ETHNIC AND GENDER REPRESENTATION IN GAMES : Diversifying character design
Nissinen, Aino (2019)
2019
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201905027196
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201905027196
Tiivistelmä
Video games are severely lacking when it comes to ethnic and gender representation in leading characters. The objective of the thesis was to create a prototype that could not only help in designing more diverse characters, but also to observe what kind of faces the users found most attractive and examine the reasons why. There was also research done on the current situation of representation in the western game industry and how it could be improved. It was largely compared to the film industry, as the two are similar in their story telling methods and the film industry is more extensively researched.
The thesis details the process of creating the web browser based face construction tool prototype from the art process to the coding of the web page, and the finished product was then tested by peers. The participants could answer a short survey that aimed to gather information about the usability of the prototype, as well as to find out which facial features the users gravitated towards the most, and why. 13 people took part in the survey, one of which answered the survey twice.
The survey results provided an insight on how awareness of ethnic representation has risen in twenty to thirty year olds, as they were more likely to pick the darker skin colours for their characters. The gender of the character was most often perceived as androgynous, suggesting that gender might not affect how sympathetic the character is to the viewer. While the thesis was aiming to uncover which facial features were rated as most attractive the survey revealed that there is little to no correlation between liking a character and their attractiveness. Most of the participants described their characters as friendly, or appealing, while also rating them mid to low on the attractiveness scale.
Research suggests that the shift in ethnic and gender awareness could be the result of racially ambiguous media targeting millennials and generation Z, as well as the prevalence of social media. Young people are no longer alienated, but instead may freely interact with anyone on the internet, and have themselves worked on projects that promote acceptance.
The thesis details the process of creating the web browser based face construction tool prototype from the art process to the coding of the web page, and the finished product was then tested by peers. The participants could answer a short survey that aimed to gather information about the usability of the prototype, as well as to find out which facial features the users gravitated towards the most, and why. 13 people took part in the survey, one of which answered the survey twice.
The survey results provided an insight on how awareness of ethnic representation has risen in twenty to thirty year olds, as they were more likely to pick the darker skin colours for their characters. The gender of the character was most often perceived as androgynous, suggesting that gender might not affect how sympathetic the character is to the viewer. While the thesis was aiming to uncover which facial features were rated as most attractive the survey revealed that there is little to no correlation between liking a character and their attractiveness. Most of the participants described their characters as friendly, or appealing, while also rating them mid to low on the attractiveness scale.
Research suggests that the shift in ethnic and gender awareness could be the result of racially ambiguous media targeting millennials and generation Z, as well as the prevalence of social media. Young people are no longer alienated, but instead may freely interact with anyone on the internet, and have themselves worked on projects that promote acceptance.