Current Events > Was there really controversy over GTA: San Andreas having a black lead?

(+) Yeah! (+)

On PC , people made white CJ . I mean that is pretty telling .
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San Andreas is also widely considered the best in the series by a wide margin.
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cjsdowg posted...

On PC , people made white CJ . I mean that is pretty telling .

And I've seen people make their characters black in the Dark Souls series. So what?
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Still the best GTA game. Especially the PC version.
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I don't recall any big controversy but there were plenty of terrible people on this site saying they wouldn't play it due to him being black.

That said I wouldn't be surprised if most of them were trolling, still shitty tho
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DifferentialEquation posted...

cjsdowg posted...

On PC , people made white CJ . I mean that is pretty telling .

And I've seen people make their characters black in the Dark Souls series. So what?

CJ's ethnicity it relevant to the story, lore, setting of the game whereas Dark Souls . . . it doesn't matter.
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grand theft auto is the dark souls of video games
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cjsdowg posted...

On PC , people made white CJ . I mean that is pretty telling .

Would you call it racism if people did the inverse with a game or would you see it as a great thing and talk about how good it is to have more options?

TheGrindery posted...

cjsdowg posted...

On PC , people made white CJ . I mean that is pretty telling .

Would you call it racism if people did the inverse with a game or would you see it as a great thing and talk about how good it is to have more options?

If their reason for doing it is "Waaah i don't want to play with a _____ character" then yeah. If it's "LOL it would be kinda funny to see this characters color change" or "I wonder what he would look like with a different skin color" then no.

Typically it was reason #1 though.
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CJ is the only white guy in a black gang, and both his brother and sister are black...
...so thats why Ryder calls you a busta all the time!
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TheGrindery posted...

Would you call it racism if people did the inverse with a game or

If they race swapped an Irishman to a blackman in a Gangs of New York setting while keeping everything else the same, it would fundamentally be shitting on the story, yes.
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Yeah this absolutely was a thing that happened. The whole "I can't relate to a black man from the inner city, this is bullshit!" stuff was everywhere at the time
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I do remember more than a few people upset that they couldn't play as a white person, but these were a tiny minority.
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TheGrindery posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

mario2000 posted...

yup

racist nerds are not a recent phenomenon

I think they're more so just way too sheltered from the non white real world

I would say that's pretty much it.

During a discussion about me not liking rap, amidst the sea of "You're racist!" comments came a rational person who said he doesn't see me as racist. He said he only saw someone who didn't grow up in that sort of environment so he just can't relate to it.

Some people just look for any reason to call another a "racist" and feel good about themselves or feel like they put someone in their place. I've exposed a few people to the right kind of hip hop that would of never got into it otherwise. I strategically made it more accessible and relatable by picking stuff theycould relate to. Where others would of just labeled them as racist and moved on.
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I remember reading the boards and people didn't want to play as CJ solely cuz he was black lol.

Some were even sharing mods for a white CJ when the PC version came. It was funny >_>
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Also, remember Hot Coffee? >_>
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not wanting to play a game solely because the main character is black is the textbook definition of racist

there really isn't any wiggle room here
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The lead in Blazing Saddles is black and racists don't refuse to watch that. The lead guy is also pretty much the only one in the movie with any sense. It shows the white people as idiots.

NeonOctopus posted...

Also, remember Hot Coffee? >_>

At least three people have brought it up.
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Kind of. It didn't stop the game from selling gang busters.
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SavenForever posted...

Ooooh yes there was.

pres_madagascar posted...

Yes. The San Andreas board here on gamefaqs was notorious for it.

I've never seen so many people show their true colors the day images were finally released for the game.

Show me the topic. I would love to see.

DifferentialEquation posted...

cjsdowg posted...

On PC , people made white CJ . I mean that is pretty telling .

And I've seen people make their characters black in the Dark Souls series. So what?

This is a

Oh

It is you again.

Teddytalks posted...

SavenForever posted...

Ooooh yes there was.

pres_madagascar posted...

Yes. The San Andreas board here on gamefaqs was notorious for it.

I've never seen so many people show their true colors the day images were finally released for the game.

Show me the topic. I would love to see.

The game came out in 2004 and GameFAQs didn't start archiving until 2008. There wouldn't be any way to dredge up those old posts unless someone personally archived them.
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MC_BatCommander posted...

Teddytalks posted...

SavenForever posted...

Ooooh yes there was.

pres_madagascar posted...

Yes. The San Andreas board here on gamefaqs was notorious for it.

I've never seen so many people show their true colors the day images were finally released for the game.

Show me the topic. I would love to see.

The game came out in 2004 and GameFAQs didn't start archiving until 2008. There wouldn't be any way to dredge up those old posts unless someone personally archived them.

It is offline :(

I swear, if they remade that game 100% as-is, but with the new physics, that would be a 11/10 game.
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A guy in my class back then tried to sell the game to me for cheap back then, because it "wasn't what he expected"
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I remember some people being upset, not many.
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Same kind of racist comments were said about Black Panther but guess what? Both were successful.

DifferentialEquation posted...

cjsdowg posted...

On PC , people made white CJ . I mean that is pretty telling .

And I've seen people make their characters black in the Dark Souls series. So what?

Not even remotely the same scenario. The DS series has a create a character. GTA SA didnt have one.
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cjsdowg posted...

On PC , people made white CJ . I mean that is pretty telling .

"I can't identify with this character, too unrealistic. Now, a white, gang-banging guy from the hood? Totally my speed!"
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I imagine there'd be complaints over the negative portrayal of blacks, not simply over playing as a black man.
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gamer167 posted...

Was it controversial in a racist I dont want to play as a black person way?

Why is that racist? It's kind of hard to immerse yourself in a video game when your avatar looks nothing like you.
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Broken_Zeus posted...

I imagine there'd be complaints over the negative portrayal of blacks, not simply over playing as a black man.

I'm sure somewhere out there you can find such a thing, but I've honestly never seen this after all these years.
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r4X0r posted...

gamer167 posted...

Was it controversial in a racist I dont want to play as a black person way?

Why is that racist? It's kind of hard to immerse yourself in a video game when your avatar looks nothing like you.

Lol, imagine how minorities must feel then considering the average protagonist, not just in games but in most western media, is a white male.

Do what they have to do, get over it.
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The complaints were like
"I can't relate to a black man"
"I don't want to play as a gangsta thug."
"I don't like rap music."
"I don't like the hood"

So yeah pretty racist.
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r4X0r posted...

gamer167 posted...

Was it controversial in a racist I dont want to play as a black person way?

Why is that racist? It's kind of hard to immerse yourself in a video game when your avatar looks nothing like you.

Your avatar isn't gonna look like you even in games with character creators.
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r4X0r posted...

gamer167 posted...

Was it controversial in a racist I dont want to play as a black person way?

Why is that racist? It's kind of hard to immerse yourself in a video game when your avatar looks nothing like you.

Yes, as we all know, everyone who plays video games totally looks like the muscled up dude who is a complete badass at every turn and saves the day in the end.

GTFO with your bull
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r4X0r posted...

gamer167 posted...

Was it controversial in a racist I dont want to play as a black person way?

Why is that racist? It's kind of hard to immerse yourself in a video game when your avatar looks nothing like you.

Nope. The video game version of me was a white female, so...
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dave_is_slick posted...

gamer167 posted...

Was it controversial in a racist I dont want to play as a black person way?

Obviously this one.

Yeah, I was here for it... Little has changed.
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I recall a lot of it.

One guy said that all he would do is just drive the MC to the prison since he could never condone a game where a black man shoots a white cop. It was fucking ridiculous.
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bigots make the dumbest arguments. especially bigoted nerds. saying shit like "I just can't relate to CJ." these clowns can't relate to the characters of 80% of the games they play anyway.

how's a lethargic racist shut-in going to relate to a protagonist who literally left home to fight for peace for ALL? lolololol

CJ being a Black gangbanger is probably more relatable than Master Chief.
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It is pretty funny when people say they "can't relate to" a black character. Like wtf man, you could relate to Tommy Vercetti just because he's white? That's the only real difference between him and CJ... Both are remorseless murderers.
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r4X0r posted...

gamer167 posted...

Was it controversial in a racist I dont want to play as a black person way?

Why is that racist? It's kind of hard to immerse yourself in a video game when your avatar looks nothing like you.

I laughed
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MC_BatCommander posted...

It is pretty funny when people say they "can't relate to" a black character. Like wtf man, you could relate to Tommy Vercetti just because he's white? That's the only real difference between him and CJ... Both are remorseless murderers.

The funniest part is saying they "can't relate" to a character of a different race while simultaneously can't understand why black people are glad that there is a superhero movie with a "relatable" protagonist.

Before someone says "Well see! Thats the same thing!", no it's not because there isn't some large amount of black people posting about how they can't see X movie or play Y game because the protagonist is not black (hell, I've never even seen one claim like that actually). It's simply an appreciation when there's a game where the protagonist actually IS black.
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voldothegr8 posted...

I remember people throwing a fit that the first thing the game has you do is steal a bike, but other than that I don't remember much outrage.

Lmao really

Hahahaha
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Twin3Turbo posted...

MC_BatCommander posted...

It is pretty funny when people say they "can't relate to" a black character. Like wtf man, you could relate to Tommy Vercetti just because he's white? That's the only real difference between him and CJ... Both are remorseless murderers.

The funniest part is saying they "can't relate" to a character of a different race while simultaneously can't understand why black people are glad that there is a superhero movie with a "relatable" protagonist.

Before someone says "Well see! Thats the same thing!", no it's not because there isn't some large amount of black people posting about how they can't see X movie or play Y game because the protagonist is not black (hell, I've never even seen one claim like that actually). It's simply an appreciation when there's a game where the protagonist actually IS black.

Oh man, white people still complain about the NBA 2K games when their main character SOUNDS black.
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"i can't relate to a black person, now excuse me while i go play Super Hentai Robot Waifu instead"
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The game's board was a toxic cesspool. So much veiled and not so veiled racism and prejudice.
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Dark_SilverX posted...

Same kind of racist comments were said about Black Panther but guess what? Both were successful.

DifferentialEquation posted...

cjsdowg posted...

On PC , people made white CJ . I mean that is pretty telling .

And I've seen people make their characters black in the Dark Souls series. So what?

Not even remotely the same scenario. The DS series has a create a character. GTA SA didnt have one.

The point is that for some people, they simply want their character to have a particular skin color or appearance for whatever reason. In some cases that means using a built in character creator. In other cases it means downloading a mod. There's really no significant difference between the two.
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DifferentialEquation posted...

Dark_SilverX posted...

Same kind of racist comments were said about Black Panther but guess what? Both were successful.

DifferentialEquation posted...

cjsdowg posted...

On PC , people made white CJ . I mean that is pretty telling .

And I've seen people make their characters black in the Dark Souls series. So what?

Not even remotely the same scenario. The DS series has a create a character. GTA SA didnt have one.

The point is that for some people, they simply want their character to have a particular skin color or appearance for whatever reason. In some cases that means using a built in character creator. In other cases it means downloading a mod. There's really no significant difference between the two.

Mmmhmm. Im sure youll say that mentality never pops up anywhere else in life though right? Its reserved exclusively for video games?
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Twin3Turbo posted...

DifferentialEquation posted...

Dark_SilverX posted...

Same kind of racist comments were said about Black Panther but guess what? Both were successful.

DifferentialEquation posted...

cjsdowg posted...

On PC , people made white CJ . I mean that is pretty telling .

And I've seen people make their characters black in the Dark Souls series. So what?

Not even remotely the same scenario. The DS series has a create a character. GTA SA didnt have one.

The point is that for some people, they simply want their character to have a particular skin color or appearance for whatever reason. In some cases that means using a built in character creator. In other cases it means downloading a mod. There's really no significant difference between the two.

Mmmhmm. Im sure youll say that mentality never pops up anywhere else in life though right? Its reserved exclusively for video games?

What do you mean? Why do you think that doing that in a video game is a mentality that would pop up elsewhere in real life?

I downloaded a mod for Skyrim that added lightsabers to the game. Is that a mentality that popped up elsewhere in real life?
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