Kotaku
That's what Kotaku reader Alejandro says on his 1Up page. LocoRoco looks to be the most interesting PSP game, since, well, Lumines. And while the game's creator might have stated he wanted to make a "happy game because there's too many 3D shooting game", Alejandro says that the game's anatagonists smack of blackface. Dubbed Mojya Corps, these dreadlock-like brown characters attack LocoRoco's peaceful world. He blogs:
Some countries such as Japan (where LocoRoco was developed) do not have significant Black populations and so Blackface images can come about without any criticsm. The images are also then okay to be labeled as the enemy or even serve as representations of Black characters in general, despite the racist images they perpetuate. That and I hear that Japan is just a very racist culture.
That's a big can of worms we're playing with here. Japan does not have a significant black population when compared to many Western countries. And for obvious reasons, the country lacks the same history of racism against black people. Koreans, Chinese and Burakumin, yes definitely, but not black people.
So, putting this in a Western framework can get sticky. Is it offensive to Americans or Europeans? Probably. What about Japanese folks? Maybe not. Those Little Black Sambo type books are still sold in Japanese bookstores, so this kind of character won't raise that many eyebrows. Then again, we're not just making video games for Japan, are we?
More Here [Alejandro's 1Up page]
Comments
They changed the character Hamm in Bust a Groove for the PS. He had huge black lips in the Japanese version but they shrunk them down in the US. They changed a ton in that game actually.
If that was true every video game out there can be called racist. It's people like these who make problems for everyone. Perfect person who makes trouble by instigated stupidty.
all i know is that ALLLLL black people have dreads....
I hate it when people go over the top about rasism. Oooh, a black person had a gun in a game! STEREOTYPICAL RASISM! Oooh, the enemy is a black person! GAME MAKERS WANT TO KILL BLACKS! RASISM! Over the top bollocks in my opinion.
I know nothing about the game so I have no opinion either way but he IS right about one thing, Japan IS and extremely xenophobic racist culture. Ask any US serviceman who has been stationed there about the "no roundeyes" signs at many pubs and other adult oriented venues. Also, with afew exceptions (Ipod etc) Japan will NOT buy western produced hardgoods or food products deeming them "inferior". Unfortunately the only people who get labled as being racist are WASP's. As Dennis Miller once said: "I am a white, anglo-saxon male......I'm everybodies asshole".
Why all of a sudden attacking Loco Roco with a vaguely racist character? Did ANYONE attack Mega Man Powered Up, with Oilman, who is basically a ROBOT TAR BABY WHO BREAKDANCES?!
Bollocks indeed. This is a great exmple of wanting to prove to the world that you "care" by searching for racism in all the wrong places. The trouble isn't that the Japanese are insensitive...the problem is that Americans are OVER sensitive. Making fun of blacks is probably the furthest thing from the minds of these Japanese game developers. What the hell do they even care? Unlike Americans, Japanese don't go around constantly thinking about racism and searching everywhere for it. The ideas that came about when creating this game were most likely devoid of any racial influnce at all...their intentions and thought process, I'm sure, are far more pure. It's almost like accusing a 2 year old child of racism for coloring in a face with a black crayon.
When I saw the post title, I thought the reacism refered to the the yellow blob, you know, sayig all chinese people are fat or something.
Yes, yes. That's racism, alive and well. Unlike 50 Cent: Bulletproof, where the black protagonist runs around shooting rich old white men. What could be more right-thinking and progressive than that?
Is this offensive? No /case closed
http://www.cartelia.net/fotos/b/bamboozled.jpg
I'd say that the game also promotes male rape. Look at what the big yellow thing's doing in that picture.
I've seen the (almost) full game, and let me tell you - there's, in fact, a black LocoRoco (good character) as well. He has the same face as Moyja, only has different haircut. By the way, doesn't the game offend the Jews as well?Moyja sound oh-too-similar to Moisha, typical Jewish name, and it also makes note of the Moyja's greed.
I believe this art isn't from the game, but a mock-up (by Alejandro?). There are no watermelons in LocoRoco, as far as I know, and the art style differs notably.
This game is racist, its the fight between asian and black culture (yellow blobs and black dreadlock wearing spiders)... where is the white representation? Damn racists, us whites are left out again.... (the above statement is pure satire, and meant to offend NO ONE, it is a joke, take it as that)
Over the top bollocks in my opinion.
Agreed Draconis. Some people really need to take a pill. We could go on about the Italians and Mario, Pizza and Pacman, Chinese and Rag Doll Kung fu and so on.
i'd rather hear complaints about the over the top racism in hip-hop...people seriously need to start shutting the hell up and looking at the ridiculousness of racism
stupid keyboard, the above wont make any sense, just ignore it.
"Koreans, Chinese and Burakumin, yes definitely, but not black people." what?!?! how can they tell each other apart??? They all look the same To Me! Just kidding... Americans are very racist, since they consider every skin color as your background and pass judgement on your way of living. How can americans be so NAIVE?? even the black people consider themselves different, and even superior to whites, and both races are offensive to midterranians like mexicans and arabs. Most say nothing about asians, because the american asian stereotype is that japanese=rich, korean=middle class, chinese= business.
you're not from america, are you? wolrd 5 and still no watermellons. it was pretty obvious from the get-go that it was a fake picture.
This guy would *love* 'Gish', a game where one plays a ball of tar. More specifically, a *black* ball of tar, portrayed as a rather nasty character.
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