Rappers the Next Super Heroes?

The Guardian's excellent gamesblog has an editorial up discussing the role rappers and rap culture has taken in games. From the article: "Following Def Jam Vendetta and more pertinently Def Jam Fight for New York, this is another game that places real-life Hip Hop artists within a fictitious gangland setting. It's an interesting sub-genre, trading in on the mythologies that many rappers build around themselves in their lyrics, album art and endless feuds - fantasies of gun violence, rivalry and retribution."

Comments

Re:Here's a Thought:

[Anonymous Coward]

What an idiot. I hope you were trying to be funny, and not serious. Are you saying that black people enjoy games less because there aren't many black characters? If that were true I guess that would make all black people inherently racist. I hope that's not so. When I enjoy media, be it video games or movies, I look at the quality of the product, not the race of characters. I could care less if a characters is white or black.

There is no long standing traditon of ignoring minorites in games. Many developers simply chose a race for the character that is similair to their own. What's wrong with that? I don't think its done to spite black people. It's human nature. I bet when you create something with human characters in it, you probably make the main character whatever your race is.

And since when were many developers white? Many of the games that have become staples of the industry were created by Japanese developers - Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, etc. Plus two of the largest console manufacturers are companies of Japanese origin, Sony and Nintendo. Also, that last bit about Mario was not funny, and a horrible comparision to make.