Over on the Acclaim message boards, the news has popped up that in their new game, Dance! Online, you have to pay in order to have a character with black skin. Yes, you have to PAY MONEY in order to be a different race. Why? Well, let's go to coasterguy26, an "Acclaim Player Moderator" for a response.
Black is an EXTRA feature. It makes your person look unique, so that is an EXTRA feature. Therefore, you having to PAY for it. (Or ask a friend to pay for it).
Well, that's not helping things. Someone from Acclaim Staff chimed into all of this with what the actual situation is:
As an optional character upgrade, we must put this in the item shop for players to acquire. This is the only way to offer the African-American heads. However, it should be EASILY accessible to all, so we made it just 1 POINT in the shop (which is basically for FREE). You don't have to spend any money to get it, just play the game and earn points. Thanks!
Nonetheless, this is absolutely insane that if I were to ever play this game, I would have to earn the right to be black. The problem is that there's no benefit to buying the "black outfit" for your character -- it's simply a stylistic difference. To add fuel to the fire, the game allows marriages, but as one commenter at Broken Toys points out, doesn't allow gay marriages.
[Via GameSetWatch]
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Boohoo no gay marriages. Cry me a fucking river gaygamer.
So you're forced to be white? That sucks. What about Asian?
How is it an extra feature? I'm pretty sure every other game in the history of time which featured more than one race didn't make me pay to be one or the other. How is making it 1 point any easier as well? That's like a squatter making you pay £1 to have your house back.
Acclaim more like AKKKLAIM amirite?
Wow. I wonder how soon it'll be before mainstream media gets their hands on this. Then again, nobody probably cares nor has even heard of this game.
how much does it cost to be a dude in a wheelchair?
Hahahahaha
No, white people don't dominate the industry at all.
so... how much does a gay black marriage cost?
winojesus ftw.
ahem, so what about us lower class humans, known as mecsi-cans?
SWEET
so how many virtual slaves can i buy
WINO has a brokeback mountain avatar... oh boy
How many black people are actually going to play this game? Hell, how many people in general are actually going to play this game?
insert 'nappy headed hos' joke here.
So are you saying that you should start off as black and have to "earn the right" to be white?
It's the same thing with Guitar Hero II. If you want to be Xavier (only black guy), you gotta play and unlock in-game currency to buy him.
I just love how Black is always referred to as "African-American" as if all Black people are Americans. Is there a separate purchase for African-Africans or African British? Political Correctness can be pretty absurd sometimes...OK, most times.
looks like everybody wants in on some Don Imus action...racial issues aside, that guy has some cool hair
yeah, i was going for something a little less gay lookin than the final fantasy twinks
@ Wino,
Well, going for something less gay looking than the final fantasy guys shouldn't have been that hard.
@skullivan
I know what you mean. Its just being "PC". I knew an "african-american" once in high school. But he was white. From Kenya.
I descended from Ireland. You don't call me Irish-American. I'm just some white guy, or honkey (but hung like a donkey).
Being PC is just retarded. Oh, I'm sorry, Retarded-American. It never makes any sense.
Just another example of Whitey keeping the brothers down.
So non-whites have to pay more!
WTF FTW!
'non-whites' don't have to pay anything. it's a video game symbol, not a representation of who you are. if you actually care about the color of your video game character's skin, maybe you're the idiot racist. and maybe video games should be invisible, that way developers' ideas can't hurt anybody by being associated with anything! being black in this game is like being black in real life: you don't get any special powers and you have to pay for it. being white is the same, too: you don't get any special powers, you just get to be there first.
and really, you're going to be black no matter what, so why not take this chance to feel white?
furthermore: what does marital status have to do with a dance video game? do married couples get special married dance moves they can pull off, or something?
i can't believe i still look at this website and live on this earth.
seriously, though, is this going to open up doors to people with certain taste in clothing, music, art, and games complaining about not having a default choice that reflects who they believe they are, and how they should be representing themselves in a video game? rofl.
yes brandan.
this is actually a good thing.
Does it mean that, because I laughed hysterically at this, that I'm a racist?
I hope not. ; ;
'yes brandan.
this is actually a good thing.'
a good thing for who? for gay people who want to be gay? black people who want to be black? they're already gay and black, now they want to encroash on artistic expression because they don't feel significant?
wow, boohoo!
encroach?
don't let Imus or Sharpton hear about this!!
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the irony of a white character being the default choice in a dancing game.
Racial stereotypes and imminent PR disasters FTW!
It's something so inane as race that they're making you pay for in an MMO, which has no impact on the game except for a visual appeal which is why I'm irritated by this. Why the hell can't it just be a normal thing in the game?
nobody black or white is going to play this godawful mmo
Aaaaaand wow.
*tear*
Are the points needed to buy the skin ingame points or the xboxlive points? If it's ingame points, it's not a problem. Xboxlive type points would be a pain in the ass, because you can't buy in 1 point denominations, and would have to burn 100 points. Still, the black skin color was probably added as an afterthought or there were problems implementing it into the character creation screen, so they had to make it buyable in a store. You guys are probably blowing it way out of proportion.
Whats a x360 cost these days... So I take it we wont see many people with this skin online.
This is a ridiculous story. This is 1 point of in-game currency. It says right in their statement that you don't have to spend any real money for this and I can't imagine it taking long to earn 1 point. They say it's basically free.
I don't want to see Destructoid sensationalizing the gaming news like conventional news sites, but it looks like its happening!
YOU GOT: CLOWN SHOES!
CREDIBILITY: DOWN!
LOL I had to make an account just because of that last comment. You don't want to see Destructoid START sensationalizing anything? What site have you been reading?