SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to the Blurred Spectrum Podcast. We are here today to give you an episode unlike any other. Why is it unlike any others? Because we haven't done it before. Um, so this particular episode, um, we decided to uh, if you remember a couple months ago, top of the year, we were going through a list, uh, a time, if you will, of our panelists uh trying to figure out what do we want to talk about and what do you want to hear us talk about. And one of the topics that were brought to our attention was the history of gaming, but not just gaming in general, because I'm sure everybody, well maybe not everybody, I'm sure you've heard about different aspects of the uh the tenure that is the gaming or video gaming industry. But we're not talking about that specifically because we are in the middle of our melanated solstice. So we gotta put a little black in our names. So we are talking about the history, the content creators, the developers, the move shakers, move shakers, move movers, movers, and movers and shakers. There it is, the move the movers and shakers of the black video game industry. Um, so today I have uh with me uh the our panelists, uh starting with myself. I guess I wouldn't be with me, I am me. Uh Suchino Shogun. Uh, I also have uh the doctor. That's good, and I have Kaze Shinryu. So you ask yourself, why three people? Well, we were the ones that were chosen, the chosen few. Or the people who who probably know the most about the subject. Uh, but uh we were the ones that were brought in to specifically talk about the topic at hand. So uh let's go ahead and jump in. Uh let's let's talk about the elephant in the room. Let's let's let's talk about the one individual who, if you've ever seen a black video game documentary or or article, his name has come up. Why is his name come up? Is because at the end of it all, or at the beginning of it all, he's the one that started it all, or well had a hand in starting it all. So uh we're gonna start with the doctor. Who is our mystery? Well, it's not really a mystery, who is our first uh black video game individual?

SPEAKER_02 2:08

Yeah, so you know, as we are all aware, definitely Jerry Lawson. Uh I love, you know, Kaza bringing up that this is basically sounds like a Jerry Lawson episode. But probably one of the best known black pioneers in, you know, video game development history. Um you know, and those who aren't familiar, so he was an engineer, a um computer engineer in the 70s, uh, starting out in New York, where this was a, of course, a really young industry. Um, you know, there, and even then, like it was a very white-dominated industry, uh, mostly because of like how um, you know, so take on factors around computer access and who can really kind of move up in those ranks. And he was one who really excelled uh within Fairchild of this company that was shifting into developing, you know, more gaming, um, basically getting into the gaming industry. And he got to lead his own uh overseas development of his own console. And so the console that he developed, the Fairchild Channel F, was it's super interesting because at the time it didn't really receive, you know, a huge amount of attention or you know, or whatnot. But like now we kind of recognize it as this was probably the single biggest foundation for how consoles would develop. Um it had so many things that we kind of now just take as commonplace when it comes to you know the way like consoles work and such. Um probably the most well-known is that it was the first to use a cartridge system. But around this time, um, and this was during that like early video game area where there were hundreds of different like gaming consoles floating around, you know, so it wasn't like you didn't have a super dominant like few, you know, there was just a lot of them. And often they would just come with their own games built in. That was very standard. But the cartridge system, which is a huge game changer in that you could, I guess literally I figured it was where you could, you know, they just switch out, you know, first.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Oh, wait, I see what you did there. I'm sorry. That was I'm sorry. I just got it.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

Like being able to have one central console where you could switch out the ROM, you know, using these cartridges, like that was incredible for a lot of reasons. Both for like flexibility, uh, both on the production side as well, you know, in terms of efficiency. But yeah, that was something that, of course, like the Atari later adopted, and then basically every console whose name we probably remember, like picked up that system as well. I found the central console element that just runs it to switch out through a cartridge and then later, you know, a disk and so forth. Um, but also, you know, some other things that were really novel. It was his system had the first at-home eight-way joystick. It's not amazing to think like that was you know the first one that really you know came around. Um, and also it had the first pause button, something which, you know, if we don't have that functional, like it sounds insane, but like that was the first one to do it. So this was really just huge. And all these things got picked up by later consoles and it's in Nintendo, you know, Sega, you know, Xbox, like Fall of Sony, all of those. Like this is really the standard. So, you know, if anything, like it, he really deserved so many more flowers when he was, you know, kind of like alive in his prime. Um, but you know, towards the end of his towards the end of his life, he really did start to get a lot more recognition. Um, being honored by the International Game Developers Association Association being one of those major recognitions. And now we know him as the father of console gaming in many ways.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

1000% like he wouldn't, we wouldn't be where we are now uh in gaming. I mean, I don't have to say in my opinion, it's just it's a true fact. We would not be where we are in gaming if it was not for uh good old Jerry Lawson. Um the uh yeah, the father of the video game card is the father of uh modernized, uh the current modernized modern video game cards, like being able to uh instead of purchasing a console that has a preloaded set number of games, being able to individually select which game you would like to play at that given time. It it allowed, it didn't just set the precedent for the developers of the consoles, it changed the game in terms of uh the studios that have the ability now to create multiple games and not have to just fasten it to one specific uh device. Now they can create cartridges or discs, as you said, and sell those individually. And without that, you know, I mean, honestly, without that, you know, gaming would be a lot. Honestly, they're going back to it by making us download everything onto one console anyway. But you know, at least we have a choice. You know, it allowed us to put it in just in different places um and and purchase separate cartridges. Like it's when I found that out, I was I was completely mind-boggled. It didn't make sense to me. I was like, wait, y'all couldn't Atari, Nintendo, Sega, y'all couldn't figure that out. I mean, props to Jerry, but seriously? Okay, so yeah, no, amazing.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

Um, I wonder one thing, yeah, I just thought of this. Uh it's one thing that really doesn't get talked about as much with the whole like cartridge system. It's just how much you touched on this, um, you know, Su G, how much this really just changed the way industry looked, right? As far as like how game developers could structure things and whatnot. Like, literally, like the whole um, you know, having like third-party, you know, games versus uh versus like single party games and whatnot, like that's a separation that only exists when the console and the cartridge are two separate things. Like maybe like our entire gaming, like you know, um economy is based around this. It really is incredible.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Completely. It it's to and again to think that if he had not done we don't know when they would have figured it out, first off. Um, or if they even wanted to, because by having all of the games in one console, it forced those who wanted to play video games to buy the console. And if let's say, like, God forbid, we're we were at the we were still in that stage, and let's say we wanted to play, I don't know, uh Kingdom Hearts, Overwatch, Spider-Man, uh Gears of War, Call of Duty. Let's say they put them all on one console, right? And then they're like, oh, well, Gears of War 2, Kingdom Hearts 3, Spider-Man Miles Morales, Overwatch 2 are all gonna be on the next PS10, and you have to buy the next console to play all of those. And it's another $700. Like, can you imagine? Because they would have done it if like 100%. So it's it's it's it's interesting because technically they are doing it, but again, I'm not going back into that. Anyway, so uh our next um black, I call them black legacy, video game legacy individuals. Uh, because you know, as we said before, Jerry, uh good old Jerry Lawson um is one of the innovators in terms of just the industry in and of itself. But we also wanted to give some shine to individuals in the modern era who are making changes and making waves in the game video gaming industry. Um and one of the people that we uh that you know I I specifically was researching was uh uh Sheila Ramanan. And I hope I didn't butcher her name. I apologize if I did because it is not straightforward. But I apologize if I got it wrong. But Sheila Ramanan, uh, she's actually one of the women of Ubisoft. Uh she has been working there for quite some time, I think uh more than eight years. Um, but she's been a writer for more than eight, uh more than 20 years at this point. Um, and she's been writing on games for the last five years, five or six years. Um, but yes, no, she uh is a phenomenal uh gaming writer uh or story writer. Uh and she also created her own, uh, she co-founded her own gaming studio. Excuse me. Uh she co-founded her own gaming studio uh with it uh with several indie titles, uh including uh Before I Forget. Now, I did a little, I did research on this game, and Before I Forget is such an interesting concept. I'm sorry, I didn't even say the name of the studio. The name of the studio is Threefold Game, my apologies, which she co-founded with Claire Moorewood. But the game Before I Forget is a uh um uh it's a it's a narrative heavy, and you can you you can believe it's narrative heavy, again, because she is a writer, uh, but it's a narrative heavy game. Um, the main character's name is Sumita. Uh, she's a woman suffering from early onset dementia, right? And the premise of the game is that she kind of goes uh uh stage by stage, patching her memory together through interactions with her environment. Like the concept of that I was just talking about this in one of our previous episodes. Uh, Kome Can't Communicate. And of course, these two don't have anything to do with each other, except for the fact that in Kome Can't Communicate, the world around the main character, Kome, helps us understand the difficulties that people who have communication issues uh face and come across. So having a game like this, where the main character is trying to understand uh, because it's early onset dimension, she's trying to piece her memory and piece her her knowledge together pretty much or experience it together based off of the interactions. It helps individuals who have no experience or no understanding of dementia patients or dementia uh uh uh uh uh individuals with dementia, it helps us understand that even more. I couldn't even fathom, uh other than what people tell me about, you know, it's just memory loss. But having this game kind of explain how it's broken down to the point where certain triggers enable them to remember or enable them to gain back an understanding of the things that they might have lost or might have forgotten. Uh, I think it's a phenomenal uh concept of a game to put together. And that one I believe came out in 2020. Um, but yeah, but aside from that, she's also the co-founder of Pac in Play, uh, which is people of color in play. Uh and the purpose of this organization, it's uh uh a organization for the diversifation uh within the gaming industry. Um, and you know, she's used her experience as a gaming journalist, uh, which she was, uh where she's done uh had articles and made uh publications like The Guardian, and um I think she even has a uh uh a continuous article uh on ampersand mag, I believe it's what it is. Um but she is, you know, she uses that connection uh with all of the different individuals who she's you know interacted with and her experience and her uh her experience in development as a writer to be able to meet industry professionals uh to better push the need for pox in play or video gaming. Uh, because you know, the purpose of this episode in and of itself is to explain about those who are making those types of changes or those who've made those types of changes. But in reality, how many video, how many people can you off the top of your head name in the video game industry? I'll wait. Uh pox, of course. Nobody, you you haven't. I already said Jerry Lost.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Is this a chronicle? No.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Not enough. Like it's it's not enough. And you know, uh a lot of the ones that you may know, uh, or if you know any, may be, you know, on the indie side, um, up and comers, you know, people who you know. And you know, the key is we want to be able to push these people and get them into the rooms or get them into the industry so we can see more people like us in games, or we can see more people like us in the gaming industry. We don't necessarily need to be in every game, you know, it'd be nice, but we don't have to be in every game. Um, but it would be nice. Um, but no, yes, uh uh uh Sheila Ramanan. Uh I definitely wanted to add her. Uh she also is a uh narrative designer at Massive Entertainment. Um, like I said, phenomenal uh concepts behind her games, uh, amazing woman in how she makes sure she advocates for people of color in video games. And uh I think it'd be amazing if we can like have her on an episode uh or just you know interact with her in some way, shape, or form. That'd be dope. Yes. But that's uh one of my uh my picks for uh uh individuals within the video game industry. And I know uh uh I didn't know if anybody had uh something to tap onto that.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Yeah, no, I mean I think you know, sounds fantastic. And when I do the game, like I love when games really explore or like allow you to explore like some disability in a somewhat fantastic way, you know, and we really get like some creative insights through that. So I love, you know, uh this game, like exploring with early onset dementia, you know, as it as this central point where piecing the other one's memory. Um yeah, and the fact that you know she's you know this big advocate in for diversity in gaming, I mean, we really we need so much more of that because this still very much a you know white, uh male-dominated field a lot of time. Um, to the point where, you know, on like any person of color, you know, character that gets up pops up like it's male with this black about like, oh well, you know, why are you politicizing our games? It's it's such a bizarre backlash. You know, so um yeah, I love that there's his advocacy work.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Um in fact, you um I'll get more into that later as well, you know, some of the others, but yeah, it's incredibly important. Perfect. And um, I did want to add, I'm sorry, I meant to say there's a game similar to Before I Forget, which is Rhyme. Um, I played that one uh back in 2017. I played it in 2018, but it came out in 2017. Gorgeous game, and similar to Before I Forget, the premise of the game is the uh a boy, you know, winds up on this, you know, mysterious island following a fox like with a fox like fox-like spirit, and he's like collecting these totems and these different items. And I'm not gonna spoil it because I don't like spoiling things, but the the the end game of this, the end goal of this game, whoo, it is powerful. Uh so if you like games like Before I Forget, I would definitely also recommend playing rhyme, R-I-M-E. Definitely uh, definitely uh uh anyway. Uh uh Kaze, did you have any uh things to add on to uh that points on Sheila?

SPEAKER_04 17:40

Uh no, no, that was like super enlightening. I uh I didn't know uh Ubisoft Power Black people, so they uh I mean you know they French, so you know I think I think they uh they are very slightly better on their front, um, uh especially especially with the amount of uh uh uh black black countries that they uh you know landed at. But um where is this going? But uh but no no no not that was uh no no that was super that was super good and I'm I'm gonna have to check some of these games out.

SPEAKER_00 18:20

Um and then of course uh Kazi, you also uh you have a uh individual uh that you honestly he he's another pioneer uh in the video game industry, you know. Uh we all know about Jerry Lawson, and only I won't say no one knows about this uh this gentleman, but uh I don't think as many people know about him, and I think more should. So uh who was your represent individual?

SPEAKER_04 18:46

I my individual is Ed Smith. Um the um the the the uh one of the articles I read uh says that he was the uh the uh second the second uh uh African-American engineer. I'm gonna slip in the first fight business, Jerry. I'm saying. Um but no, uh fantastic person. He's uh uh also it's gonna be more a stream of consciousness because that's how I take notes, all right? But uh yeah, no, he was uh he was born in Brooklyn, uh New York. Uh he uh his company was uh APF electronics. Um this is uh again back in the uh back in the uh 70s. Uh he made uh he uh he worked he worked on the console called the uh MP1000, uh which was a uh very you know very uh very similar uh to the Atari. It had about um had about eight games. Um and uh in the in the I guess the and and aside and aside from being the second black known black engineer uh who uh who worked on like PCs and games, he uh he uh he he he helped he helped make the the hybrid console computer like look legit like like Sega C D. What was that giant thing that went on top of the Sega? Was it the ATX or APX?

SPEAKER_02 20:25

Yeah, the um Yeah, it's something like ATX.

SPEAKER_04 20:29

That monstrosity. Monstrosity. And it was very and it was actually very similar to that because this was literally like the the the entirety of the console looked like sliding on on top of a of a computer with a with a with like a joystick port, and it had a cassette player on the side too. Like they was but um but no, they yeah, just uh yeah, being uh being just being able to join these two things together. And uh I think I think they said they sold about 50,000 copies, uh, which was uh you know some you know pretty notable back then. But I think uh yeah, but I I think both the standalone uh MP1000 and the uh and the and uh and the imagination machine, which is the name of the hybrid, uh both of those is kind of uh uh you know, these didn't do super well. They didn't they didn't um stick around. Uh but uh yeah, Jerry uh he also wrote a book called uh Imaginat. Jerry or Ed? Yeah, ooh, Ed. Yeah, he wrote a book called Imagine That. Uh he actually mentions Jerry in that book. Uh that's why you said Jerry. Gotcha. Uh hopefully good things. But uh, but no, apparently he was always like, you know, traveling and learning. He was uh apparently going to different like uh conventions. Apparently he was in school most of this time. Wow. while all these things. And while, you know, working in his industry and going to school, he was uh he you know he always said like like uh like uh it's not a lot of it's not a lot of it's not a lot of pepper in his salt and you know he was he was he was crazy what the only black person uh uh anywhere anywhere he went um oh there was also he he also he also noted that uh uh when he was growing when he's growing up in uh Brooklyn like they would you know he would he would get bullied until they needed something fixed and like you you you point dexter till till you till your toaster break down now you're I say like stuff useful people but um because you needed a booklet C D all of a sudden um yeah it also said he uh he took a lot of uh he he uh when he was a kid he read a lot of uh uh like you know uh uh uh science fiction and stuff by like W.E.B.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

de Bois um actually I actually wanted to read a quick oop if I can find oh there it is uh it's a quick it's a quick quote from the from his favorite book it's called the invisible man um and it says uh I'm a man of I'm a man of substance of flesh and bone fiber and liquid and I might even be said to possess a mind I'm invisible because people refuse to see me when they approach me they see only my surroundings themselves or figments of their imagination indeed everything and anything except me and uh yeah and the book is pretty much uh about trying to have have an identity as a as a black person this was written in 1954 oh man it's not and it sounds fantastic I'm gonna I'm gonna have to uh I'm gonna have to like go uh go find this but uh yeah no that's most of the that's most of stuff I found on uh Ed just yeah another another like pioneer in the industry didn't never never heard of him before this morning so wow so glad uh glad glad we uh did this yeah did this exercise and I looked him up I mean I I I I love hearing about Ed um because I knew of Ed but not in terms of the video game space uh because he you know you know you hear about black people working at certain companies you're like oh okay inspiration um and of course I worked in computer science uh initially and you know Ed worked at Apple he worked um in several other computer factories he was a uh he worked well he had worked at Apple dealership let me correct myself he worked at the Apple dealership um and at a computer dealer in Albany uh New York for those who didn't know um and you know having the experience he did with the initial uh creation of video games it's like he took those skills and uh was was able to properly encourage and I mean this is an easy way of saying market computers to have people buy them. So you know it's it's it's interesting you know he's a you know phenomenal example of what we can all kind of we can all aspire towards in terms of uh being able to do what you want to do and then switch gears and do something else and still be able to persevere and make money because yeah no he he's he's he's living nice uh you know it's pretty cool matter of fact apparently his initial degrees was in marketing but but but but he but he was but he was doing his computer stuff that to get to get through college. And there you go it's amazing like and you know it's so it's so telling just how you know that quote about uh you need more pepper in the salt how that's just been this pervasive issue just forever in video games you know um particularly at the higher up levels um like this he sounds really exceptional and I definitely want to read more on um his all of biography too which apparently like just uh got released or got released sometime somewhat recently so so uh now we have a uh fourth third fourth fourth yes a fourth uh individual that we want to talk about um the doctor uh you know had a secondary person whom you wanted to talk about and again you know as I said before we're talking about individuals who are pioneers but also individuals who are modernized in the industry but this person is uh someone again that I'm sure unless you've already done this research you've probably never heard of this person um and it's sad because she's darn it I was trying to keep the gender a hidden mystery anyway uh the doctor no um and definitely I think a good um deal for something like this I wanted to lead in with something you know someone who's more historical and of course uh Gerald Austin was like the big historical black uh figure when it comes to this industry uh for someone who's it's very current um and it's very active right now you know um I want to discuss Tanya the past who's she's a journalist and author uh very big in you know gaming circles uh she's written for Polygon in fact she was um a gamer of the year you know awarded by Polygon um so you know she's definitely in that sphere she has a lot of work in that sphere and she's a huge activist for minority representation in gaming especially when it comes to race gender and sexuality um and the intersections therein uh I think that's one of the real like main reasons I was really interested in you know selecting her as someone to discuss here.

SPEAKER_02 27:56

So my introduction to her is actually I I want to say it was maybe 2015 or so maybe uh 2016 when I first heard about her um but it was around the context of so there was this creed game that was um released during the time that was going to have multiplayer and you know when people and then they released that oh this multiplayer won't have or won't you play as any female characters. So it was like this just you know it's gonna we're really some backlash it's okay what's going on with this and then they responded later saying something to the effect of oh you know it would have just been too hard to animate you know which it's uh it's wildly telling for so many reasons because it says okay you this thought never even entered your head that oh you know you might you might have some women who want to play your game as women or some you know some men of us want to play as female characters too like it's it's such a weird thing like that female characters have somehow didn't come up or the idea didn't come up in this design process at all.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

So when so when she um responded to this which on Twitter she uses the hashtag uh I need diverse games and that ended up kind of being picked up as this hashtag to really kind of like speak out and say like oh you know I really want more representation or a lot of them we were using it for like women's representation in games queer representation black representation all of it and it ended up becoming the name for organizations to develop that again this big um advocacy organization for diverse representation in gaming um as well as diversity and equity in the gaming industry because even now you know even now like we think of equity around hiring equity around pay and whatnot um the gaming industry is way way far behind in so many ways when it comes to representation equity for people of color um and for women you know and uh for sexual orientation as well so um yeah this is this is a really it's a really big issue that needs to be addressed and yeah so she's been really been a pioneer in this um there are two streams on twitch which you know I have gotten to a few of her twitch streams before but I definitely will be picking up another one you know after this episode so yeah um no she's a fantastic pioneer when it comes to you know representation for black people in gaming women in gaming and you know these intersections of blackness uh people of color queerness and uh you know uh women so yeah excellent excellence the pioneer when it comes to uh well I mean really just black excellence in the future not 100% uh like not even just with video games like she worked on military drones and if anybody knows anything about drones right now like they're becoming more and more first off drones have been around for a very long time which most people don't understand um and right now they're becoming more and more popular in terms of people owning their own you know mini drone um and you know the more higher level military grade ones are even more sophisticated than you know what they used to be but for her to be one of like the core developers and and and uh workers on the initial uh military drones back in the day uh it's that shows that the the the the levels of diversity in her skill sets for for her to be going from coding to game development um it's because you know people are like oh coding is coding it's not it is different and um you know giving instructions to a drone and coding a game are it's different um now some of the skills may fall in line but having such a breadth of skills I think is is amazing um and then you know some of the games that uh did you list some of the games that she developed as well I did so yeah go ahead that's yeah I'm like I missed that no problem so like one of the games she developed I actually took a uh a look at some of the uh gameplay uh Freedom Rebels in the darkness is honestly the the artwork and the layout of the game is such a Kaze Shinryyu game um especially uh based off the stuff that I've seen uh uh Kaze play before it's it's I don't say dark it's just like just pretty or this very noir yes it's it's very noir in in how it's uh presented and it's like I believe I'm not wrong uh the premise is um and I'll read a little bit of it is like the world continues to grapple with the aftermath of the Western slave trade. As a society we still often don't know how to discuss or even acknowledge the West deep history of racial oppression. That's the beginning of the description of the game and then it begins so the Rebels of Darkness is talking about the slave rebellion it's a slave rebellion strategy game um uh that was developed in 1988 uh by by Muriel um it challenges culture and history on multiple levels um and it's it's just like if you look at it you'll be like yo like it's almost like an one of the initial NES Castlevanias mixed with Attack on Titan uh in terms of like how it's designed. Like I'll let Kaze you know do a review on it when he plays later. But yeah that's dope game. And there's another one about goblins I can't remember what it's called uh but then there was another one called La Boss Des Nath and I am not as French speaker so I probably butchered that completely um my apologies uh uh but yeah that's another game uh that uh she developed you actually can download that now um and play that on um any uh a PC or app uh PC or um Mac. But yeah no she amazing. I I definitely recommend Freedom Rebels in darkness or in the darkness sorry uh that's a D.

SPEAKER_04 34:15

Any uh add-ons, cousin uh yeah no I'm glad you brought that to my attention is actually a I'm gonna have to find the name of it later but there's a game coming out to Steam like now like it's I think it's coming out soon and it looks uh I think it's like a uh like a tactical like I think tactical like class based game like uh Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics but uh but looking at the uh uh looking at the uh art and uh and the in the snippets of story I've got it looks heavily inspired by this game.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

Oh I think story I think it's uh I think it's all it's it's fiction it's fiction but it looks like heavily inspired by the Haitian Revolution but uh no no I'm the yes I'm definitely about to uh find that and then play it and then try to uh draw some uh parallels uh I put a I I put a I put a picture it looked like the uh it looked like the start screen of uh freedom rub on the darkness I put that in the chat that's uh very stirring yep that's the one yep that's the one I was like like an attack on Titan type of feel is why I said that yeah can you imagine like booting up in the 90s mean that's like like what what what am I about to do what am I doing but it changed our life but we didn't know it existed at all um I had a second uh individual as well um and that is uh Mr Sean Alexander Allen now of course you know modern day of course uh he calls himself a you know a self-proclaimed hip-hop obsessed writer speaker and activist um and he was employed of course by Rockstar Games worked on Grand Theft Auto Red Dead Redemption um all a part of you know when they was making like the money money um so then he of course uh allegedly is what he uh people say he left the world of blockbuster games uh to create his own company by the name of New Challenger um which you know when I was doing the research for this episode I was like okay you know what what's he what what's he what what's he doing and he came up with this game by the name of treachery in Beatdown City and I was like what is this supposed to be about and like it's it's crazy because they have he I don't know who the rapper is I actually need to check who the rapper is but there's a rapper who like raps the premise of the game in the trailer and the premise of the game is a group of ninja dragon terrorists kidnapped president uh Blake O'Rama and now you have to take to the streets with three unique fighters Lisa the boxing MMA expert Brad a pro wrestler with a love of fire and a Jeet Kundo capoeira fighter by the name of Bruce uh and you you use an all-new tactical brawling system to fight through hordes of disorderly thugs shouting drunks disorderly cyclists entitled joggers entitled mind you entitled joggers uh rapping grapplers I had to say it's new in New York rapping grapplers affluent punks ninjas terrorists ninja terrorists and cyborgs and much much more will they save the president you'll have to play to find out like this game that sounds like a wild ride oh my gosh and it gives me Streets of Rage vibes in terms of the gameplay um it's it's really like the fact that they have like and the grappler he's really doing like suplexes and submission moves the uh uh uh uh kundo capoeira fighter Bruce he's like literally hitting it up like Eddie Gordo in this in this game and to have the boxer MMA fighter like uh be a woman uh uh almost like Ronda Rousey like Lisa I was looking at the gameplay she's literally serving it to these dudes like it's it's it's pretty legit I kind of fuck with it um so no no really uh a really amazing game uh by new challenger uh you can get that game on if I'm not wrong it's on Steam uh PC and Steam PC and the Switch you can also download it on the Switch uh $20 go buy it $1999. But no so the game is really dope. But going back to going back to Sean um you know uh since you know actually let me say this real quick the LA Times called treachery and beatdown city the most relevant anti-racist game of 2020 wow right LA Times so now I have to play it right that is interesting crazy um and just to have the exact numbers he worked at Rockstar Game for five years and he also worked on GTA 45 uh Max Payne 3 and LA Noir I want to make sure I added those in there um he is a public speaker he's a writer uh he you know always defends and makes sure he promotes diversity in each and each and every one of the uh events that he speaks at or he uh participates in he is a uh mentor and organizer he's a co-organizer of the game devs of color expo which is the first games conference in Harlem um and they had their first virtual conference in 2020 of course during the pandemic um he participates in non-commercial projects all the time uh he actually commissioned uh he's been commissioned to do a couple of board games uh to be set up at the Museum of Moving Image uh which I think is phenomenal uh he also makes political art like there's this one tweet where it's and I'm gonna try to put it in the chat in a second but it's like the um it's the select screen from Mega Man and you know where you have to like choose the path to fight the boss uh or the enemy and has Mega Man in the middle so it has a black Mega Man and it says being black in America and all the enemies around them are robot uh robot policemen oh he's dope oh no he's dope uh I bangs with it um 100% um but no he um he is an advocate for you know us and what we do uh he tries his best to make sure that uh in every one of the things that he participates in he pushes and he promotes African Americans uh all people of color uh just to make sure that we get a chance to be seen in you know whether it's gaming whether it's public speaking uh whatever it is and you know I definitely want to make sure he was one of the individuals in the gaming video gaming industry that we they're promoting and talked about today there's many others um uh but I wanted to make sure you know if you didn't know about uh Sean Alexander Allen well now you know uh yes but uh anybody had any add-ons for Sean no cricket and I'm all right so what's it called Treachery in Treachery in Beatdown City Beatdown City yeah I am absolutely going to pick this up I was I was gonna play the the trailer but I don't know if we have the the rights for that so sorry guys y'all just have to go and Google it yourself um but yeah no no um the I'm sorry that the president's name Blake O Rama I'm so done um uh love it right I love it and you know just man I I love when you have anti-racist elements that are just really forward in video games um so could this be named like the most relevant anti-racist game of the year by um what's it LA Times LA Times yeah I absolutely want to see what this is about so definitely and and yeah and having a diverse cast of playable characters yeah I think is very important because you know and I've said it many times in the past you know when we're playing video games we always have to you know choose a character that fighting style matches what we want to play with but then we you know we keep changing the color to it gets to that off brand color that makes them look darker than they actually are just to ooze ease our souls and and and and quell our minds uh to be able to go about fighting in this in this competition but to have you know a well-rounded cast like not that it matters but Brad the pro wrestler is I believe either Caucasian or of a different descent uh Lisa looks like she could be she's pretty much an on on uh shoot what I forgot the word what line um racially ambiguous or thank you uh she looks racially ambiguous and then you know the uh capoeira fighter Bruce you know he's Brazilian Jamaican no he's Jamaican there you go um Eddie Gordo um BS you know and then the the one thing from the trailer that I got and the reason why I feel like you know you could really say it's an anti racist game is because everybody got those hands and feet and grapples and submissions like whether it was a uh uh a Caucasian entitled jogger or a um a black affluent hunk or a Hispanic ninja like everybody got those hands there was nobody Who was safe? How did I know the ninja was Hispanic? I don't know. But I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_04 44:05

Uh the affluent punks are getting me.

SPEAKER_00 44:12

Um, but no, I I definitely think uh I'm definitely gonna play this as well. Um I said, well, let me see. Fight over 40 class-based enemies, each with a health-based behavior system built to change up attacks and keep players on their toes.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 44:29

Ah oh and I found the shifts and whatnot. Exactly, exactly. And I found the uh the name of the uh um the artist behind the trailer, which, like I said, please go and listen to it. Uh, the music's by Inverse FaZe, uh, who they also have albums by the name of Pretty Eight Machine and The Chipping of Isaac. I don't you know, got to promote, you know, all the people I can promote. Uh, but nah, this looks amazing. Please go play, please go download. Again, that is Sean Alexander Allen. Now, of course, uh, Kazai Chinaryu. I know you have one more person that you wanted to uh talk about for today. And um when you talk about, you know, it's it's funny because you know, we we brought him up and we were like, okay, uh, would he fall in line with this particular uh episode? And it wasn't because we didn't know, but it's because it's kind of like you know, what uh the doctor said, you know, that racially ambiguous. Are we sure? Are we not sure? Is it is it true? Is it not true? And we did our research and we wanted to make sure that it was accurate. Um, because you know, it's it's kind of one of those things like, is he one of us? He's he's he's one of us, right? Can I support him? I can support. Oh, okay, cool, cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's my man. That's my man. 100 grand. Um, but yeah, so who's your character?

SPEAKER_04 45:46

It's funny because as far as I was concerned, I I I claim this man like like we claim Piccolo. Hilarious. I don't know if you're black, but you black today. But uh, yep, nope, definitely uh uh a pillar of the gaming community. Uh this is uh uh Reggie Fizeme. Uh he was the uh he he pretty much ran the American branch of uh Nintendo uh pretty much uh when when was this in yeah 2000 2003 to uh 2018 so fifth 15 years yep uh yeah and and and and in quite in quite literally growing up the first the first time I saw someone like uh other other other than like maybe like a black uh extra in a in a commercial he was literally the first time I saw blackness and video games like together. Wow he was just like in a commercial that's true and uh and also he was uh he was the first um because you know like say Sega didn't have a person, Sega just had Sonic in their commercials and uh in the in the aesthetic they were selling, but like this was a person talking to us about these games, and I and I hadn't yeah, we we still barely see that like he was he was like he's he's actually like very uh very like unique in that case. But um this this this man's uh yeah this this this this this man's fascinating so he his uh his parents are are of Haitian descent um but I say he was uh he's from the Bronx, New York, um since sensing the theme here. He was raised in Long Island, uh he uh graduated from Cornela University. Uh uh my man uh he uh he he he uh he started off at Procter and Gamble. Yep. Uh then he then he uh then he moved on to uh Guinness Guinness Imports and Company. Uh then then he was a managing director at uh at uh Rally UK, which is a a uh a British uh bicycle manufacturer.

SPEAKER_00 48:17

He was also a national uh the senior director of national marketing at Pizza Hut. Keep that in mind. Pizza Hut back in the 90s. Think about it.

SPEAKER_04 48:27

Um about to say, then uh then then he then he joined the Chinese food company, uh Panda Management Co. Uh then then MD then MV MTV's uh VH1. Uh and uh, you know, and then shortly after that he uh he jumped on to uh Nintendo as the executive right president of sales and marketing.

SPEAKER_00 48:51

And before you continue, I'm sorry, I don't want to cut you off again, but I think it's important to notice that he's one of the few people on the planet who were was able to capture either that or he bought it out, but he was able to capture one of the first Twitter handles with one name. Like his Twitter handle is Reggie. At Reggie. Like, like that means either you were first in line, you were the first Reggie who thought about it, or you bought out the first Reggie who thought about it. Either way, he is at Reggie. That's I'm sorry, continue.

SPEAKER_04 49:24

But yeah, so yeah, Reggie was uh was initially responsible for all sales and marketing activities for Nintendo in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. And then in then in 2006, he became the president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America after the former president uh Tatsumi Kimishima was moved to his new role as chairman of the board and chief executive officer. And uh and he was the first American to hold this position. Um and uh and at the time and at the time when he was hired, the video game uh industry was uh was like going stagnant. It was like, you know, stocks was in the garbage. Like most most people thought like this, like the fad was ending. It was like, okay, yeah, this gaming thing, it was cute. Uh, you know, people aren't buying anymore. You know, these these these these systems cost too much, you know. The the the crack the crash was serious. Um uh yeah, uh, yeah, he started uh he he started uh becoming the uh the public face at uh E3. Uh which which again, and I think, and I think E3 was the first time where I started seeing other people like represent there.

SPEAKER_01 50:32

They were just trying to keep up with Reggie. That was it. They were just trying to keep up with Reggie, yeah, the the prototype. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 50:42

But uh, yeah, no, yeah. Reggie, Reggie was pretty much at almost every E3. Um I'm I'm I don't think he uh missed missed too many, but I'm pretty sure I'm pretty sure he was like one of the most recognizable. Like aside aside from Miyamoto, um how many how many Americans even know who Miyamoto is? Um yeah, no, like he he was definitely the the the face of like not only Nintendo, just gaming in general, like for a large, a large portion of the globe. Um but uh but no, he uh he did he did a bunch. I ain't I ain't gonna read everything, but uh he was uh he's with Nintendo until about 20 2019, and then uh afterwards he said he's brought on as the first leader in residence at Cornell University's charge Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management.

SPEAKER_00 51:39

His alma mater.

SPEAKER_04 51:41

Yep, yeah, going going full circle. He was like, all right, I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm me, I'm amazing. Time to go make other me's. Um oh, and he's also been at every uh Game Awards, which has pretty much been uh taking a lot of the hype and praise and attention that E3 was getting. Um so uh yeah, yeah, no, Reggie's is uh he's an icon.

SPEAKER_00 52:10

Oh, that's a good way of saying it.

SPEAKER_02 52:12

100%. Yeah, I mean you really can't overstate just how important and how significant Reggie is. Like, you know, he's also like to me one of the people. Those are the only people I can think of when I think of like a big figure in video games whose face I recognize. You know, like, you know, the only other ones I can think of like Sakurai, you know, and Reggie definitely occupies a much bigger space to the in my mind than Sakurai. Um and it's yeah, I mean it's really remarkable. And I you know didn't know just how interesting his backstory was and how, you know, I mean, that's yeah, really incredible. Um, definitely a pioneer.

unknown 52:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:54

And uh to kind of figure back on what you said, um, Kaze, about you know, him going back to Cornell to make other memes, he has a quote uh from his uh uh on his website, uh uh the Reggie website. I told he just literally Reggie everywhere. Uh his signature is just Reggie. It's crazy. Uh, but his uh his quote is leaders drive a greater vision. They paint a picture that moves the organization, helping the next generation of leaders learn how to do this is why I wrote my book. So literally his entire way of once he got to the point, and the thing is, he's been at the point for so long, at every single business and entity and organization that he's been in, that calling him just a business leader is is rude, uh, which is why he calls himself a business leader, an author, a speaker, and a disruptor. And I think that key word is ideal because like he everywhere he went, he's changed the status quo. Like when he went to Pizza Hut, sales went up. When he went uh and marketing changed forever. When he went to VH1, their their ratings went up 30%. And then, of course, with Nintendo, he became the face, even though he was the president of the American branch. So, but he or CEO of the American branch, he's able to uh he was able to give individuals, whether they were black, white, Hispanic, Japanese, whoever, give them someone to see and know that the people who are in the boardroom or the people, the executives, what have you, one, they're not just signing checks and sitting down behind the desk. They're playing these games, they're identifying the negatives and the positives. They have some type of input. And even if they didn't, they're making it seem like they do. And then they're also giving some type of visibility, like, like you said, creating new versions of themselves. Like, I remember when I first saw Reggie on TV, and I was like, wait, I don't have to wear a tie. Like, literally, that was the first thing I thought. I was like, I don't have to wear it, I can get there, and I don't, I ain't gonna wear a tie. Screw y'all. So, yeah, like I don't think I've ever seen Reggie with a tie on. Ever. Like, that man is is I'm is buttonless with uh or t-shirts. Like it's it's it's an amazing thing to see him in every aspect. Like he's on different types of shows now. Like, uh I can't remember the name of the show, but I just saw him recently on a show where they were awarding indie gamers, indie developers, creators, like 20 between fifty, no, between 15,000 to over $100,000 to develop and push forward their games each. Like literally, it was like a six episode. I have to find the name of the show when I'll try to post it. It was a six-episode show, and they had different categories and over a over a hundred thousand developers uh um who applied. And the top like 30 of them were on this show where him and another uh a panel of top execs or former top execs of gaming and in the industry literally selected who was the best, uh uh what game had the best creativity, what game had the best storyline, what great game had the best premise, what was the overall game of all, and I think it was like more than 10 categories, and each category got anywhere between 15,000 to $100,000. So imagine winning more than one category $50,000, $75,000. Like the fact that they were able to put that amount of money together and again put it back into new gamers, new developers, new creators, new leaders in the industry is what he's been talking about. And uh, like you said, icons 1,000% being able to not just say it, not just be about it, but actively do it on a consistent basis in every single avenue that he's been in. Reggie for president. That's all I gotta say.

SPEAKER_04 56:45

Another thing I love about Reggie is uh is like, you know, not not only did he uh did he mimic the um the sentiment that he was the only minority at at Cornell, but was like it's just the sheer is the sheer like weight of his amazing like resume. And like, and as much as I love like seeing like these like winning and underdog stories of like of black people like working and striving and clawing their way into an industry that doesn't want them, to see to see a man like this who was amazing at everything he did and everybody wanted him. And literally just like uh like you said, led and transformed and like in every in in every industry that he graced. Um, you know, it's important, it's important to have stories like that too.

SPEAKER_03 57:47

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 57:50

It's it's mind-boggling. I'm trying to find the name of that gaming show. Uh, I don't know if I'm gonna really find it. But um, yes. So those are the individuals that we have for this particular episode. Um, if you have any more, uh listeners, of course, if you have any more that you would like to add or you know, have us discuss or talk about or bring up in a future episode, uh, please do not hesitate, either send a message to our mailbag, which is theblurred spectrum at umbralstarkate.com or umbrellate or the blurred spectrum at gmail.com, um, or hit us up, uh, DM us Instagram, theblird spectrum, Twitter, uh, Facebook. Feel like there's something else. But yes, and YouTube, yes. Uh, go ahead and just send us a message and we'll definitely uh we'll we'll start that discussion of like other influential and names that need to be known, black POC names that need to be known in the video game industry. Because it's um, like I said, I'm sure half of the names on that we that we did today, people didn't even know who they were, at the very least. So we want to make sure we get more visibility out there for the people who are there, because that will encourage the next person to try to get in there. Because if everybody thinks they're the only person, then they can't work together and they can't build that that network to get more of us in there. But anyway, uh, any other comments on uh on the individuals that we had on this episode, my fair panelists?

SPEAKER_04 59:20

Uh only that um glad we did it. These uh the episodes like this are a great opportunity to uh learn and do research. And and and and despite and despite my uh my uh pat my uh history with schools, I like doing research. So it's uh yeah, it's it's it's lovely to put those uh put those skills uh to test.

unknown 59:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:51

Definitely. Um really good discussion, really informative. And now I have at least one game that I definitely am going to play.

SPEAKER_00 59:58

So all right, Sean, we give me some love, or anyway. Um, yes, but of course, as always, let me give uh my panelists the opportunity to tell you how they can be reached, starting with Kaze Shinryu.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:11

You can find me at uh Barrett3B uh on the ground.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:15

And the doctor. And of course, I can be reached at Suchi underscore no underscore shogun on IG. Um Suchi is spelled uh T-S-U-C-I-H-I. Um, and then of course, also I can be reached at Blur Creations, uh, Blur Creation Shop on Facebook, Blur Creations on Instagram and TikTok? Yeah, and Twitter, yes. And then of course, Umbral Starcade on pretty much everything uh other than TikTok. We're not there yet, but everything else, including Twitch, uh, which we will be doing some live streaming really, really soon. Um, and then uh please, uh, we have a couple of discussions up on Facebook right now, talking about a couple of our former previous topics. Uh right now we have an oversexualization of women discussion going on on Facebook. So go ahead and join and um let's let's let's build a dialogue because uh we found out we accidentally left out one of our favorite guest panelists off that episode, and she was uh she she she she was a little upset. Uh uh uh we sorry, we uh uh we sorry, Aurora. Um uh but she will be a part of that uh that conversation, so we can definitely continue that uh off the episodes. Uh but yes, we're continuing our solstice, of course, into the end of what you call the summer, but it's not the end of the summer solstice. So uh the melanated solstice will continue, and we will come back with more content creators, artists, musicians, etc., as we move further and further into uh the end of the year. Um as always, if there is nothing else to say, I don't know.