In The Gaming World: Black Girls Can Game, Too....

[DaPrincess007]

Black female professional gamer here! I play ol skool and new games too! Please check out my channel! :D

[lolomay1]

all GIRLS can game :D and we LOVE it :D <3

[kuunami]

The only solution to this issue is for a successful black owned development team to emerge in the gaming industry. A company like naughtydog for example is owned and run by white people. White and Japanese game developers will always naturally focus on people who they can more easily relate to when it comes to main characters. Although, the Japanese seem to represent whites more then themselves. So the real solution is more

A)game designers and programmers

B)A black owned development team

[dbananza11]

this makes sense.. yer avatar is someone you spend loads of time with, they have to be something you can relate to!!

[JustJen95]

There aren't that many girls in games in general (as a lead character). So to find a black female as a lead character in a game is going to be twice as rare.

[PlatinumGeist]

Putting a Black female in a game is one thing, the game actually being an awesome game is a completely separate matter altogether. It doesn't matter how original a character is, or how interesting their story is; if the gameplay is crappy no one cares. In order for there to be a popular Blk female character she would have to star in a successful game that has great gameplay and at least decent story. Blk characters are few, because there are relatively few Blk people in the gaming industry.

[WellDamn24]

Have you thought about doing a script for a game that focuses on a Black female character? Since you're a gamer you can make it the kind of story you'd want to see. I don't know how the game industry works, but maybe you can sell it to a gaming company and be a consultant for them.

[TheSoulOfADream]

Yeah i kinda noticed there aren't many black female characters that take an important role in the plot of the game but I think resident evil 5 DOES have (from what I know, because I haven't done any research) like Sheva, who is your partner in the whole game who is also a main character is a black female character and from Africa (I believe, I don't know). That's probably the first black female character to break the shell from racism in video games.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@TheSoulOfADream I agree! But, even she was hit my japanese racism. He features are not of black woman and her skin very light. I love my light skin girls because my mom and sister are little light, but the Japanese don't make MANY wide open black characters and they never call them black most of the time. They are considered "Tan".

[TheSoulOfADream]

@EssenceOfTruth Oh that's right, good point.

[tag1989]

@EssenceOfTruth IM A BLACK GAMER!! IM KILLZONE 2 LEGEND! no joke.

[ShePlaysIt]

@EssenceOfTruth I think the Japanese people don't make more black characters not because they're racist, but because it's part of their culture. There aren't too many black Japanese people. I know a guy who's black and has lived in Japan for 15 years. He's never received controversy over his skin color, it was just the fact that he was foreign...they don't really like foreigners no matter what race or gender. But it's been that way in Japan for centuries.

[therunningbackclub]

@TheSoulOfADream black gamers (.) net

[WealthAmateur]

@TheSoulOfADream don't wory, sweetheart, cool site for black gamers: blackgamers . net/ forum

[tomotombo]

hey do u play ps3 or 360???

[EssenceOfTruth]

@tomotombo I play both! I own both systems.

[psylocke77]

@EssenceOfTruth: Yes lord, speak on it. You said what i could find to say. We need positive black characters to relate to us and defy the stereotypes. Yes, that's what I've been trying to say but didn't know how to explain. Yes! thank you. Don't worry, I'm a sophomore at a university majoring in animation. My sole reason is becoming an animator is because I love animation and we need diversity. Especially African Americans being that I'm black. You can count on me to get the job done.

[shanteluv09]

this is so true omg i asked my friend about that i am a gamer to and i said why isn't there more black people in general in more rpg games and etc i love how you said that i mean i love to play all different types of games but i think also as a black female i would like to see the same thing

[DavidSkinner95]

Faith! It made me so happy when you said that, she is amazing. I'm a runner at heart :) Though I was hoping you were going to say Elena Fisher, I wasn't disappointed lol you kind of described her too

[EssenceOfTruth]

@DavidSkinner95 Dont worry! She was on my mind too when I was doing this video. lol!

[brucenatelee]

The only Black females I can think of (not counting San Andreas; never really played it) are Jade and Tanya from Mortal Kombat, Vanessa from Virtua Fighter, La Mariposa from Dead or Alive, Sheva Alomar from Resident Evil 5, Alyx from Half Life 2, and Crying Wolf in Metal Gear Solid 4. Take note that unless you play these games, and only three isn't a fighting game, most don't know who these chicks are.

[brucenatelee]

@brucenatelee I should have mentioned Fran from Final Fantasy XII, since she has dark skin and more of an African look than any other race.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@brucenatelee I know who ever single one of those ladies are. Every last one of them. But, I think you missed what I was targeting. I was saying that we need a black female character that has reached the pedestals of Lara, Michelle, heck, Chun-Li for that matter. Sheva was suppose to be IT, but she couldn't even do that because she wasn't promoted like the rest. That's what I was trying to say.

[brucenatelee]

@EssenceOfTruth Yeah, I know. It just sucks that these are the only Black females (and La Mariposa from Dead or Alive) that some of us know of and they aren't at that level. There is one game for the PS2 that wasn't successful, but very well respected from the media with a woman infiltrating some place and uses a camera. Can't remember what it's called, but she was medium-dark skinned. I thought that her, Alyx, and Sheva were the closest ones. Hell, there's really few Blacks, Latinos, NA, etc.

[tomotombo]

@brucenatelee what about mvc series storm. storm was one of the best characters on the entire game of marvel vs capcom 2. she is top tier character.

[possession2]

Black people play computers, i thought they just stole them...ha ;D

[ownedufoo2]

@possession2 You're not funny, you're not original and you're not worth the time. Stfu.

[possession2]

@ownedufoo2 If ime not worth the time, don't reply to a comment i made 4 days ago, my niggaaaaar.

[brucenatelee]

@possession2 Well, it's not the same as stealing land from an entire race and killing them off, right?

[possession2]

@brucenatelee What like blacks have done to whites in Zimbabwe?

[klman4]

i agree with ya 100% i mean i hate when black charaters in games are side kicks and even if they had they own game most game comps will make them more stereo type insted of normal foe EX: take a look at Zack in DOA the made him look like an westly snipes reject i was like WTF man alest make him more normal then a pimp looking guy bu theres other guys i give props to is Afro Samurai and CJ and Jax and mabey Drebben other than thay no way >_< tust me im black i can tell an rip off and not one

[nyagemini23]

I agree u don't see a lot of black female characters in video games or comics and so on and so forth.

[lovelygirly06]

I this vid is old but I totally agree. Iam a black girl gamer and I love my ps2,pc,and wii.

[ladyhenna5]

I'm a black girl and I've been playing warcraft since I was a kid. I love warcraft 2 I hate the new ones. When warcraft 3 came out I hated it. My whole family plays warcraft and we're all black.

[emarine]

@ladyhenna5

I'm a black wow gamer as well. =D

[billohneekitty06]

I am also a black female gamer and I am not afraid to say it.. I feel the same way you do lol when I say I'm black it's like wow your not black girls don't play video or "I don't consider you black cause you play video games" WTF we are rare and I wish they wood make a good black female character to play

[princesselushia]

I'M A BLACK GAMER AND I"M PROUD OF IT...20 YEARS OF IT..CHECK OUT MY CHANNEL...:)

So, it's good to see black gamers play video games :D

Check my vids out if ya don't believe me

[EssenceOfTruth]

@princesselushia Thanks for sharing! But, why would I not believe you? lol. And you don't have to "shout" at me. ^___~*

[princesselushia]

@EssenceOfTruth naw I just like put words in big caps and i was multitasking...if i offend you, im sorry..im just like that :D

[EssenceOfTruth]

@princesselushia Heheh! You didnt offend me. It's cool beans!

[princesselushia]

naw i didn't yell...i just like to put words in big caps so..if i did offend u sorry :D

[luciano9009]

Good vid; not that many black girls aren't into gaming, I don't know why, but I love to game.

Are you into fighting games?

[EssenceOfTruth]

@luciano9009 I sure am! But, I am more of a strategy-adventure-thirdperson­shooter-racer-simulation person. Well, with racing, its always been mario kart, and now Modnation Racers (I bought it at midnight this morning!). So, besides racing, its more of everything else. But, with fighting games, I am a HUGE fan of King of Fighters, Tekken Series, and Mortal Kombat. And I do own Capcom Vs SNK 2.

[luciano9009]

@EssenceOfTruth Me too, I love strategy-adventure games, but fighting games are my heart. Capcom Vs SNK great.

You're awesome;

[Glentina428]

@EssenceOfTruth Are you a fan of The Legend of Zelda games? Because I'm a black gamer, and I rarely know any black girls that play the series.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@Glentina428 Yep! But, my sister is a BIGGER fan!

[Glentina428]

@EssenceOfTruth Wow that's awesome! Please tell me that you played Ocarina of Time because that's one of the greatest Zelda games of all time. :D 

[EssenceOfTruth]

@luciano9009 But, I have dabbled in a number of racing games. I love need for speed series and definitely crazy taxi! lol!

[Aspicedoll]

Thanks for another great video and topic. Girl, I've been playing games since the Atari. And like you, my big brother is responsible for my gaming. (Smile) I've been lacking in the consoles, I'm more a PC Gamer now.

[TheEntertainers]

09:09 You're right, it was stupid of people to associate her character with technical mishaps. But, many liked who she was just fine, but hated her because of her technical mishaps. 11:55 12:15 I think admitted that you liked it when your men were good looking. 16:06 I don't think they were ever scared to make a black princess. By at least the 90s, I'm sure Disney wouldn't have been boycotted for having a black princess. If the Princess and the Toad came out only because of Obama... that dumb.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@TheEntertainers I'll tell ya, it's eerie how he was sworn in at the beginning of the year, and Princess and the frog closed out the year in december. lol. But, alot of the things dealing with interracial has always been out, but sort of over looked. Now, where ever I go, I see movies, magazines, all over the place dealing with interracial love. It's almost as it's been ok'd to make noise about...just my observation.

[fatumaj]

I agree with you totally>>> I love sheva. I just hope they develop her character more. i am a black female gamer and Im a 3d artist... I plan to create my own version of a black female character soon.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@fatumaj That is AMAZING! Do you have any of your work up to show? I would love to see what all you have done!

[kkelvin100]

i really enjoyed this whit whit!! ^_^

[EssenceOfTruth]

@kkelvin100 Aww, thank you! I know I rambled on but I had to get it all out. LOL! Thank you for watching as long as you did!

[patnchrisnmary]

And BET is not good! They have the "hoochies" who are black women, dancing half naked and junk. Show some respect.

[patnchrisnmary]

I was going to mention Storm. You beat me to it. The Girl from Tekken, Nina Williams? The thing about the Resident Evil girl is that she is light-skinned. Which is another stereotype! I totally agree with you! This is a GOOD topic, and in due time there might be a female character! And Obama is used as an excuse, but the Princess and the Frog was in develoment since 2007! but It took a while to bring her out. And there are many stereotypes when it comes to movies like that.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@patnchrisnmary Yeah, I know! I was following it, but Barack was on the scene in 07, too, and he was making BIG progress in collecting people. So, I am sure that played a part. Almost as if they predicted him being in office....O___o* Ya know?

[huggznkxssez]

This kind of hit me because I had a guy tell me just the other day that he thought i was unique in the fact that I was a BLACK girl gamer & he admitted that black female gamers are rare.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@huggznkxssez So, I knew I wasn't totally crazy. LOL! Other people are amazed by that.

[pinkaddiction13]

oh right!! also in the phoenix wright character they have a black girl named "lotta hart" i LOVE her but unfortunately in the game nobody likes her because shes obnoxious and loud and demanding : ( i love her afro though sooo glad they went with an afro instead of straighening her hair!!

[EssenceOfTruth]

@pinkaddiction13 I am not a fan of the afro and giving her that means that she hasn't progressed since the 70's. I'd rather her have natural hair or permed hair, so long as she looks modern. lol!

[pinkaddiction13]

@EssenceOfTruth or braids like the characters in avatar.lol

[psylocke77]

@EssenceOfTruth: One thing I do with my black female characters is give them natural hair. I'm not of fan of perm hair, weave, ext, only natural hair. They will either have long hair, short, medium, wild, professional but it will be natural.

[pinkaddiction13]

i like this but how can we expect more black female game characters when black women are sooo negatively portrayed in TV and movies constantly.on top of that are hardly even in movies and tv unless its tyler perry.lmfao

like i mentioned before most male gamers are also into anime and have an asian fetish

[EssenceOfTruth]

@pinkaddiction13 Well, throwing the idea out there expecting someone to do something doesn't help. You have to make it happen and I plan to do that with my videos. I plan to make the voice loud and clear.

[pinkaddiction13]

OMG I LOVE THIS!!!!! i'm a black gamer has been since the grey nintendo and always will be :))))))) i am soo glad there are more of us around especially The Sims lovers! WOOHOO!

[EssenceOfTruth]

@pinkaddiction13 Heheh! I still have my systems. LOL!

[pinkaddiction13]

@EssenceOfTruth you are my new favorite youtuber in the world!!!!

[MzDeeSoSweet08]

sideNOTe: Laura Croft will always b my girl tan or not lol

[MzDeeSoSweet08]

Just Tan ! lol so true... its almost like playing with white barbies with blonde hair... as a child, Until someone speaks up and companies acknoledge us as apart of the "market" well be over looked. nicE vid...

[pinkaddiction13]

@MzDeeSoSweet08 SO TRUE! except for the fact that there is a black female in the resident evil 5 game and in left 4 dead 2. definitely not enough but unfortunately most guys who play videogames 99% of the time love anime and have an asian fetish soooo.. yah

[EssenceOfTruth]

@MzDeeSoSweet08 Exactly. Like I said, we have our eye candy with the guys. Like Nathan Drake, I don't care what no one says, that is a BLACK MAN with pretty ivory skin. lol! Nathan, they way he talks in the game, looks like a guy who would look good with a black woman by his side. lol! That sounds so wrong, but he looks like he can handle it. LOL.

[Danifevah]

@EssenceOfTruth Omg Nathan Drake from Uncharted?! Lololol! I was thinkin the same thing!

[EssenceOfTruth]

@Danifevah Yes! Good ole Nate! He looks like the kind of guy that looks good with "brown" on, you know what I mean? lol!

[whatisavail09]

yeah we are probably under represented, if black females like us aren't making games, characters like us won't be in the games. It also has to do with gender... the men who makes these games want to appeal to horny teenage boys and they don't have a problem objectifying women to make money! So girl I feel you:D! there are probably lots of people who feel the same way you do ... maybe you can be the catalysts:)

[EssenceOfTruth]

@whatisavail09 Judging from the blogs I wrote about this, alot of none white males feel the way I do and an equal amount of black males do, too.

[samuraichamploo12]

i use to think that when i was younger too, not many black females in games and in anime....

[andrewtokyo12]

you know what i think i am going to make my own superheroine in the sims to what you think they should look like i and i will be sure to post it when i am done

[EssenceOfTruth]

@andrewtokyo12 Please, do! I would love to see what she looks like!

[nashewilura]

LOL love ya girl.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@nashewilura lol! Love ya, too! ^_____^*

[wowvent]

hey essenceoftruth do you play world of warcraft, if not, you should try it. it's the best MMO game online. nice vdeo

[EssenceOfTruth]

@wowvent MMO's...just drive me crazy. So many functions to do ONE thing overwhelms me. I almost had a stroke with Dragon Age. lol! WOW just doesn't capture as something I would be into. I really tried to be open minded to it..but, the sims was just too strong. lol!

[queenchass]

..... I also agree with the Princess and the Frog! I also noticed that almost half the movie, princess Tiara was a frog, and not her black-princess self. I understand that the whole movie was about them being frogs, but why couldn't they make a disney movie where they show the black princess the whole movie like others, instead of having her shown as a frog almost half the movie. Somebody told me that once.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@queenchass I hear you about the princess thing. But, remember...she did something that NONE of the princesses have done (Except for Pocahontas)...she fought the enemy and WON..ON HER OWN. She should how strong a BLACK woman can be and how fought with bravery when her very life was on the line. Even if it was as a frog. That speaks louder to me than what she was half the movie.

[queenchass]

The first part of my comment just got erased by accident. It was like a paragraph, lol. But basically what I wrote is that I agree with you with the black female gamers. I am a black female gamer too. I go to DeVry and gaming is actually a major there, so its a lot of gaming going on.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@queenchass Now, that is AWESOME. My brother went to DeVry in Atlanta for a little while. Is your major gaming?

[queenchass]

@EssenceOfTruth Thanks! But my major is Business Admin-Human resources. I started Devry before they added GSP (Game and Simulation Programming) to the program. They started the new major in around late of 2007. I didn't want to change any of my courses so I stuck with HR.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@queenchass Oooooooooo! You go girl! Make your place in this world and succeed! I wish nothing but the best for you!

[queenchass]

@EssenceOfTruth Thank you sooo much!!

[regemo]

Got to give credit to Valve studios for Left 4 Dead 2. They have a history of keeping diversity in their games. That game actually got complaints from racists on the msg boards because 2 out of the 4 playable characters are black. And Rochelle the female character is awesome. Even though none of the characters personalities have much backstory I think out of 20 years of gaming she is best current black female character I've ever seen. Not counting the popular Alex from HL2 who was biracial.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@regemo Bethesda is the same way. They, from my playing experience with FallOut 3 and Oblivion, they seem to have always had diversity be in their mitts. So, I love games like that. I just wish the Fable series was just as smart.

[regemo]

@EssenceOfTruth Love Bethesda! Oblivion and their other games in that series have a black race named the redguards. :D Now we could complain a little about stereotypes of the redguards, but for so early in pc gaming it's great they actually showed some kinda black people.

When Everquest came out and had a race called erudites who were brainy spellcasters with dark skin I almost fell off my chair. Hold the presses! A major company has published dark skin characters who aren't a stereotype! lol

[regemo]

Exactly. Thats why I love games where you can customize your character skin or the skins of other characters in the game. You know so there is at least *some* kind of diversity and mixture of different people. Makes me wonder why half the game characters I've played have been white males and I'm a black male. lmao. That's not right.

In World of Warcraft the darkest skin available looks like a tanned latino. What the hell is going through a developer's mind when they make their game?

[EssenceOfTruth]

@regemo Heheh! I wondered about that game. That's probably why it never appealed to me.

[aveyowyns]

YES!

[TheCheetahwings]

do you like spongebob? lol if you do I made a a video making him sing beat it!

[EssenceOfTruth]

@TheCheetahwings I love Spongebob...did I mention him in my video? *goes and watches it again* O____O*

[TheCheetahwings]

@EssenceOfTruth no you didn't mention it I dont think I just thought you would like the video I made Making him sin Beat It. lol I always feel great when you respond to my coments!

[LadyFlameSniper]

I did not know anything about this Sheva girl. She looks hot!!! Do you remember mortal kombat? Jade is black watch?v=9K63sIgp3qc I loved her, I wanted to be her. lol

I know what you mean about the customizing...my husband laughs cause the first thing I do is make myself.

Since you know a lot about the black female characters, why don't you make a tribute video with all the girls? I'd love to know about more of us in games.

"but her behind is in my face" lol. I know how that is.

[LadyFlameSniper]

oh, I forgot, mortal kombat also has a girl named Tanya, but i'm not to familiar with her.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@LadyFlameSniper She's...KINDA black. 9 x out of ten shes Indian or something. But, she does look black. But, with her, shes still not mainstream like lara.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@LadyFlameSniper Hahah! Then, you know what I mean. But, I can't stand it when I am trying to kick butt, but I can't see because another butt in my face! Honestly, now. lol!

Oh, and from what I understand, Jade isn't black. Shes a tan asian girl. But, if shes black, then thats a new one on me! LOL!

[LadyFlameSniper]

@EssenceOfTruth I'm pretty sure she is, they also casted a black woman when they did the television series mortal kombat conquest.

I don't mind the tits and ass though, I find it funny. This coming from a DOA fan though. I think a woman can be sexual and brainy.

[EssenceOfTruth]

@LadyFlameSniper I don't feel this way. I want to be sexy with brains. When you have brains, you don't have to use your body to get the attention you want. Your mind makes you look sexy with clothes on. That's just how I feel about that. Showing your body off so that men can oogle you just puts you in the same category as a stripper with no self respect.

[LadyFlameSniper]

@EssenceOfTruth I get what you mean. Perhaps since I'd never dream of dressing like that in real life, that it's fun to do it in a game. lol

I also understand what you mean about the girls being tanned, we need a woman who is unmistakeably black.

[Marnie205]

I'm a female gamer and i'm black. I think i'm pretty good at it too. So there :)

BTW I love your blogs

[EssenceOfTruth]

@Marnie205 Heheh! Thank you! I really appreciate it! And I am a pretty good gamer, too!

[sublimityeternal]

I've been a gamer since I was a toddler...I'm female, sexy, and very black! So there to all da haterz!

[EssenceOfTruth]

@sublimityeternal LOL! Say it loud and say it proud!

[TheCheetahwings]

I am so happy! is it official you are back or is it just temporary?

[EssenceOfTruth]

@TheCheetahwings I'm here! I'm here! lol!