The dark side of gaming

[Bertram_Tung]

Name a game with a black person on the cover that sold well
NO SPORTS GAMES ALLOWED

I'll start:
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas

Now you go

[Bertram_Tung]

it can't be like some black person in the background on a cover full of whites, like some x-men game with storm in the background

they have to be the main focus or at least 50% of the focus

[SpellSword]

[wndrbr]

Telltale's The Walking Dead Season 1

[methoxetamine]

[Bertram_Tung]

I remember seeing it on Blockbuster shelves back in the ’90s, but there wasn’t much hype or word of mouth among anyone I knew. The playstation port was received very poorly, while the 64 version received decent reviews. Lifetime sales eventually hit over 2 million copies (according to jewipedia), but that includes the re-release which I suspect is doing a lot of the heavy lifting there. Solid game, but not exactly a hit.

Telltale's The Walking Dead Season 1

This definitely sold well, but the criteria is that it has to be a game, meaning there has to be some gameplay.

That game was really fun and definitely sold well. Good one, we'll add it to the list.

(worth noting that you dont have to play as a black character which I imagine helped the sales a lot)

[J1M]

Name a game with a black person on the cover that sold well
NO SPORTS GAMES ALLOWED

I'll start:
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas

Now you go

The EA PGA games (Golf isn't a sport) .

[methoxetamine]

That game was really fun and definitely sold well. Good one, we'll add it to the list.

Yeah it was fun as ****, I loved both it and the sequel

[J1M]

Reminder that "Crackdown" is pronounced "Halo 3 beta key".

[Oyster Sauce]

Mafia 1+2

[Bertram_Tung]

Reminder that "Crackdown" is pronounced "Halo 3 beta key".

very good point

[Bertram_Tung]

That game was really fun and definitely sold well. Good one, we'll add it to the list.

Yeah it was fun as ****, I loved both it and the sequel

I can't remember if I played the sequel or not, but I remember the third one seemed to be received very poorly.

It's too bad this franchise never came to PC. The first one had an immaculate vibe and was way better than Saint's Row (which I bring up because it's the other arcadey superpower GTA clone from the time that seemed to gain more success despite Crackdown being better)

Speaking of Saints Row, it's worth noting that there are actually very few black people on the cover of their games, despite being about urban criminals.

its mostly whites, mexicans, and asians

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^1 black out of 4 people

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^1 black (arguably) out of 5 people

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^^^(This is a Mexican)

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^no blacks because it's about becoming president and blacks can't be president

The one that failed the hardest and completely tanked the franchise was the only one to predominantly feature a black on the cover:

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[Bertram_Tung]

Mafia 1+2

close but the characters have to be >75% black to qualify and they just miss the mark

[methoxetamine]

Reminder that "Crackdown" is pronounced "Halo 3 beta key".

I forgot it had one, I rented Crackdown and never cared about Halo. My console multiplayer shooter during Halo times was SOCOM US Navy Seals because I was a ******* alpha male

That game was really fun and definitely sold well. Good one, we'll add it to the list.

Yeah it was fun as ****, I loved both it and the sequel

I can't remember if I played the sequel or not, but I remember the third one seemed to be received very poorly.

It's too bad this franchise never came to PC. The first one had an immaculate vibe and was way better than Saint's Row (which I bring up because it's the other arcadey superpower GTA clone from the time that seemed to gain more success despite Crackdown being better)

The 3rd one came out way too late, by 2019 I hadn't thought about the series in years

Shame what happened to Saints Row too, I enjoyed the first two games when they came out and fortunately never tried any past that

[J1M]

Reminder that "Crackdown" is pronounced "Halo 3 beta key".

I forgot it had one, I rented Crackdown and never cared about Halo. My console multiplayer shooter during Halo times was SOCOM US Navy Seals because I was a ******* alpha male

Yeah it was fun as ****, I loved both it and the sequel

I can't remember if I played the sequel or not, but I remember the third one seemed to be received very poorly.

It's too bad this franchise never came to PC. The first one had an immaculate vibe and was way better than Saint's Row (which I bring up because it's the other arcadey superpower GTA clone from the time that seemed to gain more success despite Crackdown being better)

The 3rd one came out way too late, by 2019 I hadn't thought about the series in years

Shame what happened to Saints Row too, I enjoyed the first two games when they came out and fortunately never tried any past that

Renting Crackdown didn't increase its sales.

[DemoGraph]

Seriously you n'wahs.

[Bertram_Tung]

Seriously you n'wahs.

Not a cover

[DemoGraph]

Seriously you n'wahs.

Not a cover

Russian edition cover.


I still have the CD.

[Kolgrim]

Checkmate.

[Vaako]

[Tweed]

Could just come out and say you love the Alabama Black Snake, not like we don't already know.

[Dorateen]

[Bertram_Tung]

Seriously you n'wahs.

Not a cover

Russian edition cover.


I still have the CD.

1.Only American covers are valid for this thread
2.That isn't what you posted

[Bertram_Tung]

Let's see those sales numbers

[Bertram_Tung]

Could just come out and say you love the Alabama Black Snake, not like we don't already know.

[DemoGraph]

1.Only American covers are valid for this thread

Lex prospicit, non respicit.

Also, almost everyone else (except maybe @Dorateen) posted covers with brown-skinned persons, not black-skinned persons. Check your eyes, nossie.

[Bertram_Tung]

1.Only American covers are valid for this thread

Lex prospicit, non respicit.

Also, almost everyone else (except maybe @Dorateen) posted covers with brown-skinned persons, not black-skinned persons. Check your eyes, nossie.

I appreciate your attempt to contribute but it doesn't meet the criteria. We can't just accept alternate covers from other countries, there's too many variations and it goes against the purpose of the thread, not to mention

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Dunmer are **** not blacks.

Games that meet the criteria so far:

• GTA San Andreas (the only title so far to really knock it out of the park with all the criteria)

• Crackdown

• Shadowman

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(Honestly, I had to deliberate for a while on Crackdown and Shadowman, but they both sold something like 1.5 to 2 million copies which was enough to green light sequels/remasters so I'll allow them.)

Responses that don't meet the criteria, even if humorous:

• Walking Dead - Not a game

• Mafia 1&2- Not black enough

• Pools of Darkness (Didn't sell well, especially compared to previous SSI Gold Box Games which sold >10x copies like Pools of Radiance which featured no black people on the cover.)

• Assassin's Creed II - See Mafia 1&2

• PGA- Sports games don't qualify

• Morrowind - reason stated above

Borderline response, verdict is still pending:

• Donkey Kong Country

[MrTwinkls]

Have no idea how good it was sold.

[Bertram_Tung]

Have no idea how good it was sold.

This is borderline based on the cover alone as it is one black guy in a group of several other non blacks, but he is in the middle at least.

Couldn't find any sales data but based on reviews it doesn't seem like it sold very well.

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GameSpot gave it a 3 out of 10, and called it "an abject failure" and a "spectacular failure in almost every facet of its execution".[16] IGN gave it a 2.7, saying that "it's terrible".[18] G4's X-Play gave it their lowest rating, a 1 out of 5,[21] and also gave it a "Golden Mullet Award" for the year of 2006. PC Gamer gave it a 20%, saying it was "so tasteless that I wanted to scrub myself with Lysol after getting up from the computer" and "being a bad Postal clone".[20]

GameSpy "awarded" the title the "Coaster of the Year" award for 2006.[22] GamesRadar awarded it the "collateral damage" award for the Anti-Game of the Year, claiming that it seemed to be "designed to end up on this list. If so... congratulations, guys, you did it!" But the game lost the award to Sonic the Hedgehog as that was apparently "the most disappointing" rather than "the absolute worst game of the year."[23] Ben Croshaw of Zero Punctuation briefly described it as "fondly remembered alongside botched prostate surgery."[24] GamesRadar ranked it as the 25th worst game ever made.[25] Rolling Stone's Glixel also called it one of the worst games ever made.[26]

[Bertram_Tung]

Maybe it's just me

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and everyone else with common sense

but it seems like making a black the focus of your marketing is a very financially risky move for a video game publisher and maybe they should stop doing it.

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(Unless your game is specifically about black criminal behavior or sports)