In one of the recent posts over at his 1UP blog, the elaborately named Quan-Madrid contends that the Sony-developed blob-'em-up features racist characters, in the shape of the dark Moja enemies that appear in the game. According to Quan-Madrid, the Moja are just a little too close for comfort to the "blackface" image that was peddled by performers and dancers from the early 20th Century. The same look was revived in the BBC's Black and White Minstrel Show, a TV programme that appeared in both the UK and Australia until 1978, when it was scrapped following accusations of racist overtones.
"Today in virtually any public sphere in the US, a depiction of a blackface character is not met without much murmurings and harsh criticism," wrote Quan-Madrid. "In comparison, some countries such as Japan (where LocoRoco was developed) do not have significant black populations and so blackface images can come about without any criticism. The images are also then okay to be labelled as the enemy or even serve as representations of black characters in general, despite the racist images they perpetuate. That and I hear that Japanese people (in Japan) at times can be pretty innocently racist."
Quan-Madrid isn't suggesting that LocoRoco is consciously racist then, and he goes on to assure us that he's "not accusing the developers of being racist, nor of LocoRoco being a racist game. I simply believe that this is a product of unchecked institutionalised racism that needs calling out. I do feel these racist undertones, whether intentional or not, would stop me as well as others from fully enjoying this game".
Sony was happy to counter Quan-Madrid's arguments however, stating that, "LocoRoco is a fantasy game geared towards a worldwide audience that takes place in a vibrant pastel world with colorful landscapes and characters and is not based on real-life places, people or things." It's not the first time this year that a game has come in for accusations of racism, either - in February, Activision apologised after a Native Americans rights group accused the company's GUN of containing 'derogatory, harmful and inaccurate' depictions of Native Americans.
Racist representations or innocent blobs?
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