@jdh5153 said:

@Hailinel said:

@jdh5153: If you equate Sleeping Dogs to South Park, you really don't have any idea what you're talking about. Stop talking. You're making a fool of yourself.

Haha... But it's not some serious game either. Have you read the dialogue... Some great lines like "Fuck you you mother fuck". Yeah, serious stuff right there.

No one is claiming it's an entirely serious game, but to make the sort connection you're going for demonstrates your ignorance.

Also making fun of =/ racist

Do you think GTA is racist? Cause Rockstar is most certainly making fun of the american lifestyle....

@jdh5153: No, I don't think the game is taking itself 100% seriously, though I don't think it's nearly the aggressive cultural parody that the GTA games tend to be.

@Abendlaender said:

Also making fun of =/ racist

Do you think GTA is racist? Cause Rockstar is most certainly making fun of the american lifestyle....

Using the term racist isn't the right term. It just happens to be what I used when I made the thread. I really mean, am I laughing because it's funny and asian (race) or just because it's kind of silly (dialogue wise mostly).

I mean Saints Row is funny and it's parodying the American ghetto. It knows that, we know that. San Andreas was a little more serious, but still at times it was funny because it parodied your typical American black gangster lifestyle, am I right? So is Sleeping Dogs for Asians what Saints Row and San Andreas is for Americans. That's what I'm getting at.

Or is it funny because Asian stereotypes are made fun of in movies, TV and YouTube, etc. and I'm not taking it seriously.

@jdh5153 said:

@Abendlaender said:

Also making fun of =/ racist

Do you think GTA is racist? Cause Rockstar is most certainly making fun of the american lifestyle....

Using the term racist isn't the right term. It just happens to be what I used when I made the thread. I really mean, am I laughing because it's funny and asian (race) or just because it's kind of silly (dialogue wise mostly).

I don't know if you're trying to be offensive here or not.

@Alex said:

@jdh5153: No, I don't think the game is taking itself 100% seriously, though I don't think it's nearly the aggressive cultural parody that the GTA games tend to be.

Aw shit, this thread just got LEGITIMATE.

@Hailinel said:

@jdh5153 said:

@Abendlaender said:

Also making fun of =/ racist

Do you think GTA is racist? Cause Rockstar is most certainly making fun of the american lifestyle....

Using the term racist isn't the right term. It just happens to be what I used when I made the thread. I really mean, am I laughing because it's funny and asian (race) or just because it's kind of silly (dialogue wise mostly).

I don't know if you're trying to be offensive here or not.

I'm not. But it's a fact that asians are often made to look funny in movies and TV shows. Just as Indians are (Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, etc.)

So are the asians in this game, serious asians, or partly stereotypical 'we're supposed to laugh a little' asians. Because it made me laugh.

@jdh5153 said:

@Hailinel said:

@jdh5153 said:

@Abendlaender said:

Also making fun of =/ racist

Do you think GTA is racist? Cause Rockstar is most certainly making fun of the american lifestyle....

Using the term racist isn't the right term. It just happens to be what I used when I made the thread. I really mean, am I laughing because it's funny and asian (race) or just because it's kind of silly (dialogue wise mostly).

I don't know if you're trying to be offensive here or not.

I'm not. But it's a fact that asians are often made to look funny in movies and TV shows. Just as Indians are (Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, etc.)

So are the asians in this game, serious asians, or partly stereotypical 'we're supposed to laugh a little' asians. Because it made me laugh.

The characters are funny because of their personalities, not because they are Asian. Winston is funny because he has roid rage, and is a momma's boy. He could be any race and still be funny. Same thing goes for Jackie, who is a naive slacker, and Old Salty Crab who is a slapstick fat guy. Certainly some aspects of Asian culture are played up to make the game more humorous, but the game is not trying to make jokes about how stereotypically Asian the characters are. That wouldn't even make sense considering the game is set in Hong Kong.

@bagrm said:

@jdh5153 said:

@Hailinel said:

@jdh5153 said:

@Abendlaender said:

Also making fun of =/ racist

Do you think GTA is racist? Cause Rockstar is most certainly making fun of the american lifestyle....

Using the term racist isn't the right term. It just happens to be what I used when I made the thread. I really mean, am I laughing because it's funny and asian (race) or just because it's kind of silly (dialogue wise mostly).

I don't know if you're trying to be offensive here or not.

I'm not. But it's a fact that asians are often made to look funny in movies and TV shows. Just as Indians are (Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, etc.)

So are the asians in this game, serious asians, or partly stereotypical 'we're supposed to laugh a little' asians. Because it made me laugh.

The characters are funny because of their personalities, not because they are Asian. Winston is funny because he has roid rage, and is a momma's boy. He could be any race and still be funny. Same thing goes for Jackie, who is a naive slacker, and Old Salty Crab who is a slapstick fat guy. Certainly some aspects of Asian culture are played up to make the game more humorous, but the game is not trying to make jokes about how stereotypically Asian the characters are. That wouldn't even make sense considering the game is set in Hong Kong.

Okay then. See simple is that. That's all I've been getting at. I found the dialogue to be pretty outrageous, especially with subtitles on. I only played for an hour and I wasn't sure what direction the game goes in from there. If it goes all out funny, Saints Row / GTA, or more serious like (insert some serious game here).

That is all. Move along. Seeya later.

I've been to China, they have dead chickens all over the place.

Fuck, you walk out the door, you're more like to get 10 chickens in various stages of undeath to the face than you are to see a live one.

It's like Link rolled through the place and hit a couple with his sword, and he's been hiding in the sewers ever since. Chickenstorms ravage the countryside, devouring all in their wake.

@jdh5153 said:

I'm just saying it seems like it's trying to take all of the silly asian crap and throw it into a game....

Silly asian crap?

I think you just outed yourself.

I think its only silly if games are trying to take themselves TOO seriously.. like Medal of Honor... now THATS silly.

This thread is more racist than Sleeping Dogs.

@Alex: Do you know yet if you will end up on this year's GoTY deliberations podcast? It would be great to hear Sleeping Dogs get some support from you on there...but I guess Vinny will probably have something to say too judging by the amount of fun he has had with that game.

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@Alex: Do you know yet if you will end up on this year's GoTY deliberations podcast? It would be great to hear Sleeping Dogs get some support from you on there...but I guess Vinny will probably have something to say too judging by the amount of fun he has had with that game.

It would be awesome if we could get Alex on the podcast (even if that'd be a lot of people). I see Sleeping Dogs getting the Dark Souls treatment though where Vinny says its the best game but just bows out because he's alone there.

@Turambar said:

@jdh5153 said:

@TheHT said:

@jdh5153 said:

I'm just saying it seems like it's trying to take all of the silly asian crap and throw it into a game

This thread is delightfully ignorant.

That's what I'm here for 哥

You realize, as a native chinese speaker, your decision to use a character that is largely meaningless without a second accompanying one to actually make it mean "bro" in the colloquial is absolutely hilarious to me? You're like those white guys who get tattoos of Chinese characters without any idea what said characters actually mean outside of the largely false information the tattoo artist gives you.

Haha, that reminds me, I had a room mate from Taiwan when GTA IV came out who told me that Brucie's tattoo said 'transsexual' in Chinese. That's apparently on Brucie's Giant Bomb page now, but if I hadn't had that guy around I would have never known.

Have you ever been to Hong Kong? I have. And yeah, while certain aspects of the culture are definitely painted in more cartoonish broadstrokes, that's pretty much how Hong Kong actually is. Everything you described. That's all in Hong Kong.

@Colourful_Hippie: Dunno yet. I'll be in town for a week before the Christmas break starts up, but dunno if that'll be the week they're taping or not. They don't even know when they're going to record those podcasts yet.

@jdh5153 said:

@bagrm said:

@jdh5153 said:

@Hailinel said:

@jdh5153 said:

@Abendlaender said:

Also making fun of =/ racist

Do you think GTA is racist? Cause Rockstar is most certainly making fun of the american lifestyle....

Using the term racist isn't the right term. It just happens to be what I used when I made the thread. I really mean, am I laughing because it's funny and asian (race) or just because it's kind of silly (dialogue wise mostly).

I don't know if you're trying to be offensive here or not.

I'm not. But it's a fact that asians are often made to look funny in movies and TV shows. Just as Indians are (Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, etc.)

So are the asians in this game, serious asians, or partly stereotypical 'we're supposed to laugh a little' asians. Because it made me laugh.

The characters are funny because of their personalities, not because they are Asian. Winston is funny because he has roid rage, and is a momma's boy. He could be any race and still be funny. Same thing goes for Jackie, who is a naive slacker, and Old Salty Crab who is a slapstick fat guy. Certainly some aspects of Asian culture are played up to make the game more humorous, but the game is not trying to make jokes about how stereotypically Asian the characters are. That wouldn't even make sense considering the game is set in Hong Kong.

Okay then. See simple is that. That's all I've been getting at. I found the dialogue to be pretty outrageous, especially with subtitles on. I only played for an hour and I wasn't sure what direction the game goes in from there. If it goes all out funny, Saints Row / GTA, or more serious like (insert some serious game here).

That is all. Move along. Seeya later.

The only thing that you've been getting at is that you're foolish.

The idea that Chinese music is played in China is a stereotype!

Oh man

I'm sure this has already been said, but I'm not gonna read this whole damn thread to find out. It seems you're racist.

This is like one of those really bad Yahoo! questions pages.

I almost feel bad for OP.

@Viking_Funeral said:

This is like one of those really bad Yahoo! questions pages.

You mean that there are good ones?

@AndrewB said:

@Yummylee said:

lol

But in all seriousness while not racist perhaps, something that bugged me was how much English spoken dialogue there is. Or more importantly how basically everyone speaks English, including everyday civilians, and then you have Mrs Chu who speaks exclusively in Chinese. It sort of portrayed the idea to me that Chinese was some sort of dying language that only the traditionalists holding on to the past spoke, while everyone else adopted English.

Reading too much into it of course and that obviously wasn't their intent, but it stood out all the same.

While I'm kind of an advocate for a universal spoken language (I mean, as homo sapiens, it seems weird that we still have this barrier where some of us can't even communicate with one another due to language), I actually like playing games where people are speaking dialog native to their country. Just give me subtitles and immerse me in the experience.

And edit: I meant to say I definitely agree, even though I know it's not true.

I also feel that the amount of English speakers in the game kinda bugged me, I could see why they would need to lean on that direction. It's just a shame the voice actors they used speak heavily accented Cantonese and don't sound like they come from Hong Kong at all.

@Alex: You guys should consider getting a skype thing or whatever set up like you had with Rorie back at Screened if you end up not being there in person for the deliberations.

@ArtisanBreads said:

I was playing this game and a girl wore a small skirt to look sexually attractive. And she wore make up and shit. Shit was sexist.

And I played this other game where black people were listening to hip-hop. Am I supposed to take this seriously?

Ditto!

@Hailinel said:

@Viking_Funeral said:

This is like one of those really bad Yahoo! questions pages.

You mean that there are good ones?

The religion section is pretty hilarious sometimes

I would go for the lousy driving, I would make my proud racist stand there.

Vietnamese for example did have problems where I lived at first, and often shared the one driving license amongst the family I did hear.. But that was decades ago. They are as good as drivers as anybody now...growing pains.

No it's pretty accurate actually, you are just being over-sensitive.

I haven't played the game, but it seemed to be trying to be genuine to me (maybe some comedy, but not entirely parody). It feels like your misunderstanding is more due a small world view than the games representation.  
 
I don't think that makes you racist (as some claim) but it does mean you may want to start looking into more cultures, at some point, just for perspective if nothing else. Everyone is born unaware of the world around them, and it is up to them to broaden their horizons. If you don't you're just ignoring a large portion of the world- which is a foundation of ignorance. 
 
It could also come from your misunderstanding of stereotypes, which are not inherently racist.

@evanbower said:

@jdh5153 said:

@Tobiass said:

@jdh5153 said:

So I started playing Sleeping Dogs last night and within the first ten minutes it has like every asian stereotype ever...The weird music, dead chickens and fish hanging everywhere, spikey hair.... I can't take the game seriously, I find myself laughing hysterically....Is it meant to be a parody, or are you supposed to take it seriously?

No. That's how Hong Kong is. The entire voice cast excluding Emma Stone is Chinese. You'd think they'd do the game if it potraied a false stereotype?

Idk. Saints Row makes fun of ghetto / black culture, doesn't it? Or do they all dress in pimp hats and drive lowriders?

I think you're telling us more about yourself than the games you're talking about. You associate pimp hats with black culture?

I don't think he was being derogatory. What culture does a pimp hat make you think of?

OP needs to travel more.

@jdh5153 said:

@Abendlaender said:

Also some people talk, like, chinese or so. Soooooooo stereotypical

You miss the point. I know they're Chinese, I just think the game is making fun of them....

well I born and live in Hong Kong and I don't feel offended by that.

the stereotypes are mostly people's impression of Hong kong around the 70~80s, probably came from all the kung-fu flicks sold world wide

it's part of the history, dude. why should I feel offended?

Why don't you want a pork bun?

@Alex I still have vivid memories of alive turtles in boiling water from when I was a kid.

@jdh5153 said:

@bagrm said:

@jdh5153 said:

@Hailinel said:

@jdh5153 said:

@Abendlaender said:

Also making fun of =/ racist

Do you think GTA is racist? Cause Rockstar is most certainly making fun of the american lifestyle....

Using the term racist isn't the right term. It just happens to be what I used when I made the thread. I really mean, am I laughing because it's funny and asian (race) or just because it's kind of silly (dialogue wise mostly).

I don't know if you're trying to be offensive here or not.

I'm not. But it's a fact that asians are often made to look funny in movies and TV shows. Just as Indians are (Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, etc.)

So are the asians in this game, serious asians, or partly stereotypical 'we're supposed to laugh a little' asians. Because it made me laugh.

The characters are funny because of their personalities, not because they are Asian. Winston is funny because he has roid rage, and is a momma's boy. He could be any race and still be funny. Same thing goes for Jackie, who is a naive slacker, and Old Salty Crab who is a slapstick fat guy. Certainly some aspects of Asian culture are played up to make the game more humorous, but the game is not trying to make jokes about how stereotypically Asian the characters are. That wouldn't even make sense considering the game is set in Hong Kong.

Okay then. See simple is that. That's all I've been getting at. I found the dialogue to be pretty outrageous, especially with subtitles on. I only played for an hour and I wasn't sure what direction the game goes in from there. If it goes all out funny, Saints Row / GTA, or more serious like (insert some serious game here).

That is all. Move along. Seeya later.

I have no problem laughing my ass off at the pork bun guy, there is heaps of intentional humor in that game from the vendors, they got it from the GTA vendors.

@jdh5153 said:

@Tobiass said:

@jdh5153 said:

So I started playing Sleeping Dogs last night and within the first ten minutes it has like every asian stereotype ever...The weird music, dead chickens and fish hanging everywhere, spikey hair.... I can't take the game seriously, I find myself laughing hysterically....Is it meant to be a parody, or are you supposed to take it seriously?

No. That's how Hong Kong is. The entire voice cast excluding Emma Stone is Chinese. You'd think they'd do the game if it potraied a false stereotype?

Idk. Saints Row makes fun of ghetto / black culture, doesn't it? Or do they all dress in pimp hats and drive lowriders?

No. Saints row is sattire. Saints row isn't going for a serious story like Sleeping dogs is.

White people have to play in a Mariachi band, Hispanics use chop sticks, Asians grow their afros out, and black people make up the majority of college students.

This is the only scenario in a game that cannot be considered racist.

@jdh5153 said:

@Tobiass said:

@jdh5153 said:

So I started playing Sleeping Dogs last night and within the first ten minutes it has like every asian stereotype ever...The weird music, dead chickens and fish hanging everywhere, spikey hair.... I can't take the game seriously, I find myself laughing hysterically....Is it meant to be a parody, or are you supposed to take it seriously?

No. That's how Hong Kong is. The entire voice cast excluding Emma Stone is Chinese. You'd think they'd do the game if it potraied a false stereotype?

Idk. Saints Row makes fun of ghetto / black culture, doesn't it? Or do they all dress in pimp hats and drive lowriders?

It's not really ''black'' culture. I mean, for one...you're dressed like that, does that make it racist? Are Juggalos racist?

@Rainbowkisses: Yeah, it's just you.

@jdh5153 said:

Well I found my answer...Stop laughing at asians. Roger that. I'll take this game seriously now :-)

Seriously though, it's pretty fun so far. Though the f*ers keep driving on the wrong side of the road...I'll show them!

Retard Mode full on!

Everyone knows kung-fu, your character has a massive dragon tattoo and you pray at Buddhist altars to increase your health. In short, yes, and it is most certainly hard to take seriously.

@Kraznor said:

Everyone knows kung-fu, your character has a massive dragon tattoo and you pray at Buddhist altars to increase your health. In short, yes, and it is most certainly hard to take seriously.

This must be sarcasm.

I'm so glad this thread is still going. It is up there with "launch tray" for me in great Giant Bomb forum moments. Whatever happened to the launch tray guy anyway?

@believer258 said:

@Kraznor said:

Everyone knows kung-fu, your character has a massive dragon tattoo and you pray at Buddhist altars to increase your health. In short, yes, and it is most certainly hard to take seriously.

This must be sarcasm.

I guess it would take a stupid comment to necro a stupid thread.

@evanbower said:

I'm so glad this thread is still going. It is up there with "launch tray" for me in great Giant Bomb forum moments. Whatever happened to the launch tray guy anyway?

He was replaced by the "jam pointed objects in ear" guy.

@believer258: @believer258: All of those things are true and they are most certainly impacting my enjoyment of the game (the altars glow on top of it all, which I couldn't help laughing at). That narrative dissonance everyone talks about open-world games having is present here as well, only it is either much more problematic or I simply haven't played a game like this in a bit and its standing out because of it. Basically, everything I've played of this game makes me hate it.

@Colourful_Hippie: Well, didn't want to post a new topic suggesting this game is kind of terrible if there was already one that focused on some of its negative qualities.

@Kraznor: Yeah, one focused on misperceived interpretations of "racism". The only valid criticism you just threw out was the cognitive dissonance in the game because you're supposed to be a cop. If you really think those things you listed point to racism then you were probably among the intelligent crowds of people who thought Resident Evil 5 was racist.

@Colourful_Hippie: "Jam pointed objects in ear"? Somewhere along the way, I've missed out. Be a pal and link me?

The game isn't racist but your reaction to it may be.