Chris points out some ugly racial stuff in video games/marketing, particularly related to Sony’s ad campaigns. On a related note, I usually like Kotaku but what’s up with it being a focus for apologia for racially questionable material? (See: LocoRoco, PSP ads.) I don’t mind the argument that these ads in particular may not necessarily be “racist” – such things should be open for debate – but I’m turned off at how quickly the threads jump to a conclusion that everyone in America is just being “too sensitive”. That’s problematic.
On the other hand, this comic from VGCats parodizes a questionable PSP add (“Squirrel Please”) and gives me hope that enough gamers recognize: this is bullshit.
Meanwhile, here’s an article of the “Realism Defense” relating to sexism in CRPGs. The part describing “backlash” reminds me of some of the discussions on Kotaku?