PBS Game/Show host Jamin Warren explores cultural representation and appropriation in video games in a recent episode. While Warren notes that a few games, like Never Alone, do a good job at representing a culture other than their creators’, he also points out that video games still have a long way to go.
Cultural Appropriation came to the forefront of our collective consciousness last year under the auspices of Taylor Swift and Iggy Azalea, but games have suffered from this same insensitivity for a long long time. From Custer’s Revenge to Grand Theft Auto 5, Far Cry 2 to Resident Evil — games don’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to nuanced displays of cultures.