Gamer Sites and Gamer Self-Identity

Lab Exercise 16: Gamer Sites and Gamer Self-Identity

The purpose of this lab exercise is to select one gamer site that we do not ordinarily visit where gamers self identify as a culture or subculture. We are to identify two discussion threads on the site where questions of personal identity and gaming are explicit. It was interesting to explore the different gamer sites. I have never visited gamer sites so this was a new experience. There were many interesting discussions that took place on these sites.

Final Fantasy XIII: New Game, Same Colors?
This particular discussion thread falls under the category of race, race representations, and video games. Racialicious is a blog about the intersections of race and pop culture. This discussion thread is not moderated by a forum moderator. This discussion debates about a question that is provocative: why do Japanese game companies create so many games where the protagonists all look European or white? The writer of this blog asks, why aren't there any Asian characters? The writer finds it fascinating that Japanese companies, again and again, create predominantly white characters. The following are arguments and counter-arguments found on the site.

• Game sites don’t report on things like this because they’re not political. I beg to differ. Many game sites publish stories on workers and developers getting overworked, underpaid, and exploited by corporations. That is absolutely political. And I’m glad that they do – these stories need to be heard. My point is, there are different political stories and discussions happening on game sites all the time – but people still shy away from race issues.

• It’s fantasy, it’s not real. Exactly – fantasy is only limited by our imagination. If we are free to create entire worlds and characters, why do we only create ones that look white?

• My best friend/girlfiend/wife/boyfriend/game designer is Asian and says it’s not racist, so you’re wrong. So by this logic, if I polled my white friends and got them to say it IS racist, I would win? I don’t hide behind my white friends, why should you get to hide behind your Asian ones? Don’t hide behind your friends: argue the points.

• It’s not about race, it’s about money. This ignores the fact that some of these blockbuster Japanese franchises made tons of money in Japan, with Japanese audiences, before they were exported here. And even if it were true, then can we have a discussion on how the exportation of culture, the massive wealth and power of U.S. western media makers, is gendered and racial as well as economic?

Although the author of this blog, has not reached a conclusion, resolution or answer, the topic is still up for debate in which opinions are asked for.

Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Game: The Racialization of Labor in World of Warcraft
This discussion board is a blog about race and pop culture. This blog examines the racialization of informational labor in machinima about Chinese player workers in the massively multiplayer online role playing game World of Warcraft. This blog discussion is not moderated by a forum moderator. The author of this discussion board goes on to make the following arguments for the purpose of debate. The main argument is about racism towards the Chinese and Asian population.

• People don’t hold video games accountable for racism; however they do hold them responsible for violence. Gaming has to constantly defend its portrayals of violence, but almost never discusses how it reinforces racism.

• More people play Warcraft now than were on the internet in 1995. There are a significant number of players in China and S. Korea. Digital games are one of the only platforms we had that were transnational from the inception. People who would never think of trying out Japanese media has actually been engaging for a long time without being aware of it through the gaming world.

• Machinima are fan made vids using graphics and scenarios from Warcraft. Some machinima are very critical of Chinese players; likening them to service workers like maids.

Many bloggers on this site did agree with the issue at hand and people who played World of Warcraft stated that they recognized the racial issues. One blogger has similar arguments and stated the following:
"I think it is also important to point out the color pigmentation options and facial features of customizable characters in games like World of Warcraft. In World of Warcraft for example, the pigments for characters are predominantly various shades of a “white” skin tone, while the facial features tend to resemble only those of European descent. So that even if one were to choose a darker skin tone, it would mostly resemble a dark-skinned white person."

Final Thoughts
Both discussion threads were quite similar and had similar arguments about racial issues. Although I am not a gamer myself, I think it is important to acknowledge these issues and not leave them ignored. Issues like these can be very offensive to a huge population of people. It was interesting to see the interaction between gamers and their opinions on the blog.