Ethnic Minority Characters In Amiga Games?

MartinUK · Groupie Joined: 20 Jul 2004 Posts: 148 Location: England

Is it just me, or were these pretty rare? Global Gladiators is practcially the only non-sport game around that acknowledged the existance of people with non-white skin.

Even worse are the sports games in which every player is depicted as white. BRIAN LARA Cricket is the biggest offender, especially as the game was just an update of the 3-year-old Graham Gooch series. The Kick Off/Goal games never had black players either, nor did Striker. It all seems pretty disrespectful consdiering how much black athletes have done for Britain (and other western countries) over the past 20+ years.
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shteev · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 11:20 am Post subject:

I suppose that the issue of race had yet to come into computer games. Large numbers of characters were being represented on screen for the first time (the c64 could never handle Populous, could it?), and the most obvious way to display the characters was to make them all identical, saving time on graphical design.
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judasEZT · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 11:40 am Post subject:

Daley Thompson and JohnBarnes had their own games.

anyway you are right, but you can notice that 80 and mid 90es(era 8 and 16 bits games) still having racial discrimination in movies and on TVseries too.

The only nigger actor starring a movie was EddieMurphy at those times.
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andy vaisey · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 11:58 am Post subject:

I would imagine it had more to do with memory and processor limitations than anything else. As for Brian Lara cricket, it was a case of rehashing an older game with a new license (name) to cash in on his success at that point and I doubt he complained about the extra income...

But I take your point.
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MartinUK · Groupie Joined: 20 Jul 2004 Posts: 148 Location: England

The Spectrum version fo Daley Thompson's Decathlon featured a white main sprite, although the system's limited graphics hardware made that understandable.

Blaming processor and memory restrictions is a bit rich on the Amiga though - plenty of C64 games had no trouble, and even on the Atari VCS RealSports Boxing features 2 black boxers.
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Jungle Ninja · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 1:50 pm Post subject:

Jungle Ninja · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 1:53 pm Post subject:

Also Kick boxing had oriental figures, The Last Ninja series was done with an oriental type.

They are out there, but you just have to search and yes in those days it was normal to have white ones on there, but would it be different with all blacks? I think the colour does not matter. Next it will be the women complaining about the lack of female characters and then when there is one in there (Tomb Raider) they complain about sexist thoughts! It never is good which way you do it!

Crying or Very sad

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andy vaisey · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 2:37 pm Post subject:

BippyM · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 2:53 pm Post subject:

SWOS had black players Smile

Anyway I think it ws more down to limitations of a machine, and I also believe (this may sound stupid, and it is also politically incorrect) that if a programmer/designer/gfx artist etc.. is white, and they are limited by machine, that they will auto go with their own skin colour!!!

I might be talking bollox here, but it makes sense to me!

andy vaisey · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 3:33 pm Post subject:

Jungle Ninja · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 4:18 pm Post subject:

Hey, if you go with the point of view, that when a white programmer makes a program and he is limited he will make the persons white. Look at the tv series nowadays. It's the other way around. Take a black series. The only white people you see in them are playing dumb. And mostly you never see a white person. So who is right and who is wrong? The white's who did it in the past or the blacks who do it now?

Haven't we learned from the past? If you want others to treat you right, treat them right first.

He, this is not polictical meant. I am neutral. But I can't stand others discriminating, either positive or negative! Confused

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killergorilla · Amiga Enthusiast Joined: 22 Jul 2004 Posts: 532

I think (in the UK anyway) that political correctness is a bloody joke.

It's simply ridiculous nowdays.

andy vaisey · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 4:28 pm Post subject:

MartinUK · Groupie Joined: 20 Jul 2004 Posts: 148 Location: England

The original Sensible Soccer had black players, but Goal! didn't, a year later. But that debate's another story.

The predominance of black characters in things like The Fresh Prince and The Copsby Show is simply a reaction against the lack of respectable black characters in the majority of TV shows. Those shows exist in a fantasy world anyway, one in which people can change from gun-toting gang member to self-employed businessman living in a rich suburb within 10 years.

And as for Lara Croft, she wasn't made a woman to attract female players - if she was her breasts would be covered up, and a more realistic size.
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Jim · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 11:06 pm Post subject:

I think most of the people who would care that a game doesn't have enough (or any) black characters are probably white people - those who have nothing better to do other than make mental/written notes of all things non-PC (as in Politically Correct, not IBM compatibles).

If I was a black person, nothing would insult me more than TV shows or games that introduce the "Token Black Person". For example Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves - there was no black people in England at the time (if there were they'd probably been accused of being witches and burned as nobody had seen these "strange coloured people" before), but Hollywood saw it fit to introduce Morgan Freeman so they could put a black guy in the movie.

On the subject of black guys/girls in games....

Well Chase HQ had the black guy in the arcade, not sure if it was in the Amiga version - but yes, the white guy was driving - I think some of the stolen drug-smuggling cars you were chasing could have had black guys - yes how typical of movies/games!

Lethal Weapon - did it have Danny Glover in the game? I know main character was Mel Gibson.

Micro Machines had 2 black guys and a black girl if I remember correctly.

Most of the games that had real people in them had most of the characters white - but you only have to look at most movies for an explanation, or rather a equalarium.
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