@bonbolapti: Every entertainment industry is pretty much built on pandering. I mean, what's a better bet for profitable entertainment than something your audience is asking for? Luckily, that's a standard that's bound to change. There was a time before the Kieth Davids and Will Smiths of the world, when movies had white protagonists. Slowly but surely, tastes shifted enough that a minority actor could not only be profitable, but the most profitable.
It starts with smaller audiences that are open to new ideas, but those ideas eventually permeate the larger medium enough that the general audience willingly accepts them.
I think marketing is a huge factor here, and that a lot of the issues with how games are sold go back to that established general audience. Why scare away those dependable, 18-34 year old males with a female protagonist when they're your most consistent market? It's a similar issue to the constant sequalization of games; why risk money on something new when you can bank on what's worked before?
Because people get sick of what worked before. Eventually, even the general audience wants something new. Eventually, that something new will be a female protagonist in a game that crushes commercially. Unfortunately, the nearest current example I can think of is Tomb Raider, and I don't think that will be the game to shift general tastes. It still appears to be built on male power fantasies, after all.
Beyond Good and Evil could have been that game. Mirror's Edge could have been that game. That I can only come up with those two tired examples is a pretty bad sign, but that those games are "cult classics" or "niche properties" is worse.
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