Do you actually think RE5 racist!?

Okay so I've already heard at least one person on these forums thinking that RE5 is being racist towards african americans.... this is absolutely pathetic... if you call that racist then so is every other game from Call of Duty to Warcraft... How come no one complains about all you do is kill middle eastern insurgents?! You might as well start saying I hate gnomes and I'm a racist for it.

Now they are even discussing this on Gametrailers and on MTV linked here

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/33488.html

Someone at MTV said he was "disturbed" or something along those lines by the trailer played at E3. This is outrageous! What about in all of the movies... most if not all people infected by the virus were white... does that mean its racist?

And if you don't know jack about anything beyond the continental united states thats what life and culture as well as the people are like in africa... its just the setting in which the game takes place! nothing more... and its a virus! some plague... not just some people who decide to go crazy for the want of it!

Please tell me if you actually think this game is RACIST and if you are still or no longer interested in this GAME... I can't wait seeing as to it will be a sequel to one of the best games I have ever played

ummm no.

they chose to have africa as the locale for the game

who would you expect to find there? europeans?? ...? rly?

If it wasn't ...then i wouldn't be getting it. duh'....

I saw the gametrailer video and the welsh guy is an idiot if he can't see why people might find this disturbing. It is hard to use words like racism to accurately describe Re 5, but it certainly is disturbing. The persecution of the celts and welsh that the guy mention isn't explicitly because of something external to those people such as skin color. It is because they were another tribe being dominated by the local hegemonic power. Those celts and welsh could easily, easily, melt into the general population. If anything the British persecuted and killed those people for everything else but their skin color. This however is different, I find what one of the panelist said that once he saw black people acting like mindless idiots that he didn't see anything wrong with that. Which is why many black people find this game disturbing it is reinforcing racial stereotypes. Yes, Africa has a lot of problems but it isn't to the extent where a generic looking poor village with black people in it is representative of the whole of africa. This game is getting flak and rigihtly so imo. I am not saying that it should be banned because it is obviously too late for that. If anyone can't see why this game is disturbing then they haev no right to have anyone listen to their idiotic and ill formed opinions on the matter. Tha tWelsh guy on the video was a right idiot.

Journalist who work in the gaming industry are a joke, if I were to make a broad assumption based on the people in that video. Here is the Article that welshy was criticising. It is a very well formed opinion on the matter.

Listen each group of people have the innate right to determine how they are viewed in whatever media form. If Spanish speaking people of European descent didn't make a fuss about a white guy of European descent gunning down a town full of their people then that is on them. I think that Resident Evil 5 is indication of what happens when there are few black people in the game industry and in the decision making process. The fact that no one from the developmental stage to now even thought that having a white male run around shooting black Africans zombie or not might have some problematic connotations especially if they plan to heavily market and sell the game in the US shows an utter lack of sensitivity and complete naivete to not even ask the question and have a discussion. Oh, and playing the 'what if' game and switching around races is a moot point because the racial history and dynamic between races are not the same. Posted by: GO14 at August 1, 2007 8:42 AM

Okay so I've already heard at least one person on these forums thinking that RE5 is being racist towards african americans.... this is absolutely pathetic... if you call that racist then so is every other game from Call of Duty to Warcraft... How come no one complains about all you do is kill middle eastern insurgents?! You might as well start saying I hate gnomes and I'm a racist for it.

Now they are even discussing this on Gametrailers and on MTV linked here

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/33488.html

Someone at MTV said he was "disturbed" or something along those lines by the trailer played at E3. This is outrageous! What about in all of the movies... most if not all people infected by the virus were white... does that mean its racist?

And if you don't know jack about anything beyond the continental united states thats what life and culture as well as the people are like in africa... its just the setting in which the game takes place! nothing more... and its a virus! some plague... not just some people who decide to go crazy for the want of it!

Please tell me if you actually think this game is RACIST and if you are still or no longer interested in this GAME... I can't wait seeing as to it will be a sequel to one of the best games I have ever played

XxAnubisxX

this game is realy racist why do they have to put affrican americans in a game based in affrica of they didnt mean to b racist

Of course it's not! I mean, were any of the other Resident Evil games racist because they had white americans in them?Epipsychidion

If I am not mistaken, the Resident Evil series was originally developed in Japan under the Biohazard title and RE5 may also be Japanese Capcom-made. The original games had caucasians in them...in a game made by Japanese...so, is that racist? I think no...

Also, ignoring an entire race by not having them as both bad guys or good guys...i.e., not in the game or series at all...should also be considered as some kind of racism. Racism through ignoring? :) If RE5 is racist, then this other form of racism should also be considered racist...

http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/runninscared/archives/2007/07/zombies_in_afri.php and here is a user response to the article, equally as illuminating.

Listen each group of people have the innate right to determine how they are viewed in whatever media form. If Spanish speaking people of European descent didn't make a fuss about a white guy of European descent gunning down a town full of their people then that is on them. I think that Resident Evil 5 is indication of what happens when there are few black people in the game industry and in the decision making process. The fact that no one from the developmental stage to now even thought that having a white male run around shooting black Africans zombie or not might have some problematic connotations especially if they plan to heavily market and sell the game in the US shows an utter lack of sensitivity and complete naivete to not even ask the question and have a discussion. Oh, and playing the 'what if' game and switching around races is a moot point because the racial history and dynamic between races are not the same. Posted by: GO14 at August 1, 2007 8:42 AM numismatic

As I just posted, but I'll repeat... Here's a "what if"...What if the game was made by Capcom Japan? I don't know for sure, but I find it surprising that the parent company would relinquish control of one of its flagship products to Capcom USA. As much as we'd like to see, parent and child companies may not always be that friendly.

Assuming I am right [again, I have no proof], then why is the USA at the centre of the universe? Why should USA's past/present racial tensions have such an effect? Some people make games for the entire world; but honestly, there is enough of a fanbase in Japan to sustain the franchise...having it translated and sent overseas is a bonus and not a requirement. Don't get me wrong...Japan has its problems and a Japan-made game would have serious problems if the enemy were Chinese or Korean. I think your comment about the developmental stage is incorrect; perhaps no one said anything about a caucasian shooting black African zombies but I can bet that someone said at an early meeting, "Ok, we don't do it to Chinese or Koreans or other countries who are still sensitive to the past war".

I think when the game comes out, we'll see. FInish the game and perhaps like all the past Resident Evils I've played, the majority of the developers are probably Japanese. i.e. Capcom head office. The movies are American; and you are right -- I don't expect the next movie (if there is one) to go into a sensitive area. A Japanese animation might and I think a Biohazard anime is in production.

PS: Why Japanese games and animation have an over-abundance of foreigners is not due to hatred but a [positive] facination with foreigners and foreign cultures. I don't have proof of this, but read about it a while back in a "history of anime".

Oh noes, I kill black people in the game, WHICH ARE TRYING TO KILL ME!

srsly? The world is going mad. So, if a black guy tries to kill me, I must let myself get killed, because doing something against him would be racists? Yeah right. I would try to kill him back, just like I would do with anyone of any race.

Now lets grow some brains before doing such stupid accusations.

i hate to see this. how the hell is it racist.

the game is set in africa wat colour people do u expect to see there? if it was an african vllage full of white peope it would be even more racist because almost all africans are black, agame besed in africa has to have black people.

im pretty sure that the poor afrivan villages dont have a china town or a european settlement down th road. if the devs for this game get sued then i will b sickened i think that white people have become too sensitive to the way they treat black people, they are the biggest racists.

im not black but im pretty sure if i was i would still think that it is stupid. i bet if you did some research you would find that the people who said that this game is racist are white

the people you kill in this game aren't african americans (i like this term... are there also "european americans" or "asian americans" or even "oceania americans"??) they're african zombies... i would take it as a racist game if i was a part of the "african zombie" community

:)

Yes , and so is MGS4. :o

Okay so I've already heard at least one person on these forums thinking that RE5 is being racist towards african americans.... this is absolutely pathetic... if you call that racist then so is every other game from Call of Duty to Warcraft... How come no one complains about all you do is kill middle eastern insurgents?! You might as well start saying I hate gnomes and I'm a racist for it.

Now they are even discussing this on Gametrailers and on MTV linked here

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/33488.html

Someone at MTV said he was "disturbed" or something along those lines by the trailer played at E3. This is outrageous! What about in all of the movies... most if not all people infected by the virus were white... does that mean its racist?

And if you don't know jack about anything beyond the continental united states thats what life and culture as well as the people are like in africa... its just the setting in which the game takes place! nothing more... and its a virus! some plague... not just some people who decide to go crazy for the want of it!

Please tell me if you actually think this game is RACIST and if you are still or no longer interested in this GAME... I can't wait seeing as to it will be a sequel to one of the best games I have ever played

XxAnubisxX

SERIOUSLY STOP WITH THIS CRAP!!!!!!!!!!! Every freaking month somebody decides to post this crap up! First...it's an old issue & second it really shows how simple some people are. GROW UP!

PS: This isn't the place to discuss racism...this is a game site. Go take that racism crap somewhere else.

Ok so i am sorry if this is a duplicate, but nobody seemed to have problems with killing hundreds of mexicans RE4

to all that have posted in this topic instead of just letting it fall into the abyss

credit to RMANPOWER for finding such an awesome facepalm

edit: also inb4lock so if one of you mods would be so kind...

killing hundreds of mexicans RE4

justin_06

What an idiot. Have you ever heard of Spain?

Im black not african but i do feel a little weird whenever i see that game but i dont think they were trying to be racist. Maybe people would have felt better if the main character was atleast black or something to lighten the mood, this game is going to have alot of controversy but what else is new:P As many have stated before, it is set in Africa so who would you have guessed you were going to see? ZenesisX

I think the issue isn't so much that your enemies are African, it's that the protagonist is Uber-Caucasian. Frankly, I think people are reading way too much into this... Africa is a troubled -- but fascinating -- area of the world that ought to see more face-time in video games. I think if the main character was black, a lot of the controversy may have been averted, but it doesn't really matter anyway... the game's going to come out, a lot of people are going to make asses of themselves, and then it'll be over and the next RE game will probably be set in Sweden, lol.

[QUOTE="ZenesisX"]Im black not african but i do feel a little weird whenever i see that game but i dont think they were trying to be racist. Maybe people would have felt better if the main character was atleast black or something to lighten the mood, this game is going to have alot of controversy but what else is new:P As many have stated before, it is set in Africa so who would you have guessed you were going to see? Generic_Dude

I think the issue isn't so much that your enemies are African, it's that the protagonist is Uber-Caucasian. Frankly, I think people are reading way too much into this... Africa is a troubled -- but fascinating -- area of the world that ought to see more face-time in video games. I think if the main character was black, a lot of the controversy may have been averted, but it doesn't really matter anyway... the game's going to come out, a lot of people are going to make asses of themselves, and then it'll be over and the next RE game will probably be set in Sweden, lol.

[QUOTE="justin_06"]

killing hundreds of mexicans RE4

pwner1

What an idiot. Have you ever heard of Spain?

This is the kind of stuff that I hate, how are we supposed to end racism when stuff like 'omg! there's black people in a game so its rascist!!!' keeps coming up?the_new_neo

Isn't it set in Haiti? The problem with Re 5 is that it can be construed as racist. Black people are more of a minority in games than most people save latinos. The world of videogame is tyrannized by the depiction of whites, asians, cyborgs, white/asian cyborgs--Solid Snake here looking at you kid. Historically in western media black people have been wrongly and unfairly portrayed as mindless, lazy, layabouts. Blackness, being black, as often been seen as a disease. Lo and behold we get a game that fits into all these stereotypes but only so subtly that it is understandable if black people get distressed as being portrayed as mindless zombies. It wouldn't be such a big deal were there more black protagonists in games. Shadowman, Aiken's Artifact, and San Andreas withstanding, I am hard pressed to name more games where black people are the central characters. In this game you take out mostly black people in a black, failed, country and it is a laudatory experience to the player. No, I do not believe that this bares comparison to the spaniards from Re4, remember folks Spanish people living in Spain are white for the most part. They are no more or no less white than their Anglo neighbors to the east, their nordic neigbours to the north, or the balkan neighbours to the east. In Re 4 you were killing people based on their nationality not their race. Wait, Haitian people are mostly black, you might ask you self saying, therefore, you aren't killing blacks but Haitians. Touche, but the fact still remains that the full breadth of the black experience has historically been missing in videogames. Having no black people in your game at all is way better than having them portrayed negatively in your game. numismatic

An actual intelligent quote, thank you.

to all that have posted in this topic instead of just letting it fall into the abyss

credit to RMANPOWER for finding such an awesome facepalm

edit: also inb4lock so if one of you mods would be so kind...

SuperMario254

So, you're face palming yourself as well.

How can a game with Africans set in Africa be racist towards African Americans? DOES NOT COMPUTE!CellAnimation

This is what happens when the world goes PC.

[QUOTE="SuperMario254"]

to all that have posted in this topic instead of just letting it fall into the abyss

credit to RMANPOWER for finding such an awesome facepalm

edit: also inb4lock so if one of you mods would be so kind...

MusashiSensi

So, you're face palming yourself as well.