Toronto developer’s game tackles racism ‘from the inside looking out’

[Tennis]

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...al-issues.html

It’s another ordinary work day. You roll out of bed and head to the office, when a police officer stops you. “Can I get some identification?” he asks. You stop and comply, or refuse — but either way, the officer logs you into the system for the “next time” anything else occurs.

As you continue on your way, a woman walking toward you shudders and clutches onto her handbag. At work, your boss calls you into his office, telling you to “take it easy for a while,” because you’re making “everyone else look bad” by staying late and working too hard.

These are just a few of the human interactions the user faces when playing An/Other — a first-person video game created by Ryerson University master’s graduate Jordan Sparks for his final thesis project. It’s a “blueprint,” he says, for how games should evolve to “understanding attitudes regarding race in the public consciousness.”

After dedicating several years to researching video games geared to social change, Sparks found a huge deficit in games addressing the experience of racism, even though games with a first-person narrative could be an effective way to gain insight.

At the start of the game, the user is unaware of the character’s identity, but undergoes encounters that evoke feelings of suspicion and fear — being followed while shopping at a grocery store, for example, or being carded by police officers.

“Whenever you try to get people to relate to the idea of racial issues, they tend to dismiss it and see colour as something exclusive or that it doesn’t exist,” Sparks says. Instead, video games with a first-person narrative allow players to undergo encounters from the “inside looking out.”

It isn’t until the end of the game, when the character returns home, that the camera pans to reveal the identity of the player — a black man. Sparks has found that perspective to be rare; in his research, he discovered the majority of users playing in a first-person narrative assumed their character was white and male.

“I wanted to remove identity from the equation, allowing people to understand it from a human perspective,” Sparks says. “I want the player to know that even in these mundane, everyday situations, people of colour will find simple tasks … are made more complicated just because of the colour of their skin or background.”

In his initial iterations while refining his thesis topic, Sparks had the idea of An/Other at the back of his mind, but was nervous about pursuing it. “I had a lot of difficulty choosing my topic; at first I wasn’t on board with it, because it’s difficult to tackle something like race in a game.”

It was only after he had pitched the idea to professors and began thinking about his own encounters with racism that he overcame those doubts and decided to give it shot.

“This game is inspired by my own collective experience, but it is not solely about me, and not even specifically about being black,” he says.

Since launching the game, Sparks has tested it out with several players and found the reaction to be surprisingly positive and rewarding.

“People who played it were very interested in suddenly talking about the issues they faced in the game, or things they were confused about. That’s what I wanted,” he says. “I want people to start thinking about these issues, not ignore them or believe they don’t exist.”

We need more video game creators to think like this! Enough of the pointless first person shooters. Time to make video games that inspire change.

[Vapo]

Sounds awfully boring game.

[Daerio]

We need more video game creators to think like this! Enough of the pointless first person shooters. Time to make video games that inspire change.

It needs to be a good game on its own merit; otherwise it's just pandering.

I'm not interested in playing a game just because it's about racism or sexism. Nobody is. That tends to be the problem with these little social justice "projects" - they're preaching to the choir. (Other SJWs)

At work, your boss calls you into his office, telling you to “take it easy for a while,” because you’re making “everyone else look bad” by staying late and working too hard.

Cringe. That's some bad writing.

[Kathandira]

I applaud this man for creating a game that he wants to see out there. This is exactly what people should be doing. Not demanding that already existing franchises conform to their views, but instead create a game that they want to see.

Don't force others to conform to your ways, create something of your own. Be the change you want to see in the world.

[Hotto Pantsu]

Sounds awfully boring game.

True that. I wonder if the name of that game is Victim Olympics.

[Belize]

Sounds awfully boring game.

Depression Quest 2.0

Tries tackling a "deep" subject, ends up boring as fuck.

[Gamdwelf]

I don't think racism is pervasive as you think it is.

Also put whitey in their place if they are being racist.

[Sandraudiga]

Sounds like he needs to fuck off. Games succeed or fail on their own merits, not on whether they push an ideology.

[Medusa Cascade]

Needs a white person option to be more inclusive

[Kraenen]

Cringe. That's some bad writing.

Not to mention it has nothing to do with racism

This game basically serves to feed into paranoid racists' victim complex.

[Deleted]

Man this has the potential to be milked harder then the FNAF series. Think of all the DLC and sequels that could spawn

gotta love that Persona 4 text box similarity.

[Kathandira]

Sounds like he needs to fuck off. Games succeed or fail on their own merits, not on whether they push an ideology.

I don't believe he should 'fuck off'. The game he wants to create has meaning, which is great. More people should be encouraged to do this. Though, like you said, "Games succeed or fail on their own merits". If this is a fun and engaging game, then it will sell. If it is literally just a documentary on racism which is not fun to play, it will fail miserably.

Him doing this is 1000x better than the SJW's demanding change to games they had no hand in creating.

[Daerio]

Not to mention it has nothing to do with racism

This game basically serves to feed into paranoid racists' victim complex.

I get the feeling they're trying to portray him as a hard-working black man to fight the stereotype.

But like I said, that's incredibly shitty writing.

[Belize]

Needs a white person option to be more inclusive

I was hoping for Latino, or Native-American.

This game sounds racist as crap to only include one ethnicity.

[Kathandira]

I was hoping for Latino, or Native-American.

This game sounds racist as crap to only include one ethnicity.

Depends on how you look at it. Each different race/culture does have it's own unique discrimination, but there there is also general discrimination towards people of color. If he is aiming it at the general discrimination, then it doesn't matter which non-white race he is. Which you only find out at the end of the game. Up until then, it is supposed to be ambiguous.

[Gamdwelf]

Depends on how you look at it. Each different race/culture does have it's own unique discrimination, but there there is also general discrimination towards people of color. If he is aiming it at the general discrimination, then it doesn't matter which non-white race he is. Which you only find out at the end of the game. Up until then, it is supposed to be ambiguous.

Meh not really overall depends on where you live I feel like than anything else.

[Kathandira]

Meh not really overall depends on where you live I feel like than anything else.

Agreed. World wide, discrimination varies.

[Tennis]

I don't think racism is pervasive as you think it is.

Also put whitey in their place if they are being racist.

Prove it then. Should be easy.

[Gamdwelf]

Agreed. World wide, discrimination varies.

Like growing up in so cal and now living in Nebraska it's really super hard to relate to blm type movements because that stuff just doesn't seem to happen where I've lived.

Not everywhere is as shitty as Chicago or Baltimore etc.

[Kraenen]

Depends on how you look at it. Each different race/culture does have it's own unique discrimination, but there there is also general discrimination towards people of color. If he is aiming it at the general discrimination, then it doesn't matter which non-white race he is. Which you only find out at the end of the game. Up until then, it is supposed to be ambiguous.

Actually what would've been great is if you never find out and it's left to the imagination. Gives the story/game more universality, more humanity, and greater impact.

Side note, why do people still use this phrase 'people of color'? Seems condescending towards whites. Also isn't white technically all the colors combined?