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Where's the Diversity?

by Chris Remo, Aug 09, 2005 12:59pm PDT

A CNN article points out that while minority groups such as blacks and Hispanics on average spend more time playing video games than whites, such minorities are still hugely underrepresented in the actual game development profession. At the same time, minority characters in video games tend to be either supporting roles or portrayed as gangsters or thugs. Amil Tomlin, a black 15-year-old gamer from Baltimore, notes that "Not everybody goes outside with bling-bling and listens to rap music all day."The article contains viewpoints from Mario Armstrong, founder of a "programming boot camp for minorities", John Saulter of the black-owned Entertainment Arts Research, and the IGDA's outspoken Jason Della Rocca.

"Games are an expressive medium. They are an art form, just like movies, theater and literature," Della Rocca said. "We're seeing, to a large extent, that the games that are being designed unconsciously include the biases, opinions and reflections of their creators." In a way, he said, stubbornness to diversify runs counter to the industry's tolerant roots. "We like to think that game design is a higher calling and that no one really cares what your skin color is or your sexual orientation. But that doesn't seem to manifest itself in terms of a more diversified workplace."


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42 Threads | 190 Comments*
  • #187
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    By: spyrext x
    Reply
    Games:

    When a white dude commits a crime... It's wrong to have white people always the protagonist! When a minority dude commits a crime... It's wrong because that's a stereotype.

    When the hero is a guy with big muscles and the male ideal of power... It's wrong because women are under-represented. When the hero is a woman with big breasts and the female ideal of sexual prowess... It's wrong because that's a stereotype.

    WHO THE HELL want's to play a video game about ordinary people doing ordinary things (Sims aside)? (or for that matter, who wants a 250lb muscle woman or a man with DD-breasts as the hero?) Why I play these games:

    I want to be the guy with muscles who saves the girl FOR A CHANGE.
    I want to be a thug, black OR white, who says, "fuck authority" FOR A CHANGE.
    I want to be somebody I'm not and do something I don't/won't/can't, FOR A CHANGE.

    There's only three kinds of people it's legal to discriminate against in America. SMOKERS, WHITE MALES, and the OVERWEIGHT. Anyone else is a victim of the above 3 -or so the beautiful people on FOX News let me know.
    Aug 10, 2005 12:54am PDT
  • #105
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    By: gndagger x
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    Being in the games industry requires some form of higher education above and beyond a high school diploma. It's not like the industry is full of trailer trash hillbilly honkies who never finished school, and the industry has just decided not to hire their minority counterparts. Just about everybody in the industry is qualified to be where they are... minority or otherwise.

    The fact of the matter is that due to whatever social/cultural factors keep many minorities from seeking education on their own, there is a smaller segment of the minority population eligible for these positions. This isn't some game industry exclusive trend, it's a trend across all high tech sectors.

    It isn't the game industry's responsibility to seek out and train the next wave of developers any more than it is for the NBA to seek out the next generation of superstars. The next wave of developers will come to us, just as talented athletes will be drawn to professional sports. Offering special treatment to minorities only perpetuates prejudicial treatment and does nothing to solve the problem at hand, which is figuring out what exactly causes the education gap between a large portion of minorities and the rest of the country.

    Also, ask yourself why there is no discussion of other minorities and the gaming industry, such as Asians or Indians. Because it's not politically popular... In fact, you rarely hear anything about how they are even minorities, because they spend less time separating themselves, and more time integrating themselves into the rest of society.
    Aug 09, 2005 3:44pm PDT
  • #94
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    By: killer_pony x
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    [QUOTE]Even the lowly gameplay scripter needs a good foundation in 3D math, knowledge of the rendering pipeline, and just a very good handle on general game programming practices. These arent things you usually learn in a standard university CS program. Most game programmers have taken initiative on their own to learn the game-programming specific things they need to. Not that they are that archiac or impossible to master, but it does take time and dedication.[\QUOTE]

    lowly gameplay scripter? who do you think makes your awesomely programmed game FUN and EXCITING?

    - annoyed gameplay scripter :P

    Aug 09, 2005 3:19pm PDT
  • #25
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    By: Moebius x
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    The concept that this is a problem isolated to the game industry, and something perpetuated BY the game industry, is insulting.

    There is absolutely no racial or gender bias within the games industry. The people who makes games are by and large an extremely liberal group of folks in my experience. If there's a lack of any particular race/gender combo, it's because the resumes just aren't showing up. When they do, they'll get hired.

    And btw, this concept does not pertain to ALL companies anyway. Sure, if you check out developers based in the midwest or somethnig, yeah, that's gonna be all white guys. Look around, that's where you are! However, most west coast devs are currently already pretty diverse.

    This article is just more outdated anti-game poo.
    Aug 09, 2005 1:32pm PDT
  • #18
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    By: Ecks x
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    I always wonder about these types of articles. On the one hand, more diversity in game developers is never a bad thing. On the other hand, maybe minorities just don't want to make games as much as non-minorities do. I go to DigiPen and 95% of the population there is a white male. It's not because they're racist there and don't want females or minorities to come, it's because they don't have as much interest from those groups. I'd LOVE to have that school be more diverse. Hanging around white, geeky, male nerds tends to get old after a while.

    The article pisses me off because it says "CJ," as he's known by his pals, is black -- and to some in the video game industry, that's a problem. and then follows it right up with A growing number of people in the booming industry believe there should be more black and Hispanic heroes and heroines instead of hoods and hoodlums.

    Now lets think, before CJ, who was the last hero in the GTA series? Oh ya, it was a WHITE GUY. There were a ton of stereotypes in Vice City, but no one seemed to care then. It's just when it happens to minorities that people speak up.

    This artile is pretty much just a fluff piece. I'm glad that guy is trying to get minorities into making games, but if you look at programming in general, there aren't a lot of minorities in that either. It's not just related to gaming.
    Aug 09, 2005 1:23pm PDT