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Latin American Communities and Video Games

• What is a video game:

A video game is a type of game which is played on a TV, computer, or mobile phone. Video games are involving Latin American communities more and more. This page talks about populations of Latin America and Latino gamers: What games they like to play? Do they play on their computers and or cell phones? And what video games affect Latin American populations. Moreover, what about gender and age affects gamers? And what are the differences to white gamers? What does this mean to show the different culture of Latino Americans?

• Population

Video games draw in a large population in the United States. In 2015, there were 155 million Americans regularly playing video games. (5) Furthermore, Latino Americans are one of fastest growing groups. (4) Latinos are the highest percent to define themselves as gamers which is 19 percent more than white with 7 percent.(6) In addition, Latino Americans have more chance to buy a game than non-Latinos. and it is increasing.(3)

Not only is the Latino American population increasing, Central America and South America are also the second highest increasing market in the world.(1) The gaming market is rapidly up in the past 10 years. In 2016, the gaming market was already higher than music, magazine, and radio. (4)

• Characters and Culture

Even though North and South America have a huge population of Latino gamers in the world, Latin characters only have 5 percent in games. (2) These are the some of most popular characters: King from Tekken Series, Vega from Street Fighter, Isabela Keyes from Dead Rising, Dominic Santiago from Gears Of War. (2)

Gamers want to see Latin American video game characters that are not based on stereotypes and misguided perceptions of who Latin American people are-- William Cannon of "Latin Times" has created a list of some of the toughest Latin American video game characters; They are as follows: Christie Monteirro / "Tekken": She is a Copoeira fighter, wears "colorful clothing and adds sex appeal to the game." (9). Carlos Olivera / "Resident Evil": Mercenary, in charge of weapons, and security (9). Al-Cid Margrace / "Final Fantasy": defined as a member of the ruling family Margrace, a romantic man, and has a heavy accent. He is also has a high awareness of his feelings and the world around him (9). Bane / "Injustice-Gods Among Us": he is an intellect, well educated in "the ways of crime." He has super strength due to being experimented on (9). Tyson Rios / "Army of Two": Former U.S. Army Ranger and "current TWO Operative;" he is physically very strong and tactical as well in battle (9). Juan Aguacate / "Guacamelee": he is a Luchador, who represents the traditional Mexican culture very well. He is clearly very strong, as a Luchador, and brings a romantic element, fighting his way through the game to get to "the woman he loves" (9). (more listed in Cannon's article (9) ).

All games have their background, and some are fictitious, and may take place in fantasy worlds. Others may take place on Earth. There are some games that take place in Latin American countries. Phillip Penix-Tadsen gives a list in LATIN AMERICAN LUDOLOGY Why We Should Take Video Games Seriously, and these are some of his examples, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 which includes culture about Brazil. Tropico 4 has its story in the Caribbean and Central America.(7) Because of their Latin American culture, they like Call of Duty, and FIFA in Brazil, as well as Argentina because soccer is a major part of the culture in many Latin and South American countries.

For music in Latin American video games, there is no specific trend. There are plenty of songs featured in games by Latin American artists which can be found in the games as well as on YouTube playlists, such as this one: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzjkiYUjXuesZ30HK8QyyirFex89B8nLb

• Gender and Demographics

The population of people who play video games is very mixed. Additionally, children are not the only ones drawn to video games. There are many adult female and males who play video games. In 2014, women had 48 percent of the population, which is similar to men at 52 percent. (4) Some more statistics are that, 29 percent of video gamers are children who are under 18. There are also 32 percent between 18 and 35 years old. And lastly, in 2014, 39 percent were 35 years or older.(4) These numbers show that every age and gender can get involved in playing video games..

However, everyone plays at different levels. People who usually play are casual players. Female make up 59 percent, which is higher than males at 41 percent. There are two games most females Latin Americans play more than males, that is Super Mario Brothers and Candy Crush.(3) Core players have slightly more males with 52 percent. But the 70 percent of professional gamers are also men.

• Gaming design

When Latin American involved video games are doing well economically, the designs have improved too. However, the Latin American video game designer population is not as high as the players, and not as diverse. Women in general only have 11.5 percent. More importantly, the Latino population only has 2.5 percent, while the white population has 83.3 percent (4). It could very well explain why games do not have a lot of Latino characters.

But the Latin American communities have developed more and more in the game design realm. For example, GameDev Latinos, a design company, has increased game development.(7) Kingdom Rush is one of the popular games made by Latin Americans.(7) Moreover, the game can show how the designers think, and some of their personal views. Therefore, Mexican developer KaraOculta created a game called ”Trumpéalo”, which is a game that involves throwing item at Trump to make him leave the stage. Trump was has been disappointing to many Latino communities, and it shows in this game that many do not support him.(8)

• Revenue

In 2016, in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico alone, $4.1 billion was spent on console video game. This is the second highest region in the world for video games. For phones, $1.4 billion will be reached by the end of 2017 (1). Predictions for the future Latin American video game market are that it will generate $6.2 billion between 2012 and 2019, by the end of 2019 (1). Predictions also say that phones and tablets will be used more than computers and consoles, which have an estimated projected revenue of $3 billion, leaving consoles at $1.6 billion, and computers at $1.6 billion as well (1).

Latin American population involvement in video games, through design and characters, even setting the video games in Latin America, is increasing. There will be exponential growth economically over the next few years more than ever before, because there is more diversity in every way, and diversity continues to grow in the video game world.

1. Dring, Christopher. "Latin America Will Generate $4.1bn in Game Revenues This Year - Newzoo." GamesIndustry.biz. N.p., 1 Nov. 2016. Web. 13 July 2017.
2. Gamboa, Ana. "Latino Gamers Are Winning and Why the Industry Should Care." AL DÍA News. N.p., 21 Aug. 2014. Web. 13 July 2017.
3. "Hispanic Gamers | Market Intelligence from ThinkNow Research." Hispanic Gamers | Market Intelligence from ThinkNow Research. ThinkNow Research, n.d. Web. 13 July 2017.
4. Aldama, Frederick Luis. The Routledge Companion to Latina/o Popular Culture. New York ; London: Routledge, 2016. Print.
5. Campbell, Colin. "Here's How Many People Are Playing Games in America." Polygon. Polygon, 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 13 July 2017.
6. Anderson, Monica. "Views on Gaming Differ by Race, Ethnicity." Pew Research Center. N.p., 17 Dec. 2015. Web. 13 July 2017.
7. Afroxander. "GameDev Latinos Shines Light on Latino Game Developers." GameDev Latinos Shines Light on Latino Game Developers | GameCrate. N.p., 8 Dec. 2015. Web. 13 July 2017.
8. Carrion, Kelly. "Mexican App Developers Create 'Trumpéalo' Video Game." NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, 01 Sept. 2015. Web. 13 July 2017.

9. Cannon, William. "Top 15 Hardcore Latin Video Game Characters [PHOTOS]." Latin Times. N.p., 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 July 2017.