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Posts Tagged “

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resident evil 5

"Clearly No One Black Worked On This Game"

In line with the earlier post on race in video games, Newsweek journalist N'Gai Croal offers these insights about the Resident Evil 5 trailer:


I looked at the Resident Evil 5 trailer and I was like, "Wow, clearly no one black worked on this game." Because I wonder, and I haven't sort of really dug into it that much, but I wonder what sort of advice Capcom gave them. The point isn't that you can't have black zombies. There was a lot of imagery in that trailer that dovetailed with classic racist imagery. What was not funny, but sort of interesting, was that there were so many gamers who could not at all see it. Like literally couldn't see it. So how could you have a conversation with people who don't understand what you're talking about and think that you're sort of seeing race where nothing exists?

There's more. If you're interested, hit the jump.
More »

9:00 PM on Thu Apr 10 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
70,790 views, 1290 comments

Latest by Spiderbait: I find nothing more racist than someone accusing everything of being racist for only mentioning anything concerning black people. I got a question for Croal. You say that the spanish zombies weren't offensive like the black zombies because they don't have more »

gears of war

"Every Other Effin' Black Video Game Character"

Ah, the Cole Train. Not exactly the deepest of characters. Says Morgan Gray, Senior Producer at Crystal Dynamics:

Here's the thing: Cole Train on his own, no harm no foul. But what is Cole Train? Cole Train is basically like every other effin' black character in a video game. Like here comes the urban stereotype. Where is this 1990's — not even 2000 — black slang, where does this fit in this futuristic world that doesn't even take place on Earth? They go really far to do a lot of fictional justifications for this culture that they've built, and they go right back to this urban stereotype for the black character.
More »

7:00 AM on Thu Apr 10 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
18,625 views, 412 comments

Latest by QGR: I wholeheartedly agree: this is something that desperately needs to be resolved. I've played a great number of games, but I can count on one hand how many have featured minority characters that aren't plagued by stereotypes. I think there more »

lol

Halo Car Red Rings, Wii Car Takes Second in Race

With the release of Halo 3 just days away the ultimate faceoff went down over the weekend at the Dover Speedway: Halo 3 took on the Wii in the form of a NASCAR racing pitting Greg Biffle versus David Stremme.

Exactly 306 laps into the 440 lap race Stremme's number 40 car blew its engine and sidelined the racer. No, I'm not making that up: The Halo car got a red ring of death.

Meanwhile Biffle's Wii mobile landed a respectable second place. Ouch.

Dover 440

7:30 PM on Sun Sep 23 2007
By Brian Crecente
10,811 views, 109 comments

Latest by n/a: That is pretty funny. But seriously Greg Biffle is a better driver than David Stremme. If they would have swapped cars, Biffle would have still finished before Stremme. more »

not to stir the pot, but

Totilo Weighs in on RE5 Debate, It's About Poverty not Race

The Resident Evil 5 trailer is provoking responses in all directions, and I hate to add fuel to the fire. But as someone who was a uncomfortable watching the trailer the first time he saw it at the Microsoft presser, who also hasn't seen a decent summation of his feelings on the topic, I can appreciate Stephen Totilo's perspective. And I hope you give it a shot:
My problem is that it presents a fantasy I don't desire. It looks like it's an advertisement to virtually shoot poor people. I know "Resident Evil" games are supposed to be about hiding from and shooting zombies — this one probably is too. Shooting zombies is something I can get behind...But when I see a town of what looks like impoverished African villagers — the very image of global poverty, the very spectacle that since my youth has been coded in me to evoke sympathy and charity — I don't want to pull the trigger.
More »

12:40 PM on Fri Aug 3 2007
By Mark Wilson
11,085 views, 370 comments

Latest by HiroIsome: Just a thought, but the Resident Evil games have always been centered around a viral or parasitic outbreak. The first three games were centered around a large urban setting with a multitude of hosts. The fourth game is set in more »

race

Racial Stereotyping in Video Games

Writer Richard O. Jones has a lengthy article up at Black Voice News, where he discusses the dangers of racial stereotyping in video games. Citing examples like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, he contends that young Black and Latino children who constantly see themselves portrayed as thieves and killers are more likely to emulate them.
"If Blacks and Latinos are always portrayed as the villains, or as the victims who get killed often and easily, that is code for powerlessness," said Kansas State University psychologist John Murray, who's studied violence and stereotypes in the media for the past 30 years. "These image persist because too few minorities are in the industry."

It is a very good point he makes. The US video game industry is 80% Caucasian, and let's face it, white people tend to program white characters, mainly because it's what they are familiar with, but I suspect also out of a fear that if they portray a Black character they'll get it wrong, or offend someone. Just look at Barret from FFVII. More »

11:48 AM on Fri Feb 16 2007
By Mike Fahey
1,316 views, 92 comments

Latest by xerxes7: Slavery was officially abolished in the United States with the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865. That's just the U.S., and that's just officially speaking. This is to say nothing of lingering social ills and also the current state of more »

gnomes

The Great Gnomish Race

Being on a World of Warcraft kick lately, I just had to post this video of 16 Level 1 Gnomes racing between Ironforge and Stormwind, on a PVP server no less. I'd like to scowl at the Level 60 Horde bastards who eviscerated the little shrimps on their marathon, but hell, I'd have done the same thing. I'm a ganker. Thanks, Hard Gay! Florian Eckhardt

6:00 AM on Wed Oct 11 2006
By kotaku.com
78 views, 6 comments

clips

Gnomish Death Race 2000

While the video is twelve minutes, the race itself took an hour: 16 level 1 gnomes on a mad dash from Ironforge to Stormwind. More »

7:20 PM on Tue Oct 10 2006
By egauger
179 views, 16 comments