're basically inferring that whites wont play games with black protagonist, which isn't true.

like i said before, the walking dead game is about a black man. gets game of the year and critically acclaimed ratings. one of TTG highest grossing games.

GTA San andreas, one of the highest grossing games of ALL time.

only game i can think of that would be considered a flop is prototype 2, even though it still made the studio money

black blame all their ills on white racism, but when it comes to entertainment it's, " white people aint really that racist though!" lol hilarious.

Not all whites just the people at the margin.

all it takes is a a couple million bubas out in the south to impact the market.
these companies have slim margins with HUGE break even numbers because they spend so much on game development now.


you dont want to be the one holding responsibility when your project fails to make a profit. if you could have only just reached out to buba and his racist friends, you could have kept your job.

i mean if your game only needed 5 million more in sales to meet the target numbers and your game a had a black lead. the first thing everyone is going to ask is, "why did you take a risk with a black lead?".

if you think it is such a smart idea, then get a loan and make a video game featuring all blacks. how well it fair in the south, or eastern europe or even asia?

 

[Black Hans]

Where you get these figures from
There are WAY more white people period in america, more who own consoles/etc.
They buy Madden just as we do. And just like some of us like "sports" some of us don't like them... ask fatboi

How da fukk you gonna stereotype black ppl as only playing 4 damn games

Kids

You think the average black gamer is anticipating the next Dark Souls, nikka?

Yeah, I really see nikkas in the hood talking about the best dex builds for PvP.

 

[Black Hans]

I cringed everytime Cole Train came onto the screen like

Lee from Walking Dead was great character but in the beginning in the police car I was like, not again

Jacob Taylor ME2 daddy issues

Sazh from FFXIII, great family man but still

Couple of black characters off top that didn't fall into stereotypes, Sgt James Heller (Prototype2), Commander Anderson (ME) and Alyx and Eli from Half Life. Sad it's such a small list

Tiedmann from Dead Space 2.

 

[courtdog]

Kratos and Commander Shephard are black to me and that's all there is to it.

Kingpin too. CACs: umad:

The fact you'd even say Krotos is black is pathetic in itself.
Greek Mythology was a way of white ppl making themselves into gods

he don't look like a black dude.
I know about the voice actor being black, but the fact you have to settle for that is why I use words like pathetic

When there gonna be a game starring 4 black dudes on a mission that... and they not driving in San Andreas

 

[courtdog]

You think the average black gamer is anticipating the next Dark Souls, nikka?

Yeah, I really see nikkas in the hood talking about the best dex builds for PvP.

1.) Is the average white person anticipating Dark souls? The game ain't THAT popular. It sold barely 2million copies across ps3 and xbox combined.
Now in your ignorance, you feel that what.. more wht ppl was looking forward to it? Do you know how many black ppl bought the game to even say ish about it?

2.) nikkaz in the hood talking about the best dex builds for PvP
I didn't realize the "hood" was the only place you can find black people
But from what you was "trying" to say, you are referring to a low income area.
I don't think people in any low income area are outside saying "Yo, we rep that dark souls"
You think there are not white ppl who live in low income areas or something?

On this very site there are "black ppl" from hoods and suburban areas who like Dark Souls. None of my friends play those types of games, but they too hood for that son (thats a joke pal)

 

[marcuz]

if you think it is such a smart idea, then get a loann and make a video game featuring all blacks. how well it fair in the south, or eastern europe or even asia?

yea, ill get right on taking out out a 50 million dollar loan

 

[NvrCMyNut]

you're basically inferring that whites wont play games with black protagonist, which isn't true.

like i said before, the walking dead game is about a black man. gets game of the year and critically acclaimed ratings. one of TTG highest grossing games.

GTA San andreas, one of the highest grossing games of ALL time.

only game i can think of that would be considered a flop is prototype 2, even though it still made the studio money

San Andreas is the GOAT but if we comparing it to whats been accused of being racist here the game is the most racist of all time, you'll struggle to find a video game that doesn't enforce as many racial stereotypes as GTA SA