Gender and Race in Gaming

Lynda Lin's article Video Games the Bad Guys Come In All Shades of Stereotypes, she gives two perspectives regarding race representation or misrepresentation in games. One perspective came from a college student doing that perform a study and wrote his thesis on this subject. Robert Parungo feels there is a stereotypical representation of Asians in video games, specifically Kung Fu, Shadow Warrior, Warcraft 3, and Grand Theft Auto 3. Parungo feels the only roles for Asians portrayed in these games or most games are samurais, gang members, or prostitutes. As a result of this misrepresentation stereotypes are being reiterated time and time again.
On the other hand some other gamers like Artie Lee or games affiliate executives such as Scott Miller believe Parungo is reading to much into the roles. They believe there is a balance in stereotypes such as Mario being an Italian plumber, or GTA 3 and the triads, or St. Rows 2 where all the races are gang members, or San Andreas.

Jaime Kuroiwa's article Why I Didn't Buy GTA: Chinatown Wars discusses why he/she didn't purchase the game. Their reasoning was not because of the stereotypical representation of Asians, and she/he is of Asian decent. The reason was because the games plot isn't any different than any other movie or game that has been distributed to this generation. The game failed to provide a newer concept or plot in gaming, then what we're traditionally exposed to.

"Game Developer Demographics Report: An Exploration of Workforce Diversity" This was a survey taken by game developers, and employees in the gaming industry. The results showed a typical developer is a white heterosexual male, thirty one years of age, non-disabled and college educated. He or She has worked in the industry just over 5yrs, is a programmer, artist or designer and agrees diversity is important for success in the gaming industry. In addition some other factors were that whites believe the industry is more diverse then non. In regards to job titles males dominate the positions of content creation roles. There are positions in operations, IT, and human resources that are equally maintained by male and female employees. The survey compared compensation throughout the industry and showed varying degrees of equalities. White males are usually paid more then non-white races due to their extent of time working in the industry, longer or prior to non-white males. Males make approximately 9k more then female colleagues. These unjust wages are not based on the extent of time in the industry, skill set, or any other matter but discrimination. Heterosexuals dominate the industry. Bisexuals, lesbians, and gays don't believe their is diversity in the industry and that is imperative to the success of the game development industry. The survey goes on to show the average game developer is 31 years old, non-disabled, and usually has a short lived career due to getting burnt out. Overall the survey doesn't show much diversity in the field of game development.

Gamasutra News:Opinion Resident Evil 5 -How Does This Make you feel, 'Partner'? by Tom Cross. Tom Cross says Capcoms portrayal of Kijuju (a west African town) in Resident Evil 5 is transparent. Capcom worked hard to emphasize flies, slaughtered animals, skulls and candles in shacks, to depict this town as being dirty, poor and dangerous. In addition it portrays the people and the culture as being violent and dangerous. He felt the plot was a reenactment of most of the movies and games that we already play or view constantly.

After reading all of these articles I do believe we do need to focus on diversifying today's gaming industry. We need a diverse group of gaming developers to focus on diversifying the games with roles, cultures, religions and ethnicity being depicted in realistic, and non-stereotypical fashions. I believe there should be a comparable amount of positively diverse roles . Out of each of the article I seen in every aspect of the game be it a player, a designer, developer, corporate employee, etc... all of these articles showed an aspect that could be diversely developed to relate and intrigue today's society. After reading each article I can see how post colonialism relates in today's gaming industry. Most developers still use the same ideology that colonized or monopolized the market from the beginning. The new games are now post colonized by the old ideas, and stereotypes and being reenacted and represented in today's games. In addition I do see the critical race theory being used in the gaming industry. I mostly see people of color or non-whites being portrayed in roles that are subservient, or stereotypical. I do feel the critical race theory is a factor . The stereotypical image of people of color is still being displayed, and supported while adding diversity to the gaming industry, whether it is negative or positive. The average non-white race is still benefiting from the message and the image that is being projected and obviously supported from the developer. The developer or production company is still receiving revenue while negatively diversifying the games. In the end the industry are still mainly representing non-white roles as being negative, and maintaining the dominant positive roles as white characters. In closing, I'll leave you with one statement that stuck with me, and I strongly agree with. "Games are emerging as the dominant form of art, expression, and culture of the 21st century. There is no doubt in our minds that the industry will benefit from a more diverse pool of talented creators" by Lynda Linn.