Far Cry 4 Developer Downplays Racial Politics

[Marshall Honorof]

Far Cry 4 explores the beautiful landscapes of the Himalayas rather than the region's racial tensions.

Far Cry 4 Developer Downplays Racial Politics : Read more

 

[Bondfc11]

I love the FC series and this one is no exception - having a great time playing - thanks Ubi (even with some of the issues at launch)!

 

[10tacle]

The thought of "racial undertones" never occurred to me until reading the stories out there. I've got a better idea to keep everyone happy: game developers just need to blend all races together into one hypothetical human monolithic melting pot of a people and be done with it for their games. No races, no sexes, nothing. That way, nobody can complain about racism, sexism, or anything else for identity purposes!

 

[Nine Layer Nige]

Somehow I missed the storyline of who I was and why I was there. So much so, that I had to wiki it. This may seem ridiculous, but thats fact (maybe I missed something obvious) and I needed to know to give myself some reason to find interest in the character I was playing. I didnt know the colour of his skin, nor does that mean anything significant to me either as a gamer or as a real person. I guess it might be because I live in the UK and things like that don't seem important anymore.

 

[woodscrews]

personally id rather not be mislead on these issues, theyre the sort of thing that requires you spend a little time to get a good understanding of them, where simply getting one side of the story is not only not good enough, but will probably be a hinderance to any discussion on the matter.

also, as nice as blank slates are, sometimes its good to have a character with an established background, as long as its not ham fisted like bioware characters tend to be, and doesnt try to be condecending to the player.

The thought of "racial undertones" never occurred to me until reading the stories out there. I've got a better idea to keep everyone happy: game developers just need to blend all races together into one hypothetical human monolithic melting pot of a people and be done with it for their games. No races, no sexes, nothing. That way, nobody can complain about racism, sexism, or anything else for identity purposes!

youre a little naiive m8, the kinds of people who usually push this shit into the spotlight will use any excuse, real or imagined, to take a crack at a game that upsets their delecate sensibilities in any way. just look at GTA and australia if you need proof of that.

 

[zaacymay]

"white-skinned intruder of European descent seems quite deliberate"

Are you referring to Pagan Min? He's from Hong Kong. Do you not realise, that people in Asia can also have white skin as well? White skin, does not = European.

Half of my family is asian. My mum is from Hong Kong. One of my cousins studied in England for a while, and hence sounds exactly like Pagan Min does. So no, it is not impossible either for a man from Hong Kong to speak with a British accent. Which I hope you are aware of, because not only Europeans are capable of speaking English.

Your article reeks of you attempting to criticise the game as racist, yet you can't even properly identify the antagonist as being of Asian descent. And frankly, you're assumption that he is European, despite all signs pointing to him not being so, is the only thing about anything you've written that is actually offensive.

 

[jwl3]

Who gives a schit about racial identity politics? Don't we have enough of that today in the news? Will our last bation of escapism (video gaming) be invaded too by left-wing liberal PC zealots?

 

[ABennetton]

"This allowed us to go beyond the research materials we had found," Thompson explained. "We had the chance to experience the culture of that part of the Himalayan region. We trekked on trails, visited remote villages, went to religious festivals in Kathmandu, to ceremonies and temples, and met some incredible characters along the way." - The same Ubisoft that said it was too hard to animate playable female characters and too expensive. It's interesting the way they claim to basically go to the ends of the Earth to make a game but then turn around and pretend they can't represent half the human population. I would love to buy the game and I would if Ubisoft treated female gamers like people.