First, I didn’t say that everything made on Unreal was violent, I said it was “bad-ass;” then I parced that to mean either macho, violent, or epic. I also skip over the discussion of violence in video games, because it’s boring. I agree that some sort of physical contact is present in *almost* every video game; this discussion is boring, I skipped over it, so give me a break.

Second, I do realize that black people work for Epic. I mention that the game is wildly popular with black gamers. But there’s a nice tradition in the American entertainment industry of co-opting black labor to create racist content. Read a book on African American Cinema. “Picking up on current trends in society” is covered when I mention that just because other forms of media embed stereotypes, it doesn’t mean that video game companies have to. I also mention that the macho nature of the character models applies to the white protagonist as well; so that means I still think the depiction of their bodies is troubling even when they’re white.

The Hegemony of Play that I assume you’re referring to as “propaganda” and “brainwash” isn’t about conspiracy theory or politics of any kind. It’s simply a trend in marketing and bankrolling that forces video game content creators to incorporate racist and sexist material. You have no proof that I would have complained if there were no black people in the game. What I will complain and continue to write about are tokens and stereotypes, and I’ll praise the first game coming through the pipe featuring a stringy black intellectual with glasses as the protagonist.

First, I have to take exception that anything made with Unreal Engine can be wholesale labeled as violent or anything else. Couldn’t we say that 95% of games that are released now have something to do with violence? Even Audiosurf is about violently ramming your little racer into colored blocks, and in World of Goo you can terrorizingly drop sentient goo blobs from dozens of meters up in the air! Gimme a break, please

Second, I have to expect that you don’t realize that a number of employees at Epic are black, and, in fact, one of the lead character designers on Gears of War was black (I assume he is also working on Gears 2). If anything, I think Augustus COLE was stereotypical in the sense that he played football at some point, was in the military and had “rough” language.

However, I don’t see this as anything more than picking up current trends in society. If I was making a game about a group of military veterans and I wanted to add some diversity in there, would I add an esteemed, glasses wearing, grammar-frenetic, stringy black person? I think it’s only logical that a gruff, mean and bulky character could have played football.

As far as his character goes, it could equally apply to anyone (and frankly, the points you have made apply to both Cole and Baird, I’m not sure why you’ve chosen to summarily apply them to the black guy).

To me, your post seems like nothing more than an attempt to find racism wherever it may or may not be. It’s no different than thinking every movie about a particular societal trend is pushing propaganda, or that every novel on a subject is trying to brainwash you into believing what the author believes. In this case, someone wanted to add a character that was kind of mean, tough and bulky. The guy could have been white and it wouldn’t have changed anything except that his skin would have been a different color and you’d have another race issue to complain about (that there are no black people in the game).