Indians, videogames, and sterotypes

[lostsage]

Thanks for everyone's help. Got the list down, it's time to search these games out.

I've expanded my orginal idea to include Indigious Peoples from around the worlds and how they are stereotyped. (like witchdoctors, speedy gonzales, warcheifs, african princesess, etc). drop a line if you got some info. thanks.


(original post below)
::steps up to platform:: hello everyone. i'm the newest member of the digital press. i've got a couple of things to say before the main topic. first, I AM GLAD TO FIND A SITE LIKE THIS! usually i'm the only one who was into games the most. gald i'm part of a whole instead of the outside. second, after reading your posts, sounds like you all know what you're talking about. which leads me to my next question

i'm doing research for an art piece involving American Indians, videogames and stereotypes (when i presented to the class, all i got where strange looks). need help locating games w/ Indians as characters, Indian themes, Indian... you get the idea.

i've done research on the web, but can't find screen shots or videos. I've only been able to capture to tape SUPER STREET FIGHTER 2, and MORTAL KOMBAT 3. I did this in 2 weeks of researching. I have 2 more weeks to track down and tape 3-4 hours of videogames.

all i ask from the community is to drop names of games (console and pc) that have Indians in them. (i know this is heavy for a 2nd post, but my ideas are running low and i need help).

all help is greatly appreicated. thanks everyone!

[geelw]

try these:

NES
whomp 'em
cowboy kid
and i think gunsmoke had an indian character in it, but i'm not sure...

try looking up sunset riders (SNES/Genesis) there may be an "indian" character as a boss, if i'm not thinking of some other arcade game, lol...

Sega Saturn
Tengai Makyo IV- The Apocalypse
this is a japanese import RPG that has a rather odd view of american history- one of the characters you meet in the game is an "american" indian girl. i'm still early in the game, but you might want to poke around the 'net for images and perhaps some plot assistance.

i dunno how old you are, but if you're not easily offended (and don't mind a bit of controversy in the classroom), there's always:
custer's revenge for the atari 2600

just mentioning it in your paper should get you a B plus, lol... :-D

[Sniderman]

Let's see:

Sunset Riders for Genesis and arcade (one of the scenes has you blasting through a rogue indian village and the boss of that level is the chief)

Wild Western perhaps.

Gun.smoke too. (Yup, there's a period in the title...)

Hmmm....anyone else?

[Achika]

Go to Google type in the game name and it should pull up screen shots.

Custer's revenge would be perfect--if you're not in high school. I used it in one of my papers.

[geelw]

...Custer's revenge would be perfect--if you're not in high school. I used it in one of my papers.

heh...and i'll bet you got at least a b plus... :-D

[lostsage]

i dunno how old you are, but if you're not easily offended (and don't mind a bit of controversy in the classroom), there's always:
custer's revenge for the atari 2600

just mentioning it in your paper should get you a B plus, lol... :-D

ah, coffee. the best stuff on earth...

actually, that's is exactly the type of game i'm looking for. I'm in the middle of my BFA in creative writing (and now i realized there's a reason to editing...). i'm into controversy, the bigger the better (saw custard's revenge in the x-mas issue of EGM last year). i am an American Indian, and have been around video games since the atari 2600 (but never owned a machine until i paid for my ps1 in 1998, had lot a buddies and cousins who were lucky.)

my project does include a paper, but the final piece is going to be either a) an arcade cabient (that doesn't work), but will play the video on a loop, or b) an instilation of a videogamer's domain, and have the video play on DVD/VCD.

thanks for all the info. i'll keep the site update on progress.

[Arcade Antics]

Have you seen/read this article?:

(from http://www.thecirclenews.org/nat_news.html)

National News Briefs
Forfeit your identity, sell a video game
Wanted: Adventurous video game fans willing to change their identities. Must be willing to live for a year as dinosaur Indian hunter called Turok.

Hoping to push back the frontiers of advertising, a British marketing firm said it would pay nearly $800 each to five people for the right to transform them into human billboards for a fantasy superhero.

Acclaim UK is seeking applicants who will legally change their names for one year to promote the latest installment of its video game series about Turok, a time-traveling American Indian who slays bionically enhanced dinosaurs.

The Institute of Science in Marketing, a business group supporting the effort, expects its so-called Identity Marketing technique will catch on as the next big advertising wave.

"It's not a gimmick ... Every form of their identity will have to change for this to work," said Acclaim spokesman Andrew Bloch. "They'll be walking, talking, living, breathing advertisements."

Acclaim UK, whose parent company Acclaim Entertainment is based in Glen Cove, N.Y., is launching a website where would-be Turoks can apply. The company will cover the costs each winner incurs in changing their name, to be done in a legally binding process called a deed poll.

In addition, winners will received a computer game console, as many video games as they can play and $785, Bloch said.

The plan grew from a perceived need to surmount the daily white noise of advertising with something unique. Acclaim hopes each new "Turok" will act as an ambassador for the game, taking time to explain the origin of his or her name to anyone who asks.

Bloch described the original Turok as big and good-looking. "You'd be quite proud to call yourself Turok if you knew who he was," he said.

The firm's target audience ranges from teen-agers to Turok enthusiasts in their 40s. It expects that the first five Turoks--others may come later--will be socially active and may even work in the video games business.

Acclaim said it would help successful applicants obtain a second deed poll to revert to their original names after a year. (AP)
photo cutline:Turok, an American Indian dinasaur hunter video superhero.

[geelw]

LOL! i was thinking during my first post: "i'm forgetting some HUGE character who's an indian" and the funnier thing was, i was taking screenshots of 2 n64 games just an hour before, and had to move my turok and turok 2 to get to the other games...duh! :embarrassed:

[o2william]

He's not exactly a true Indian, but Tomahawk Man, a boss from NES Mega Man 6, definitely fits the stereotype...

[klimatron8]

Secret Scout for the NES features an Indian character. Game is very rare and hard to find but you should be able to see a box picture somewhere.

[Achika]

...Custer's revenge would be perfect--if you're not in high school. I used it in one of my papers.

heh...and i'll bet you got at least a b plus... :-D

Nope! A+ on both the paper and the presentation (I went a bit long though...15 min. :embarrassed: )

[geelw]

...Custer's revenge would be perfect--if you're not in high school. I used it in one of my papers.

heh...and i'll bet you got at least a b plus... :-D

Nope! A+ on both the paper and the presentation (I went a bit long though...15 min. :embarrassed: )

15 minutes isn't THAT long. did you have some RPG end boss fight music playing in the background as you spoke?

[lostsage]

quick thought. i don't play sports games. in fact, the last sports game i played was Temco Superbowl and NBA Jam:TE.

but i have a question. i know that games have ultra realist physics, animations, and stadium replications.

I was wondering if the fans at the Alanta Braves Stadium do the "chop" at any point durning the game play. Or if they show screen images of Cheif Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians (either the mascot, or the diamondtron tv replay near the scoreboard).

running out of funds for this project, and have to use rentals for the remaining project. thanks for all the help!

[ManekiNeko]

Hey, LostSage, if you're on a really tight budget, you might want to emulate some of the older games... you can download them for free if you know where to look. See the Emulation section of the forum for more information and to receive help from other posters.
Anyway, getting back to the subject, I can think of several other games with cheesy native stereotypes. Breakers on the Neo-Geo had an Indian wrestler named Condor, and there was an African chief in the Konami dud Martial Champions (although I can't recall his name offhand). I can't forget about the Polynesian fighter Mudman in the World Heroes series, either.
As a general rule, fighting games are a great place to find corny stereotyped characters. LOL

JR

P.S. I think Rick from Fatal Fury Real Bout Special is actually a Native American, but he's not insulting the way most Indian characters in fighting games are... he just looks and acts like an ordinary guy. SNK deserves some credit for that.

[Arrrhalomynn]

Wasn't there an indian in Killer instinct as well? I'm not sure, but I vaguely remember it.

[Kroogah]

Here's an obscure one: The old Nintendo Game & Watch handheld game "Fire Attack". You had to defend your stagecoach from indians that were trying to set it on fire....O_O

If you've ever played Super Smash Bros. Melee, that's what Mr. Game & Watch's forward+A smash attack comes from.

[YoshiM]

What about Lethal Enforcers 2? That had a wild west theme, though I could never get very far on the arcade version so I don't know if there are any Native American references.

I believe the main hero in BlackThorne is Native American, but being a shotgun wielding asskicker I don't think that falls into a stereotype.

As for sports games, I don't think I've ever seen the crowd do much except move in their seats. But there are Mascots.

[christianscott27]

off topic a bit...

what the hell was sega thinking with that black driver in crazy taxi??

"aaawww yeaah we gonna have some fun"
________
Asian bondage (http://www.fucktube.com/categories/117/bondage/videos/1)

[Wavelflack]

Maybe they were thinking that the public wouldn't be a bunch of oversensitive tightasses?

[slurpeepoop]

To date, I say that exact same thing every time I slide behind the wheel on Friday, Saturday, or early Sunday morning.

[maxlords]

What about "Cheyenne"? There's also another arcade game that you slaughter indians in....old one..but I forget the title....

[jhd7]

NES Ultimate Journey. It was never released, but lots of pix and reviews popped up in magazines of the era. I tried to document everything at my site in the "Unreleased NES" section.

http://nestral.topcities.com/

[Jorpho]

Would the NES Lone Ranger game count? I think I also remember Australian aborigines in the SNES Taz-Mania game.

But then, these are both examples of stereotypes created elsewhere.
________
Video review (http://videoreviews.org)

[DarkSoul]

Definitely check out the arcade game "Blood Brothers". It scares me to look at that game and wonder what Japanese people think about Native Americans, hehe

[Alex Kidd]

I'm not someone who touchy about stereotypes...
But I always had to wonder about Virtua Fighter's Injun

He's Canadian.
He's An Indian.
He's eccentric enough to wear his warpaint still.
He's eccentric enough to wear his warpaint while wearing "cowboy" clothes.
His Name is Wolf Hawkfield
He's a Wrestler
He works out in a Log Cabin (accoring to ingame videos)

Check out ANY fighting game from the early to late 90's and you will find stereotypes of every kind

Except stereotypical French fighters, cause to fit their stereotype they'd always have to surrender!!!

Alex Kidd

Didn't try to offend anyone with the french comment, but it makes sense!... the only french fighter I can think of is the lady from Samurai Shodown with the rapier... and I'm not 100% sure she was french...

[ManekiNeko]

Here's one that'll take you by surprise... Samurai Shodown and its sequels have a character named Nakoruru who's an Ainu, or Japanese native. The weird thing about the Ainu is that they're actually caucasian!
Stereotypical French fighters? I can think of a couple. There's Jean from Fighter's History and Pielle (sic) from Breakers. They're both, in the immortal words of Peg Bundy, as gay as debutantes.

JR