Didn't know of Gordo. There is a new Black character in Soul Calibur 2. Not sure what his powers are...
-----Original Message----- From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kelly Wright Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2005 09:33 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: What does Sci-Fi have against Black people? A notable exception was Eddie Gordo from Tekken 3. Unfortunately, Eddie was replaced by Christine in Tekken 4 (although he can be unlocked in both Tekken 4 and 5). I have read there is an African-American character named "Raven" http://www.tekken-official.jp/tekken5/character/raven_e.html in Tekken 5, who "borrows" quite a bit from Wesley Snipes' "Blade," but I can't confirm this as I have been through with Tekken since they deep-sixed Eddie. See the excellent article on Eddie Gordo from Planet Capoeira. http://www.capoeira.com/planetcapoeira/articles/gordo.htm A few years ago the video game developer Namco released Tekken 3 to arcades, the third in a series of hugely successful video games. Introduced into this game was the world's first video game capoeirista. Surprisingly, the developers of the game did a pretty good job representing the art form. Certainly, there was some artistic license in the name of bombastic video flash, but overall not bad for a first try. At the time of development they used the then cutting edge technology of video motion capturing, hooking a real life capoeirista (Marcelo Pereira, i.e. Mestre Caveirinha of Capoeira Mandinga) up to some electrodes and sensors, and capturing his movements for all time into the annals of video game history. ~rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Keith Johnson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Oh yeah, I'm aware of it. I follow the videogame industry quite closely. > I've even posted some articles on it here, such as the new phenomenon > where actors, musicians, and atheletes now count starring in games as > being as important as getting good endorsement deals. The issue of race > is a huge one in gaming, and, as this article says, worse than that of > gender. It's a male-dominated industry, true. But at least in > RPGs--notably the Japanese ones--you get women used as heroines. Often > part of a team, many times as the stars. Blacks are rarely seen in > traditional RPGs: funny that you can have elves, giants, orcs, fairies, > dudes with purple hair, etc., but no Brothers. And when Blacks are > featured in such games, they're invariably shown as huge and hulking. > Look at many fighting games, a genre which does feature Blacks. From the > classic Street Fighter, to Streets of Rage ("Bare Knuckle" in Japan), to > Soul Calibur, the Asian and white characters usually have skills such as > speed, dexterity, flexiblity, agility, and are masters of a number of > impressive martial arts. Black fighters are almost always rated high on > size, strength, and cruder, more brutal fighting, such as boxing. A > classic example is the Mike Tyson-like character in Street Fighter 2 who > fought in a Vegas scene which was filled with Black pimps and > prostitutes. The other characters had speed, superhuman skills and > powers, he was just a big brawler. For years, the "Big Black Guy" has > been a staple in gaming. We never get the slicker abilities. With the > advent of the more "realistic" games like Grand Theft Auto, designers > opened a new world in which games are based more on real environments. > Unfortunately the realities they've chosen to portray have often been > the inner city, gang-ridden, crime overrun ghettoes. Hence the Brother > in GTA San Andreas, the roster of rappers starring in the fighter Def > Jam Vendetta, and others. Oh: we also star in a host of football and > basketball games, and show up as soldiers too--always subordinate to a > white commander. > > Video games are becoming a huge part of our culture. They're as > entrenched as TV and the Internet. The gaming industry is making money > that meets or exceeds that of the film industry, billions of dollars. A > single game like GTA or Halo can sell millions of units and be seen the > world over by people from several cultures. What a sobering thought that > the image of Blacks as hulking, graceless, thuglike pimps and gangsters > is what Japanese and European gamers are seeing. > > -----Original Message----- > From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of g123curious > Sent: Friday, August 05, 2005 16:02 > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: What does Sci-Fi have against Black people? > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Like many of y'all have said--better than me, I > > might add--it ultimately boils down to us > > controlling our own. Between whites that are > > prejudiced, whites that aren't prejudiced but > > let market factors shaped by *other* whites > > influence their decisions, and whites that > > simply don't get it, we're always fighting an > > uphill battle. Why are so many Blacks in scifi > > often used as aliens that are either weird > > looking, or "noble savages"? > > Don't forget how we are portrayed in video games, where we now seem > to be getting more and more "leading roles" like CJ. See below. > That's part of the problem, too. It's good to read about this > brother, Armstrong, who is taking action. > > George > - - - - - - - - - > http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/fun.games/08/05/minority.gaming.ap/index > .html > Drawing minorities into gaming > Push for more black, Hispanic heroes in video games > Friday, August 5, 2005; Posted: 12:07 p.m. EDT (16:07 GMT) > > [Photograph. Caption: Urban Video Game Institute co-founder Joseph > Saulter, demonstrates 3D animation software.] > > ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- In the popular video game "Grand Theft > Auto: San Andreas," players assume the lead character of Carl > Johnson, a down-on-his-luck criminal who roams city streets, > stealing cars and helping gang members knock off rivals in drive-by > shootings. > > "CJ," as he's known by his pals, is black -- and to some in the > video game industry, that's a problem. > > 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. > > "Not everybody goes outside with bling-bling and listens to rap > music all day," says Amil Tomlin, a black 15-year-old from Baltimore > who plays hours of video games each day. > > Among those trying to paint a different racial picture is Mario > Armstrong, who hosts a weekly National Public Radio program on > technology. He and two fellow black colleagues have started the > Urban Video Game Academy, a virtual programming boot camp for > minorities. > > "It's been said that a bunch of nerdy white guys are creating these > games," Armstrong said. "The problem with a bunch of white guys > creating the games is that the story isn't being created with > balance." > > Roughly 80%t of video game programmers are white, according to > preliminary results of an International Game Developers Association > survey. About 4% of designers are Hispanic, and less than 3% are > black. > > The academy is holding summer workshops in Atlanta, Baltimore and > Washington to give minority students like Tomlin an opportunity to > learn the basics of making video games. Organizers hope this early > exposure will inspire a new generation to make minority video game > characters that go beyond typecast racial roles. > > "I'd love to hear what other stories exist in the world besides the > stereotypical ones. There are good people in the ghetto. There are > role models," said academy co-founder John Saulter, who runs > Entertainment Arts Research, one of the industry's few black-owned > video gaming companies. > > So far, interest in the workshops has been high, which doesn't > surprise organizers. > > A March study by the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that black > youths between 8 and 18 years old played video and computer games > roughly 90 minutes a day -- almost 30 minutes more than white > youths. And Hispanics play about 10 minutes more per day than whites. > > "If you've got kids who can sit in front of a game for eight hours, > then they have the cognitive thought process to learn how to build > the game," Saulter said. > > Some in the industry believe race in games is a serious issue that > has been ignored for too long. > > "For a long time, we've talked in the game industry about gender > diversity as the one problem on the radar, but the racial split is > worse," said Ian Bogost, a Georgia Tech game design professor who > recently published a book on video game criticism. > > Jason Della Rocca, IGDA's executive director, said the industry must > confront a cycle that threatens its creativity: Educated, young > white males create games for other educated, young white males. > > "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," Della Rocca said. "But that doesn't seem to manifest > itself in terms of a more diversified workplace." > > Copyright 2005 The Associated Press > -0- > > > > > > > _____ > > YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS > > > > * Visit your group "scifinoir2 > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2> " on the web. > > > * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of > Service <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> . > > > _____ > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] _____ YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS * Visit your group "scifinoir2 <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2> " on the web. * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> . _____ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! 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