Do you actually think RE5 racist!?

If the tables were turned and you played a black guy and killed loads of white zombies no one would care I know I wouldn't Ac1d-Burn

resident evil 4 was set in spain. it's not like it was set in a south american country. Spain is in europe and spaniards are not "latinos:. yes they are of latin origin but are considered caucasian. The argument the guy makes on gametrailers doesn't make any sense either. he tried to make an argument of the celts being oppressed forgetting that is ethnic oppression and not racial oppression and they are all white. I'm not crying "racist" but this truly is pretty disturbing to watch. To see a white protagonist killing off a bunch of people in a 3rd world country (despite the storyline and the virus they have in thsi game) is just kind of wrong. Especially the way they make them look hostile and uncivilized. There are countries in africa that are developed or somewhat developed and they easily could've chosen one of those. But I'm speaking from a black mans perspective and I truly wouldn't expect most of you to understand. Not saying all black people feel this way because I am sure there are some who couldn't care less.

But I'm just basing my opinion on the trailer. hopefully we more info on the game as well as in game footage as time progresses.

they're zombies, man. hence the uncivilization. its not like the protagonist went to africa n thats what they LIKE so he kills them, they zombies. people are too trigger happy to make controversy. did e. europeans cry out that niko was portraying them in a negative way? im sure, but no where near to extent of re5, i thinkadam_53

I know they are zombies and I understand resident evil games but I also understand why it can be seen as offensive. It's an underdeveloped country with a lot of history between white man and black natives and is something still continues on in africa until this day. like blood diamonds or belgium exploiting people in rwanda they were different and categorizing them as hutu and tutsi which lead to genocides. it really is tabu to make a game like that because it sets a very negative tone due to continuous events throughout history and the present. I wouldnt care if this game was based in a predominantly "black" area in america but in africa.....its just disturbing to me.

and talking about niko is comparing apples to oranges. but that also brings about another great point. when san andreas came out i didnt care. reason being is america is a developed country, the african continent, not so much.

ummm no.

they chose to have africa as the locale for the game

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

useLOGIC

I was looking for waldo... :(

did europeans cry out that niko was portraying them in a negative way? adam_53

I don't think anyone saw the single serbian representing all the nations of Europe.

I hate these threads. They pop up every now and then. The topic starter has probably already participated in one so he knows the reaction it gets and the huge post count that goes with it. All it does is draw negative attention onto Resident Evil 5. Would you be happy if Capcom said "Alright, **** it. If this is the reaction we're going to cancel the project"?

These threads always generate the same argument's. People always say things like "was it racist when he was killing white zombies?". A lot of people only think racism applies to minorities. That pisses me off.

Fact is Capcom decided to go to the place where voodoo started. If you actually do some research you will find that voodoo is still the main religion in some parts of Africa. They still practice it today. Would it've been better if it was a load of white French guys running around Africa, doing voodoo?

Lets not lose sight of the fact that this is only a videogame. Color really shouldn't matter. It's just digitally generated images made to look like Africans. It isn't real life. You aren't killing real people.

Throughout the History of video games all races and ethnicities were killed.

White

Black

Hispanic

Asian

Alien

But only certain groups cry about it,,,you decide.

the ONLY reason its racist is because its black people in the game. not trying to be rude or anything but the black people in the americas tend to pull the racist card ALOT if they dont like something. jsut like the indians in canada pulling the land claims.

something ive learned in my years on this earth. IF PEOPLE HAVE SOMETHING TO BIT** ABOUT, THEN THEY'LL BIT** ABOUT IT. SOME PEOPLE JUST AREN'T HAPPY UNLESS THEY'RE COMPLAINING

enygma500

Beautifully put, couldnt have said it any better

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

[QUOTE="enygma500"]

the ONLY reason its racist is because its black people in the game. not trying to be rude or anything but the black people in the americas tend to pull the racist card ALOT if they dont like something. jsut like the indians in canada pulling the land claims.

something ive learned in my years on this earth. IF PEOPLE HAVE SOMETHING TO BIT** ABOUT, THEN THEY'LL BIT** ABOUT IT. SOME PEOPLE JUST AREN'T HAPPY UNLESS THEY'RE COMPLAINING

arikkot

Beautifully put, couldnt have said it any better

Frankly its ONLY the blacks complaining about this game. Re4 was praised...and called awesome...amazing...yes even by hispanics. Just put the race card down for once and deal

They are blood sucking/infected/zombie freaks :)

I don't think the color of skin makes any difference in this case... only if you try hard to make a problem out of it.

Nope. Actually Voodoo and Zombies have deep origins in Haiti where RE5 takes place.

Did any spanish people made a big deal when RE4 came out where there is a white guy blowing their heads off? NO! We don't care about things like this, I remember some lady made it a huge deal since that trailer came out, big deal...WR_Platinum

[QUOTE="numismatic"]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. Goku2639

No, how about you, why don't you go replay MGS on the original Ps1 when he talks about his japanese ancestry and not to mention that nanomachines running through out his bloodstream in the form of foxdie. You do your research cause this geek is holding it down.

This isn't pulling the race card, if the race card were to be pulled this argument would be why isn't Chris black. This is a valid discussion and I agree with what Brooklyson said were it set in America and in a predominately black area I wouldn't care. But it isn't and the only thing people know about africa is it has a lot of black people and aids and that is the end of their knowledge. Africa is so much more than that. Voodoo isn't an african religion it is inspired by African religious traditions but also by catholicism. Voodoo originated from Haiti no Africa. Again this is the kind of misinformation about Africa that I fear this game will be reinforcing.

Anyone that thinks RE5 is racist is just plain ignorant.

After all Capcom is a Japanese developer, why would they make white people killing blacks to be racist?

There are many games where you shoot white zombies... How come those were called RACIST? Or evan movies. That is rediculas. If your shooting black zombies people think it's racist and start complaing. You shoot white zombies it;s never noticed.

[QUOTE="Goku2639"][QUOTE="numismatic"]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

No, how about you, why don't you go replay MGS on the original Ps1 when he talks about his japanese ancestry and not to mention that nanomachines running through out his bloodstream in the form of foxdie. You do your research cause this geek is holding it down.

This isn't pulling the race card, if the race card were to be pulled this argument would be why isn't Chris black. This is a valid discussion and I agree with what Brooklyson said were it set in America and in a predominately black area I wouldn't care. But it isn't and the only thing people know about africa is it has a lot of black people and aids and that is the end of their knowledge. Africa is so much more than that. Voodoo isn't an african religion it is inspired by African religious traditions but also by catholicism. Voodoo originated from Haiti no Africa. Again this is the kind of misinformation about Africa that I fear this game will be reinforcing.

Its not nearly as racist as Rockstar's last GTA game on the PS2. It went unreleased to the public because of controversy, but the game did get out to the hand of a few dedicated fans from Rockstar employee's.

but as i said earlier, i wouldnt expect any of you in here to understand. and to say "black people always pull the race card" is racist and a flawed generalization and thats why people take offense to things like this because some of some of the ignorance towards a specific group of people.

Its not nearly as racist as Rockstar's last GTA game on the PS2. It went unreleased to the public because of controversy, but the game did get out to the hand of a few dedicated fans from Rockstar employee's.

evilross

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.

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

Yeah. This game is as racist as Dawn of the Dead. They're obviously amplifying the behaviors of Texans. :roll: God, if you find this racist, you're finding retarded things to complain about. If they're going to set it in Africa, where do you want them to set it? In some upperclass neighborhood with victorian houses and black people wearing sweater vests in Africa? The game is supposed to be realistic. The setting of this game sets the mood. I don't get why that's offensive. "It's offensive to say there are poor villages in Africa so let's pretend they don't exist." That's a good way to think of it. :roll:

I'm Chinese and I honestly don't give a damn if they ever made a zombie game set in China.

So what if you could blast the heads off of people that resembled my race in a game? I don't care, it's a game. How many caucasians have we slain in video games already? It's not like these companies are selling hate material and there's no subliminal messaging telling you to start randomly killing people of a specific ethnicity.

[QUOTE="numismatic"]

[QUOTE="Goku2639"][QUOTE="numismatic"]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. Goku2639

No, how about you, why don't you go replay MGS on the original Ps1 when he talks about his japanese ancestry and not to mention that nanomachines running through out his bloodstream in the form of foxdie. You do your research cause this geek is holding it down.

This isn't pulling the race card, if the race card were to be pulled this argument would be why isn't Chris black. This is a valid discussion and I agree with what Brooklyson said were it set in America and in a predominately black area I wouldn't care. But it isn't and the only thing people know about africa is it has a lot of black people and aids and that is the end of their knowledge. Africa is so much more than that. Voodoo isn't an african religion it is inspired by African religious traditions but also by catholicism. Voodoo originated from Haiti no Africa. Again this is the kind of misinformation about Africa that I fear this game will be reinforcing.

Obviously not or else you would have known snake had japanese ancestry and that he is technically part cyborg. The problem with the black experience is that it can't be equivocate to any other racial experience in the United States, sure they might share similarities but when it comes to the media black people have gotten the short end of the stick for far too long. The first blockbuster in cinema is a little movie called Birth of a Nation that portrayed blacks as mindless lustful thugs running rampant in the south and it was up to the KKK to save civilisation from black people. This movie was such a huge hit that Woodrow Wilson had it screen in the white house. So to say that this game is less disturbing because it is being made by a Japanese company--whose society is almost homogenized--rather than an american company is just stupid. Race isn't black and white it is multifaceted. While I do admire that some people want to ignore the racial aspects of the game the truth is that you can't. You can't equivocate this gaming experience to those of RE 4 or any other resident evil game because the people being zombified and killed in those games haven't had a history of being portrayed in the most negative terms by the media. I never said the game is racist because I believe that term is too polarizing and idiots not knowing of nuances either dismiss the disturbing aspect of this game or ignore it altogether because they think well I don't see any KKK symbols or anyone espousing white poer therefore it isn't racist. This is the mentality of cows, fath, and tithing to be milked by an unscrupulous media. If you don't think media influences your perception of things then we wouldn't be in Iraq at all if that were true.

Sooo when you're shooting/punching/running over/ a group of white people in GTA IV (epic game btw) no one complains (or at least it's not labeled as "racist"). But when the setting changes to Africa (uh oh!!) and you start shooting a group of African American ZOMBIES (teh OMGZ!!) everyone starts crying and it's labeled as "racist".....Talk about sensitive.....I_pWnzz_YoU

The fact that you thinkyou can shoot African American Zombies in Africa just shows the great insight you bring to this debate. Wow, last I heard NYC was a cosmopolitan city not a white only city.

[QUOTE="I_pWnzz_YoU"]Sooo when you're shooting/punching/running over/ a groupof white people in GTA IV (epic game btw) no one complains (or at least it's not labeled as "racist"). But when the setting changes to Africa (uh oh!!) and you start shooting a group of African American ZOMBIES (teh OMGZ!!) everyone starts crying and it's labeled as "racist".....Talk about sensitive.....numismatic

The fact that you thinkyou can shoot African American Zombies in Africa just shows the great insight you bring to this debate. Wow, last I heard NYC was a cosmopolitan city not a white only city.

I never said the whole city was white......read the bolded part

Being half black, it kinda bothers me, but I know that it is a GAME. I guess it bothers some people since...well slavery and all but I say get over it. What I don't understand is why there are like zero white people in Africa for the game. People think it is just exclusive to blacks but Africa has about 5-12% white population....That's an educated guess mind you lol.

So overall- no, but it can be a touchy subject. I'd personally say no...

No, but you can go back and forth with this subject though. "Well they didn't have a problem with shooting *insert race* in *insert game*" yadayada

But people got to remember, they are ZOMBIES, not inncents or anything.

Its not nearly as racist as Rockstar's last GTA game on the PS2. It went unreleased to the public because of controversy, but the game did get out to the hand of a few dedicated fans from Rockstar employee's.

evilross

AWESOME!!!!!

You Choose To buy the game or not

You think its racist DONT F**KING PLAY IT