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How Black Women Made The Sims Home: An OBiGem Perspective
- The Sims is a cultural cornerstone amongst Black women who game, inspiring a multitude of creators including those highlighted in this article. Nevertheless, the game has not always accommodated all tastes. Black Women Simmers have taken on the challenge of improving representations of Black people in the game through a variety of exceptional custom content. Their contributions have been essential to the game's creative essence and even influenced development teams in their determination to improve.The article provides insight into the reasons why some Black leading influencers have continued to create in this game despite its prominent historical baggage and lack of realistic Black representation.
- Many Black Women in the U.S. who enjoy gaming are big fans of The Sims' universe despite the franchise previously not giving them the representation they felt they deserved. Through their creativity, they have found a space where they could express themselves by building their own vision of a Sims world.
- The following discussion with OBiGem, a leading Sims 4 storyteller, focuses on her initial attraction to the game, and how the creative freedom to create unique families drew her into the game.
- In their custom content pieces, The Sims' fan-favorite artists, such as Xmiramira and CoCo Games, have been celebrated for their work in a manner that indicates they are more valuable to the community than some of the game's official content.
- The Sims franchise's lackluster representation of Black people and their culture has been both frustrating and disheartening for Black Women creators and gamers who want to see themselves represented realistically in-game by proper Black hairstyles, clothing, and authentic gatherings.
- The article touches on how Black Women creators/fans have started to create custom content to fill the gap that exists within the game, so they can genuinely express themselves through their Sims world. Their work has even influenced official content updates from development teams.
- It's significant to highlight that many Black gamers are not fond of traditional games due to factors like feeling inadequate and the games' steep learning curves. The Sims games provide everyone with an opportunity to create something and have fun with it in their way.
- The creative drive within the community has sparked continued improvement and inclusivity in The Sims series. The author of the article believes that having the creators and fans discussing the issues is an apt way of influencing and instigating change.
- While the accomplishments of women who built and continue to build in the Sims universe (despite not always feeling seen or heard in it) are being celebrated, there is still much work to be done concerning the representation of Black people in the franchise.
- The article provides valuable insights about the continued misrepresentation of Black people in gaming and the more positive role custom content spawned by Black Women creators can play in influencing game development.
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