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That one was deeply perplexing, especially since they got a white guy with a history of racist caricatures to voice him. Like............. whyLot of sick people in capcom's universes.
What they mean i think is that Birdie originally wasn't black. Like eons ago. Of course he's black now but it wasn't always the case.
Let's be completely honest here. None of these people are thinking about Street Fighter 1 Birdie. Like who even looks at that game as the definitive version of any character? Nobody is shocked Ryu's hair is no longer red.
It just makes no sense, his most iconic version is his SFA2 incarnation.
You're preaching to the choir, mate. I know.It just makes no sense, his most iconic version is his SFA2 incarnation.
It just makes no sense, his most iconic version is his SFA2 incarnation.
Maybe the blonde mohawk throws people off? I dunno.
I like to know how people are familiar with Street Fighter in the first place to know Birdie was originally white
The earliest I can recall seeing Bengus implement his current artstyle was the PS3 physical release of the Dungeons and Dragons Collection.Here's Bengus' art from an exhibit last year.
This was... 2013, I think?
I just realized that I should mention, if you'd like to make a suggestion to Bengus himself, his Twitter accounts are https://twitter.com/GoudaCheeeese and https://twitter.com/bengasu
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Nothing wrong with him as a person, but the Twitch stuff kinda killed the pacing of the presentation.
This. People just want the information at a steady flow, they don't want the constant interruptions for commentary. It just drags out the stream. To be frank, if they want commentary they can just watch the presentation through a partnered streamer live or watch a youtube reaction video from a content creator/pro player they already follow.
This. I just want them to get to the point.
Other people can side stream with their commentary if they want.
Can you please expound on the twitch stuff if possible? I couldn't find any information on this from my searches.
Last stream they did some dumb shit where they had TastySteve and Vicious react piecemeal to what Capcom had just shown to us. What was originally a 30 minute presentation was unnecessarily extended to 80 minutes. I like TastySteve, but I don't need to see him reacting to shit I just watched. It was pure fluff and added nothing.
Oh that's what you are referring to, oh yeah that was weird
Facts
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In the Summer 2021 Update, Capcom's partnership with Twitch resulted in long commentary which messes with the pacing of the broadcast.
Honestly I haven't paid much attention to SF for years and this is the only Birdie I know, and he looks like a tan, burly dude.It just makes no sense, his most iconic version is his SFA2 incarnation.
The pictures from the 3D games that were posted here make it much clearer to see.
Come on now. I made a dumb assumption and was quickly corrected by people. It is obvious in hindsight.
I live in a country where there are very few black people, I didn't meet one in person until I was almost 30. I know I'm ignorant as fuck about this stuff, but if I don't say dumb shit people can't correct me and I will never get better at not saying dumb shit. I'm trying to get better. Please don't assume the worst.
I'm the most casual of Street Fighter followers, not having playing one of the games properly since I was a kid playing one of the Street Fighter Alphas with my brothers, and even I'm perplexed by the "wtf, he's black?" posts. The dude's been black way longer than he's been not-black. It'd be like going, "What? Pierce Brosnan isn't Bond anymore?"
I don't know how Birdie's characterization has been in-game for the more recent Street Fighters, but I remember really enjoying some of his artwork from the 90s. I always thought it was cool to see a black punk rocker depicted in a video game, so seeing some of the more Sambo-esque depictions of him is a bummer. There was a stoicism to this type of art that I really loved when I was younger:
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I'm the most casual of Street Fighter followers, not having playing one of the games properly since I was a kid playing one of the Street Fighter Alphas with my brothers, and even I'm perplexed by the "wtf, he's black?" posts. The dude's been black way longer than he's been not-black. It'd be like going, "What? Pierce Brosnan isn't Bond anymore?"
I don't know how Birdie's characterization has been in-game for the more recent Street Fighters, but I remember really enjoying some of his artwork from the 90s. I always thought it was cool to see a black punk rocker depicted in a video game, so seeing some of the more Sambo-esque depictions of him is a bummer. There was a stoicism to this type of art that I really loved when I was younger:
Man, it just hit me. I would love to see Punk Birdie updated as Roadman Birdie. UK Drill Birdie.
Got curious and tried to visualize the ethnic diversity of the Street Fighter cast a bit. I'm definitely fudging things, but it seems like over time Japanese and other nonwhite characters have gotten less prominent in the roster while white characters are getting more prominent.
1:
Japanese 4 - 33% (Ryu, Ken, Retsu, Geki)
White: 2 - 17% (Joe, Eagle)
Nonwhite: 6 - 50% (Mike, Lee, Gen, Birdie, Adon, Sagat)
2:
Japanese: 2 - 14% (Akuma, E. Honda)
White: 4 - 29% (Cammy, Guile, Vega, Zangief)
Nonwhite: 8 - 57% (Balrog, Blanka, Chun Li, Dee Jay, Dhalsim, Fei Long, M. Bison, T. Hawk)
Alpha:
Japanese: 5 - 45% (Dan, Guy, Sakura, Karin, R. Mika)
White: 6 - 55% (Charlie, Rolento, Rose, Sodom, Cody, Juli, Juni)
Nonwhite: 0
3:
Japanese: 3 - 19% (Ibuki, Oro, Makoto)
White: 7 - 44% (Alex, Gill, Necro, Hugo, Urien, Q, Remy)
Nonwhite: 5 - 31% (Dudley, Elena, Sean, Yun, Yang)
N/A: 1 - 6% (Twelve)
4:
Japanese: 1 - 10% (Gouken)
White: 6 - 60% (Abel, C. Viper, Decapre, Hakan, Poison, Rufus)
Nonwhite: 2 - 20% (El Fuerte, Juri)
N/A: 1 - 10% (Seth)
5:
Japanese: 2 - 13% (Akira, Zeku)
White: 7 - 47% (Abigail, Ed, Falke, G, Kolin, Lucia, Luke)
Nonwhite: 5 - 33% (F.A.N.G., Laura, Menat, Necalli, Rashid)
N/A: 1 - 7% (Eleven)
Japanese 4 - 33% (Ryu, Ken, Retsu, Geki)
White: 2 - 17% (Joe, Eagle)
Nonwhite: 6 - 50% (Mike, Lee, Gen, Birdie, Adon, Sagat)
2:
Japanese: 2 - 14% (Akuma, E. Honda)
White: 4 - 29% (Cammy, Guile, Vega, Zangief)
Nonwhite: 8 - 57% (Balrog, Blanka, Chun Li, Dee Jay, Dhalsim, Fei Long, M. Bison, T. Hawk)
Alpha:
Japanese: 5 - 45% (Dan, Guy, Sakura, Karin, R. Mika)
White: 6 - 55% (Charlie, Rolento, Rose, Sodom, Cody, Juli, Juni)
Nonwhite: 0
3:
Japanese: 3 - 19% (Ibuki, Oro, Makoto)
White: 7 - 44% (Alex, Gill, Necro, Hugo, Urien, Q, Remy)
Nonwhite: 5 - 31% (Dudley, Elena, Sean, Yun, Yang)
N/A: 1 - 6% (Twelve)
4:
Japanese: 1 - 10% (Gouken)
White: 6 - 60% (Abel, C. Viper, Decapre, Hakan, Poison, Rufus)
Nonwhite: 2 - 20% (El Fuerte, Juri)
N/A: 1 - 10% (Seth)
5:
Japanese: 2 - 13% (Akira, Zeku)
White: 7 - 47% (Abigail, Ed, Falke, G, Kolin, Lucia, Luke)
Nonwhite: 5 - 33% (F.A.N.G., Laura, Menat, Necalli, Rashid)
N/A: 1 - 7% (Eleven)
There's a reason why SFV is sometimes derisively referred to as Blond Fighter V
I'll agree that his recent depictions of black people are on the "wtf are you doing, stop it" level but Bengus has such a long history of exploring and mastering different art styles over literal decades (drawing plenty of black people well over the years) that it seems more like a particular stylization style that failed.
I might be mixing this up with a different artist, but I believe I read somewhere that at some point when Bengus changed to drawing digitally he had to re-learn everything again, and what came with that was a change in art style.
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The Japanese gaming industry isn't a monolith, especially considering that plenty have been stepping up their game regarding how they depict Black folks. Even Nintendo EPD are starting to get with the program, though they sadly didn't extend said memo their contact workers (this is in reference to the racist stereotypes found in some of Smash's spirit battles).
Yo, chill with the racist generalizations
It's wrong to lump an entire ethnic group together, especially when we've seen demonstrable improvements on the representation front coming from Japan. There are still plenty more improvements that can be made, undeniably, but ignoring all of the hard work made (by both the Japanese and people overseas) and assuming the situation is a lost cause is shitty.
I'm not sure what to expect but I hope that he realizes it's offensive, does some research and finds a way to draw black characters in a way that isn't offensive from now on.
Lol. Racist? Have you been to japan or familiar with their culture at all? Most commonly they view black people as caricatures.
Oh come on
You're generalizing a country with 125+ million people. No amount of justification is ever going to make that okay. And I can't believe you're actually doubling down on your obviously bigoted argument. Like yeah, racism, and anti-black racism in particular is an issue in Japan. But don't act like you're some authority, like you know exactly what's going in the country. It's a complicated issue (just like everywhere else), and people are fighting to make things better even there.
They've been fighting since the late 80s. Don't give me that crap.