At some point or other we’ve all played a video game, whether it’s a GameBoy session on a long trip or a couple quarters of Madden 2002 with our boys. Although these games are designed as a mode of entertainment, they still can evoke some serious concerns. A few years ago, some believed that violence in video games was responsible for the rise of violence amongst the youth and now others argue that some of the gaming industry’s portrayals of minorities promote racial stereotypes. Afro Thunder from Midway’s Ready 2 Rumble and Stretch from EA’s popular NBA Street are perfect examples, both fit a typical Black male stereotype: an exaggerated afro, heavy use of Ebonics, and great rap skills.Khameleon Entertainment CEO Frederick Jones (one of the few Black CEOs in the game industry) says that African Americans are being represented poorly. “We all know there are ignorant brothers out there, but the fact is that [game companies] are not making an effort to show African Americans who are more diverse.”

Glenn Chinn, EA’s lifestyle marketing director, admits that there is a tough balance between representing and stereotyping. “I think by us being in the industry, it’s important for us to know what’s going on in the youth culture, and we always try to keep true to the culture of the sport,” he says.

According to Chinn, EA has long supported events such as b-ball tournaments at Rucker Park to keep them in touch with urban culture. The company also hired graf artist Man One to create the mural used in their NBA Street ad campaign. Chinn says that many people, including those in the hip-hop industry, have given positive feedback to the game and the campaign.

As more powerful game systems flood the market, designers are now able to better represent different cultures through high-resolution graphics and sound. In fact, companies such as Electronic Arts and Sega are already beginning to incorporate more diverse Black characters into their major titles. That’s not to say, however, that there never where people of color portrayed within video games but rather that they were never equally represented.

Since Konami’s early ’80s title Track and Field, African Americans have often been distinguished by an oversized afro and pitch-black colors, as opposed to showing the various hairstyles and hues that people of color posses. In game developer’s defense, one reason for such extreme misrepresentations is probably due to the graphic limitations of earlier systems. But even with the power of recent consoles like PlayStation 2 and X-Box, color and representation are still an issue. A recent instance of stereotyping Barret, a character from Square’s Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation. The only African American person in the game, Barret was the only character to curse and use Ebonics. It was considered such a bad representation that a major video game publication responded by lowering the game’s review rating.

Perhaps ignorance of urban culture can be blamed for public relations nightmares like Final Fantasy VII. Yet, for every game linked to individuals that are directly involved in hip-hop (i.e. Activision’s Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style), there are a handful of other titles that cover the culture but have little or no minority involvement. One major reason for stereotyping could be the location of game developers, as many products are created overseas where there may be little knowledge of Black or urban culture.

Sega claims that it was already familiar with urban culture before making its hip-hop inspired game Jet Grind Radio. “We’ve been big fans of the hip-hop scene ever since Wild Style was released,” says Rich Briggs, product manager for Sega of America. “So we already had a basis for the look and feel of the game. It was also important to have Haze [a well-known graffiti artist] on board to contribute the in-game graffiti art since his work has been legendary in the scene.”

Many agree that Jet Grind Radio captured a worldwide hip-hop feel, but oddly enough, the game itself hardly any Black characters — odd for a game based on a Black-created culture. Jones professes: “Everyone knows that tons of Black and Hispanic kids play video games but if they realized how many times their culture is imitated in sports and music — it’s incredible that few games have characters of minority descent.” As with the issue of violence in games, hopefully, open discussion will eventually help alleviate the problem.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2001 at 1:17 am and is filed under Journalism, The Source, Video Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.