Why representation should not matter in video games

With E3 2017 now officially over, social media (once again) is being flooded with people screaming for equal representation in video games. And companies like Microsoft capitulating to these people every whim and in the process segregating the gaming community even further. But then again according to video games journalist my skinny white male gamer as is the problem and that I don’t get to have an opinion. But sarcasm aside why do we need identity politics and equal representation in video games? Video games is a form of escapism and role playing for me, I get to be someone and experience something I ordinarily would not get to experience. And I assume this is true for most other gamers out there.

Personally, I really don’t give a fuck what race or gender a character is in a video game. I cannot remember a single instance in a game yet that has ever made me say, “I don’t like this character so I won’t be playing this game”. Yes, there are video games I don’t want to play because they simply don’t interest me at all, but it has nothing to do with the gender or the color of whoever is playing the protagonist in said video game. You do know what most of us gamers really enjoy? Is when a character is written well and his/her sexual identity is simply an aspect of them, opposed to it being their defining characteristic, to a point where the character is but a walking stereotype. Me personally when I play a story driven video game I identify with characters based on how they act. What choices they make.

Me personally when I play a story driven video game I identify with characters based on how they act, what choices they make, what their motivations are. What their sex and skin color is does not even come into the equation for me. I don’t give a flying fuck if a character is a gender fluid double amputee Eskimo, if I can relate to them on a personal level then I will enjoy the game. I simply cannot fathom the idea of being “represented” by anyone, I am white and male but that does not mean I speak for every single white male out there. So it stands to reason that nobody can represent me but me myself. Even more so when it comes to fictional characters in a virtual world. I don’t base my self-worth on fictional characters in the entertainment industry.

The Social Justice Warrior crowd and video game journalism have been brainwashing gamers into thinking that video games need to represent you as a person or as an ethnic group, news flash no they don’t have to. So instead of judging a video game character on his actions, choices, motivations, these people turn it into what the characters sex and skin color should or shouldn’t be. If you cannot for whatever reason relate to or put yourself in a video game character’s shoes irrespective of their sex or skin color then maybe you are the problem and not video games. And it is odd to me that people who call themselves gamers, would willingly isolate themselves from playing certain types of games due to the character’s sex, race or sexual preference.

You already found a group of people (gamers) who share the same passions and hobbies as yourself, why willingly remove and isolate yourself from that? Having said that I will ALWAYS side with the writers, artists and game designers in the video game diversity debate. If a developer makes a game with a straight white male character, then that is their right. So it is highly unrealistic for the gaming press and the SJW crowd to expect games to conform to their cultural views. Sure they can refuse to buy a game, which they have done in the past. But that still does not change the fact that developers can create whatever game they want without fear of social repercussions attached to that. Some of my favorite games of all time had female characters in them, but stuff like that has never crossed my mind.

[Editorial Note:] What type of, self-absorbed human being is it that watches a movie, reads a book, or plays a game and thinks “wait, where am I in this story?”