I'll buy 10 copies now

And RE1 - 4 which featured WHITE zombies/ freaks weren't racist?
Big 'meh' from me,
Would it help if the protagonist was of african descent?

Yes a touchy subject, but care should be taken to not automatically judge this game.

Where was her concern when in the earlier games they were shooting white zombies? That was tantamount to Genocide!!!

Get real. It is a GAME.

As a zombie I find the entire series racist.

Oh and, Braaaaiiiinnnnsss.

It bothersome when people throw the racism card so quickly. We've seen what amounts to "minutes" worth of a game, and no idea as to the backstory/plot/whatever.

Is it automatically racist just because the zombies are black?

There's been how many RE games at this point, and it's racist because this time it's set in Africa?

There's actual racism/sexism/etc all over the place, shouldn't we be concentrating on that instead of this?

OMG...

S...T...F...U...!!!!!

The MOST RACIST people in the world today are the black people. GIVE ME A BREAK!! THEY are the ones keeping the ideas of racism alive...NOT the white people. GIVE IT A REST!!!

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes I think playing the race card when it's not appropriate is just as bad as racism. Maybe they should make all the zombies in Africa all white, and Chris Redfield black all of a sudden.

Did the Spanish community go ape shit when RE 4 came out?

This is retarded. It takes place in Africa... the majority of the African population is black... of course the zombies are black. It's not like Resident Evil is racist or something. This is the fifth game and the first time anybody has complained. You didn't see Spanish people freaking out over Resident Evil 4... Just shut up already with your white guilt.

Brilliant little piece Mike. Well written :)

I wonder if the person even knows that a bunch of Japanese guys are the ones creating it.

These people don't even know anything about the game. We're shooting zombies, ZOMBIES. If today we're shooting white zombies completely covered in blood, these same people would say video games like this are racist because it's portraying hate against American Indians, even though the zombies are white people zombies.

"If the game does anything it bolsters the hatred of black zombies already present in the well-established hatred of zombies in general."

Hahahahaomfgwtf!!?

Sadly, when the trailer came out for this game, I knew that this was going to come up.

Okay, first off, she's VERY wrong about one thing:
The game is NOT, I repeat: is NOT, aimed at children and young adults! The Resident Evil series has always been a mature-rated series, intended only for adult fans of survival/horror.

Second... I do agree race is a touchy issue. But, hey, how often are there black zombies in games/movies/etc. anyways? It's usually undead white people that are getting shotgun'd/eating brains.

Third, I don't Capcom has shown to be a very culturally-senstive publisher/developer. In the Japanese version of Megaman: Powered Up, Oilman was black with red lips (in the NA/EU versions, he was blue with yellow lips), making him look like a Japanese's caricature of black people. Now, whether or not this applies to RE5 is a different question, since the use of black people in the game is due to the region the game takes place in.

Fourth, don't you think that it's possible that Leon may have some black allies in this game? You know, ones that aren't infected?

Yeah right... and RE4 was very offensive to the spanish, hispanic and latin crowd... hahahahaha! This is truly ridiculous.

I gotta say that I love that we can shoot white and spanish zombies no problem. But when the setting is Spain, all is well. When the setting is Africa, all the black Americans get in a tizzy even though 98% of them aren't African. This is truly oversensitivity and double standards at its worst.

Heh. I knew this was gonna happen. Didn't know it was gonna happen so soon. The first 3 RE games had white zombies...no one complained. RE4 has spanish zombies...no one complained. But now we have black zombies and the african community is in uproar..c'mon. The game won't be out unitl 2009. Wait until then to start complaining. But i understand that next gen has some pretty surreal graphics and i see her point of view, but like MIKE FAHEY said "zombie stories originated in the Afro-Caribbean Vodoun belief system, so for a series that relies on zombies as its main antagonists, exploring the voodoo origins of zombie mythology seems only natural". So it makes a lot of sense.

@Stangs55: You did not just say that...

I call BS on this. These people make their money by keeping the race baiting going. Just because the setting is Africa and the people there are Africans does not mean that all black people are zombies that want to kill and eat white people. DAMN GET A F_cking Life LOOSER!
I should have been pissed at the last game because they shot alot of white people... Come on!

So RE4 was totally fine to them? Sure, whitey can go kill the Spanish, and the white characters can kill each other, but somehow, without knowing a single thing about the plot of the game they are absolutely sure its racist?

Have they played the game or any others in the series? Do they not realize that those who come after you are inhuman savages, regardless of skin color?

RIGHT.

The fact is when some people get an idea in their heads, they'll find evidence to back that up, even if they have to stretch the truth or fabricate that evidence entirely rather than consider the alternative, which in this case is that this is just a game in a different setting.

Fetus...got to agree with you on that one. I think this is totally ill placed rhetoric by the author...completely unnecessary. Me thinks a viewing of Night of the Living Dead (the original), one of the subtlest race commentaries out there, is in order for Madame Alarmist.

Dumbasses.

@Foggynotion: Best post ever!

@Stangs55: Well, well said man. It seem to be black people who are still keeping the racism and 'oppression' thing going. It's a bloody game. If it was white zombies, i.e Dead Rising we wouldn't give two tiny shites, so why should black people compain? We should just make every game character blue and try to please everyone. Or will Smurfs get up in arms about that...

As a parasite, I found RE4 pretty racist against parasites.

Though, I think there was some backlash from spanish people when RE4 was in development.

actually i agree. Im not black, but when i saw the trailer i felt uncomfortable too. The hordes of black zombies....just didnt feel right. It would help if they mixed it up somewhat...east asian cultures do not have much exposure to racism and african american issues and its easy for them to be ignorant about the subject. Ive seen blackface stuffed dolls in Thai malls and such...its not that they are racist...its just that they have no concept and do not necessarily "suffer" from the same amount of political correctness as America does.

The trailer really had all the elements to be judged as racist. Not that I doubt for a second that Capcom would intended it to be one, it can and will be viewed as one by many people. Too bad the subject has become such that it prevents people like game developers from expressing their visions that have nothing to do with racism. And about being marketed to children, not actually marketed to them, but no one will be able to argue that games and movies always appeal most to people few years short of the rating it gets.

racism, i created by the the interpretor, if you think this game is depicting racism, that your problem. i personally have no issue with it.

@ STANGS55

chill out mate. lets not get carried away now.

I knew, as soon as I saw this set in Africa, that some race group would get involved.

People, look at the series. There are zombies, you kill zombies. White, black, Asian, Jewish. Zombies are walking bodies that are little more than shotgun fodder regardless of what race or heritage their former owners used to be.

This game happens to be set in Africa, a very underused (until this year, it seems) local for video game or movie story telling. What exactly do you expect to see in Africa? Cities full of white people? No, not likely, unless you are in South Africa. Everywhere else, you tend to see *gasp* black people.

And you know what? As the decedent of some of the whitest folks to ever survive the bubonic plague, I find it offensive that they never cared when RE games were wantonly killing white zombies. Raccoon City was FULL of white zombies, only a hand full of black ones. Why is it so much worse to be killing black zombies?

THEY'RE FUCKING ZOMBIES! I doubt THEY would care what color you are, as they are likely to eat your skin regardless of your race.

I've never played an RE game, but were there ever black zombies previously? If not, why not complain then that the blacks weren't well-represented?

Seriously, not everyone will be pleased all the time.

I seriously question both the intelligence and the ethics of the person who wrote that RE5 had a racial component. It just resonates with the fact that as long as its white or brown folks being killed its a game, but if its black people being killed it becomes a life simulator teaching children racism? Since when was RE5 marketed towards children? Wouldn't this game rate an M for mature?

Some people simply make their living being divisive. Imagine what these folks would do if their constituencies found out things were actually slowly getting better for minorities. Jobs would be lost for certain.

You have to admit though, if they weren't zombies, and the game was marketed to children, and the main character screamed "Die, blacky!" as he fought them, it would be REALLY, REALLY racist.

So I guess the author kind of has a point...

Well at least I know when there is a Zombie invasion. I won't kill any blacks. Because who wants to deal with racism in a time like that?

To be Honest Black People really need to stop being so sensitive with things like this not every single thing is geared toward hate.

I think people should bitch when Cole was shooting those locust in Gears.

@BPMΩ: Maybe mature RATED but if you open your eyes, the gory stuff appeals teens, and most people playing those games are teens.

oh and who else saw this shit coming sooner or later, once the trailer was released?

Oh and its not Black people being so sensitive. Its a race pimp who makes their money by keeping this shit in the media talking. Its not BLACK people its a black person. Big difference.

Typical pro African-American crap. We cant have a horde of black zombies, but when its been primarily a horde of white zombies for the last 4 games (and stuff like Dead Rising, no one raises an eyebrow.

Do we have to give African-Americans special treatment? isn't that like giving in and treating the situation like everyone hates black people, we must protect their image.

The game is set in Africa, what do they want? a horde of White, Blonde Hair-Blue Eyes zombies running about?

Dumb bitch should see how white zombies were depicted in previous RE titles. Sheesh.

Where were her concerns when "San Andreas" was launched?

I cannot stand idly by any longer.

I think its despicable how the undead are treated in games.Just because they hunger for the flesh of the living does not mean they are bad people.

Time and again games and movies are convincing young people that zombies are a threat and must be destroyed

The killing of the undead by a living person in military clothing, and the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults.

Start them young... fearing, hating, and destroying zombies.

I can see the argument here. But it's also important to keep in mind that the trailer didn't really set up the story yet.

The idea of a zombie was derived from African Culture - and what makes RE5 really interesting is that they seem to be going back into the roots of what a zombie really is. African folklore.

This is a win/win situation for the "OMGRSACISM !!111" attention seeking morons. If the game did NOT contain any black zombies and had all the usual whities, Im sure the very same person would write another pile of garbage titled something like: "Why are there no Black zombies in an African zombie shooter ? "

(yeah thats a bad title but I am not so experienced with attention seeking headlines)

And yet every RE game before that was ok because it depicts white and eastern europians as blood thirsty savages...

It's a bit of a double edge sword now isn't it? If you don't have African Americans or be I bold enough to say 'black' people in a game you are a racist. Place a race of people in a game and you are a racist. We ask for realism in gaming, regional realism is what we see here. Always someone out there trying to make themselves a victim.

I could understand where the author is coming from especially if you never played any of the RE before or did your research of pervious instalments of RE you could read into racisms. However MIKE FAHEY makes an excellent point - exploring the history of zombies, and going back to the roots which happen to manifest in African and Haitian folklore -could be quite interesting. Everyone tends to dislikes zombies - black and white. Sure you could throw in a few white people in rural villages in African village but it rare to see white folks in rural parts.

The problem isn't the settings. It's that you have a game that takes place in Africa but with yet another white protagonist.

@Stangs55: Although your post could be construed as harsh, it's true. The N word is exclusive to the black race, black comics often make fun of white people (but not vice versa), and several black people are incredibly vocal in white stereotyping (Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton). It's a natural progression due to after effects of slavery and segregation. Unfortunately, no one can do anything about it.
For instance, in Harlem a while back there was public outcry because a white man was running for president of the region (I forgot the name). They reasoned that a white man can't represent a largely black neighborhood. Isn't that racist? I'm sure Sharpton would have a press conference in the blink of an eye if that happened to a black man.
Then this lady comes by and, though she has a potential point, she ruined her point by saying the game is marketed to kids and turning it into a hatred fueled strereotyped rant.

No no, fellow black person.

No.

I just don't get how killing Black zombies is racist when no one spoke a word about the killing of Spanish zombies in RE4. I guess everything is considered "racist" these days.

This, ladies in gents is why minority issues people have such a hard time being taken seriously. Because for every person who actually has a point, there are like 50 like this person who make a total mochery of it.

What a surprise. A video game is being taken completely out of context by someone who doesn't play video games. Seriously, people should start doing research before they make statements like this.

The Zombies/Parasites in RE, regardless of ethnicity or gender, are savage. Taken into that context, there is nothing racist about RE5. It's only when you strip away that context that you see any signs of racism. But RE5 is being released to the public in context, so there is no point to the comment.