Yourboyblue's Blog

As I sit here with my cat Falafel laying on my arm and refusing to get off, I look at the colours of her fur. Mostly white, a little tan and a little bit of black and I can’t help but realize the beautiful picture she paints of all these different colours getting along in harmony, mingling with each other. I started to think about how stupid racism was and how so many people judge others just by the colour of their skin. This, naturally, got me thinking about video games and about incidents of racism or racially offensive characters in video games. I’ve thought about it before, ever since I heard that Resident Evil 5 was under scrutiny for being racist (see below).

So, without further adieu children, I give you the five most racist video games or video game characters.

Before I begin, here are some of the ground rules I set off using for this particular entry:

All video games & video game characters must be created and/or published by a reputable and serious game developer. All video games/characters must be unintentionally racist. In other words, the game has to be ‘legit’ (not created by some skinhead in his basement) and has to be created without the intention or realization that it is racist. In other words, any game other than this one (Just to give you an idea, the box featured claims that it featured “realistic negro sounds recorded on the spot with REAL niggers” – Wikipedia. Yikes!

So, here they are:

5) Cole-Train from Gears of War and Gears of War 2:

Cole Train Baby! Woo!

Well, let’s see. He’s black, he’s big, he’s a former football player. All perfectly okay things that don’t really fit any particular stereotype or racist criteria. But wait, let’s look a bit closer… Cole-Train? Cooollleee-Traaaiiinn? Coaal-Train? Coal-Train? Hmmm, something tells me the reference is less towards that of one of the best saxophone players of all time (suck it David Sanborne!) and more towards something a bit more insensitive. Also, he spends 90% of the game in underground tunnels and caverns. Hmmm. Hmmm indeed…

4) Any World War II game ever:

Ich Bein Sorry 'Bout That Whole Arian Race Thing

We get it. We really do. Nazis are bad. They’re very bad. I hate them, you hate them, hell, they hate themselves now. Let. It. Go. I seriously get it. It’s a great war. Fascinating history. The epitome of any good vs evil battle. A true testament to the forces of good and righteousness in this world getting together to battle pure evil and destruction. But seriously, they’re really really sorry about that. Cut them some slack okay? Germany’s a nice country now. You should visit it sometime and see that it’s over. Hell, you can get arrested for saying something racist there! Let. It. Go. New games please (I’m looking at you Call of Duty).

3) Castle Crashers:

Die brownie!

Well, I personally don’t that this game is racist, but this lady certainly does. To an extent she’s kind of right. I mean, it is a bunch of all-white characters running around and the majority of creatures they kill are either brown or black. But God, it’s just such a fun game! Okay, in all seriousness though, this game makes it in at number three just because it really really doesn’t mean to be racist. But to some people out there (again, don’t get this one), it’s very offensive and racist. It could actually be debated that this one get bumped up the list just because of the sheer coincidence of all the factors concerned in making this game accidentally racist

2) Super Mario World:

It's a me! I'ma herea to cleana you septic tank!

GASP! No! Not the best game of all time ever ever! Yes, I’m sorry. But let’s face it. He’s Italian. He’s a plumber. He runs around in filth all day and for what? To save the white, rich (and probably Protestant) princess! I mean, c’mon! The character speaks about as much English as a 2nd grader, is destined to run around in sewers all day and smash turtles and mushrooms. Mushrooms? God, what’s next? The marinara monster? Sorry Mario, you’re accidentally racist.

1) Any Punch-Out game:

Just. wow..

Ok, this one may actually just be racist on purpose. It’s so wrong though that I just had to. I mean, you play a character called (ready for this?) The Great White Hope little Mac. Little Mac and his black trainer tour the world, destroying racial stereotypes by going up against such cuisine oriented characters as the Russian Vodka Drunkenski and the oh-so-lovable Italian Pizza Pasta. Sorry, there is no way I could be making this stuff up even if I tried. I let this one slide since I feel it really was trying to eliminate racism and bigotry by pointing out how stupid it is. The uneducated masses that rise up against games they’ve neve played though, will find this game accidentally racist, making it our number one.

So what does this leave us with? Is there racism in video games? Well, I’m of the school of thought that racism lies in one’s heart and mind, not in one’s actions or work. It’s easy to find racism in anything (case in point, why’s it always gotta be the black chocolate chips stuck in between the white cookie?). Ultimately, if you don’t discriminate against someone by the colour of their skin, religion or sex and if you just judge people by their character, then I don’t really care what you say or what your work may imply. Too much emphasis is put on maybe-racism today, be it in video games, movies or books (Side note -  True Lies is a piece of shit movie, regardless of how offensive and stereotypical it may be). I feel people need to chill out and judge others by their character and not by what they find offensive, otherwise, everything would be beige….for ever! And no one wants that.

Okay, we’re getting too political here. Back to video games!

YourBoyBlue – Out