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[EDIT 2/27: For those of you asking, this is not an assertion based on research. It's simply my opinion based on empirical evidence I've found in my experience with other people playing games.]
When you play a video game that lets you create your character, what do they look like?
Overwhelmingly, people choose to make the avatar their own gender and race. Searching for the reason why, one's first natural instinct is to think players create avatars that look like them to immerse themselves in the game. But you'll give your guy chiseled abs and a sharp jawline even if you don't have them.
The argument becomes people create idealized versions of themselves. This holds more water, but I'm not sure it fully explains why players almost never stray from their own sex and ethnicity.
Players change many things that aren't "ideal" for them: they'll give their character a neon blue mohawk or a handlebar moustache, but they still stick to their race and sex. Even in fantasy games like The Elder Scrolls that offer non-human species like reptilian and feline humanoid races, most gamers I've talked to avoid these groups on their first playthrough.
But as my girlfriend points out to me, "Sex and race are the parts of us that we can't change. Even if you don't have a blue mohawk, it would be possible to grow one; you just don't want one in real life. So with your avatar you can create this more outrageous version of yourself. You could never actually turn yourself Asian, though, whether you wanted to or not, and it would be weird if the 'ideal, outrageous' version of yourself involved you being another ethnicity."
It's a good point. But I'm not convinced "outrageous idealism" and subconscious ethnocentrism are mutually exclusive. It's no coincidence main characters in games with non-customizable avatars are predominantly white males; white males make up the largest demographic of both gamers and game developers.
Yes, there are a smattering of games with female and non-white leads, but the video game industry runs on franchises. The Price of Persia series is arguably the only major franchise with a recurring non-white lead, and it's a whitewashed version of Iran. The biggest single game with a dark-skinned main character was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and naturally, it was a story of street gangs.
The only two major franchises with consistent female main characters are Tomb Raider and Metroid, and both of those series' sales are nowhere near the white male giants of Mario, Halo, The Legend of Zelda, and Call of Duty. Imagine if at the end of Halo 3, Master Chief finally took off his helmet to reveal he's black or Arab. How do you think the Halo-playing populace would react?
But back to games with customizable avatars. If you're a white guy like me, next time you play Fallout, try being a hispanic woman. See if it changes the way you think about your character or the way you react to events in the game.
I believe that deep down, we choose the gender and ethnicity we're familiar with because it's exactly that--familiar. It's comfortable to us. Video games are a unique artform because they allow us to personally walk a mile in someone else's shoes. You love walking in a pro athlete's cleats and a space marine's boots. Now try walking in heels.
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Certainly, there's probably a part of me that also becomes un-immersed by watching a male character act and represent me - due to media (but also the topics studied/taught in school, etc), heroic figures are white male. So watching one on screen puts me in a "I'm watching a movie or TV show" mindset, I think. Seeing an Asian lead typically means it's an Asian film or has Asian influences or otherwise based on the fact that the lead is specifically Asian among non-Asians. Few films and media pieces avoid calling attention to that - Romeo Must Die is one of the few if only film I can think of where the specific race of the two leads isn't called attention. In fact, despite the fact that the entire cast is basically Asian or black and involved in organized crime, the movie's major point was more that the two families were at war and not that the romance was forbidden because of race. There are certainly other reasons and causes as well which is probably more appropriate for a blog post than a comment.
Overall, it comes down to the fact that if I want to accurate represent who I am, I have to create a character that looks nothing like myself. Certainly there are probably more personal and non-sinister reasons as well that have little if anything to do with race or gender. Being pretty comfortable with myself, I don't really feel a strong connection with appearances since internally I'm always 'me'.
You'd think games with customizable avatars like Skyrim or Mass Effect would be the Great Equalizer, representing all races and sexes. But take a gander at the promotional materials for both games, and the posters still always feature a white male Dragonborn and a white male Commander Shepard. It's sad.
Hmm. I have a friend who tends to pick female avatars for one simple reason (and I quote): "it's nicer to look at a girl's rear than a man's". How does that fit in with the above?
Humans are complex, and the reasons why they choose to identify with a given characterisation are equally complex. Personally, I'd tend to suggest the following are major factors:
1) "Familiarity" of the character's ethnicity and/or attitude
2) A desire to properly role play - i.e. taking on a role, rather than just playing with a character
3) Character stats - e.g. the Rogue class in Diablo was female
4) Visual aesthetics - as per my friend above
However, I'm sure there's many other elements involved, too...
Because for years, the only people that were on internet games were male, or assumed male.
So they chose male avatars to not be perceived as feminine, because they were uncomfortable with their sexuality.
On Single player games like Skyrim. It's the same thing, only it's more like. "what if my friends see me playing as a girl." Or "what if my parents see me playing as a girl."
I always assumed Women Chose the female avatar, because they usually get all the fancy looking gear.
Speculation based on what a handful of people you meet doesn't go anywhere.
Its strange how you can sometimes relate to characters on NONcustomizable games. I LOVED Assassins creed 2 and I just happen to be an italian guy... Coincidence? Probably not.
I always treated character creation like an art project. My first Morrowind play-through I had an Imperial woman who I got turned into a vampire. On a latter play-through I made Link (as in from Zelda) using some archery kit that had a green tunic. On the Sims I always try to make complementary ensembles. I've seen my wife play many games and not put herself into them either.
I'm sure the asserted behaviors occur, I just haven't observed them and I don't think I'm -that- strange.
I know this is very, very often assumed by marketers, producers, and designers, but is it true? Is there any evidence, let alone convincing research, to show that it's the consumers who choose their own gender and ethnicity in games? Or might it be (much more likely in my opinion) that it is assumed to be true because consumers buy the games that are designed to be predominately "white" and "male"?
Are we to believe that if Grand Theft Auto 5 starred a female, that it wouldn't sell? Or that San Andreas' main character was a fluke? Or is it more likely the gamers want quality, and it's the people behind the games that keep pushing the white male images, not the buyers' demand.
Eventually bottom up narrative will progress to a point where it can compliment and compete with top down narrative. Bottom up narrative offers a much more personal experience where users have more control over their identity trajectory.
Take it down a notch. Listen to your girlfriend.
I tend to see "character creations" as character creations. I love to create something new, challenging, that isn't me. Often that's the most appealing part to be someone that isn't me as in "holiday from myself". This can be very refreshing and enjoyable. But i believe the majority or players just want to recreate themselves and iron out their RL flaws. Pretty boring...
I was formally introduced to a dolphin once along with a group of other humans. We were first asked to select our cross-species gesture. Everyone else besides me in the group, regardless of gender, opted for a kiss. I choose a handshake instead.
You seem to imply that Dhalsim isn't ever going to be the focus of a marketing campaign because he has dark skin or Indian ethnicity. (If you were implying something else, let me know what it was.) Wrong. He is not well-known compared to the likes of Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Dictator/M.Bison, and he is not a brand new character addition. There is no point in featuring him prominently in marketing.Let's take a look at box art which is a pretty big part of the marketing of console games.Soul Calibur III featured a new character Zasalamel, who is black. The game's box art is all about him with two returning characters, one Asian and one female, shown only faintly in the background. The game had two other new characters, both of Caucasian descent, who do not appear in the cover art.Virtua Fighter 5 box art? One Japanese, one Chinese, one Mexican.And back to the terrible racist developers at Capcom and their Super Street Fighter IV box art? Jamaican man (black), British man (black), Korean woman, Chinese woman, Thai man, Japanese man.
You seem to imply that he isn't a figure in marketing because he isn't well-known, but the SF characters could only become well-known by being prominently displayed, in and out of the game. Since he wasn't prominent throughout the long life of SF, it stands to conclude something about his character other than his being "not well-known" must be the cause. Since he was, in my opinion, pretty fun to play, I can't really think of a reason for his being so over-shadowed other than his ethnicity.
That's not to say I don't create male characters, but most often, the choices I have don't fit with my aesthetics. I'm not really one for beefcake, grizzled, bald space marines.