#gaming diversity

[the-bunnybot]

yeah really cool of splat 3 to have 0 trans characters still

[omnigeekempire]

Historical Accuracy & Diversity In Games Like Hogwarts Legacy & Final Fantasy 16 Are Wholly Depended On The Will Of The Creator

A lot of times we hear the argument that History accuracy games are essential for it to be authentic. This talking point is as old as time and has recently been brought up again in regard to Hogwarts Legacy. (more…) “”

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[omnigeekempire]

There Is No Such Thing As "Forced Diversity" In Any Form Of Media!

There Is No Such Thing As “Forced Diversity” In Any Form Of Media!

In the past few years, many people have believed that most of the media (games, movies, books, etc) that were coming out were plagued with what was referred to as “Forced diversity” or “woke agenda”! Which implied the idea of characters of non-white, non-male varieties being shoe-honed into a story. That, if the character wasn’t superbly written to justify their inclusion, they were nothing more…

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[geekersmagazine]

The Importance of Diversity in Games and Other Media

The Importance of Diversity in Games and Other Media

Image Source There’s really no escaping the fact that our current landscape provides us with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to geek-adjacent media. Many still push against the idea that gaming and other previously niche entertainment are part of mainstream culture. But it is certainly among the primary focuses of our contemporary world. According to a recent report, video games…

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[lavellot]

I agree with most if not all of your criticisms of Bioware but I was wondering why you have a whole blog dedicated to their game(s) when there are other really cool stuff out there too made by people who aren't predominantly white Canadian men. I really wish the devs, including Weekes, would get to hear criticisms like yours but I know that the nastiness/hostility of tumblr puts them off and in turn tumblr seems to forget that are one of the only AAA studios who cares about social justice.

I’m gonna go say this first: you’re right.

There is a lot of amazing stuff coming through the industry (indie games, more specifically) that are being created by non-white people. It’s honestly a matter of me finding it. I’ve branched out into more AAA games, but it’s not enough. I should make more of an active effort and support (through my money) these developers who face huge challenges and get little to no support.

Frankly, I have an entire blog dedicated to their games because it was the game that reintroduced me to gaming and, to get a little personal, Dragon Age basically saved my life. It encouraged me to write again. It encouraged me to try and take control of my life. I connected with the story, the characters, etc. in a way I hadn’t before with any game I played. And Dragon Age has a special place in my heart, which is why I criticize it so much. 

And, honestly, I’m not sure they are as receptive to criticism. We’ve been complaining about repeated ableism for a while, and their attempts at grey morality introduce some disturbing themes with real world implications.

I want to acknowledge the fact that they are trying, but sometimes it seems like they really miss the mark and then when they get called out for that, it’s a whole thing about “well, Bioware’s the only major game company doing that”. 

I don’t wanna ignore what they have done. Krem and Maevaris Tilani were a good start to showing trans characters that weren’t jokes. Having a wide cast of LGBTQ+ characters is really great, even though there are still problems with how they portray bisexuality. 

They have been more responsive to increased racial diversity than other companies, though they have, noticeably so, white washed a LOT of characters when they get a major role (Isabela, Merrill, Cassandra, Fiona, etc…). And I kind of have a slight issue with the “all black people exist in this tiny archipelago and that’s why black people exist in Thedas” mostly because you never need a reason for white characters exist in a fantasy setting. And some people have talked about some incredibly negative ways the writers handled Vivienne and the fandom response has definitely been….scary. 

So it’s like, “well, they did this and that’s good, but they really missed the mark or did something offensive again.” And this fandom is one of the most toxic fandoms I’ve EVER encountered. But I admire the way they stand against homophobes and are critical of whitewashing mods or mods that change gay characters and make them available to different genders (i.e. Straight Dorian and Straight Sera mods)

But the only way they’ll change, in my opinion, is getting some critical people on their staff. They need non-white people. They need people with disabilities. They need trans people. They need to hear what we are saying, because when you get past the rancor, there are a variety of us who are all too happy to sit down and discuss this with a little less rancor. We’ve been talking calmly about it for a while now, and when it keeps getting repeated, you start to get angry.

They just need to learn to be made a little more uncomfortable and listen, without trying to justify themselves. 

Honestly, being made uncomfortable and even get “yelled at” (barely, but still) was the process that turned me into less of a racist asshole and taught me about cultural appropriation and helped me eliminate my internalized misogyny. 

[nprplays]

LatinoUSA takes a look at diversity in gaming, from a Latino perspective:

Video games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto 5 have made headlines in the last few years thanks to record breaking sales. Those sales exist because video games are hugely popular. About 185 million people in the United States play video games. It’s no secret that people of all background play video games, its hard to tell that from the lack of diversity among playable characters. According to a study published in the journal “New Media and Society” in 2009, only 3% of all video games characters can be identified as Latino. And of that 3%, only 5% are characters you can use to play. As we continue our series on Diversity in Geekdom, Latino USA producer Daisy Rosario speaks with three people who love video games but would like to see things change. Mary Lordes is a writer at Upright Citizens Brigade and former co-host of the video game podcast Unlimited Lives. David Brothers is a former journalist who works at Image Comics. Vander Caballero is the Creative Director of Minorty Media.