Congrats on the interview. I read your blog regularly because of my own interest in gaming and the rhetoric of gaming and this brings up the perfect opportunity to ask a question about the representation of African Americans in sports (especially basketball) games. Where does the need to portray African American athletes as "stepnfetchit" caricatures come from? As an African American adult who buys PC and console games for herself and a bevy of teenaged nieces and nephews I find myself having to preview all games so that I don't actively perpetuate the stereotype.

"Where does the need to portray African American athletes as "stepnfetchit" caricatures come from?"

I'm sorry, but I have no idea what that term means or what it is you are asking. Please clarify.

"Stepnfetchit" is an African American character stereotype who usually embodies the most negative stereotypes of African Americans (oafish, happy go lucky, loud, gaudy, subservient, etc.).

The question, more clearly put is why is it that most sports games portray African Americans in such a stereotypical manner? I find that this is the case most often in basketball (especially street ball) and boxing and ultimate fighting games. I'm not sure that you'll have an answer for this but I was hoping that it could become a point of discussion :-)

Okay, now I understand, and I'll be happy to supply what sort of answer I can.

The reason why the stereotype exists is because it is not actually a stereotype. It's an attempt at reproducing, in broad strokes, what exists in the real world.

Video games aren't inventing oafish, happy go lucky, loud, and gaudy characters. We're taking them right from the streets and hardcourts and putting them in our games. I'd hardly call the black characters or players in any video sports game (especially street-styled basketball) subservient, however.

I'm going to try and not implicate myself too seriously in this, but I've had a bit of exposure to professional basketball athletes. And-1 players. Street Ball Association players. NBA players. Sure, there are a few diamonds in the rough (such as the Nike guys I've worked with), but for the most part, they're playing the part that they have decided to take. Hate whitey? Check. Wear Sean John? Check. Gangsta rap? Check. It's part of the lifestyle. I'm not going to pretend to understand or even judge why they act that way. My job is to simply reproduce it and package it in the most realistic way that the most possible people find appealing.

But what I find most interesting is your definition of stepnfetchit, which I'd like to return to for just a moment. "Oafish, happy go lucky, loud, and gaudy" all make for an interesting character (I've already covered that basketball players are *never* subservient). And they certainly aren't negative characteristics. Oafish, certainly, but not every basketball player is oafish (and, accurately, not every character or player in our games are oafish). Not only is that an attempt at capturing what we see out there in real life (and we *are* still capturing the witty and well-spoken Michael Jordans at the same time), but those qualities (among many others) make for interesting characters.

My sincere question to you is this: as an African American, how do you think we should portray African American professional athletes? Every single one of them (the black professional athletes) that we've had play our game seemed to like it immensely and proclaimed that it was "off da hook." :)

Subservience is a characteristic of stepnfetchit in general and not athletes specifically, but the rest I do believe holds true.

While I am sure that my exposure to athletes is more limited than yours, I do have some exposure to them as well as to the African American community at-large and I could not disagree with you more. It is not a part of an African American athletic lifestyle to hate "whitey", wear Sean Jean, and listen to gangsta' rap. These are characteristics that belong to an individual and not a culture. What about the white athletes that hate "blacky", wear Wrangler, and listen to rockabilly? Why are these characters sanitized to the point that the are almost bland while the African American caricatures are played up, for what? entertainment value?

I find it interesting that "oafish, happy go lucky, loud, and gaudy all make for an interesting character" and "aren't negative characteristics" but they don't get applied to characterizations of non-African Americans athletes en masse. Am I arguing that there are not some African American athletes that do behave in such a fashion? Not at all, but not all of them do (even more than the now retired and "well-spoken" Michael Jordan, btw I should tell you that African Americans don't consider that a compliment from Caucasians but rather a verbal manifestation of racist notions of the nature of the linguistic limitations of a race). In the same vein not all white athletes are racist, backwoods, rednecks. So the answer to your question in terms of how I'd like to see African American athletes portrayed, the short answer is accurately. The longer answer is that while I except that some people behave in certain ways that it is not a characteristic of a race and that those that behave differently should have equal "playing" time. Since I agree that many of the next gen console games are exciting and realistic, I can understand why athletes might be enthusiastic about the game itself (but not necessarily the characterization, which they very well may not consider), but I do find your use of urban colloquiallism in your closing both condescending and offensive. :)

I have a confession to make: I haven't been entirely honest with you. I wanted to see what your reaction would be.

While everything I wrote was entirely accurate, I intentionally did not talk about the white side of the issue, in other words, how we characterize our white characters in our games.

I know from experience how video-games are made, and for point of argument, I will include NBA Live, NBA Street, and NBA Ballers for purposes of this argument, because they are the last three basketball games I have played and studied.

Truth be told, we don't differentiate between blacks and whites when we make these games. At least from an animation standpoint. At the art level, sure, we give some black character/players afros, baggy pants, and thug lifestyle clothing. We also do the same for the white characters/players. Afros aside (a trait only common to blacks), the white guys are being dressed up in the same clothes as the black guys.

As far as "oafish, happy go lucky, loud, and gaudy" goes, for the most part, those are animation issues (well, maybe not gaudy). Animations aren't selectively played to black characters only. Ever. In any basketball game. Animations are played across the board, regardless of which player it is, black or white, tall or short, fat or skinny. To attempt to only put certain animations on only black players would be such an enormous undertaking that it's almost downright impossible. True, we have banks of animations, some of which might be more aggressive, or more goofy than others, but those are also grouped with both black and white players. Animations are what define behavior in a player, so to say that we selectively make only black people "oafish, happy-go-lucky, and loud" is a complete disservice to how the games are being made, and an erroneous observation on your part.

This leads me to the heart of the problem that you're having. If you're observing that only the black players are portraying stepnfetchit characteristics, it's because that's what you want to see. It is a figment of your imagination, and maybe it's because you're trying to find a problem where one doesn't actually exist.

You weren't even listening to my arguments. I didn't say black athletes "hate whitey, wear Sean John, and listen to gangsta rap." I said professional basketball athletes. That means even the white guys hate whitey, with whitey being "the man;" the embodiment of middle-class suburbia white males. They detatch themselves from that identity and associate on a more urban hip-hop lifestyle. They drive the Escalades with the dub rims because that's what everyone who's a star in basketball drives.

You obviously have a bone to pick with the race issue, so let's explore it just a bit.

"even more than the now retired and "well-spoken" Michael Jordan, btw I should tell you that African Americans don't consider that a compliment from Caucasians but rather a verbal manifestation of racist notions of the nature of the linguistic limitations of a race"

This cracks me up. So I can't pay a man a compliment and say he's "well-spoken?" Did I say that "all black players talk like idiots?" Did I say that "all white players speak elegantly?" Look, believe it or not, you're the one here with the racial predjudices, not me. Above, you just made a direct statement that implies that if I say Michael Jordan is well-spoken that somehow I'm a racist. Just because I feel that MJ is a better conversationalist than other players, even white players in no way connotates a racial predjudice.

And here's the clincher: "but I do find your use of urban colloquiallism in your closing both condescending and offensive. :)"

Here's where you've proven that you have the bone to pick. I put it in quotes because it was a direct quote. I don't typically use "off da hook" to describe games, but every single player we've had come in to play this game, be they white, black, Puerto Rican, etc, have all used the term "off da hook." So why is it when I use the term, it is both condescending and offensive? If you have a problem with the term, you should try to cull it at the source, not when it comes from the mouth of someone who is using it after it has already entered the language as common slang.

Stop attempting to find a victim, and start attempting to enjoy the game. I guarantee you, with no equivocations, that there are absolutely zero attempts in the videogame industry, either consciously or subconsciously, to portray black people in any less of a light than any other race. Yes, we make some of them oafish, and loud, and happy go lucky, but we give equal treatment to both sides of the race coin. If we put oafish black people in a game, there are always oafish white people as well. Any observation by you to the contrary would probably be you seeing what you want to see, and not what is actually being put in front of you.

The problem here is that I inititally asked about the portrayal of African American athletes and was under the impression that this was the question you were actually addressing.

You write: "You weren't even listening to my arguments. I didn't say black athletes "hate whitey, wear Sean John, and listen to gangsta rap." I said professional basketball athletes. " I did listen because in the 2 sentences immediately proceeding these you use the phrase "black players" so it would seem to follow that you were still talking about African American athletes.

You also write: "So I can't pay a man a compliment and say he's "well-spoken?" Did I say that "all black players talk like idiots?" I accused you of no such thing, I was making a simple fact known. Another question is this, how often do we hear people say that Caucasian people (athletes or not) are "well-spoken"? The inference here is that he is well spoken while those like him are not. I did not say athletes find it offensive to be called "well-spoken" I did specify African Americans.

And finally, in your original comment you said "Every single one of them (the black professional athletes) that we've had play our game seemed to like it immensely and proclaimed that it was "off da hook." :)" so you were implying that this was a term that was being used by African American players and not all players as you state in your follow up comment.

Obviously, I have offended and this was not my intention. I was simply hoping for a little clarity from someone who works on the hands on level in the industry. As far as my "enjoying the game," I will not simply because I will not buy it if I don't see accurate representations, as I said before I understand that there are player who behave in those ways, but I would like to see the other side of the coin as well. Thanks again for the discussion. This seems to be a point on which we will have to agree to disagree.

I find this discussion immensely intriguing. There is something important happening here - but I can't quite say what. The division on the question of the meaning and power of offense in the phrase "well-spoken" seems to me to reflect the phenomenon on a micro level, so I'd like to make some comment on it based on my limited experience and reasoning faculty.

By way of context and disclaimer, I am a white person - almost literally, as I spend far too much time indoors with the lights out.

On the one hand, "well spoken" is in the general case a positive attribute. It is clearly better to be "well spoken" than not to be. If I were to tell another white person that he or she was "well spoken" I would expect them to understand this to be a compliment, and would be quite surprised if they were offended.

On the other hand, if I were to say that a black person is "well spoken" I would not be surprised to find that they take exception. This is because it can be considered a backhanded compliment to put it lightly. "Well spoken" in this sense means:

"Given that you are a member of an ethnic group that has suffered and continues to suffer from crippling socioeconomic and cultural disadvantages due entirely to the negative bias of white people regarding the color of your skin, you seem to be one of the talented or lucky few who have learned to speak in the manner of the majority ethnic group. It is therefore easy for me to ignore and set aside my unconscious prejudices against your race when dealing with you, and so you are worthy of my attention."

Is that what I mean when I say a black person is "well spoken"? Let's just say that I would very much like for the answer to that question to be an unequivocal "no", but because I am a person with failings this is not the case.

So, where does the contention arise? I may be speaking beyond the bounds of politeness from here on out, but perhaps I am not the only white person who has not, despite the best of intentions, rid him or herself of all unconscious prejudices regarding black people. And perhaps there exist black people who are not willing to look beyond the continued, albeit unconscious and perhaps even denied, prejudice of white people, and understand the good intentions beyond them.

I can easily see how I personally can appear to be a hypocrite to black people. On one hand I claim not to be a racist - on the other hand, I clearly have a lot of misunderstanding, disinclination to socialize, and even fear regarding black people.

I cannot fairly critique the communication between races until I overcome these biases, and this is an ongoing and as far as I can tell neverending process. Therefore, please regard these remarks as observations, deeply colored by the personality of the writer. My humblest apologies for intruding these remarks into a conversation between my intellectual superiors.

Ever the gulf between intent and interpretation widens...

Less talking, more listening.

Well, as the interviewer that seems to have inadvertently jump-started this particular dialogue, I just have to throw my two cents in. I'll keep it short.

As Steve can attest to, having met up with him in LA for the Ballers event, I am a black male - quite comfortable in my skin, if I do say so myself. Having been raised in Canada, I'm also intimately familiar with the intricacies of race relations and the fallout that occurs when well-meaning people say 'the wrong thing'. As a gaming enthusiast, I'm pretty sensitive to the portrayal of people who look like me in games - some characters have been great, others less so - but I'm willing to recognize the progress that's been made.

I played NBA Ballers, extensively. Badgering Steve and his boss relentlessly about the game design and what they were trying to accomplish, to the point where I think he agreed to do the interview if I would just leave him alone for a bit. The game's depiction of the players in the league was pretty well spot-on, and I've interacted with professional athletes of all colours in social settings for nearly 6 straight years.

That said, the best way to change things is from the inside, so if you're not pleased with the depictions of blacks - or any race, for that matter - in gaming, do what I did: quit your job and get into the industry yourself. Scapegoating NBA Ballers for an unrealistic portrayal of the league lifestyle is pretty unfair, in my opinion.

Well, as the interviewer that seems to have inadvertently jump-started this particular dialogue, I just have to throw my two cents in. I'll keep it short.

As Steve can attest to, having met up with him in LA for the Ballers event, I am a black male - quite comfortable in my skin, if I do say so myself. Having been raised in Canada, I'm also intimately familiar with the intricacies of race relations and the fallout that occurs when well-meaning people say 'the wrong thing'. As a gaming enthusiast, I'm pretty sensitive to the portrayal of people who look like me in games - some characters have been great, others less so - but I'm willing to recognize the progress that's been made.

I played NBA Ballers, extensively. Badgering Steve and his boss relentlessly about the game design and what they were trying to accomplish, to the point where I think he agreed to do the interview if I would just leave him alone for a bit. The game's depiction of the players in the league was pretty well spot-on, and I've interacted with professional athletes of all colours in social settings for nearly 6 straight years.

That said, the best way to change things is from the inside, so if you're not pleased with the depictions of blacks - or any race, for that matter - in gaming, do what I did: quit your job and get into the industry yourself. Scapegoating NBA Ballers for an unrealistic portrayal of the league lifestyle is pretty unfair, in my opinion.

Well, as the interviewer that seems to have inadvertently jump-started this particular dialogue, I just have to throw my two cents in. I'll keep it short.

As Steve can attest to, having met up with him in LA for the Ballers event, I am a black male - quite comfortable in my skin, if I do say so myself. Having been raised in Canada, I'm also intimately familiar with the intricacies of race relations and the fallout that occurs when well-meaning people say 'the wrong thing'. As a gaming enthusiast, I'm pretty sensitive to the portrayal of people who look like me in games - some characters have been great, others less so - but I'm willing to recognize the progress that's been made.

I played NBA Ballers, extensively. Badgering Steve and his boss relentlessly about the game design and what they were trying to accomplish, to the point where I think he agreed to do the interview if I would just leave him alone for a bit. The game's depiction of the players in the league was pretty well spot-on, and I've interacted with professional athletes of all colours in social settings for nearly 6 straight years.

That said, the best way to change things is from the inside, so if you're not pleased with the depictions of blacks - or any race, for that matter - in gaming, do what I did: quit your job and get into the industry yourself. Scapegoating NBA Ballers for an unrealistic portrayal of the league lifestyle is pretty unfair, in my opinion.

Holy friggin triple posts, Batman. Sorry, folks.

I think the thing here is that not all of us have to design games, but we should be able to hold an intelligent conversation and work together. I have a day job that I am quite happy with and it often involves looking at race relations and representations in an academic context, my goal with the original post was not to accuse, but to open up a dialogue and learn more. If we don't bring together a variety of different people with different and differing fields of expertise to study things like video games (narratology or ludology) things are going to get very boring.

I think the thing here is that not all of us have to design games, but we should be able to hold an intelligent conversation and work together. I have a day job that I am quite happy with and it often involves looking at race relations and representations in an academic context, my goal with the original post was not to accuse, but to open up a dialogue and learn more. If we don't bring together a variety of different people with different and differing fields of expertise to study things like video games (narratology or ludology) things are going to get very boring.

I think the thing here is that not all of us have to design games, but we should be able to hold an intelligent conversation and work together. I have a day job that I am quite happy with and it often involves looking at race relations and representations in an academic context, my goal with the original post was not to accuse, but to open up a dialogue and learn more. If we don't bring together a variety of different people with different and differing fields of expertise to study things like video games (narratology or ludology) things are going to get very boring.

I think the thing here is that not all of us have to design games, but we should be able to hold an intelligent conversation and work together. I have a day job that I am quite happy with and it often involves looking at race relations and representations in an academic context, my goal with the original post was not to accuse, but to open up a dialogue and learn more. If we don't bring together a variety of different people with different and differing fields of expertise to study things like video games (narratology or ludology) things are going to get very boring.

Once again the triple post. Apologies.

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