Why isn’t Niko from GTA IV black / a woman / etc.? (We have this argument again.)
Because, as many forget and others just do not know, GTA is supposed to tell a story, dammit!
As did GTA SA, for example.
I’m actually enough of a fanboy to believe that Rockstar said with GTA SA, “Hey, with black kid growing up in LA, there’s a story here to tell, about LA, and the west, and the western american dream” and not “what does marketing think an identifiable character might be for our target audience?”
Just like CJ was a story, Nico is also is a story.
Specifically, Nico is a story that that is supposed to challenge New York City, and moreso America. It’s supposed to challenge America’s inception and hold it up to the America of now. Nico is an immigrant story.
For Rockstar to tell this story, choosing an immigrant culture that was an NYC underdog was important, for one. Also Niko’s war experience - and experience living in a world has nothing in common with America’s safety and excess, is a deep part of his character as well. Most importantly, he had to be from somewhere that had mixed feelings about America and the west, for that modern “twist,” and it makes sense that a former Socialist country now “emerging to†the west would fit the bill (Serbia for those who haven’t played the game).
One of my favorite conversations between Niko and his cousin Roman (from memory):
Roman: “Niko, you should watch some of this american TV. It’s great! Better than the crap back home.â€
Niko: “But all we watched back home was american TV.â€
Since when did the high water mark for gaming be this moldable, selectable, identifiable character just-like-me thing? What, does every game have to have a World of Warcraft character generator or something? Give me someone who will let me experience something outside of my world - just like any good story. Don’t make it about me. Well, at least not a first. The story will create something for me to identify with. I should’t need to share any aesthetics with the protagonist to make this happen.
