When I watched this, what I saw was the obvious evolution of the RE series. There were shots in the trailer (Chris standing in the middle of a deserted street) that very strongly echoed the other games. Clearly, the intention here was to show that it didn't matter where in the world you could choose to name - the zombie virus will always be a threat.

Would he be calling this racist if it was based in a similarly poor Pacific Island nation, where everyone was a few shades lighter? (though clearly still Not White)

fidgit_nz

get2sammyb

josh.com

Sigh. I'll never get through to the public.

rayne117

I didn't have to hear anything about this game and as soon as I saw the trailer, I knew someone was going to pull the Race Card. It's sad.

I hate how you can't make a good game any more without upsetting some ethnic group. I guess every horror action game made any more has to take place in a blue-collar suburban American town with only white people. Oh wait, that's racist too... one of every ethnicity known to man, including the mentally disabled zombies and physically disabled zombies in wheelchairs. Gimme a damn break.

Gallupigus

Elbows_of_Fury

TorrenceAlpaca

I got a question for Croal. You say that the spanish zombies weren't offensive like the black zombies because they don't have the same history of abuse. Well what if they made a zombie-game set in Ireland where you killed Irish zombies. The Irish have had it rough and have even been enslaved at a point and sent to work on faraway tropical islands. So wouldn't that be offensive?

Spiderbait

Terroris

Terroris

freespeech

But hey who cares about the Spanish when there's black zombies to argue about?"

So are you defending the justification of Spainards having been pissed off over RE4? And I think N'Gai was more or less responding to the defense that many others on this positng have already used. That Spanish people were not upset so why should black people be.

brandonf

[www.ferris.edu]

[www.ferris.edu]

Didn't think so.

I actually think I have more of a problem with people thinking that this is in no way racist than I do with the game itself.

Think about it for a min man. It's really not that difficult to grasp if you just pause from your illogical rhetoric and think.

"If you believe blacks are truly equal then you should have no problem with them being represented as enemies in a video game just as whites have been for ages."

As enemies, yes, that's fine no problem. Everyone can be a bad guy. As THE enemy, no that doesn't sit well with me. Maybe people would be less alarmed if blacks made more of an appearance in games has the hero first.

Don't even pretend that there wouldn't be a sht storm if RE6 took place in Israel (or Poland 1940s) and you were to mow down countless numbers of jews that had been infected with some zombie virus. Hell just plug in your group of impoverished people in place of jews and nearly everyone would have a problem with it. Try substituting jews or africans with poor Indians, poor Iraquies, Poor Afganistanies, Pakistanies, etc. People would be disturb by it either way. Why? Because the only time a game would a featured any of these people in a significant number or role they are inhumane creatures to be wiped out indescriminantly.

brandonf

Of course not, that's because they make up their own form of racism. See "Koreans in Japan" see "Bobb Sapp commercials". It's not as if Americans are the only people capable of being prejudice or racist.

brandonf

SPitFyRe666

It's a bit disturbing that you say RE5 puts your off but you don't have a problem killing thousands, if not millions of white people in games.

Can't you see what's wrong with that?

If you believe blacks are truly equal then you should have no problem with them being represented as enemies in a video game just as whites have been for ages.

Also, Wolfenstein;ET and Day of Defeat allow you to play Nazis. I've never heard anyone complain. Certainly not to this level.

chiefpoopingpants

Who cares? The whole thing about freedom is when you are offended you can avoid it. Hell, we have an idiot in this thread trying to say black jelly beans are racist. You can't and shouldn't try to accommodate everyone because it's impossible. They need to take some personal responsibility.

I think N'Gai (and some others) have shown their ignorance with RE4 because Spanish people were annoyed with RE4. Why? Capcom couldn't even bother to use Spanish voices. They used Mexicans on top of being portrayed as backwards and evil.

But hey who cares about the Spanish when there's black zombies to argue about?

chiefpoopingpants

Hes on a mission, he doesn't have time for idle chit chat.I don't blame him either, I wouldn't of been chit chatting with em as well(From my rl experience with African Americans 8 out of 10 normally act like they have a stick stuck up there rear and are mean.(Maybe there still irked that there own people sold them into slavery WAY back when) Normally the 2 is pretty nice though. And in the situation Chris was in, those odds were not in his favor!)

"I'm not saying that. But what I am saying is that if I was Capcom, I wouldn't have suggested to put out that trailer. I would have said, "You know what, this has tremendous capacity for being misunderstood, and we want to signal that this is not what you might think it is" - and they didn't do that. That's what I'm saying."

Anybody that has a brain can tell that it's not about racism. It's about killing Zombies. (The Zombie disease doesn't care what color you are, or where you live,how hot or cold is, it infects and thats all there is to it. Same with werewolves disease, and Vamparism, and other make-believe things that infect you. Those disease will get you no matter what color your skin is)

It's funny, I hear that racism still exist etc. The ironic part is..African Americans are the ones that normally bring the subject matter up 97% of the time.

Too me RE5 is just another story to be played. Nothing more, Nothing less.

P.s. I just would like to note the color of skin tone in RE1, RE2, RE3, of the zombies in which you plastered there innards on a wall...

P.S.S. This is just my humble opinion, take it as a grain of salt.

--Core--

I would say that if you haven't either witnessed or experienced racism, I can see how it would be hard to believe in, but that doesn't excuse dismissal and hatred for those who have.

Anybody who has read to this point and seen my posts knows I myself am white, but growing up in Durham NC I picked up the tones and inflections of people I played pickup ball with all the time, and when I get really agitated and excited I don't sound like a college graduate with an English degree. As a result, I've been in two separate incidents, both in the rural midwest, where I was verbally assaulted (stop talking like a N****r), and once when a full blown fight broke out over it. I've also seen other white people mistreat black friends of mine, from service personnel to just strangers on the street, its very minor usually but so obviously behavior they would never try on me.

The fight isn't over, its just less violent and public than it used to be. Hopefully next time this comes up on Kotaku, we can keep it a bit more civilized.

DaiMacculate

Oh noes! Four games of white people isn't enough to make a game with black people in it!

The horror!

I bet the fucker wouldn't say shit if there was a game about feeding white english men to sharks.

But the second you fed a black guy to a shark, it was cause homeboy can't swim, you stereotypical pricks!

Anyway.

Case and point; Where has AIDs spread the fastest? Poor third world countries that happen to be mostly populated by black people. Why would this virus be any different?

Massive amounts of people + Low health care + Damn a mother fucker just bit me + Low hygiene in general = YOU NOW IZ ZOMBIE

Apitoxin

Sadly everything is fine as long as black people do not get overly sensitive about history, speak out of turn, or attack a favored, albeit trivial, past-time uninvited. What many do not get is that Black people do not want to forget colonialism, institutionalized rascism or slavery. They all took so much, too much: lives, families, culture; and in so many unfortunate cases, a sense of self-worth and identity, simply dismiss and move on. THAT is why HOW black people are portrayed is so significant: it is part of a hisorical struggle (and cultural perogative) to define onesself. Hip-hop not withstanding, being wary and critical of images that could perpetuate sterotyping is part and parcel to this. The struggle against historical and contemporary racisms many facets is far too fundamental to the black experience to just merely forget.

Look, Croal made what read like rather enlightened, rational and reasoned observations on the RE5 trailer. He in essence said, "I'm not certain, but I sure hope they know what they are doing, because it's gonna take a lot of explaining for this to make sense contextually." And if he is as much a fan of games as we all are I hope the explanation is a good one. You can see that IF you took the time to actually read and understand the entire article. Which it seems, very few people did.

dunanknute

Valgas

VAMP

DarkFestim

YuSuzuki

mdoubleok

N'Gai nailed it. It's about historical context, and taste. To be clear, I had an absolute riot with RE4 - one of the best games I've ever played - but here, judging by the trailer, Capcom has some work to do. I'm sure they can weave a satisfying, maybe even enlightening tale out of RE5 and I'm really looking forward to playing it. But I think this trailer demonstrates a lack of awareness about the history, context, issues, and feelings that they're dealing with. Hopefully when Capcom saw the reaction, they slapped themselves on the forehead and hand an "Oh, *&#D, how could we have missed that?!" moment.

And as to the subtlety, the "best" kind of racist elements are the subtle ones. Everyone can see the bucket of chicken and the 40 oz coming a mile away.

Reuptake

djomg

Silver_Back

BlindedFTW

Also thought I should add that I agree with someone else in this thread that Cole from Gears of War is much more racist than this. He's an obvious and deliberate perpetuation of black stereotypes, created by American developers. Whereas there's nothing you can say about the black people in this trailer that you can't say just as fairly about the spaniards in RE4.

Pantsman

Pantsman

Its one of those things you do when you're young and stupid ;)

@Briz9: Damn I didn't expect a post that good on this last page. Good Job!

DaiMacculate

No one seems to notice that he is not saying that Simply killing them is Racist. If just the way they were presented in the Trailer that matches a lot of traditionally racist Imagery. He does not say that Capcom be damned for this or that the game should be pulled, but more attention should be paid to things.

I AGREE WITH ALL OF YOU that the critics should wait until the game is released before passing judgement. However people should pay attention to how people feel about it.

I support N'Gai Croal.

Black Arts Viper

Colonel_Finn

I've seen the trailer before and again just now, and I struggled to find anything that would be racially hot. As someone who understands this series, I know not to take this at face value. This hulking white man isn't simply walking into an impoverished village and indiscriminately laying waste to its villagers who just happen to be black.

Now, there will be people who watch this and may not understand the series' background. What can you do in this scenario? Do you explain the situation or do you let them continue to feed the idea that this is a racist game? Is this racist because a white guy is doing all the killing? Would they feel more comfortable killing non-zombie people (of all ethnic backgrounds) as an African American protagonist ala San Andreas?

N'Gai starts by answering the first question "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?". In turn, how can you have a conversation with someone determined to see what they want to see?

MechaJebus

I really love N'Gai's articles, but I think he's giving this game too much serious thought. If it was white guys, he wouldn't have a thing to say. I don't care, because all video games are the same to me- fake.

If the people behind the game turn out to have negative ideas about black people, then that's another story.

It's zombies! Zombies come in all sorts! Because they're African, that now makes it racist? Come on, N'Gai!

If anything's racist in the main RE titles is that no one other than a white main character seems to be saving the day.

Vegeta

mdoubleok

I hate racism. But I hate people who point out racism in things more.

aesthetis

Soldrak

chancrescolex

kamisama

mdoubleok

Asurastrike

wow he gets it!!

1000 gamer points to you sir

mdoubleok

The thing I agreed with the most, was the argument that when I first saw the trailer, all I saw was an awesome fucking game. The thought of race never crossed my mind, until it was brought up on forums. So I tended to agree with the argument that the game wasn't racist, it was just people being overly sensitive, and blowing things out of proportion.

So then I thought, why is this train of thought looked down on by others. Also, N'Gai Croal seems like a very intelligent person, and I respect his opinion. So that lent some credibility to the other side of the argument, that maybe it's not just overly sensitive people.... if someone as intelligent and down to Earth as N'Gai is feeling this way, then there must be something to it.

So this is what I've kind of concluded:

I can't see the racism in the imagery, because I've never experienced racism. But just because I am not affected by it, doesn't mean someone else isn't. I understand (as much as a white person can, I guess) that seeing these images can bring up uneasy feelings for a black person, because they have experienced racism. Therefore, I have to agree that the footage of RE5 is full of racist imagery, though I am sure it was totally unintentional. The Japanese developers couldn't see it, just like I can't see it. But the fact of the matter is that the feelings it brings to mind when black people see it, are real, and who are we to tell them their feelings aren't right?

Briz9

Blake Ruff

Was it b/c the main character is Chris Redfield? Or was it b/c this is one of the first games to be set in a realistic Africa (ignore the zombies, look at the setting)?

Let's face it - nobody cares about Africa. I mean it's either poor, war-torn, desert or any combination of the three. It's uncomfortable to be faced with this realization, even in a game. It's why millions of people change the channel when those "Save the children" commercials come on TV: it's makes us feel guilty for living the lifestyles we do when we can see that little Kwame (Capt'n Planet yo!) on the TV is going to die of starvation.

Also, the rest of the world doesn't have the historical hangups with people of African lineage as the US does.

Ever think that the nationalistic Japanese developers (its not demeaning, its been stated several times that Japanese developers develop for Japan 1st) never even thought about the history/tension of a minority in a foreign country that also inhabit the majority of an entire continent?

The game is made in Japan and set in Africa which is mostly impoverished, hot, and uneducated. Take it as it is, and stop divining American racial tensions out of this beautiful game.

Baba-Jaga

Toprem

From the opening sequence all you see is a village (now know to be in Africa) with people mulling about their daily lives. There is a shot of a man in the shadow of a building looking in to the camera. This scene taken as it's own, appears menacing. (And possibly what Mr. Croal was referencing) His expression is vacant and kind've angry, but there's a kind of pity that's generated for him. He's poor and it looks pretty hot there, might even be humid, he's probably unemployed and not very well educated (As is the reality for the majority of Africa). All of that plus there's this virus that turns you into a zombie going around, maybe even infected the next town over - I'd say that's good enough reason to mistrust this armed, white stranger who enters your quite village. ('least that's how I see it). His expression instantly characterizes the the mood of the town. From it, you know you aren't exactly trusted (as Chris Redfield) and your presence isn't exactly welcomed.

The trailer does not portray the villagers in a demeaning light, rather there's a sense of pity construed upon them and their situation (before they start the zombie nation). You know what game this is and what's involved in it's execution. You know what will eventually happen to these people who are sticky, hot, poor and uneducated. You can't help but feel a little bit saddened for them that their simple, impoverished lives are going to end in such a horrible way: zombified then head-shotted (or worse).

On another note:
As said a few times before, it appears as if Mr. Croal is looking at this as an American issue, ignoring the rest of the world. Even if the clip in question had observable racist undertones, it is a Japanese produced game. It is entirely reasonable to expect that the RE5 team didn't even think of (what is essentially) an American phenomena when developing this game. I'm not saying racism is US-specific, I'm trying to say the social history of blacks in America (and residual effects) isn't shared with the rest of the world. And it's this point that must be kept in mind when viewing this trailer.

I mean it's Chris from the 1st RE, he's back for some reason - they're not going to change his skin colour.

Baba-Jaga

This is what i have a hard time understanding.

I dont think japenese people who made this game are racist. ok.

I am a die hard gamer played through all the resident evil games know the stories. ok

Im also black, and when i saw the trailer for this game i had mixed feelings. One hand thought it looked interesting on the other i was slighty ofput at the setting of the game.

Let me poze a question to you guyz.

They have made countless Call of duty games. How many of them can you play a Nazi Campaign mode? Would that draw up controversy?

mdoubleok

diodegrey

mferrari

As a white person your gonna tell me that this isnt offensive to me?
Or whats not racist or how my community might feel about it?
Now the truth is it might not have been developed for that purpose, but the fact still remains that this makes people uncomfortable or we wouldnt be disucussing this topic.

It just kills me when alot of you guys act like racism is over with because you moved away from most black people or we have a little bit "mo freedom" then we had before.
but truth is they way we are depected in film and tv and now video games is condesinding.
the black jelly bean thing was sarcasm. i like how you choose to pickout the one thing you can argue about tho.
just because there arnt any homeless people on your block doesnt mean they dont exist.
jsut because you dont see the "starving kids in africa" doesnt mean they dont exist.
Just because racsim doesnt effect you.
doesnt mean its not happening.

mdoubleok

Toprem

Toprem

BNC92781

Taking an article like this and presenting snippets of it is just asking for trouble and deliberately stirring up sensationalism.

Either present the whole article for people to read or don't print any of it.

It's too easy to take things out of context, and that's exactly what you've done.

To get angry at readers because they've only read the snippets you've printed is hypocritical, at best.

Shame on you.

TheLandmark

GhostofEnglish

diodegrey

Why on earth does the protagonist HAVE to be black? Why is it you can have asian, mexican, and white characters getting blown to pieces in every video game, but the moment theres a black character, its racist?

Why the hell does it even fucking matter? its a video game!

The developers never even thought about racism to begin with in this title...isn't that a big sign saying "maybe you shouldn't either!"?

sketch9919

What do I think about the trailer - I'm not sure, I already read half the flame war before seeing the trailer so I can't say for sure I would have called it racist otherwise. But I sure as hell am not going to call someone a 'fucktard' for finding it offensive because I personally don't.

sleepyface

man in gauze is king ramses II, actually

VeritasVierge

man in gauze is king ramses II, actually

IF one was to make a list of the most offensive games of all time, i'd be surprised to see RE in there at all. I just think that this is a facinating subject. Artistic responsability is a big deal IMO but like you said there's a difference between that and political correctness. It's just too bad that most of the interesting comments on this subject are drowned by the stupid ones. The videogame industry integrity has been needlessly attacked on more than one occasion and i think NGai's mistake was more in the way he approched it than anything else. Lots of gamers are weary of this already. I personally found mass effect the porn simulator episode deliciously hilarious.

This said i would love to hear a discussion about the irony of my earlier post: the videogame industry has been attacked for its depiction of violence for a long time now. Even though violence is generally there to attract non gamers. i would find this an interesting read indeed.

yvrelabrosse

I can agree with you on everything except that.

Black jellybean ? How is the color of a candy an affront to your race. The two are mutually exclusive of each other.

slapBOXmaster

[cliche]You will never agree with everything one man has to say. People can say whatever they want. At the end of the day all of us make the final decision.[/cliche]

slapBOXmaster

It doesnt piss you guys off when they depic every 15 or 16 year old white teens as a spoiled rich pothead?
That shit is so far from the truth, but the truth is we live so far apart from each other in our daily lives we tend to believe these entertainment sterotypes. sure we eaxh have a few scattered black and whites in each of our communites, but honestly we truly stay no where near each other.

mdoubleok

this is the usual statement anyone hears from the majority.
until it affects them.

mdoubleok

Stellarola

I Actually love the Black Jelly Bean Aniseed flavour, I love Licorice (completly off topic but there you go)

JUFONUK

I wouldn't assume any of that And I know COD 4 is not directly about Iraq any more than GTA4 is about New York . But you do have to admit they get close enough to make their point.

However that neither being here or there the tone N'Gai uses seems to be that RE5 is about Africans directly when its about zombies in africa which while subtle is different enough. The way he describe the lurking in shadows

in his words "It's like they're all dangerous; they all need to be killed." Says that he is not looking at the context in which the story is being told only the literal visual language. And in that respect he seems to be way off base.

"It's not even like one cute African - or Haitian or Caribbean - child could be saved. "

Its a horror game what did he expect dancing, singing, flowers and children. None of the RE games have kids in them. at least no kids you can potentially kill. He is failing to see the picture capcom is painting. And IMO that picture is

You are all alone surrounded by people any of which could have been infected . And at the drop of a hat you could be attacked. As Chris you have to fight through this place to get to the truth ( I guess about umbrella).

As for your comments on postal I haven't actually played it myself but have seen enough to know that it's pretty much a waste of time and doesn't deliver any impact past that of going on a rampage in GTA.

I can agree that we pretty much match on alot of this ( i too don't think this will be as big a deal as it is now when the game finally ships.. and come on capcom get going on finishing this I WANT ) I just think the commentary N'gai provided did more to hurt his respectability in the eyes of the people who read his work. This game is not racist anymore than the mora(i think thats what they were called) from Locoroco were racist. If you are going to shout racism anytime something involves black folks then you are doing more harm than good. Unless of course its ACTUALLY racist and I think that people can usually unilaterally agree when those cases are black and white alike.

You are not fighting black men doing a Bamboozled - style minstral show.

Cause that shit would be racist.

slapBOXmaster

Be a minority and you will see the diferences. Im even tired of every commercial i see of asian people they gotta know karate or have a horrible ass accent. how do companies get away woth this shit?

mdoubleok

It's not cool to take other peoples words for your own. And I'm more than sure you know what I'm talking about. She might be just one of a billion commenters on Kotaku, But the fact that her own words were noticed and nominated to be in Kotaku's A Week in Commet post, makes her speech unique, and damned you for stealing them and getting so many responses from other commenters in this post.

King Seafoam

I understand and deeply respect the history and the plight of the African people, but healing is about moving on from a problem, and not being stuck in rut trying find how we can be offended by everything we see right? … heck, that's what half the wars in the world today are about!

I can agree that my position would be very different if there had been the depiction of a particular event in African history, but since that is in no way the case, it seems to me (based on my own interpretation) that Capcom would have most likely made their choice for the game's setting based artistic and cinematic reasons, but not because the race in question is black. I simply cannot agree that the history and plight is being undermined in anyways by the release of this trailer or game.

Let me draw a parallel, if a man was to offer a women to carry part of that person's luggage, is that act of kindness an expression of humanity or sexism. I personally have been in a situation where I deeply offended someone with that one gesture, yet the truth is, I make this offer based on my perception of that person's ability to manage the load, not gender - in my justification, I have also often extended such offers to my male friends.

I understand that N'Gai Croal was choosing to stand up for what he believes in and I respect that, but I pray for the day when people can feel it safe enough a world to not have to highlight their possible linkages to racial issues in everything we see, and see everyone as equals.

Sorry about ranting...

eoaa

The setting for RE5 is fresh and a radical departure for the series which really allows them to explore new ground.

The word racism has serious negative connotations but it isn't directly a bad thing by definition. For instance.. saying that on average black men are taller than Japanese men is technically a racist remark.. but also the truth with no intended insult meant to either race.

The idea of eradicating racism is ridiculous in terms of definition.. what many people don't seem to get is that the real problem is hatred, violence, and discrimination.

Tip-toeing around the unfortunate history of the white/black conflict in the U.S.A. is not a productive solution to the problem (and is a form of racism in itself.. AND discrimination) and blaming things like Resident Evil for the lingering tensions in society is nothing more than another distraction.

So what if the game ends up depicting life in this African village as impoverished, violent, hostile, primitive even? Do we then have a real problem?

Not that I see. Whether you are generalizing American suburban middle-class culture and implying that everyone is a mindless victim of consumerism or whether you are showing that many places in Africa are still very behind the times and dangerous places.. it is all just social commentary. As a matter of fact I find it more admirable that they bring attention to a more urgent and pressing world issue than the concerns of a affluent minority, even if it is only done in a shallow way it brings exposure to the problems faced in Africa.

Finally I'd like to say.. your Political Correct views don't function in Africa.. it isn't "just like here" and the people aren't "just like us."
Africa is it's own world, it is very different.. and it just does happen to be full of areas that, in fact, are filled with hostility, violence, genocide, hatred, poverty, illness.. ignoring these facts is not doing any African person any justice.

Bastard11

Placentasaurus

I had hoped that jouranlists were working to move past all the backwards ways of thinking, but apparently we haven't made much progress.

Seeing accusations of racism where none exist, drawing attention to race when there is no need, and finally ignoring all other evidence (RE 1-4) to selectively get offended just makes me depressed.

theflux

they just demonise the whole place that I think is what he is trying to get across there is no humanity to the people in the clip who are not Zombies...

It just looks like the place is dangerous before they change then becomes violent.

if you had the change in the trailer from people just living life being human happy emotional to then Turning evil through the parasite infection that would be ok not jsut an all ok evil village where no one is safe normally

JUFONUK

The effect of airing these opinions - which of course N'Gai is entitled to - means that, to most readers, the prospect and fear of an oppressive Politically Correct society which can curtail behavior based on the thought "when it happens to involve black people it's racist because these images have a history behind them - but when it involves white people it's OK and not worth commenting on" is far more real than any notion of racism is in the minds of those readers.

If he and his ilk stfu, gamers wouldn't imbue this product with racist connotations. It is the journalist's stance IMHO which actually propagates racism. Resentment of this repeatedly-touted "victim" viewpoint will fuel hatred rather than help people overcome it. "Respect me more because I am part of a victimized people and my ancestors were treated badly and I have black skin" rather than "respect me because I am an ace bloke" just doesn't fly. Sorry.

As it is, now that this debate is out in the open, some players will probably play this game ONLY to kill the waves of black zombies methinks. let's hope I am wrong though, eh?

kortcomponent

Given their strict policies on immigration along with their 99.9% homogeneous populous...

Subconsciously, people are constantly judging each other based on their appearance... are they attractive, what color are they, how do they do their hair, what clothes do they wear, what gender, and it all merely grows from there.

Supposing that we could all grow beyond categorizing ourselves based upon race, we still all live in capitalist societies where the goal is never equality...

Race-based identity and discrimination is now wealth based... lol... rich kids don't go to public schools.

We ended racial segregation to create capital segregation.

Why is genocide in darfur acceptable? because the people there have nothing of any value, unlike say, Iraqis, who are sitting upon billions of gallons of oil.

Is it possible that I am the only person who does not see that Racism was merely replaced by Capitalism?

i_lie_to_fit_in

turn up your gamma fool.

AnonAMoose

DevCo

I saw the trailer, and it looks like a fun game... but then again that probably makes me a racist...

the bottom line is given the style of Resident Evil, and taking that and combining it with africa, they have made a very realistic representation of what would happen should the virus break out there...

sorry if that offends you that they made a realistic game

Nanyea

BOMxAgonyxScenex

Seriously, I doubt the average person has the slightest clue what goes on in africa aside from the Lion king.

However, if it somehow correlates to the origin of aids 1950-1960, then i'll be damn impressed. Is probably the voodoo they are reffering too.

Draftbaboon

Broken_Hands

DiSTiNCT

ssh83

Does Not Equal (ダズノット)

haha i knew this was coming. we could go at it all day. i could comment that cod 4 's campaign wasnt about the irak invasion but about terrorism and not every middle eastern is a terrorist. then i could say you presumed i was pro irak war and also presumed that i'm american.then again u also presumed that i think RE5 is irresponsible in its depiction of violence in africa. im neither of those things as i said we will have to wait and see ( and i also said that i doubted this was the case).

i absolutly do not think that middle eastern people would indentify with the single player campaign of cod 4 just like the USSR didnt like the james bond movies. then again both of these things are one sided not irresponsible. i dont think anyone would've argued that call of duty 1 and 2 should've had a nazi story arc and the possibility that they could win as well as having a '' good'' nazi ending.

once again, we both pretty much agree. i loved the first RE4 looking forward to the next one and don't think anything racist will come out of it but the argument about artistic responsability is important.

it might come as a shock to you but while i never played any postal game i never was against it. its ridiculous portrayal of violence was intended to be a sort of sardonic rebellion on censorship. hence the name of the developer running with scissors. it was ridiculous violence intended to mock the censors. i thought the idea was funny. in their case it was ok to be irresponsible because it wasnt intended to be taken seriously ( actually irresponsability was the point). The censors have always been a bane to the videogame industry and movie industry too. but that doesnt mean u can do anything.

yvrelabrosse

I don't really see a problem with it. If all the zombies were black people and there were no white people in the entire series, I'd be wondering why and I'd probably be angry that we weren't included since there's a lot of white people on the earth. I hope people who are offended by the game can realize that it's not racist since they're getting the same treatment as everyone else is.

CarbonatedWater

Moral of the story here is people will see what they want to see. If you see racism, in this game then your looking for it no matter what people say.

It's hypocritical to say it's not ok to shoot black zombies, but ok to shoot white, spanish, etc zombies.

3elevenX

mightyg

Anything I say has probably already been said, but I suppose I'll say it anyways..

This would not have been a problem if all of the zombies were Arabic, Native Americans, or even Eskimos. Any time something involving an "african american" is always racist. I'm sick of people making a big deal of this shit, and to be honest, I'm glad that this game was is taking place in Africa. Not to kill African Americans, but just because it's simply taking place in Africa. They're officially doing what nobody else has the balls to do, in a racist or non-racist way. They're making this game, and in my eyes it's a big "FUCK YOU" to all the people who cry over this kind of crap, and I love it.

Figroti

(1) He saw the racism plain as day, and was amazed that so many viewers were so blind as to miss it.

(2) Killing Spanish villagers isn't the same as killing Haitian villagers, because it just isn't.

And my favorite:
(3) Obviously, nobody black worked on this all-Japanese team.

The whole thing carried a closed-minded air about it, which is what got me annoyed in the first place.

Does Not Equal (ダズノット)

I think part of the problem is that people think games should cater only towards the north American region.

This region is over come with race issues regarding black people...despite the fact everyone is more than happy about wiping out the Indians. But N'Gai doesn't care about Indians so...

Anyway, the fact is not every country has hang-ups about black people. This doesn't make them racist. In fact, it's more racist to see race being the the only factor in everything.

Everyone that attacks Capcom, including N'Gai are being racist. They're assuming that there is no reason for them to come up with this scenario other than the fact they think blacks are racist. Capcom are inferior to the enlightened group who are offended.

It is also ironic that most complaints, again, from from North America, a region that has no problem making slant eye jokes and little "pee-pee" jokes about orientals openly in their media. This ignores the fact that orientals, like blacks, were used as slaves on the west coast in the US. People forget what Orientals have gone through as well. Again it's because there is a huge hang-up about black people and no one else and this has come about because politicians have sold everyone on the idea that blacks have been hard done more than any other race. The reason for this is because blacks used to be the largest minority in the US until the Hispanics took over.

I bet there would have been complaints if the game was set in Africa and features no black people.

N'Gai complete dismissal of the RE4 situation with Hispanics ignores the fact that not only did they make the Spanish out to be killer zombies but they didn't even have the decency to have them speaking Spanish. They're speaking Mexican. He has no problem with games ignoring all other cultures and the Americanisation of video games which affects other cultures. One of which will be the African culture.

Think about how a comedian like Michael Richards has practically been lynched for saying the N word but Jesse Jackson can run for president after calling Jews people Hymies.

No matter what N'Gai says he's a selfish tool of the US political system and my respect for him has diminished significantly. If Edge magazine wasn't so sweet, I'd consider canceling my subscription purely based on his articles.

chiefpoopingpants

To the people of Iraq We are invading their country. We are killing Their fathers and sons and then to top it off we are playing games that do the EXACT SAME THING. What about their history. What about that imagery. Should EA be "more responsible" in making games about the middle east because of the same reasons you and N'gai say capcom should be responsible in making RE5?

slapBOXmaster

lol. you didnt think about what you were going to write did u? blood diamond and hotel rwanda racists!!!! u are missing the big picture completly. they INTEND to depict africa like this to inspire people all over the world to do their part in bringing this violence to an end. hotel rwanda is a true story and blood diamond is depicting the violence hapenning there because of the conflict diamond trade.

yvrelabrosse

It's funny how people forget that the spanish invaded south america and the caribbean. Basically enslaved the natives and force fed them christianity. All the while destroying their history most of which is lost to this day. The only difference between that and the horrible things that happened to the original slaves brought from africa ( which is what the History you are referring to is after all) Is that the spaniards killed all of the natives off. The few that remain are a mere shadow of the powerful people they once were. Their original faith is gone their language is dying and the rest of the society (a large portion of whom are now of spanish decent ) will be more than happy to see them go.

The long lived ancient people of central and south america had everything taken away from them and to this day the racism that persists in the area is orders of magnitude worse than the relative equality of the black - white issues in north america.

So when you say the above quote remember the "spanish" who exist in the large portion of the world ( larger than whites ) have a very similar history.

slapBOXmaster

This actualizes the idea of racism, as the semantic issues he's blathering about come to surface. He never stops to think that, perhaps the reason people don't "see it", is because we've evolved past the point of the PC tippy toe bull doody.

What about films like Blood Diamond, that depict the barrios of South Africa, with poor inhabitants and militants with guns? Is this inherently racist?

What about films like Hotel Rwanda which depict black on black genocide? One can reach and say that this film is racist, and depicts Africa as a violent and brutal place.

These things are not inherently racist. If you make something that takes place in Africa, I'm pretty sure African people will probably have something to do with the story line. For example:

Let's make a game in Africa, where conflict takes place. But let's not have any Africans in it! All white people.

or

Let's make a game in Africa, where conflict takes place. You'll actually be fighting Africans... some of which may include black people!

Either way, you're racist? So what, can nobody make anything that takes place in Africa? Is the very depiction of black people inherently racist? Lower class, upper class -- it doesn't seem to matter. Some people just want to go off and keep these social issues a taboo.

Grow up, grow out of it.

UglyZombie

As for my point, you requested some clarity of that statement, and although it may or may not echo properly what others have said, it's what I believe. I'm glad you've found it noble. :)

Shalashaska

great point slapbox. as i said in my first post we will have to wait and see. i did not completly agree with what ngai said only said that he had brought up a worthy subject worth examining. whether capcom was too breezy in its depiction of violence in africa remains to be seen.I think we agree on more than u think. No i don't think every game should be 100% serious just like not every movie is Taxi driver still they have to remain responsible. Ngai may have overreacted but the subject remains. take army of 2. they criticize the way americans use mercenaries and how this could affect warfare but the 2 main caracters are so into the violence they cause as if its supercool to kill tons of people that it ignores its message completly for ''entertainement''.

to expand on this. i think the videogame industry is trying hard to promote violence in their games as a mean to expand the demographic. for those who can read between lines that means games get more violent to attract non-gamers, so what i'm trying to say is that games are not played because of the violence in them but because of something called gameplay and non gamers respond to the sugar coating.

ps: to respond to your criticism of call of duty and battlefield, i dont think its accurate. they are different in their imagery. the call of duty campaign takes the subject seriously and battlefield depicts a conflict that is there and both side can win.

yvrelabrosse

Obviiously this reporter need to get in touch with his own racist tendencies. Clearly you are under the false assumption that Black people are more important than any other race. That they somehow feel pain, shame, embarassment, ridicule, racism more than any other race. I mean no other race has ever been made a slave or hung to a tree or whipped before right? Black people got that locked down and are the only ones to have ever suffered in the entire history of mankind?

No you racist reporter they are not. Man has been cruel to Other Man since there was two men to begin with. People have hurt and enslaved people for years. Of all races and colors. It's even going on now. So don't think we fail to see through your intelectual racism. We do.

Learn know and accept this. You are not special or unique. You are not the be all end all. So suck it up and be a man and stop complaining about what happened in the past weather it is 5 days or 500 years or more. Get your head out of the past and your ass and move on. So they once enslaved my people a 100 years ago. Boo Hoo Hoo. That image is racist. Boo Hoo hoo. Shut up and stop crying. So there are black zombies. Big deal. Kill the unholy undead and move on. But dont try and read something more into it outside of it being a simple horror story that happens to have black zombies that a white guy has to kill. Made by a bunch of Japanese people.

Your American Colonial reference is out of date and off of point. The game is not made by Americans. So you can not inflect American History into the context of a game designed by Japanese people.

coyote12