Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Diversity In Video Games: The Personal Experience Of Gamers

Symposium of Student Scholars

Diversity in video games has often been ignored or caricaturized such as in Final Fantasy VII, where the main character, Barret Wallace, is portrayed as African American. Video games are now big business, impacting almost every facet of American society and earning more than $91.5 billion dollars annually. This research explores how triple A games portray character identities and why these portrayals may be changing? Data will come from five semi-structured interviews with gamers about their experiences and perceptions about how diversity in video games affects their views about and enjoyment of the games they play. Do diverse characters enhance …