-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Jewish representation in games, or lack thereof
- Thread starter DiipuSurotu
- Start date
- Status
Too bad he got his head caved inJohnny Klebitz - GTA IV The Lost and the Damned
Man, that scene really stuck with me. Such a brutal way to send off a character and then you proceed to play the shithead who did it.
Most historical accounts do not support the notion that Jews were ever widely enslaved in Egypt.
Can I ask how the guy with an Italian name who speaks with a stereotypical New York Italian accent and references his Nonna is obviously meant to be a Jew?
All historical and archaeological evidence points to this being total fiction. There's no evidence Israelites were in Egypt at that supposed time, let alone as slaves, an institution that really wasn't much of a thing in ancient Egypt. Especially on the scale Exodus describes.
And that's why you don't do drugs. Unless you're Trevor.
Are jews a big minority group? Serious question.
There's a lot of big minority groups that are barely ever represented in gaming, let alone smaller ones or non-american minorities, and even then they don't get much representation.
There's a lot of big minority groups that are barely ever represented in gaming, let alone smaller ones or non-american minorities, and even then they don't get much representation.
Dammit, I wish I made this post.Jesus Christ has a cameo in Xenosaga Episode III when Shion experiences the memories of Mary Magdalene.
Shoshanna from The Darkness II. A little too on the nose for my tastes.
Ugh, what a trash game from the amazing first one.
Shoshanna from The Darkness II. A little too on the nose for my tastes.
The fact that they need to write her name in that font just to signify that she's Jewish is something.
We need more representation of everyone, frankly. The first Assassin's Creed holds a special place in my heart for being the only game I've personally played where Arabs are featured prominently and aren't the bad guys or painted in a relatively unfavorable light next to their European neighbors.
With every fiber of my being, I never thought I'd see a post like this in this thread lol.Jesus Christ has a cameo in Xenosaga Episode III when Shion experiences the memories of Mary Magdalene.
Yes, those are certainly words that form a real sentence.
Already said but you can't beat Terror-Billy.
Indeed, antisemitism long predates the concept of racialized chattel slavery or the modern concept of race by centuries.
They need more south-asians that aren't bunched with middle-eastern or being muslim or "indian".
Muslims are about 20 % the world population and i can't think of one muslim main protagonist in a game. I don't think it's really a jewish issue more than a global trend to not include minorities in games. Very recently we're seeing positive (but limited) changes.
Also, giving the absolute lack of arabic translation of 99 % games, i really doubt that sales in the islamic world have any kind of role here. Furthermore ,if games likes CoD were you basically bombing and killing your own people are selling very well in those countries, i don't think that having a jewish protagonist will be an issue sell-wise.
Also, giving the absolute lack of arabic translation of 99 % games, i really doubt that sales in the islamic world have any kind of role here. Furthermore ,if games likes CoD were you basically bombing and killing your own people are selling very well in those countries, i don't think that having a jewish protagonist will be an issue sell-wise.
Last edited:
Most muslims and jews live outside Israel and the arab world you know ?
I don't think they would ban/boycott a game because of Jewish protagonist. Many movies have jewish characters and they do well in Muslim countries. They have a problem with the country Israel, not the Jews themselves.
Yes. It was racialized for centuries, so you can be jew, non-israeli and atheist.
Seems to be some antisemitism right here in this thread, which is disturbing and drives home the reasons behind lack of representation. It's been literally thousands of years, but hopefully we are approaching a future where Jewish actors don't have to change their names, and Jewish characters have better positive representation in games.
I made the Italian characters thread, but I can actually make 25% claim to this thread as well through a Russian Jewish grandmother! I had no idea Otacon was Jewish. Cool!
I made the Italian characters thread, but I can actually make 25% claim to this thread as well through a Russian Jewish grandmother! I had no idea Otacon was Jewish. Cool!
This is another really cool thing I didn't know. I don't often hear about the contributions of Jewish people to our industry, but I would certainly love to!
You know, back in my day, a post was considered to be a reply to the OP, which you would have already read.
Last edited:
That's a pretty small population then. Still I'm all for Jews, or any non-white group of people, getting more representation in video games.
Interesting (although I doubt, at least in case of Arabs, accurate), but not an answer to my question?
We were speaking about muslims, not arabs. Most game developers live in very multicultural countries, yet the games they produce don't reflect this diversity. Why ?
Arab world population is ~400 million. Muslims are ~1.8 billion. Most of them are not even Arabs.
Very obscure fact but Doomguy is Jewish. Gordon Freeman is jewish. Sonic the Hedgehog is Jewish. And Turok the Dinosaur Hunter is jewish.
Prince of Persia, depending on what time period the game is set.
Altair in the first Assassin's Creed kiiiiiind of? He's from a Muslim family but clearly isn't a practicing Muslim.
There was a cheesy Uncharted clone I bought on Steam called Unearthed that has a large Muslim cast, including the player character. Hardly a high profile game, though.
Not trying to say Muslims are represented properly or enough, just wanted to note a few in case you were interested.
I'm totally aware that anti semitism exists but I don't think it's the reason for the lack of representation at all. Honestly, most Jewish people look white (at least in my country they are considered white people) and you would have to identify them by their surnames. You would almost always have to bring into the story something to show their heritage, because they basically don't visually stand out as minority.
And if the game doesn't have a thematic that touches the subject directly, like religion or racism, the way you would bring that into story could look stereotypical or done for the sake of "here, we have a Jewish character" like the Shoshanna talked above.
The Jewish characters I remember now:
Bruno Levine and Isaac, from Mafia II:
And if the game doesn't have a thematic that touches the subject directly, like religion or racism, the way you would bring that into story could look stereotypical or done for the sake of "here, we have a Jewish character" like the Shoshanna talked above.
The Jewish characters I remember now:
Bruno Levine and Isaac, from Mafia II:
anti-semitism is not blurred as a concept. it's prejudice against Jews. that's quite clear, actually. people intentionally blur anti-semitism all the time for various reasons, however, but the concept itself is not blurred at all. also you shouldn't conflate all Jewish people with the state of Israel. that happens all the time too and it's not ok. edit: to be clear I was not accusing you of conflating all Jewish people with the state of Israel, you brought it up and it's an important thing to speak on. wanted to make that clear.
What qualifies as antisemitism?
I think you've misinterpreted me. I said antisemitism is blurred as a concept today. Meaning that many people see the israeli state and jews as the same and hate them both under the banner as antisemitism even though they can be diametrically opposed(see J Street). I also meant that people cry antisemitism when people criticize the israeli state as if it was an attack on the jewish people itself, when that is also not really the actual case.
The term antisemitism and what and why people hate and what they hate is all mixed up.
Last edited:
OP
OP
Actually Sonic is a Muslim, because he gotta go fast every year for one month
Checking, wiki, the US, largest melting pot that there is, has 3 million muslim people out of 300 million population. Maybe not many of those are in gamedev, so they are not pushing for the representation? I don't know.
I know that there are no games with Czech (my country) protagonist either, and since nobody else is going to make it, one local studio (Warhorse) decided to do it and make a game about our country and history.
Ok? Still does not answer my question. Are there any games from muslim majority countries or Israel that would make it internationally?
I'd also like to see this question answered. Thread seems pretty tame and respectful thus far.
Yeah i remember this clone, about Altair i was thinking about this but i think that AC main protagonists are more like masons in belief, especially Ezio en AC 2 about what he said when he kill somebody.
I think in America they were recognized as a race for legal purposes but they are a religion. Anyone can become one, there are blacks, asians who are jews, just as there are black, asian and white muslims, or catholics etc.
Then what does that make Sammy Davis Jr.? Mixed race because he converted to Judaism? No, he's black.
France is about 10 % muslims, UK is 5 %.
Also giving the place of jewish community in the US/Western cultural history, it's indeed weird that they are not that much represented.
Last edited:
That last forum was horrendous at times. I'm not a religious person but cringe every time I would see Jesus F'n Christ and it was so common there. It's just so damn disrespectful to so many people.
It's a race in the sense it's not only a religious group, if you convert to judaism you're not ethnically jewish in the sense that if after that you become atheist, you're not jewish anymore.
- Status