Here's a retrospective look at black characters and characters of black descent who have appeared in a number of Nintendo titles since 1984. Now correct me if I'm wrong but the arcade title Punch Out!! was the first Nintendo game to introduce dark skinned characters and other games have soon followed suit including games like Gamecube's F-Zero GX and most recently the 3DS Pokemon Black and White series.
Now i for one am glad of this progress and hopefully Nintendo can start allowing players to select darker skin tones for their characters in character customization games like (animal crossing and Pokemon.) that would be a major breakthrough.
Anyway without further ado let's take a look back at Black Nintendo characters from 1984 to 2014, including from the Pokemon, Zelda, Fire emblem and Punch Out!! Series.
hopefully Nintendo can start allowing players to select darker skin tones for their characters in character customization games like (animal crossing and Pokemon.) that would be a major breakthrough.
Pokemon does.
3DS name: Arminillo
3DS FC: 1118-0310-8459
"The Rich Boy wakes Up, But is Handsome."
-DeviousSnorlax
hopefully Nintendo can start allowing players to select darker skin tones for their characters in character customization games like (animal crossing and Pokemon.) that would be a major breakthrough.
Pokemon does.
Well it kind of does but players are only allow to choose from three default skin tones, which kind of defeats the purpose of customizing your own character's race. You should be able to choose from a variety of colours, light to dark.
Hopefully Nintendo will start having Native-Americans in their games, being I'm part Apache.
Seriously though, I honestly don't care if Nintendo allows me to be an Indian in their games, I'm happy with an Italian, or a dinosaur, or a mushroom. They can make their games as they please.
Okay that's good to know, that's your business on how you feel. This is just a retrospective video on black characters in Nintendo.
the_shpydar wrote:
As @ogo79 said, the SNS-RZ-USA is a prime giveaway that it's not a legit retail cart.
And yes, he is (usually) always right, and he is (almost) the sexiest gamer out there (not counting me) ;)
So we're just going to ignore the fact that lack of diversity is a major problem with the vast majority of gaming and pretend it's just a Nintendo problem?
So we're just going to ignore the fact that lack of diversity is a major problem with the vast majority of gaming and pretend it's just a Nintendo problem?
...okay.
That is a very true point
Edit:I think all developers and publishers are afraid to have diversity because of backlash/boycotts from religious groups & parents
I don't understand why this i such an issue with people. The lack of diversity amongst characters in Japanese developed games can pretty much be chocked up to there being almost no ethnic diversity in Japan, at least on the same level as America. This isn't a Nintendo issue, most non-american developers tend to suffer from not because of any racist beliefs. I think there is plenty diversity if you look for it, or if you really want that perspective it's stagnant and only caucasian and asian are represented by Nintendo. Not everything has to be a social/political commentary.
hopefully Nintendo can start allowing players to select darker skin tones for their characters in character customization games like (animal crossing and Pokemon.) that would be a major breakthrough.
Pokemon does.
Well it kind of does but players are only allow to choose from three default skin tones, which kind of defeats the purpose of customizing your own character's race. You should be able to choose from a variety of colours, light to dark.
What I thought was funny about Pokemon X and Y was that the one black character choice is darker than me, yet my sister is darker than it... XD
Anyways, I am glad they even gave the choice, and I am sure the customization options will get better in the future (for all customizable characters in Nintendo games). I am not so sure if it is going to be in the Ruby and Sapphire remakes, but it may be.
I don't understand why this i such an issue with people. The lack of diversity amongst characters in Japanese developed games can pretty much be chocked up to there being almost no ethnic diversity in Japan, at least on the same level as America. This isn't a Nintendo issue, most non-american developers tend to suffer from not because of any racist beliefs. I think there is plenty diversity if you look for it, or if you really want that perspective it's stagnant and only caucasian and asian are represented by Nintendo. Not everything has to be a social/political commentary.
I don't understand why this i such an issue with people. The lack of diversity amongst characters in Japanese developed games can pretty much be chocked up to there being almost no ethnic diversity in Japan, at least on the same level as America. This isn't a Nintendo issue, most non-american developers tend to suffer from not because of any racist beliefs. I think there is plenty diversity if you look for it, or if you really want that perspective it's stagnant and only caucasian and asian are represented by Nintendo. Not everything has to be a social/political commentary.
Mario, Peach, and Link do not look Asian at all. They look quite Caucasian, as Asian people of course do not have blonde hair or blue eyes, so the lack of diversity in Japan is not a big factor. And while it's true that there's very little ethnic diversity in Japan compared to America, Nintendo is a global company that reaches to many countries and ethnicities. It wouldn't kill them to have a more inclusive cast of characters.
I don't understand why this i such an issue with people. The lack of diversity amongst characters in Japanese developed games can pretty much be chocked up to there being almost no ethnic diversity in Japan, at least on the same level as America. This isn't a Nintendo issue, most non-american developers tend to suffer from not because of any racist beliefs. I think there is plenty diversity if you look for it, or if you really want that perspective it's stagnant and only caucasian and asian are represented by Nintendo. Not everything has to be a social/political commentary.
Mario, Peach, and Link do not look Asian at all. They look quite Caucasian, as Asian people of course do not have blonde hair or blue eyes, so the lack of diversity in Japan is not a big factor. And while it's true that there's very little ethnic diversity in Japan compared to America, Nintendo is a global company that reaches to many countries and ethnicities. It wouldn't kill them to have a more inclusive cast of characters.
Well of course not, Mario is an Italian name, so why would he look Asian? Link is also apart of a fictional elf-like race called Hylians, so why would he need to look Asian? They created his race, they can make him look however they want. It wouldn't kill them no, but does it kill you to not have diverse races of characters within their games? It doesn't affect immersion for me at all. Regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, or species when I play a game I just accept the character the game developers have given me. Besides there are plenty of Nintendo developed and published games that allow character customization, and I don't think it is necessary at all to create new characters to fill an ethnic gap. I'd much rather them focus on the gap in genres and gameplay, instead of catering to people who can't stop themselves from nitpicking about something as trivial as this.
@CanisWolfred@HappyHappyist Very mature. I typed this on a mobile, so I can't be sure to check for typos when I'm waiting for the bus home. You could just look at my valid point, instead of being childish and pointing out the grammatical errors of others.
I don't think it would kill Nintendo at all to have new characters, period. And giving them an ethnic identity different from their usual cast would be a fantastic way to make them stand out, too. This applies to every game company, though.
So we're just going to ignore the fact that lack of diversity is a major problem with the vast majority of gaming and pretend it's just a Nintendo problem?
...okay.
They're just pixels, try to do a blood test and find out what their heritage is.
@CanisWolfred@HappyHappyist Very mature. I typed this on a mobile, so I can't be sure to check for typos when I'm waiting for the bus home. You could just look at my valid point, instead of being childish and pointing out the grammatical errors of others.
No, seriously, I could not read a word you said, and I think Squid deserves a medal for having even an inkling as to what you were saying there. It's not just spelling or grammar, you were missing whole words, important ones.
So we're just going to ignore the fact that lack of diversity is a major problem with the vast majority of gaming and pretend it's just a Nintendo problem?
...okay.
They're just pixels, try to do a blood test and find out what their heritage is.
Most of these characters are nothing more than a vector for the player to project into. Is it really too much to ask for to actually project as, say, an black male? Or even Hispanic? It just doesn't feel fair man. Hell, half the time I do get to play as a black person, he's usually a thug...
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