Black Geek Chronicles: "Pokemon Ain't Gangsta"

You know, stereotypes aren’t nearly as bad as people make them out to be...
Blondes are ditsy
Americans are ignorant
The Irish are drunkards
And black guys shoot people.

Now....

When a person finds themselves subject to stereotyping I find that they only really have 2 options available to them:

1.Embrace them. Play up to the stereotype in an attempt to garner the positive traits associated with that image.

OR...

2.Steer against them. Attempt to actively go against the pre existing expectations of your Character. “Wear” the unexpected,” say” the unexpected and “like” the un expected
Now regardless of which of these two options you take, your actions are still very much effected by the stereotype itself.

WELCOME TO THE MY WORLD BITCHES!

The internal struggle between being myself (or “keeping it real” as my people like to say) and NOT coming across as a cliché.

I love Video games...


I also love hardcore underground rap...

Now....

I would like you all to draw a circle in your mind consisting of people you know that listen to hardcore underground rap...

Then I'd like you to create a separate circle of those who avidly play video games (Note: Dr Dre, Snoop doog, Eminem or other 90’s Rap acts don’t count. They must be followers of the modern scene...)

If my calculations are correct (which they seldom are) the two circles are probably about as far apart as the Mandela Peace prize and The Former Italian leader Benito Mussolini...

That said, some of you might still have a person or two which you believe fits into both circles so, let’s further expand the search by adding the following criteria...

How many of those people ALSO like Anime (Japanese animation)

AND

NBA basketball / Basketball Culture

Now at this point I feel confident in saying that the search pool has officially come up blank.
There’s me...and some of you may have a few other friends, however I very much doubt that the number for any of you goes beyond 5...

My point, or rather my question is this:

What do you do when your two main cultural identities are culturally incompatible?

Goths tend to hang out with other Goths
Chavs Hang with fellow Chavs...
black dudes stick with black dudes
Asians with Asians...

Even people who HATE the mainstream social groups tend to form their own “Outcast, Counter-culture” (Which ironically becomes a culture in of itself, complete with certain accepted likes, dislikes, music tastes and gathering venues)

Truth is it would be much EASIER to simply conform to one Social stereotype as opposed to be half a member of two.

The word “conform” comes with a negative Connotation, but, If i COULD somehow fit neatly into 1, I'd do it.
It would surely help eliviate the anxiety you (and by you I mean “I”) often get of not REALLY fitting in to your current social group...

My black friends are all good to play ball with but...Generally no good at helping me work out which of my level 100 pokemon to have lead my party against a “Rain dance” team (Don’t worry if that that sentence didn’t make sense to you...just means you have a life)

In the meantime. My geek friends are great when I want to talk about why Final fantasy 10 had the greatest story in a final fantasy game but not so great when there’s a girl at the bar and I need a confident wing man to step up and whisk away her fat friend...

The life of a black geek...what can ya do.

1.

Sex sells-Nintendo just got the memo.

With the Nintendo 3DS set to be released worldwide this Friday. Nintendo fanboys across the world prepare to reach deep into their pockets to throw even more Pounds, Dollars, Yen, Rupees and Monopoly bucks at Mario and his beloved entourage of mascots once again.




Now I could sit here and go through the launch line up, or perhaps comment on the high price point (£230...ouch) or the revolutionary 3D technology itself, however there are plenty of other sites to hear about that stuff in detail.
No, what interests me is more the ridiculous promotional campaign that took place in aid of Nintendo’s new wonder brick. Just take a look at this.




Now, I’m all for getting journalists excited about your product, but sending an entire harem of statuesque beauties to showcase your latest product seems a little...off.
Not that I have ever been opposed to the shameless objectifying of women in the past , however, seeing it done on the corporate level does bring up some interesting questions. Is this kind of P.R acceptable? I mean even if we over look the whole shameless objectification angle. Is pandering to whims of the press in such a low brow manner really necessary. I mean, I am blogging about it now so perhaps Ninendo’s tactic worked!

Regardless, the next few months are going to be a BIG deal for Nintendo, let’s see if they can keep up their seemingly unstoppable marketing momentum
P.S (Super Street fighter 4 on the 3DS= Awesome...this is not opinion, this is FACT).

Forget sex, Violence sells...

...Or so would seem to be the case in our beloved Video games industry.

“Fight Night Champion” EA sport’s latest game in the ever popular fight night boxing series is set to be the first fight night game rated M for mature By the ESRB regulatory body (which basically means the game will probably be classified as “18” over here in the U.K.)



Now admittedly, a sport which primarily revolves around “Punching dudes in the face” is of course going to be a violent one, however they don’t call it the “sweet science” for nothing.

The fight night series has for a long time been admired by the industry as the truest representation of Boxing outside of actually stepping in the ring yourself.
The games have always placed a heavy emphasis on technique, punishing those attempting to blindly attack without thought or patience.
However, despite the use of skill, EA is determined to tout the games new “dynamic blood” and “realistic body damage” as the game’s true selling point.

“Experience the violence and brutality that is true to the trade”.

These things might genuinely be impressive but as you read the press release which makes no real mention of the core gameplay innovations or the new inclusion of gripping a story mode you have to ask yourself “Is this what people want?” Is excessive blood and severe facial deformation the key to increased sales? Only the final sales numbers can really say, but with the Runaway success of THQ’s “UFC Undisputed” fighting game series which has managed to sell over 3 million units over the 2 years that the franchise has been in existence, perhaps it’s no wonder why EA would decide to change tactics and appeal to the blood lust in the modern gamer.

Let’s just hope the final product knows how to pack an impressive punch in the marketplace
(see what I did there?)