Misogyny, racism and homophobia: where do video games stand?

[Ohio Joe]

BioWare Montreal's gameplay designer Manveer Heir received a standing ovation for his rousing "Misogyny, Racism and Homophobia: Where Do Video Games Stand?" talk at GDC yesterday.

He challenged the industry to demolish the many stereotypes that exist in video games and accept "a social responsibility to mankind".

"These negative stereotypes affect the identity of individuals in these groups. They affect the way people think and treat others in the real world, and perpetuate the social injustices that occur in these different groups," he said, according to Polygon.

"We should use the ability of our medium to show players the issues first-hand, or give them a unique understanding of the issues and complexities by crafting game mechanics along with narrative components that result in dynamics of play that create meaning for the player in ways that other media isn't capable of."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-03-21-misogyny-racism-and-homophobia-where-do-video-games-stand

I'm pretty sure this:

Is the video of the speech... I've not watched it yet but there it is.

[NuclearDem]

1. Glad to see at least one developer willing to take the lead on this.

For whatever problems Mass Effect had in this field, notably the lack of LGBT characters until ME3 and Jacob being a walking stereotype, BioWare is doing its part.

[uriel1972]

2. I was taken aback by Bioware's insistence

that LGBT is not a part of the STAR WARS universe as an excuse for not doing same sex romance in The Old Republic. It would have been a great step forward and could have made some of the nastier gamers heads explode. A win win on those terms.

I suppose it may have been Lucasarts that made that call, they have a habit of interfering /sigh