When you think of Nintendo and it's assortment of mascots, you'd most likely envision fair skinned, blonde blued eye heroes, Italian plumbers and anthropomorphic creatures but rarely would you envision a black character, nope. Nevertheless times are somewhat changing and as we take a look back at Nintendo's history there's actually been more black characters in a number of Nintendo games then you can count on one hand.

In 1984 the arcade boxing game Punch Out!! by Nintendo introduced several memorable black boxers, designed by Shigeru Miyamoto.  It was the first in a series of prosperous  games that bought forth an arcade sequel called Super Punch-Out!!, a spin-off of the series titled Arm Wrestling, a extremely  hot edition for the NES originally called Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, and Super Punch-Out!! for the SNES. The series introduced several black characters such as Mr Sandman,  Disco Kid, Doc Louis, and Kid Quick.

Other games have followed suit with not only generic token characters but more then one per title, including games like Gamecube's F-Zero GX and most recently the 3DS Pokemon Black and White series.

Mr Sandman (Punch Out!!)

Standing at 6'5" and weighting in at 312 lbs, Mr Sandman is one of the most dominate forces in the Punch out!! Series. He has made numerous appearances in the series with his debut appearance in 1984 as the WVBA World Champion in the original Punch out!!. He then returned in 1987's Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! from 1994, Mr. Sandman went down to the WVBA Major Circuit and became champ. His brawling style is very akin to that of Bald Bull and his trademark skillfulness , "Dreamland Express", dwells of three continuous thrown uppercuts.

In his first two appearances, Mr. Sandman's brawling skills are arguably the most refreshing in the game. His style features a immense arrangement of jabs, hooks, and uppercuts, and his uncertainty can easily confound players. Sandman also has superior defense. Mr. Sandman was toned down in the SNES variant of Super Punch-Out!! to guarantee he was not too hard to beat.

Mr. Sandman's latest appearance is in the Wii edition of Punch-Out!!, where he is the undisputed champ of the WVBA, and is rejuvenated back to his speedy and almighty self (first seen in the Arcade and NES Punch-Out!!). He is potentially inspired by the Philadelphia-born Joe Frazier. Mr. Sandman has also featured in a Topps trading card series. He is voiced by Riley Inge in the Wii title.

Grant Zakuro (Pokemon X & Y)

Grant (Japanese: ザクロ Zakuro) is Cyllage's City Gym Leader, noted officially as the Cyllage Gym. His specialty is Rock-type Pokémon. He gifts the Cliff Badge to players who manage to defeat him. He out performs his peers in a number of sports, such as bicycle racing and rock climbing.

According to the television show Gym Freaks, he is sets trends and is a very fashionable young individual, with his hairdo of rolling stones seemingly being fashionable with young people. It also claims that he cuts down on his eating consumption to decrease his weight and seems to miss the chance to eat sugary treats because of this.

In the Anime Grant makes his first appearance in Breaking Titles at the Chateau!, where Ash and his allies met him at the Battle Chateau. He was promoted to the Grand Duke rank after his Onix gained victory against Viola's Surskit.  At the end of the episode, Ash and his friends find out that Grant is the Cyllage City Gym Leader, making Ash even more stimulated about his forthcoming Gym battle with him. Grant cannot help himself scaling walls and often falls on the ground, which Viola has become used to. He also appears to be good friends with her.

Grant re-emerged in Climbing the Walls! when Ash reached Cyllage Gym. Grant, unlike most Gym Leaders, permitted Ash to use his whole squad against him while he would only be using two Pokémon. After some difficult battles, Ash gained the victory and Grant gifted him the Cliff Badge, telling the Trainer he would like to fight him at the Battle Chateau in the future.

Coro (The Legend of Zelda)

Coro is a character from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. He resides in a little shack in the woods, as a sales merchant. He's the younger brother of Iza and the older brother of Hena, he's also one of the only residents who doesn't fear Wolf Link, stating that his old sibling is far scarier. In the fishing Hole owned by Hena, there is a wall hanging photo of him holding a Ordon Catfirsh.

Though he is the only member of Hena's family that doesn't excel at fishing. he was able to catch using a special type lure. Like his sister Iza, he has a massive afro, which gives accommodation to birds. He comes across as laid back and very mellow individual, which would give reason as to why animals seems to be so trusting of him. He is also an amateur cook, and ingestion of Coro's soup may in fact cause health problems.

 The teenage entrepreneur also has a pet bird called Trill who keeps watch over another store in the north of Faron Woods. Trill remarks on how his superior never demonstrates any appreciation for him looking after the shop daily, and guesses that Coro in all likelihood didn't get shown much love in his younger years. If Link steals from Trill's store, Coro gets angry at his pet for allowing it to happen.

Kate Alen (F-ZERO)

Kate is the legendary vocalist who was selected to sing at the introductory ceremonies of the past few F-ZERO Grand Prix races. Her fanbase are crazy about her compelling dancing moves and soulful vocals. entirely attracted by the intense velocity of the race, Kate chose to pursue F-ZERO racing rather than going along advancing her music career. Taking full benefit of her knowingness  of rhythm and athleticism, she wants to run a boisterous race.

The hot singer Kate Alen has been performing since she was a little child. Her parents were both famed recording artists, so as a result she and her ten male siblings performed in the Alen Eleven with her being the youngest in the group. Despite her endowment she never was particularly wild about her calling , but became solo when she reached 21 because it was foreseen of her. One of her tracks, "A Little Love Never Hurt No One" is among her most best-selling songs and still receives airplay. She was first introduced to F-Zero when she was selected to sing the introductory ceremonies of several Grand Prix races.

uninterested with her lavish diva lifestyle and lack of liveliness, she registered in the F-Zero school several years ago. After four years she entered her first Grand Prix race. Thanks to her sense of musical rhythm and her vigor, she is well prepared for the high velocity of the F-Zero races.

Unfortunately Nintendo and many other video game companies still have a long way to go in terms of creating larger racial diversity in their games but this is a great start at nonetheless, so without further ado let's look back at several other Black Nintendo characters from 1984 to the present, including characters from the Pokemon, Zelda, Fire emblem and Punch Out!! Series.

At one point in your life you have bound to have felt this way about a particular game: You play an amazing title, even moving onto it's sequel and after you complete it, you search the internet for any relevant news of a follow up, you look and look until your brain hurts, only so to be hit with the dreaded news of a now defunct developer or leads to an outdated source. The franchise has fallen of the face of this earth and you never about it again, even though the previous game charmed the pants of you. Them feels..

Let's take a look at some ancient gems from back in the day that truly deserve a foot back in the door, each one a classic in it's own right. Here's ten video game franchises that need to be revived for the next gen and beyond.

Klonoa

Klonoa needs a new adventure

Klonoa the adorable and strange side scrolling platformer that was battered in sales and popularity by the once great Crash Bandicoot, Spyro The Dragon and Italian Plumber, undeniably deserves another entry despite poor acknowledgment to his existence. Released originally in 1997 for the PlayStation one, Klonoa was in a bubble of it's own and stunk of originality but despite these attractive traits, it just never caught on and was lost in the shuffle.

You controlled an anthropomorphic creature called Klonoa who had control of a magical ring, his world was in trouble and you had to save the day, sound cliche right? Well there's more to the story but the simplistic gameplay was the real highlight of the series, it was easy to pick up, the colourful worlds gave your eyes an eyegasm and you probably already knew this wasn't no ordinary game.

In spite of the low sale numbers and the childish exterior Klonoa displays, that's still no reason for this classic to be written off so easily. Namco need to make a sequel but will only do so with high demand as confirmed on this forum, so maybe there's still hope for our little buddy..

Parappa The Rapper 

Parappa in the house ft Lammy

Parappa the rapper was ahead of it's time when it busted onto the scene in 1996, holding the record for being one of first ever rhythm games, long before the Guitar Hero and Rock Band craze cemented the genre.

It gave us imaginative and memorable characters like Chop Chop Master Onion and catchy tunes with unforgettable lyrics "Kick, Punch, it's all in the mind." Unfortunately the rapping dog hasn't had another game since 2002 when Parappa the rapper 2 debuted on the PlayStation 2. The PlayStation Vita offers a good chance for him to make a welcome return and reclaim his spot of mediocrity.

F-ZERO

F-Zero GX

As you're most already aware of Captain Falcon fans been screwed this gen with the revelation that Nintendo give zero f*cks in bringing back the futuristic arcade racer. We've now gone a decade without an updated HD up scaled F-Zero experience and you know how Captain Falcon's popularity in Super Smash Bros is peaking? well outside of that series, today's children don't know who the hell that is!

Nintendo claim it wants to bring back past gen classics but F-Zero wasn't on the guest list. Among the excuses it wasn't entirely clear whether their focus was somewhere else or it didn't make sense financially but like many underrated games, Nintendo fans can blame themselves for not supporting and purchasing a copy of previous installments. And if you bought a copy, blame yourself for not buying like eight more copies.

Mario Golf/Tennis (Console Version) 

Mazza enjoying a round of Tennis with his nemesis

We all thought we would be able to accompany our favorite plumber and his companions on a Wii outing to the Mushroom Kingdom sports centre for a spot of tennis and golf, a notable break from the 'Captain save a princess' routine. While there was a stripped down sports simulator for the Wii it lacked the charm of previous first party Mario spin off titles. Now Wii U seems like the appropriate platform to revive the profitable series.

Update - Mario Tennis Ultra Smash 



Mario and his companions are returning to the tennis court in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, which is planned for release this holiday season for the Wii U, Nintendo declared this amid it's E3 Digital Event. Nintendo showed off a brief trailer amid the presentation in which characters like Mario and Peach transformed into large giants to perform super shots. The last Mario Tennis outing was 2012's Mario Tennis Open, which released on Nintendo 3DS.

Crash Bandicoot 

Crash Bandicoot

At one point Crash Bandicoot was a gaming icon believe it or not, his games were massively popular and appealed to a wide range of players from different age groups. He was the mentally disturbed and AD-HD suffering Bandicoot we all loved from the PlayStation one era.

The game followed some basic platforming concepts including collecting 100 fruits to gain a life and jumping on various interactive objects around the level.

Platforms are becoming a thing of the past, Crash comes from an era where non-italian plumbers could double jump and kill with a single leap, When touched by an enemy you died. It was a no brainer. This was the series that put Naughty Dog on the map thus making Jak, Uncharted and The Last of Us Possible. Crash bandicoot hasn't been seen since 2008.

"Damn Crash! Sh*t, in high school you were the man Crash! The f*ck happened to you?"

Nba Street 

Nba Street bought a measure of fun and flair to the gaming scene that very few other sport titles could dish out. Capturing the culture of street ball and hip hop, Street gave you the option to style out a avatar in the latest jerseys, caps, sneakers and take to the court. You could re-create yourself or choose from a selection of real and fictional Basketball Legends. 

Street is a easy to pick up game, allowing you to show off with an assortment of tricks, and embarrass  your opponent till they run home crying to their mommy. The ridiculous and over the top physics, urban atmosphere and overall slick presentation are just the crop of the cream.

 While NBA Street did make the transition over to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 back in 2007 it didn't get the respect or production it deserved. A new NBA street for the next gen would be a dream come true.

Breath of Fire

Breath of Fire 3 Ryu and Nina

The Breath of fire franchise has been sleeping for nearly a decade now. Back in 1993 when Capcom wanted to make an RPG it was met with heavy pessimism, most fans just couldn't picture their favourite company trying out a new genre which didn't involve fireballs or heroic robots.What we got was was a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable franchise which starred the many incarnations of a blue haired boy known as Ryu and pretty young  lady called Nina, always at the lead of the series. 

The gameplay was pretty straightforward and traditional in the realm of classic Role Playing games. It carried a heap of charm and followed  up with a story like many classic rpgs at the time but did so with unique differences. 

Last heard from in 2002, the final BOF game took some drastic changes which separated itself from the successful formula of previous installments and instead  followed the wrong path, going astray. Breath of fire fans beg and plead for a new sequel and rightly so. A new title in the series would do wonders for next gen and put Capcom back in many people's good books.

The Def Jam Series

Def Jam Fight for NY

The famed record company Def Jam saw an opening in the video game market and created the blinged out brawler Def Jam Vendetta. The hook was that players could whack each other senseless with their favourite rap artists. Vendetta got the attention and admiration of the gaming community which led to two more titles in the series.

The last we heard from the series was in 2007 with the release of Def Jam Icon, which took a different route from it's predecessor, thanks to the game's exclusive producer Kudo Tsunoda who felt Hip Hop and wrestling didn't go well together, which in turn ruined the momentum and reputation that the franchise had built up during it's years. A new Def Jam brawler is terribly needed but if there's ever another sequel, keep that man far away.

Timesplitters 

Timesplitters: Future perfect

The Timesplitter series was a less serious interpretation of your favourite shoot-em up, the story concept gave the developers a free pass to throw in all kind of weird and wacky levels including haunted houses, alien planets and even underground cities, which included cheesy but charming dialogue scripts that were so bad you couldn't help but laugh. Not only was the single player experience packing some big cojones but the multiplayer was another reason to jump for joy.

It gave you the option of choosing from a variety of strange characters which you encountered in the story mode and allowed you to play with friends or npcs. This franchise came from the same people who gave us Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64 and it didn't disappoint. A new Timesplitters would be a breath of fresh air from the realistic and gloomy Call of Duty and Battlefields of today.

Shenmue

Sega's RPG was often said to be ahead of it's time, the use of Quick Time Events, job based mini games and changing seasons were mind-blowing when first released. Shenmue got another sequel but the sales were so low that production of another were abandoned. It seems the world just wasn't ready for the Shenmue franchise at the time.

While a Shenmue sequel is highly desired even after 13 years of it's initial release, with games like GTA V and Red Dead Redemption, you sometimes have to wonder if the Shenmue series is worth bringing back anymore. The answer to that question is yes! (or a maybe...) Yu Suzuki stop hibernating and get back to work!

Update - Shenmue 3


The hotly anticipated sequel of the famous Dreamcast franchise Shenmue is truly happening. Shenmue 3, disclosed by series visionary Yu Suzuki at Sony's E3 public interview, has as of now hit $3 million on Kickstarter. It's in all likelihood a crowdfunding record, and means fans will get the chance to play as Ryo yet again on their PS4 and PC. Given that Sega didn't have an E3 corner this year, the game's restoration is unquestionably a shock to fans.

The first titles were crazed classics on Sega's last console, yet numerous accepted the distributor had abandoned a third entry. The company is somewhat occupied with creating Sonic and Angry Birds hybrid recreations for mobile, truth be told. That is the reason it wasn't shocking to hear that in order to fund a third entry, the Shenmue team is striking out on its own. The Kickstarter crusade is basically an simple test to fans: You say you've generally needed this game, now demonstrate it. With $3 million in the bank, Shenmue 3 is currently slated for a December 2017 release.

Updated 2015

So you want to join the YT gaming community and create a successful Youtube video game channel with a huge following? Well you've come to the right place if you're looking for the best way to start a Youtube gaming channel, as there's several years of experience under one's belt and with our advice it should set you on the right path to not only producing good content but also gaining a loyal audience.

Before we go any further you have to understand that as each year passes and Youtube grows older, being original and coming up with fresh ideas on Google's golden goose can be one of the toughest things to achieve, especially in YouTube competitive gaming's community; most than likely someone else has done a better job two years before you.

With over 10 million views on YouTube, over the past couple of years a lot of people have approached and asked us how to get popular and essentially build an audience. The answer all comes down to acquiring views and engaging your viewer. To assist you in your pursuit of popularity, we've compiled 10 vital steps to ultimately getting tons of views on YouTube.

Just to be clear, anybody who comes up with stuff like “it's luck” or “just make great content” doesn't really have the answers, because honestly YouTube isn't that black and white. There are paths you must proceed in order to engage with your viewing audience to grow an audience.



When I started my Youtube gaming channel in 2010 I wasn't following a blueprint for success, rather my enjoyment and passion for gaming and editing were the main reasons I decided to create a channel. As I uploaded the first few videos my motivation and excitement were through the roof but I would later find out that wouldn't be enough, if my past self knew as much about Youtube as I do today, I'm pretty the channel could've been bigger then it is today.

The team and I decided to list some essential but easily digestible tips of what we have learned in reaching the path of a 'Professional' YouTuber and what you'll need to know in order to build a thriving gaming channel on YouTube.

Before we go any further, the essential equipment you need when starting a Youtube channel is very important. You can't jump into the deep end without first being prepared and having the right set-up or you'll end up drowning. What you'll want to start with is software that will give you learning experience but isn't a steep learning curve.

Depending on what you're planning to do on Youtube, there's many different types of equipment you'll need, a basic screen recorder, webcam program and a multi layer video editing computer program  (i.e. Sony Vegas, Premiere Pro, Camtasia) and Photoshop for editing your branding.

Of course you mustn't forget you'll need video game capture software for capturing high quality gaming footage from your television screen. There's also many alternatives to these software mentioned above, so finding the right one for you should be in your best interest.

Why a gaming channel? 

Many gamers in the beginning of YouTube's growth came up with a gaming channel simply because of our love for video games, and thus many of us wanted to share that pastime with others through gameplay. Although over a period of time we've learned there are other reasons that make a lot of sense business wise.

Gaming videos are the most popular kind of content digested on YouTube. This may be a little bit startling to people who don't play games, but to us it 's common sense; video games are an sound-visual environment, So if you want to see what a game's got to offer you can just look up reviews that display snippets of footage and commentary or simply watch someone silently play parts of a game.

In addition, according to a Google survey 95% of gamers digest online video content. You have to admit this is tons more than many other kind of demographics, and is a clear indication as to why so many people gravitate towards wanting to make gaming videos.

All the same this rise in popularity also means there is a lot of YouTube gaming channels competing with each other for views, subscribers and search pages. The tips in this particular blog post will speak about how to stand out from the pack by providing you with a proven recipe for success.

1. Have a Professional Appearance

The presentation of your channel is one of the most important and often overlooked things to focus on when not only just starting up a channel but also during it's rise in popularity, being professional in appearance and making your channel look appealing is a must if you want to attract potential subscribers.

A good channel needs a visually well designed banner, channel trailer and thumbnail to represent it. If you're not sure how you want things to look then it's always best to keep it nice and simple. keep a consistent visage and feel throughout the channel. Create a logo that matches the sort of identification you want to express. Our current thumbnail logo is two large letters, for instance.

Photoshop is a good way to make custom thumbnails and banners. If you are unable to get your hands on Photoshop, there are ton of alternative programs around the web which emulate it, find one that best suits your needs.

YouTube has a Creator Academy program generally designed to assist people in making their channels look visually appealing. It incorporates with your channel to aid you.

Nevertheless, one thing they forget to mention is that picking a username within your niche is very important, especially if you want to get discovered in search results by your targeted audience.
Picking an effective YouTube channel username is of most importance, so keep that in mind when choosing one.

• Design Tips for Your YouTube Channel Trailer

Just like blockbuster films create emotional arousal by bringing out a flashy trailer (also called “Preview of Coming Attractions”), your YouTube channel can begin growing an audience by acknowledging visitors with a brief video that describes what your channel is all about and why they should subscribe and view your videos.

Take a period of time to carefully plan what you want to see in your channel trailer. One method that we've seen work is pulling 1-second to 5-second parts from the videos that you have already produced, and using those mini sequences to create a new Greatest Hits montage.

• Eye Catching Titles and Thumbnails

Your YouTube videos should have eye catching titles and thumbnails. The title for each one should be catchy, descriptive and have keywords, while your thumbnails should stand out. Be mindful not to deceive viewers with an irrelevant title or thumbnail just to get more views because it will back fire in the long run, overall leading to little engagement. It's a must that your title and thumbnail are interesting in order to gain a viewer’s attention. Your title has to be descriptive to let each viewer know what to expect. Finally, it advised that you include keywords in your title that people will be looking for in order to seek out your video.

2. Create a signature Intro

Creating a professional looking video intro to put at the beginning of each of your videos is definitely a good look and gives your channel huge brand awareness. You can ask someone that edits to create your intro (on Fiverr) if you don't have an adequate editing program such as Adobe After Effects or Sony Vegas. An intro for every video will give your channel an identity and the first-time viewer an impression of what your channel is all about. Having something that looks nice is critical at this point, as it’s the first thing your audience see.

• Make your intro Short and Sweet

If people have to watch over ten seconds of your intro before they reach the actual content on each  video you create then that's going to be a problem, the average person's attention span is short enough as it so don't expect them to hang around. An idealistic intro is usually 2-5 seconds long.

 For example, our channel's intro is 2 seconds and IGN’s intro is 1-2 seconds long. It’s more essential than you think to make sure your intro's short, with 5 seconds being the maximum. Think of your intro as an advert for your channel that your viewers have to sit through. If they get uninterested within the first three seconds, they’ll exit without watching any of your video.

3. Invest in a Game Capture Card

Whether you game on PlayStation, PC or Xbox you’ll want to invest in a capture card to capture quality game play footage. All of the top gaming YouTubers record their gameplay at high definition which helps them to hold their audience's attention and make a long standing impression. If you can't record your gameplay in HD, it's going to be ultra hard to compete with the thousands of other gaming channels out there that do.

While a capture card can be a rather costly investment you have to remember that with cash comes overall improved quality, so if you’re going to make an investment into starting your own gaming channel, idealistically you’re going to want to go for top-quality equipment. However, going for the best isn't going to be cheap.

Video game capture software supplies you with a easy way to record your gaming experiences without interfering with your actual play. Game capture hardware was the only way to dependably record high-quality video of gameplay on earlier gaming consoles. The PS4 and Xbox one have inbuilt video capture tools, but the past gen consoles aren't able to record gameplay.

You can also use video game recorders with your PC. The biggest asset  here is that the game capture hardware takes some of the load of capturing and processing videos off of your CPU. This gives you finer game performance while capturing gameplay on your computer.

4. Get a Gaming Headset for Commentary

If you plan to do Let Plays and general commentary over your video game footage then a gaming headset is the way to go. Gaming headsets can be a great source of  entertainment because you can talk to your friends in online games, but they're also great for doing commentaries for your YouTube videos! Headsets can range from £10 all the way to the fiery depths of £400, but it's not necessary to purchase the most expensive headset on the market.

 The absolute best thing is that you can get a proper one for just about anywhere in the price range! For as low as about £40, you can get a respectable gaming headset which can also be utilised for commentary with pretty nice quality. Naturally the sound quality is going to increase and be better as the price rises, but if you do have a small budget then nothing's stopping you from getting a headset in an affordable price range.

5. Video Editing Software is essential

As mentioned earlier video editing software is of most importance especially when you're planning to create high quality, entertaining and highly eye pleasing content that your audience can easily consume without wanting to click away.

Personally there's nothing like the excitement of taking a whole bunch of  unedited gameplay footage you just recorded and piecing it together to make your final masterpiece. Not everyone's going to feel this way of course and that's okay too.

With a open mind editing can be every bit as fun and creative as the recording of the game, and for me it's one of the best part of the process, specially if you can get your hands on a editing software that you feel comfortable using, whilst allowing you to have as much creative freedom as possible.

 Producing a video that has a pleasant flow with some appealing background music will make all that time you took capturing the gameplay well worth it. For basic videos, most of your casual editing software will work well.  Apple gives you access to iMovie and every PC usually come with a copy of Windows Movie Maker.  However if you can, you can't go wrong with more advanced editing software like Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas and Final Cut Pro, all of which are top-of-the-line editing software.

• Cut all the slow parts out of all your videos. 

Unless you’re exceedingly good at commentary and can really work a mic, there's parts in your videos that will drag on. Erase them. There's a high percentage that your viewers won’t like, favourite and share your content unless they are entertained from the start to finish. If your edited video is only 5 minutes in total, let that be the case.

Use your video editing software to trim and cut slow parts out of all your videos. If you don't have editing software yet chances are your computer came with Windows Movie Maker, something you can start off with, but it's necessary to get a proper video editor, this is not optional.

6. Put Effort Into Your Videos

If you want to stand out on YouTube you should always try and go the extra mile. If you don’t know how to use After Effects, learn how to use it through guides and helpful step by step tutorials or hire someone. You need decent transitions, lower-third name-plates, quality sound, and maybe even some limited animation to truly stand out and make an impression in this day and age.

Just remember film-making is art form. Every aspect of your video (whether it is sound design, background audio, the commentary or the way you zoom into clips) needs heavy consideration. Imagine YouTube as a supermarket and your video is a merchandise sitting on the shelf. You’d want to make sure the packaging is pretty, right? Do the exact thing for your videos because they are your product.

• Create Consistent Video Content

7.  Interact with your audience

YouTube isn't just a video website people go to consume content, at times it can be a hot social spot many people (gamers included) go to interact with one another and express their views and opinions. Interacting with your audience is a major portion of the success equation, and is a fundamental element to building your channel from the ground up. As the host of your channel, lead the discussion and take heed to what your audience are saying both in the comment section and on social media!

Taking some time to engage with those that help you is not only the honest thing to do but it is crucial for prolonged growth. Audiences like to feel appreciated so it’s necessary that you interact with them.

One of the top places to engage with the people who support you is on Twitter. You can tweet or respond to those who view and interact with your content. When others on social media see you engaging with your followers, they may be curious to join in on the conversation and possibly become a new subscriber to your channel.

• Question and Answer Videos

Another way to interact with audience is by doing question and answer videos. Your subscribers ask you questions and you answer them. How this works is you ask your audience to leave their questions in the comments for you to answer in your next video. Replying to questions will show your viewers that you recognize their support and should strengthen the connection between you and your subscribers.

8.  Promote your Content

Promoting your videos so they can reach new audiences is a must if you're going to get your feet off the ground and steadily increase your audience. Which is why creating quality content and interacting with your viewers so you gain loyal subscribers who are willing to share your videos is a must. If you don't promote your videos then it's very unlikely that you'll see much success on YouTube unless you manage to strike gold with a viral video.

What's the best to promote your YouTube videos you ask? Well a great place to start is on forums in your niche (gaming) but just sharing a video on any random forum in hopes of getting views isn't exactly fool proof. It's recommended to engage in a forum or community before actually promoting your videos so your content won't be written off as spam.

Another way to promote your videos is through blogging, creating a quality blog post that relates to your video and embedding your video in it is a great way to promote your content, but just remember blogging is a whole another world and takes dedication.

You also need to know how search engine optimization (SEO) on Youtube works. Teaching you video SEO strategies is well beyond the scope of this article but there's a ton of articles on Google to help you if you are clueless on the subject.

• Join a Google Plus Community

By joining, engaging and promoting your content in a Google+ community page, you are joining a spot for others to talk about subjects similar to your channel. Post your thoughts and reply to questions to gain even more exposure for your channel. Although your main objective should be to promote your video to the group, remember to always abide by the rules and not spam your content.

• Join a Facebook Group

Just like with Google plus communities, you can join a place to discuss topics related to your channel by joining a Facebook group. By joining a large Facebook group, you get access to it's community. Having access to an engaging community who support your videos is vital for growth. With an interactive and curious Facebook group, you can get just that! Remember to join a group in your niche and not spam your content.

• Encourage Sharing

Requesting that your audience share your YouTube videos is essential. At the ending of your videos, you should ask your audience to share your videos with their friends and on social media. Each time a person shares your YouTube channel, it opens a new path to your content. You can even offer incentives or use a competition that viewers can compete against each other in . By rewarding your audience for spreading awareness of your channel, it will result in more paths being opened to your content.

• Social Bookmarking Sites

Reddit, Digg, and StumbleUpon are just some of the social bookmarking websites that give your videos the chance to go viral. Social bookmarking sites are packed to brim with communities and users curious in finding new content.

Every website has a different tone and community, so it’s advised to do some research before submitting your videos. Doing so will help you know where you can find the greatest outcome. If members enjoy your content, they have the option to vote for it and as you get more votes, your submitted video will climb the ranks, thus ranking higher. Content that is ranked high acquires a lot of traffic so there’s a great opportunity your video will get a ton of views.

• YouTube Tags

The YouTube tags you use in your videos are very important and if done right will help drive more traffic, thus helping more people find your videos, but make sure to use relevant tags in your content and not an unrelated tag just to increase views. Since your channel is catered to gaming you'd use tags that are relevant to the game you're playing or video games in general.

9. Passion 

One of the most important aspects of building a successful gaming channel is to have passion for video games, if the spark's not there then this isn't for you and you most likely won't make it far. Having fun and feeling excited each time you publish your latest video is something you must feel. If you're not having fun then it's best to stop and focus on a hobby that interests you. It will save you the time, effort and money of putting work into something that your heart is just not into.

10. Feedback 

Get somebody else to view your content and listen to their feedback. It’s vital that they give genuine feedback, as this could make or break your channel's success. You don't have to take on every single advice you receive but it's important to not to turn a blind eye to criticism you feel is negative as it could save you later down the road. It's best to ask several people and compare their answers so you have a better understanding of your channel.

In the recent Rpg Site interview Square Enix game's director Kitase was asked a number of questions regarding the status of Final Fantasy's X|X-2 but amongst those questions and responses one section of the interview stuck out like a sore thumb and it was simply to do with the revival of previous instalments, most notably the infamous Final Fantasy XII. As quoted from the interview..We might be one step closer to getting to see Vaan’s emaciated, whiny abs in glorious HD. Vita, and PS4. Prediction: Square denies this is true on Monday, then announces it on Wednesday.
 "We'll have to wait and see if these remasters are going to be successful, first," he explained. "If they do well, I think this will pave the way for more of the previous games to remade in an HD sort of quality. I mean, if we had to single out one of the vast number of Final Fantasy titles which we could make in HD, it would have to be Final Fantasy XII." 

What this means is it leaves a door open for previous FInal Fantasy games to be remastered in stunning HD but only if the FFX/X/2 collection does well in sales. Now take it as you will but this is good news, especially for Final Fantasy fans and leaves more hope alive for ps1 Final Fantasy classics to the light of day.

UPDATE:  Final Fantasy Composers Tease FFXII 'Remake'

If this is real, it isn't exactly surprising as FFXII is the only Final Fantasy in the series which you can’t play on modern consoles but it’s still great news for anyone who lost their chance to play the original or simply wants to replay the adventures of Vaan and party. (Interesting fact: Final Fantasy XII initially released just two months before Final Fantasy Versus XIII (now FFXV) was announced.)

Let's not jump our guns just yet though as Roth could be inaccurate or misinformed but he sure does sound positive about it via ia Final Fantasy Network. It’s very strange for a composer to be making random announcements in this fashion, so there’s reason to be weary, but RPG fans didn't need a crystal ball to see that a FFXII remake would be on the horizon after the prosperity of Final Fantasy X HD remaster on PS3,

Final Fantasy is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time and has been hugely momentous within the gaming industry, inspiring an entire generation of Japanese and Western role-playing games across a wide range of consoles but despite it's accomplishment, the series has always found a way to separated it's fans. For every player who cosplays as a moogle in their parents' basement, there's another who frowns at the turned-based gameplay and eccentric anime-inspired characters.

Players used to be far more tolerant, after all, did we really care why Pac-man had the need to gobble up those little pellets or pesky ghosts? Or how Donkey Kong had a fondness for attractive women, who weren't his species? However, times have changed. Players demand more story, especially in RPGS. And with any good story come plot twists and material that provide a overall shock factor. In other words...a WTF moment. Final Fantasy are renown for these.

Whether you like Final Fantasy or not though, it's hard to deny that the series has had it's fair share of comical and bugged out WTF moments over it's twenty-seven years. Some of these could be attributed to cultural differences between the West and the East, but that excuse only takes us so far. Some of the more profound moments in the franchise seem like they would be considered strange even to the Japanese gamers that Final Fantasy is primarily targeted at.

Final Fantasy games are deep experiences that are usually driven by a strong narrative. A narrative that can be included in a list of bizarre and outlandish WTF Moments in gaming. With that said, sometimes these stories can throw a massive curveball, leaving it's players stunned, confused and maybe even a little dizzy.

With the release of Final Fantasy XV on the horizon, now is a good time to look back at the franchise as a whole and celebrate the wackiest, most bizarre WTF moments that the developers have ever devised. There are an innumerable amount of subjective shock moments out there, but the following moments in particular remained in our minds the most long after we were done playing the games.

Cross-dressing

In Anime and Japanese video games, cross-dressing by men is frequently used for the intent to amuse. Compared to western culture, it is not impermissible for a man to cross dress and holds little stigma of intimate orientation or dubious morals, although it's still seen as strange/perverted , thus the comedy. The Final Fantasy series has not being shy to put this bizarre theme in their games.

In Final Fantasy IV, a monk pretends to be a woman until the player speaks with him. He then unveils his actual identity and begins dancing. There is understood to be some other cross dresser in the game going by the name of "Stella".

A more known cross dressing moment from the series is from Final Fantasy VII, A mini game has Cloud gathering various accessories of woman garbs in order to win the opportunity as a female to keep the company of Don Corneo. Overall it was pretty weird having to play dress up with a muscular and tough EX Shinra Soldier. As children many of us didn't make much of this scene but as we got older this fetch quest definitely earned it's wtf badge, we wouldn't change a thing though.

How old are you Fran? (FFXII)

It's a known fact that most women generally don't like to be asked their age, in Final Fantasy XII Vaan asks Fran her age (because she's been living for over 50 years), and she doesn't reply. At the time we thought that this would be explained in more detail later on, but it never happened.

 The entire scene is a classic wtf moment in itself and we're only left to leave it up to imagination in regard to Fran's age. The Vieras look so youthful, mind you they supposedly live for several hundred years which definitely made us look at Fran in a different light.

Still too young to eat (FFIX)

In Final Fantasy IX one of the youngest party members Vivi was raised in a dwelling after being rescued by a Qu. The strange thing here is there are height measurement markings visible on the wall, which says "Six weeks since I adopted Vivi. Still too small to eat." This meant that the Qu (a race in Final Fantasy IX) was planning to eat poor Vivi once he grew up, this revelation wasn't only shocking but was one the most memorable moments in FFIX.

Balamb Garden's Hot Dog Obsession (FFVIII)

Hotdogs are delightful, but nobody goes crazy over them like the students at Balamb Garden. Which has us asking the question, what's up with the hot dogs in Final Fantasy VIII? Everyone wants them and one of the main characters keeps getting screwed out of getting them. You can even assign high ranking students to protect them during Garden battles, just what are they putting in these hot dogs? Just to add, hotdogs have absolutely no usefulness or consequence on the story game-wise.

Even More WTF Moments in Final Fantasy 

We just touched the surface as there's been so many weird moments in the Final Fantasy series, here's just about every last one of them. If you feel that we've missed any wtf moments, then feel free to list them below in the comment section and let us know.

10 More WTF Moments in Final Fantasy

Pong, one of the very first video game in existent appeared in arcades in 1972. Likewise, it was the next year that DJ Kool Herc first brought two turntables to a block party, and thus Hip Hop was born. Video games and rap music have co-existed and matured together. Run-DMC are as 80s as Pacman. Biggie rapped about Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis and many of us were listening to Jay Z's The Blueprint album when Grand Theft Auto 3 landed.

Also such as anything that is popular with the children, large organizations are going to try and cash in. A few games have actually featured rappers, a few titles made spitting rhymes or DJing part of the gameplay, and different developers just took influence from hip-hop's rich culture. This has lead to a couple of phenomenal games and of course some terrible ones. Here's what happens when hip hop and video games merge.

ToeJam and Earl (Sega Megadrive/Genesis 1991)

Sega's ToeJam and Earl was one of the first titles to really express the influence of hip-hop on gaming culture. The alien pair brought hip hop fashion to Sega, ToeJam wore his baseball cap backwards, rocked a shiny gold chain and wore three sneakers, while Earl had the large shades. It also has a flashy colour theme and memorable chiptune funk soundtrack.

Parappa the Rapper (PlayStation 1996)

Before dancing games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, Parappa The Rapper fundamentally fabricated the idea of rhythm action in gaming. But even without the historic circumstance, Parappa is still one of the most fresh and original video games ever conceived. A mixture of South Park flatness and D.A.I.S.Y. Age-era De La Soul art, it followed the skullcap-wearing dog Parappa as he learnt karate, acquired his driving license and obtained the love of a girl all through rapping.

Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style (PlayStation 1999)

The other major hip-hop title of PlayStation 1's time period was completely different to Parappa. Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style gave us the complex mythology, Shaw Bros. martial art flicks, crazy aggression and insane beats— wrapped into a four player beat em up that in reality was pretty revolutionary for its time. While it isn't best known for it's gameplay, it’s lovingly remembered for the chance to play as all nine members of the Clan and the crazily fierce Mortal Kombat-style fatalities.

Jet Set Radio (Dreamcast 2000)

Just like ToeJam & Earl and Parappa the Rapper, hip-hop influences turned Jet Set Radio into one of the most fashionable video games ever. You control a group of roller skating graffiti artists in a insane-looking future, recovering your turf whilst avoiding feds. You’re lead through Jet Set Radio by a barking DJ and the music also featured tracks from Jurassic 5 and Mix Master Mike. The title used then-radical ‘cel shading’ making it look like 3D animation, whilst looking like nothing else around at the time.

Def Jam Vendetta (PlayStation 2, 2003)

For some reason people have often compared Hip-hop with the likes of wrestling, and in 2003, the link was finally made in the video game world with the release of Def Jam Vendetta. The legendary title pitted a roster of Def Jam artists like Redman, Method Man, Joe Budden and DMX in the four squared ring to face off against each other. The game's reception was largely positive citing brilliant gameplay and easy controls, the game would go on to spawn two more sequels over the years. The Def Jam Fighting game series is one of the franchises we want to see revived.

Def Jam Rapstar (Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii 2010)

Witnessing Sony's success with the Singstar karaoke games, Def Jam formed an alliance with Konami to create the rap equivalent. There were a lot of licenced tracks available from the likes of Run-DMC, Drake and Soulja Boy. The UK variant included music from Dizzee Rascal, Wiley and Tinie Tempah, although the gameplay mechanism were a hit and miss venture at best. As of 2011 however, the game’s online services have been terminated, meaning it's major features are now inaccessible.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PlayStation 2, 2004)

The Grand Theft Auto series is intertwined with Hip Hop culture but especially San Andreas where the Hip-Hop presence was at it’s peak. Not only were there two Hip-Hop radio stations ("Radio Los Santos" and "Playback FM") but you were also able to graffiti and tag walls to represent your set. Inspired by the early 90’s wave of LA gangsta-rap and movies,

After gaining control of Vice City, all talk was about was would be GTA's next location. After the 80s Scarface inspiration of the previous title, San Andreas took a 180 degree turn and gave players a taste of the early 90s LA of Boyz n the Hood and Menace to Society. The story merged West Coast gangsta rap staples like Crips influenced street gangs, LAPD corruption and one of your main crew members was a doppelgänger of Eazy-E.

Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (PlayStation 2, Xbox 2006)

One trait of Hip-Hop which normally goes unnoticed  by the masses really got a lot of attention in this game – graffiti. The main protagonist from Getting Up was a graffiti artist known as Trane (voiced by Talib Kweli) who used his graffiti abilities as a way to rise up and rebel against a system who suppresses the masses freedom of expression.

It was moderately an open-world game which had lots of fighting and graffiti tagging. The direction for the music could only have been fitting for one type of expressive music genre – Hip-Hop. And lots of it. Talib Kweli recorded the title track for the title feat Rakim. Other major rappers such as The Notorious B.I.G, Fort Minor, Pharoahe Monch, Mobb Deep and Roots Manuva all played a part in putting together the soundtrack.

50 Cent: Bulletproof  (PlayStation 2, 2005)

50 Cent: Bulletproof allows you control 50 Cent as he attempts to get revenge on the assassins who failed at murdering him. The title features cameo appearances from Interscope rappers including Dr. Dre, Eminem and G-Unit as 50 travels through New York. Critically panned, the title went on to create a 2009 sequel, 50 Cent: Blood In The Sand.

The Tony Hawk (2001-)

The Tony Hawk video game series not only endured a nice run during the early 2000’s but it also featured dope hip hop music. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 featured noteworthy artists like House of Pain on "I’m A Swing It", Xzibit on "Paparazzi", and KRS-One with "Hush".

Yet, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 also featured it’s fair share of iconic Hip-Hop songs including Run D.M.C. on "My Adidas" and N.W.A. on "Express Yourself".The Tony Hawk Underground series experimented with different genres of music including the Hip-hop, Rock and Punk genre. Tony Hawk Underground featured rap legend Nas on "The World Is Yours".

 DJ Hero (Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, 2009)

In the late 2000s, Guitar Hero and Rock Band were the largest cash-spinners in video games, so Activision came up with an idea to increase their audience and create a mini plastic turntable that you could connect to your PlayStation and scratch along with. It didn't really capture the public’s attention—Guitar Hero and it’s sort were on the way out by this time, but the title was still entertaining. Guitar Hero and it's sequel  even allow you  to play as Grandmaster Flash Jazzy Jeff, and The RZA along with a load of EDM DJs.

What's your favourite hop influenced video game?

It's not odd to feel some sort of crush for an attractive video game character. Obviously, they're only pixelaxed and not real - but that doesn't excuse the fact their character design is deliberate eye candy. When these characters start turning into talking anthropomorhic animals, however, suddenly the tone begins to feel ... strange.

There's something weird about lusting over a sexy, anthropomorphic animal - with huge breasts and massive cartoon eyes, no less - particularly when you end up on tumblr, down the weird side of the lubricated (and furry) slope. What's also funny is sexualized animals are more ordinary than you'd think - and these two-footed pixelated beauties just touch the surface.

Rouge the Bat (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Adorable talking animals are ordinary in Sonic the Hedgehog video games. There's Tails, the cute double-tailed fox, Knuckles the echidna and of course the angelic, Sonic-obsessed Amy Rose. Then there's Rouge. She's the outcome of a Sega meeting in which a person in the room must've suggested, "Hey, you know what could get people to purchase more Sonic games? A sexy bat, with busty breasts and pink lipstick."

Candy Kong (Donkey Kong Country)

Candy's the perfect instance of a character with an R-rated outfit whose made it into E-rated game-but if there's one character a Nintendo game urgently required, it was a sexed up female primate that helped the player save their game. Oh, and just in case Candy Kong's name ever slips from your head, it's promptly displayed on her cropped two-piece top.

Lopunny (Pokemon)

Internet artists have been sexing up cute Pokemon for as long we can remember and Lopunny is at the top of the list in terms of Pokemon sexualiztion. This rabbit is able to kick with the best of them - (even you Gardevoir) - and it's curvy figure is a dead give away as to why. Those hips, the booty sticking out, bended posture, its lively mannerism, Game Freak definitely knew what they were doing when they created this Pokemon.

Tawna (Crash Bandicoot)

Tawna has Crash Bandicoot looking like a failed science project. Two of them are mutated Bandicoots conceived by the game's baddie  Dr. Neo Cortex, though their - ahem -sexual couldn't be any more different. Crash doesn't have a neck, his legs are short and arms are long. On the other hand Tawna has the body-build of a freaking model. I think it's evident whose body that pervy scientist dedicated most of his attention to.

Don't use your tissues just yet because here's six more sexualized animals in video games you might have forgotten about or not been aware off.

For over twenty five years video games have been stereotyped as a hobby for teenaged boys. The sports titles and the androgenic hormone -drenched shooting games stood in one corner with games themed around modern warfare, space or magic. Women in games were either there as eye candy or a damsel in distress and girl gamers weren't even thought of.

The PS3 and Xbox360 gen made major progress to change that. Contemporary titles are moving nearer and nearer to mainstream's approval as a worldwide amusement like music, TV and motion picture. gross revenue  of the largest titles can now surpass the proceeds of smash hit films and in the case of The Last of Us and Metal Gear Solid, the story-lines are more entertaining. In this ever-changing  landscape the impression of a boy’s guild is greatly becoming a myth.

Approximately 45% of gamers at present  are women and this is being reflected in the abundance of extraordinary female characters coming out the woodwork in the modern age. Other than being remembered for great titles, this generation and the previous one was without a doubt a time for the female protagonist to shine. But which women from the last 30 years have gone on the far side and figuratively bought the fight to men?

Here's 10 random but ruthless and badass female characters in the gaming world who are able to hang with their male counterparts, these women aren't afraid to tear you a one and will likely gut you like a fish if you step in a radius of their comfort zone, yes we're talking about the no nonsense taking women of gaming who are total badassess, brace yourselves.

Today we look at several black voice actors who have provided their voice for popular video game characters, these voice actors have stood out in our eyes and left us with fond memories of the characters they were chosen to interpret. Black people have always been charismatic on and off Hollywood’s silver screen and the video game industry is no exception. Many black actors and actresses have provided their instruments to give voice to a number of video game characters, we take a look at some of our favourite voice actors who are not seen but heard.

With characters of colour already heavily under-represented in gaming, these voice actors have bought life to the characters they portrayed, winning our hearts through their characters’ voices with little acknowledgement or fame. This list is devoted to those black voice actors and actresses who brought life to their respective characters and captured them in such a way that we can never forget them. Here are 10 of our favourite black/African-American and black descent voice actors in video games. 

Shawn Fonteno 

Stand-out role: Franklin Clinton (Grand Theft Auto V)

Shawn Fonteno portrayed Franklin as one of the three main protagonists in Grand Theft Auto V, the voice of Franklin is a perfect fit and we couldn't imagine any other person voicing him, this also wasn't his first time working with Rockstar games as he also played a minor role in GTA San Andreas, oh and Shawn is the cousin of Young Maylay, the same person who voiced Carl Johnson, conscience? We think not. Playing as Franklin was all the more enjoyable thanks to Shawn Fonteno, which only disappointed us when we finished the game as Franklin's story was so short. 

Reno Wilson 

Stand-out role: Sazh Katzroy (Final Fantasy XIII)

Final Fantasy XIII didn't live up to a lot of people's expectations, there was a lot going on but at the same time it felt sort of soulless in comparison to early predecessors in the franchise. One character stuck out though despite all the mediocrity that shrouded him, that's right, Sazh was the stand out character in Final Fantasy XIII and it was all thanks to his English voice actor Reno Wilson who bought extra appeal to the character he portrayed.

Reno Wilson's voice acting made everyone of Sazh's action a memorable experience, whether he was looking after his son Dajh, attempting to talk sense into an unruly cast or injecting humour into a otherwise serious moment. Reno Wilson is also the English voice actor of Killer Bee from Naruto Shippuden and has featured in the Naruto Shippuden video game series.

 Terrence C. Carson

 Stand-out role: Kratos (God of War series)

Terrence has voiced a number of video game characters but his most prominent role has to be Kratos from the God of War series. Kratos is a take no bull opposing protagonist. And it's all thanks to Terrence Carson for producing a voice that mirrored an individual driven by heartache, payback and irrepressible rage. What's awe-inspiring  about Carson's execution is the amount of humaneness he expresses through Kratos in God of War III. He presents it in a way that stayed genuine to Kratos while displaying his development as a character, lest we forget his role in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was just as fierce and fiery.

 Karen Dyer

Stand-out role: Sheva Alomar (Resident Evil 5)

Karen Dyer made her debut into the video game industry by providing the voice for Resident Evil 5's Sheva Alomar in 2009, she would later go on to voice Elena in Street Fighter X Tekken and Ultra Street Fighter IV. We absolutely adore her voice and she did a good job in portraying both African characters despite being American. We feel Sheva and Elena's charm are not just from their distinctive looks but also soft and elegant voices.

 Dread Foxx

 Stand-out role: Parappa (Parappa the Rapper)

Parappa the Rapper is an iconic Playstation musical rhythm game and it couldn't have been possible without Dread Foxx, the voice and soul behind the rapping dog known as Parappa. Dredd Foxx would later return several years later to fulfill his role as Parappa the Rapper in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, and we tell you the magic hasn't been lost, and quite frankly we couldn't imagine anyone else voicing the hip-hop pooch. 

Susan Dalian

Stand-out role: Storm Ororo (Marvel vs Capcom 3)

The moment we heard Storm's voice in Marvel vs Capcom 3 was the moment we knew she meant serious business, Susan Dalian was able to create a voice for Storm that sounds fierce, determined and lady-like all in one package and dare we say she's one of the most underrated voice actors in the business. Susan was also the English voice actress of Haku and Yugao Uzuki from Naruto Shippuden who are both playable in the Naruto Shippuden video game series. 

Young Maylay 

Stand-out role: Carl Johnson (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) 

Carl Johnson's powerful narrative would most likely have been far less impressionable without Young Maylay's solid execution. As CJ works his way up the food chain Maylay was able to deeply express that in the script. He captured CJ's submissive beginnings and his uncertainty towards restoration of Grove Street. But by the ending of GTA San Andreas Maylay has CJ speaking with confidence, while holding onto a definite level of humbleness around his business friends and family members. That, along with his more humorous moments is why CJ is such an unforgettable significance character in the GTA universe. 

Danielle Nicolet 

Stand-out role: Jacqui Briggs (Mortal Kombat X)

Danielle Nicolet first major video game voice acting role was in Tom Clancy's Hawk 2, she's also featured in Grand Theft Auto V and Saints Row IV as Shaudi but it wouldn't be until several years that Danielle would catch our attention with her prominent role in Mortal Kombat X as new comer Jacqui Briggs. The actress bought life to Jacqui in MKX and gave us the chance to connect with Jaxx's daughter on a much deeper level, something that wouldn't have been possible without Ms Nicolet's charming voice.

Khary Payton

Stand-out role: Emmett Graves (PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale)

Khary Payton video game voice acting portfolio is mighty strong, he's lent his acting talent to a number of noteworthy games, including Metal Gear Solid, Dead or Alive and The Sims 3 just to name a few but our personal favourite has to be his portrayal of Emmett graves from Starhawk. Our first encounter of Khary's voice acting in video games was PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, he played a mean Emmett Graves and ever since then he's won us over.

Tristan D. Lalla

Stand-out role: Adéwalé (Assassin Creed IV: Black Flag)

Tristan D. Lalla is the man who voiced Agaté in Assassin's Creed III: Liberation and Adéwalé in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, his portrayal of both characters is very strong.Tristan portrayed two black men with troubled pasts but great ambitions and ideals. Pride and naievete in the end lead to Agaté and Adéwalé downfall and Tristan voices those transformations with sheer conviction and sincerity. He also supplied his voice for the games Far Cry 2 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. 

 To conclude this article we'd also like to know who's your favourite black voice actor in video game history? Let us know. 

A member of staff at the Japanese publication Famistu delivered the goods a little earlier than expected as leaked images for Street Fighter V's latest newcomer briefly popped up on their website, the young Brazilian woman whose name is Laura was leaked in some candid screenshots squeezing the life out of a powerless Ryu. The moment the team laid eyes on her, there was instantly a mixed reaction to Laura's initial appearance, most notably her melanin deficiency and thus disappointment soon set in.

Why the disappointment? Well the reason why Laura's skin tone is an issue is because for one she doesn't exactly stand out amongst her current SFV peers from a complexion perspective, Laura's practically the same skin colour as Ryu, we think a darker skin tone would have given Laura the extra oopmh she needed to really outshine the competition, as opposed to Capcom taking the safe route and conjuring up a character that looks similar to say Christie from the Tekken series and Jacqui Briggs from Mortal Kombat X.  The point is this was a reasonable opportunity to have a female with a darker complexion in the game without it being seemingly pandering, considering the country she comes from. Rather, they went with lighter skin.

Now don't get us wrong Laura looks absolutely stunning and there's nothing wrong with her skin tone, but in regards to fighting games you can't deny the fact that Colorism has played a huge part especially when designing women of colour. We feel that Capcom had the chance to finally create a dark skin female character who doesn't have blue eyes and straight white hair. There's only been one black female character in the history of Street Fighter and this could've been chance to finally create one that doesn't look so ambiguous that her appearance has people debating her ethnicity or race.



Elena shouldn't be seen as the only black girl representing the Street Fighter series, especially since she falls into the stereotypical trope of black women with white silver hair, a hairstyle popular with black girls in Japanese animation and fictional media. The Kenyan princess lacks African features and instead was designed to have light blue eyes and straight white hair, features non-existent to the people of Kenya. Which is why this was the perfect opportunity for Capcom to introduce a black female character with actual African features and a generous amount of melanin.

Our problem isn't that Laura is light skin, our problem is that dark skin representation for women of colour is non-existent and this was the perfect opportunity for Capcom to change that stigma with Laura, a Brazilian woman from a country with the second largest black population in the world. And while Brazil is a melting pot of different races, that's not the point, the point is dark skin representation for women is at an all time low in fighting games and Capcom could have reversed that by simply giving Laura a darker skin tone, that's our gripe, pure and simple.

The Solution

Now we could continue to address why we feel Laura being light skin doesn't really break any barriers but instead let's come up with a solution, several in fact. Of course the initial design of Laura is already released but that doesn't mean this problem can't be neutralized.

1. Darken Laura's Skin Tone

No character's design in SFV is set in stone so the most evident solution would be to alter Laura's melanin and give her slightly darker skin, this is something that wouldn't be hard to do, it's simply a palette swap, thus trading in the light complexion for a brown skin tone. This is the best possible method and would instantly resolve any issue we had with Laura originally. Mind you since Laura has already been revealed to the public we wouldn't imagine this happening any time soon, besides we still like Laura's current look, let's move onto the next option..

2. Alternate Colours

While not the most efficient solution, it's still one nonetheless. Bringing back alt colours for characters would be a step in the right direction. In Street Fighter IV there are 10 colours available to choose from which alter not only the character's attire but in most cases also their skin tone. With this option selectable, Laura's skin tone could be darkened by simply selecting one of the 10 selectable alt colours.

3. Debut an African American Woman

If Laura's appearance is set in stone for Capcom's character designers, then why not debut an African American female character, if there's no chance that Laura's skin tone will change then why not make this the opportunity to introduce a female African American female character for Street Fighter V? There's been over 17 American characters in Street Fighter history but there's never been an African American women. This would be the best solution, a thick and curvy dark skinned AA female character with a mixed martial arts or urban brawling fighting style.

4. Bring back Elena

It was great to see Elena again in USFIV and we'd love to see her return for Street Fighter 5, if all else fails then bringing back Elena would be another solution, while it wouldn't change Laura's skin tone it at least gives us the chance to play as a female character with lots of melanin to boot.

5.  Colour Edit

The one thing which was cool about Street Fighter X Tekken besides the crossover and hearing the Tekken characters speak English was the ability to edit your character's skin tone, hair, attire and accessories with the neat Colour editing feature, which took it one step further than the Alternate Colour system. This would also resolve the issues with Laura, allowing players the freedom to choose whether they want Laura to be light or dark skin.

What we like about Laura

Now before you write this off as an attempt to bash the character before she's found any foot, let's just say we're still digging Laura, Despite our critical analysis Capcom has done an exceptional job with her but here's why we particularly like her so far..

• The hair 

Laura's half n' half cornrow hairstyle is exceptionally fresh and gives off a heavy afrocentric vibe, it also suggests that Capcom did a little more research into this character rather than pulling straws out of a top hat. Laura's hair was one of the first things we noticed, it also helped us decide Laura's race.

• The attire

Laura's bright and vibrant clothes gives off not only a sensual vibe but they also remind us of another Afro Brazilian character, that's right.. Eddy Gordo from Tekken. Laura's outfit has the sexy Eddy Gordo-esque colour exterior look going on and it really compliments her skin, not to mention she has huge breasts which her outfit doesn't exactly hide. We're also loving the colourful wrist bracelets and martial arts belt around her waistline.

• She's a shocker 

Blanka isn't the only Brazilian character to send shock waves down your spine as Laura also has access to lightning-based attacks, which has us wondering what exactly do they put in the drinking water of Brazil? While a played out and overstated ability for black characters in anime and comics, she certainly looks electrifying.

• Her fighting style

Laura's brawling style is another interesting aspect to her character, it appears she uses jiu-jitsu as her main fighting style, with some capoeira thrown in, from the screenshots it appears that Laura has several lethal grab moves that imitates the fighting art of jiu-jitsu.

Everyone enjoys watching a great villain at work, these baddies usually follow their own rules and their magnetic scallywag appeal  is always irresistible. A villain can come in different form: tragical, like Fortune from Metal Gear Solid 2, the psychopath like Street Fighter's Balrog, the criminal where villainy is merely business like GTA Vice City's Lance Vance and then there is the guy that is evil to the core like Tekken's Craig Marduk.

Villains come in many different forms, some don't possess any magical powers whatsoever, others aren't even given screen time but that does not depreciate their existence.The criteria for a baddie is quite simplex: stuff like homicide, rape, plans to conquer the universe, manipulation, organised crime and general law-breaking are all terrible things and even if the character is empathic or believes they are clean-handed, that doesn't stop them from being the villain of their game.

While there's been many villains in the video game world only a small percentage of these characters are black, something which is isn't too surprising especially when you take into account there isn't too many black main protagonists in the first place, nonetheless black villains do exist and we're going to take a closer look at the best of them.

Frank Tenpenny (GTA: San Andreas)

Tenpenny is the main antagonist of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, a corrupt cop who will stop at nothing to have his cake and eat it too, whilst using his partners in crime and the gang bangers of Los Santos as a stepping ladder with no regrets. The moment you are introduced to Tenpenny at the beginning of the game you know he's going to be a pain for CJ, lest we forget how catchy his theme was.

Tanya (Mortal Kombat)

Mortal Kombat's Tanya is the epitome of evil and in her Mortal Kombat 4 ending she solidified her immorality by betraying Liu Kang and leading him to an early fiery grave,something that no one would have guessed by looking at her innocent and sweet portrait in MK4. Her sinister but lustful redesign in PS2 Mortal Kombat Deception gave the lass even more of an evil edge, as did her ending which showed Tanya not only had looks but brains too, she's also the only black female fighting game character to be a villain.

Balrog (Street Fighter)

The originally intended Mike Tyson parody has managed to step out of the shadows of the former WHC and form his own cemented video game legacy. Since his debut as a boss character in Street Fighter II, Balrog has been a baddie whose greed shows no bounds, but not only is he greedy but the Shadaloo associate packs a mean punch. He's also earned the right to be called one of the baddest boxers in video game history.

Marlene (The Last of Us)

Marlene's motive in The Last of Us wasn't clear at first but in the end it all made sense, only it meant killing off one of the main protagonists which is why her plan wasn't seen as heroic, despite wanting to find a cure for a life threatening disease at the expense of one girl's life. When you look at the bigger picture and the story surrounding tlou, Marlene wasn't your typical villain, nonetheless she makes the list simply because she is an obstacle in the player's path.

The list doesn't stop there as we take a look at several other black villains in video games in recent years. wretched

Today we take a look at ten of our favourite American characters of the Grand Theft Auto series who are of African descent, many of these characters are not only popular but has given the series many memorable moments which wouldn't have been possible had they been absent from their respective game, but most of all you have to give gratitude to the many black voice actors Rockstar games have hired for the job, who gave life to their characters like Young Maylay, Samuel L. Jackson and Mc Eiht just to name a few.

While GTA 3 was one of the first games to introduce a major American American character called 8-Ball whose appearance wasn't seen outside of the loading screen or cover box art, it wasn't until GTA San Andreas that we saw more prevalent African American characters. This was the first game in the series to feature a playable black protagonist much to the dismay of some prejudiced and very vocal fans back in 2004, despite this Rockstar games went ahead with the gangsta themed concept and thus made one of their greatest games to date, and it's no secret that San Andreas was a success due to it's charismatic characters, massive hip hop influence, parody of LA gang culture and black gangster movies of the 90s.

After GTA SA many other games have featured African American characters including GTA IV and most recent GTA V, whilst IV's protagonist isn't black it still featured several AA characters who affected the storyline and V went right back to what made San Andreas such a hit and allowed us to once again play as a young African American man called Franklin, although unlike San Andreas he wasn't solely the main playable protagonist, nor did he have much storyline compared his other counterparts Michael or Trevor. Fast forward to the present day and we're left with an assortment of African American characters who breathe life into the GTA franchise.

You don't have to look far to find rhythm and sensational dance moves, whether on your television screen, in a movie, music video or on the internet and video games are no exception. Many games have introduced dances mainly revolving around hip hop culture and the African Brazilian martial arts of  capoeira, this in turn introduced a number of rhythmic dancers whose moves were not only flashy but extremely memorable.

 Since the early 90s we've seen quite a few characters that can bust a move, especially from popular fighting games including the Tekken, Street Fighter and Fatal Fury series respectively, but this genre wasn't the only one to give us characters who were great dancers.

Other companies like SEGA capitalized on the dance craze and introduced the Barbie doll look-a-like Ulala who's dance moves were out of this world literally, the Space channel 5 news reporter was probably a black girl in a white girl's body. Even their mascot Sonic the Hedgehog loves to breakdance as evident in Sonic Generations. Violent psychopathic video games like Grand Theft Auto allowed you to dance in nightclubs, a mini game available in GTA San Andreas, a fun one at that.

Now without further ado we list 10 of the most rhythmic dancers in video game history, 10 of these characters can really bust a move, no pun intended. We decided to award 10 characters who we felt were great dancers in the gaming world and deserved recognition and praise. As mentioned above this list includes characters from the Tekken, Street Fighter, Grand Theft Auto series and much more, Check them out.

It’s the general occurrence of bullies in movie and TV shows that has to a great extent influenced the behavior pattern of bad guys in video games, from Tekken 5’s bone-headed Craig Marduk to the little brat insult machine Butch DeLoria in Fallout 3. These characters' main purpose is to belittle and hurt people who they believe are beneath them, sometimes using excessive force  to assert their dominance. Bullies are bad, plain and simple.

Thankfully, video game developers make sure that these heinous characters eventually get their comeuppance in the end, giving the player the chance to get revenge. For every frightful video game bully, there’s an underdog prepared to stand up to them and hand them a dosage of their own medicine. The retaliation usually comes in the form of aggression and even homicide, which is all it takes to send a video game bully packing.

While there's been a bunch of memorable bullies in television, film and animation, today we take the focus off them and instead turn our attention to the underrated bullies who happen to appear in video games,  These evil-spirit jerks come in all shape and sizes and don't hold back, here's the 7 biggest bullies in video game history.

Donkey Kong is strong but he isn't Superman, the gorilla's almighty Achilles heel has been always been Nintendo's flagship character Mario – but there are many other ways which DK has seen defeat, which doesn't include barrels and Italian plumbers. This includes his encounter with the original antagonist of the Donkey Kong Country series, King K. Rool, a reptile who wasn't afraid to bring it to DK and the Kong Family.

The powers and abilities of Donkey Kong are well known – brute strength, an unlimited supply of barrels, speed, jumping prowess and tight grip. Being blessed with such abilities would make the character a beast amongst men, so it is necessary for Nintendo to implant weakness and exposure into the character, otherwise Nintendo's golden boy wouldn't stand a chance.

The powerhouse has been defeated on numerous of occasions by other Nintendo characters – one game Punch Out!! Wii has you get into the ring with the big ape and square off with him, while the Mario Vs. Donkey Kong series has you hurl barrels at him. With this in mind, we list ten different ways Donkey Kong has been defeated.

Call of Duty Black Ops 3 allows players to customize their character in the game's single player mode campaign, which makes a lot of sense especially since nowadays majority of games allow you to customize your own character and many people prefer using an avatar which they modified as oppose to the generic default character. Not only can you customize your avatar but for the first in history players are given the option to choose their preferred gender, a feature which hasn't been possible before.

Now this might seem like the perfect campaign unless you're a poc who enjoys playing as someone who resembles you, while the game does allow you to play as a female character, it doesn't allow you to change your skin tone whatsoever. That's right folks, a multi-million dollar game with hundreds of developers still manages to exclude a diverse experience in the single player campaign mode by not allowing players to change their skin colour, a feature which we feel is of the most importance in character customization, you can't really make this up in 2015 and you shouldn't have to either, especially for a long-established franchise.

"you can change your gender but are unable to choose a different skin tone."

What's funny is that Activision has taken two steps forward and one step back, which is evident since you can change your gender but are unable to choose a different skin tone. The game is set in a modern real-world setting so it doesn't make sense why you can't choose another skin colour besides the default white skin tone which the game locks your avatar with. What's pretty strange about all this is that you can actually play as poc characters in the online multiplayer's portion of the game, so the real question is why is this not an option in the single player mode?

Massive blockbuster games that feature character customization should at least commit to building diverse character customization options which reflects it's fan base and consumers, it's quite inconsiderate to cut diversity from a popular video game franchise which has players from multiple racial and ethnic backgrounds. Cutscene issues? Well tons of games allow you to see your custom character in cutscenes no matter what they look like so that shouldn't be used as an excuse under any circumstance.

Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain allows you to play as multiple characters from different ethnic backgrounds once you reached a certain part of the game, you can be black, white, Hispanic or Asian. Being able to change the default character was a pleasant surprise, something which is not possible in Blops 3, a game which where you start of as a random soldier unlike in MGSV which you are playing as a recognizable protagonist of the series.

The last game Call of Duty: Advance Warfare had a more diverse cast so it's kind of surprising that Infinity Ward and Treyarch would decide to take a step backwards in regard to implementing extra skin colours, what's even's more disappointing is that are actually poc characters in single player, only they are not playable. When we look at the character select screen in the game, we're pretty sure majority of the faces look the same, which has us asking where's the diversity? Variations on face dirt and hair isn't what makes a character customization desirable.

If you think it's to with the voice acting in the game, then you're most probably aren't looking at the bigger picture, while the main character's voice actor is white that isn't an issue neither especially for a massive studio with a large number of staff, they could have easily gotten a bunch of low tier voice actors, thus having multiple race options, problem solved.

So again we ask where's the diversity in single player campaign? A quick fire solution would be to broaden out the colour pallets and facial features but doesn't it feel a bit late? Not being able to adjust the skin tone on any of those faces is disappointing, what's the point in them allowing you to choose, but only allowing you to those choices? Character customization in games should give players more options, never limiting the player's experience. Conclusion.. Despite the opportunity to play as a female character they really dropped the ball here. what do you think?

Fallout 4 has finally been released and in vintage Bethesda fashion, is an overpoweringly wholesome, abyssal open-world sandbox with an deep amount of stuff to get tucked into, discover and seek out. Although it's similar to its predecessors in numerous ways, Fo4 is larger, funnier and more colourful, with tons of new things to learn about and look out for when you’re roaming the wasteland of the Commonwealth, Things that will eventually solidify into a adhesive, soundly gratifying travel through a cursedly genuine-feeling world, but will at first take a good while to truly get a hold on, whether you've played Fallout previously or not.

 There's plentifulness of tips articles out there to aide you through those challenging early parts whilst maximizing your progress, but like any RPG, at times it's easy to get involved in that min-max grind up to becoming the invincible Supreme Being of the Commonwealth. It’s an entertaining way to play Fallout 4, but it isn't the only way to conquer the wasteland.

There's other ways to make the world feel a little more realistic, a little less hurried and a little abysmal. There's so much to go through in a game like Fallout 4 and there’s little reason to rush through it all at once. By now some of you have experienced a taste of the wasteland, found allies, taken some meds and walked around in Power Armor. It feels amazing right? It’s now the correct time to fight back against all the things the Commonwealth throws your way.

As luck would have it we can set you up right here and now with some solid survival tips to help you overcome the wasteland and reign supreme. Our HQ team have been shooting, plundering and exploring the commonwealth and all it's glory for several days, getting acquainted with the new features and enjoying the best perks. So here are 16 basic survival tips for surviving in the 23rd century.

In TheZonegamer's second SFM animated short, trouble is brewing on DK Island when Candy Kong single-handedly catches her love interest flirting and groping the now matured and tall teenage monkey, Tiny Kong. Unable to control her jealously, things heat up rather quickly.

Source Filmmaker allows animators to breathe life into the video game characters they grew up with and Sonic the hedgehog and his friends are thankfully not exempt from this specular. In this SFM short Sonic can't catch a break when his peace is interrupted by a number of familiar faces from the blue hedgehog's past including his self acclaimed love interest Amy Rose and arch nemesis Doctor Eggman just to name a few. Taking much inspiration from the early 00s Sonic era aka Sonic Adventure/Advance series, leads our blue friend down a path of uncertainly and mishap that could have been avoided if he had simply just stayed at home.

The settings and voices should be very familiar to Sonic fans who grew up with Sega's mascot down the line, Green hill zone especially, the first level which first appeared in 1991's Sonic the Hedgehog but Has since been reincarnated in a number of other Sonic games including SA2 and most recently Sonic Generations, accompanied by Ryan Drummond and the original voice cast from the Sonic Adventure series.