Black main characters?

NINTENDOSEGA
Maybe I just didn' t notice when I played the games but have you guys ever played a really good game that has a black main character? And how often do you see black main characters? It' s not that often is it?
I' d like to play a good game where you are a black dude but I can' t think of any right now. Shadowman had a black main character but there was voodoo in it so...
Anyway, any thoughts about this?
MICROSOFTSONY

Errrrrm can' t say I have either.

To be honest, the only full proof guy is CJ from San Andreas... Otherwise
the only respectabe black guy that has really stuck through the ages... (even
though he' s not a main character) is Zack from DOA...

There are two rules to success:

1. Never tell all you know.

True...the only othe thing I can think of is mortal kombat....I kinda liked the guy from sc3 but doubt he would be seen again if 4 came around.

most videogames characters are so unrealistic that they don' t seem to be white or black

I remember alex from HL2 - I didn' t play as her ofcourse but I saw her the most - same goes for other scientists in HL2.

There are a lot of black guys in Vgames - but they' re often unplayable I guess :)

Barret frm final fantasy 7 HE was quite an important chararcter in that game, but not really the main one. hmmmmmmmm im sure theres one but i just think of it

Rest in PEACE Cetra and GANGSTA you guys will be missed..........

There' s only another 3 I can think of, and both were outside of games before having games made:

Blade
Daily Thomson' s Decathalon
WuTang fighting games.

I also suppose most boxing games will have good black characters. Really can' t think of any designed to a black main character for a game outside of GTA:SA

Well it' s a bit similar to the superhero scenario.

And I agree with gangsta in that a lot of main characters sometimes resemble races you wouldn see in real life or just people.

What is a black guy?
White guy with a tan?

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

I' m a white guy with tan????lol quez yr so crazy.

ORIGINAL: QuezcatoL

What is a black guy?
White guy with a tan?

Yep.

now you got me...i can´t remember any black main character

by the way...Tom in shenmue one was supposed to be black but he was more yellowish than black

....how could you guys forget Shadow?....

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lol

we all know white people got a dark tan in africa,but it got away then when they left africa.

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

*Laughs at shadow*

NINTENDOSEGAMICROSOFTSONY
Ok, so basically we' ve got Shadowman (weird voodoo guy) Tom from Shenmue (comical side-kick), Blade (bad license game), Wu Tang (bad violent games), CJ from GTA (even worse and even more violence), some fighting game characters and Barret. That' s the whole list.
It seems to me that the only reason they have black characters in fighting games such as Tekken or Soul Calibur is because they thought " oh yeah, we need a black dude too" .
There' s not a single black main character worth mentioning in gaming history!!!!
Wtf is up with that?!?!?
NINTENDOSEGAMICROSOFTSONY

I think it' s probably because you don' t have a lot of black guys in the gaming industry and a lot of game characters are made to suit what they are comfortable with and know....maybe

It seems to me that the only reason they have black characters in fighting games such as Tekken or Soul Calibur is because they thought " oh yeah, we need a black dude too" .

funny but true...

i guess one of reasons for that is that most games are made in japan and black guys weren´t that popular among japanese people until very recently.

NINTENDOSEGAMICROSOFTSONY
That' s it! We need more black guys in the videogame industry.
Some other people would be nice too like latino people and... whatever ethnic groups there are out there.
It' s kind of boring when all black videogame characters are either funny side-kicks or violent gangsta type criminals.
NINTENDOSEGAMICROSOFTSONY

There' s lots of latino characters in gta....admittedly mainly working girls but....anyway I think a lot of black boys are more interested in being like a rapper ala 50 pence, a footballer or ....something else i forgot....I think it would be cool to work in the gaming industry (I would love to) but it' s not something they tell you about at school it' s ,mostly your own research.

btw it' s funny the thing about black guys popularity amongst japanese people. It reminded me of this thing this guy was saying when he went there it was so funny cos the people he met they were all fascinated almost as if he was an alien.

does oblivion count?

Good point about the elderscrolls series. I was impressed that they decided to make one of the races black.

Other than Shadowman and the guy from True Crime 2, I can' t think of any black charaters from games that weren' t weird comical representations.

I think it' s because of the lion' s share of the development community is japanese, so when they want a character who isn' t japanese distinctly, they default to the " standard guy"

And thanks to decades of Hollywood descrimination, the " standard guy" is white.

Not anybody' s fault...just history and tradition mucking everything up again.

....Shadoman was a comic-book license.... ....i don' t think he really counts like blade (comic - movie license)...

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Do Create a Characters count?

Master Chief can be.

The guy from Mercenaries.

Toe-Jam and Earl?

Dont worry native americans and mexicans dont have it any better. Tho native americans got Turok and the upcoming Prey...what do mexicans got?

Well, we need more ethnicity in the videogame industry. It would be boring if things keep going as they are.
I' d like to see a latino looking character as main character in a huge RPG.
Or a game like MGS or Splinter Cell where you are a black guy.
And I' d also like to see them outside their steretypical roles.
I guess my problem right now is that I' ve become bored with lots of the characters in videogames, new and old franchises, simply because there' s only stereotypes and no variety in ethnicity.

I don' t think many white people with a tan are playing an RPG...

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

ORIGINAL: QuezcatoL

I don' t think many white people with a tan are playing an RPG...

You' d be surprised. Hell, that' s all me and a couple of my buddies did for a couple of years when we were younger.

Oh, and don' t forget about Riddick! Or how about JC Denton from Deus Ex!

But, yeah, minorities are under-represented as main characters in general. I think that will change as western developers become more prominent. The Japanese don' t really have much love for people of color. Hell, you can still go to shops in Japan and see racist caricatures of black people!

And, yeah, Zack (from DOA) is a bafoon, but he did save the day in DOA4!

Yes,but Japan is a racist country.
I even seen signs on some doors that has a warning sign that some races/people from some countries arn' t allowed to enter O_o

Mostly its koreans/chinese blacks but even western people.

Now those signs are legal to have in Japan.
Very bizzare but then again,if they doesnt want you to shop at their store,why would you want to shop there anyway?

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

ORIGINAL: QuezcatoL

Yes,but Japan is a racist country.
I even seen signs on some doors that has a warning sign that some races/people from some countries arn' t allowed to enter O_o

Really?....and there was me thinking japan was a friendly open country.

Lol,you better be kidding.
Was even a folkstorm for having Rinoa Asian,while Squall White.

Not a joke.
These japanese people are strange sometimes.

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

Well everything I know about japan comes from media and friends other than that I haven' t a clue but it surprises me though especially since theyre always smiling.....

Smiling doesnt mean that they think something is funny :P

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

I know I was just kidding ya.

Did you know yellow people was white people who painted themself yellow,then when they had kids their kids was yellow,and they was like OMFG wtf is this?!

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

Forgive me quez but I didnt get if that was a joke or a japanese remark you heard or something.

yes...japanese have race discrimination but younger people are becoming more open minded...and many middle aged japanese like western and foreign cultures

NINTENDOSEGAMICROSOFTSONY
With baseball being the biggest sport in Japan (heard it in the news a couple of years ago so it might not be the real deal anymore) it seems to me that they like western culture.
But anyway, mot asian countries, if not all, really dislike every race except white people. Lots of asians look up to Europe and the U.S. but they really don' t like arabs or black people. Sometimes they think it' s exotic but in the end they look down on those kind of people.
But as Hidemoto said, the young people in Japan are being more open minded than their conservative parents. Is it good or bad? I don' t know. A more open society but the japanese will lose the parts that make them unique.
But enough about Japan. I think western developers are still going by stereotypes. Which is very weird since there' s probably lots of black and latino (and other larger ethnic groups) gamers.
Is it that they' re afraid that people won' t buy a game just because the main character isn' t white/asian?
NINTENDOSEGAMICROSOFTSONY

Jet Set Radio Future has quite a few of the playable characters as black... not to mention everyone' s mentor Professor K. Beyond Good and Evil doesn' t have any playable black characters but does have positive characters, like the mayor of Hillys as a black woman.

And let' s not forget Edgar from " Quartet" (1986 coin-op). although in the SMS translation he was black in the title screen but white during play.

i don´t think it´s a matter of fear that people won´t buy because in Prince of Persia you play as a Arab prince and it was a hit.

I think it´s more a matter of association....when you think of paranormal things you imagine a white guy...i don´t remember seen a black guy on a paranormal documentary. So it´s natural that when a game about ghosts or such it stars a white or yellow guy/ girl.