I feel like I'm walking on egg shells... in a minefield. But I've been thinking about this topic lately, and I wanted to get some genuine feedback and thought going on here.
What are some games which star fictional, black "good role models?" (I'd write African-Americans, but not all "black people" are Americans, nor are all dark-skinned people originated from Africa). And I'm definitely not trying to offend anyone, so please try not to be offensive.
What games am I looking for? I'm not looking for sports games as those usually feature a black player due to his skill at his particular sport and that player is usually not the only choice. And let's not count games where you use a random character generator or where you design the look of a character or other things like that where who you play as is up to a player's design. And as we are talking about "good guys," let's not include games where the main playable character is a gangster or a rapper or a convict or a "violent criminal."
We are talking about games featuring a playable main character who is black and is working to save the world or working for the betterment of mankind and who will always (or mostly) choose the path of righteousness.
And while we are broaching the topic, what are your theories on why there are so few games featuring playable black people, and why do you think there are so few featuring good characters that are black? We have all sorts of games, especially in the 80's and 90's, where the hero is white or pale-skinned, but so few where the protagonist is black.
In the beginning of computer/video gaming, there were no humans portrayed in the games, just non-human objects like numbers or paddles or spaceships, so there wasn't this situation initially. Then graphics improved enough to begin showing recognizable representations of humans, and that's when things got started in this topic. Just imagine what it would have been like if the main hero in Dragon Warrior was black, or the warriors from Gauntlet, or the guys from Contra, or even Pitfall Harry. Nothing would have to be changed about the story, and yet these games feature your usual pale-skinned heroes, often due to the designers of the games being Caucasian or Japanese.
Some might say, "It doesn't matter," or "It's all about the gameplay." I understand what you mean, but if it truly "doesn't matter," then why are there so few black characters starring in video games?