For those who want to be fully informed: http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/04/10/newsweeks-ngai-croal-on-the-resident-evil-5-trailer-this-imagery-has-a-history/

For those who want the gist: Resident Evil 5 is in development for the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. This particular installment takes place in Africa with a former RE character, Chris Redfield. The game will play similarly to RE4, IE waves of zombies with lots of carnage. The game has come under fire due to its possibly racist agenda. It seems that the thought of a military clothing clad white man, going into an African villiage, and shooting off their heads is being seen as outright racist.

I'll preface the fact that I am really sick of the word racism, racist etc. It seems all too often in modern day society, people are so willing to throw up the racism flag for just about anything. What bothers me about this, is it's being devoloped by Capcom... a team of Japanese people (I'm sure there are other races there too, so don't throw the racist tomato at me). And I tend to think that they are not developing the game based on America's history of slavery or racism. Also, it isn't as if they've ever really placed any credence into race in RE games anyway. It was Spaniards last time, and been white zombies for the longest time. For all we know, they just throw a dart at a world map and say "that's our locale".

So, should Resident Evil 5 be considered racist? Is racism a noticeable problem in video games? Are the people complaining about such a thing simply looking to make a name for themselves?

No, it isn't.
Just being perceived incorrectly, or people trying to make out something that isn't really there, or isn't really true.
It's like someone saying something nice but in the wrong sort of tone, which makes it seem sarcastic and hurtful... there's nothing bad here.
Sheesh. I hate things like this happening.

Personally that doesn't sound racist to me. I think the one at fault is the jerk that compared africans to zombies. He/she is the racist. As a white guy myself i think its racist to imply that black zombies are in any less need of being shot in the head ad nauseaum in the video games.

Even if it was racist it's not like it makes a difference. I could care less. I could care less that certain groups probably say worse stuff about me than i do them. They have what the bill of rights give them nothing more. No one is forcing anyone to play that game. You don't like, you think its racist, dont blanking play it.

Personally i love watching digital people of every race and and religion die on screen.

One more thing scientists have say that there is not enough genetic variation in humans to classify us as different species so guess what guys everyone here is the same race like it or not. I think racism is just as much the fault of the supposed victims as. Here i am quite content to let everyone mind there business in there own little corner of the country then they have to go off and say everyone is racist. Hello ive barely heard of them and all of a sudden all white people are racist. Everyone just needs to deal with it cause i dont care. If someone dont like you they just dont like you. People shouldn't think that means will so and so dont like asians or whatever. Maybe you're just a bad person.

Just to let you in on a little secret. I have nor any other person in the U.S. alive has had any slaves. Also no african americans alive have ever been a slave. You don't like it get out of the country. Really the only race in the U.S. that has any reason to gripe is the Native americans. Yea those europeans (later u.s. citezens) were real jerks back in the day.

You know the old saying "it takes two to tango"? It takes action on both sides to "stop" racism, which i dont believe really exists. They complain about stereotypes. Well where did we get those stereotypes in the first place? Well at one point they must have been somewhat true, at least to agree. Maybe if everyone could just think about why we don't get along and just quit accusing each other of being racist every chance we get maybe just maybe we might forget why we hate each other.

Race is not and should not be an issue. We are all humans. You are not anything else, you are a human. Either accept that or get off the planet. Labels such as asian, black, white, middle eastern are meant to describe a person not separate them into a separate race alltogether. You know theres black dogs and theres white dogs. They're all dogs right?

*disclaimer* this was not meant to offend anyone. If you were congratulations. Ive been saving that this rant up for a while. sorry for the overload.

Uh no. RE5 is not racist. In RE4 you have to kill the native people in Spain and in all the other ones you have to kill white people. Why should this one be considered racist because it's in Africa? I'm an African American and I take no offence to it. It's a video game and I'm pretty sure that the creators didn't sit down in a circle and say they were going to make this game just so they could kill black people.

the fact of shooting zombies that are all black may probably be racist, but to be honest, until now, ive never seen a black zombie in the gaming world. so I guess Capcom is just experimenting with new stuff. although, in my opinion this game might be EXTREMLY popular amoung nazi-fags, Klan members & white supremists

It's a f*****g game come on.

its all in how you look at it. you have the choice of buying it or not. me, im going to get it because im a fan of resident evil.

The game takes place in Africa. Wouldn't it be more racist if they had them running through Africa and there were nothing but white people?

I think people need to take a step back and realize this game was made in Japan, where there isn't the same history of white/black racism as existed in America. It's probably not something they really even think about when making games. Though, even if it were made in America it's still a rather silly and uninformed argument. Things need to be looked at as a whole rather than looking for a split second at a trailer and screaming "racist! racist! he's shooting a black man!". If this game were about a man running down the streets of New York city shooting black people... that might be something to investigate.

There wasn't this much of a roar when in game 4 Spaniards were being killed... For the people blogging angrily about RE5, if you never did so about RE4 stop being a hypocrite.

Quote by shoujoboyI'll preface the fact that I am really sick of the word racism, racist etc. It seems all too often in modern day society, people are so willing to throw up the racism flag for just about anything.

I was beginning to think I was the only person that feels this way on the net. It's disheartening to see the lawsuits that are thrown about simply because a person's answer to anything they don't like is "that person is racist!" This kind of attitude isn't going to fix racism, and for right or wrong it arguably only makes a bad thing far, far worse. Rather than throwing that word around like a trump card people should stop and think about the damage it will do in the long run.

Quote by TheFleaIt's a f*****g game come on.

That doesn't mean ANYTHING. All forms of media are often used to state politic messages and such under the veil of entertainment- and that's not being paranoid. The directors will even state this fact sometimes if that's what they are going for. And that kind of immature post only makes the rest of the people supporting the game look bad and lowers credibility.

its not raciest, ur retarded. even if it was then dont play it. this subject is getting more and more out of control ppl making a hug deal out of something that is not really there. theres nothing racist here, sly

XRW175P6MQ4, every time you made a point that sounds credible you would tack on another that knocks your whole argument back down to ignorance. But there is reason beneath the rant...

Quote: One more thing scientists have say that there is not enough genetic variation in humans to classify us as different species so guess what guys everyone here is the same race like it or not.

Excellent Point.

Quote: I think racism is just as much the fault of the supposed victims as.

Terrible Point. This may be true in some cases, but it generally is a very, very bad idea to start "blaming the victim", because "racism" DOES exist. I don't believe it's nearly as widespread as people make it out to be, but there are people who truly hate others simply for the color of their skin. It's ignorant, it's foolish, but it does exist.

Quote: If someone dont like you they just dont like you. People shouldn't think that means will so and so dont like asians or whatever. Maybe you're just a bad person.

I like this point. Despite what Jesse Jackson tries to claim, hating someone that happens to be a different race isn't racism as long as you don't like them for a reason other than race. Jerks and stupid people come in every size, shape and color, but we dislike them because they are jerks, not because of their skin color. For instance, I hate the jerk who egged my brother's car and the guy who did it happened to be Hispanic. One of my best friends also happens to be Hispanic, and under the thinking of people such as Mr. Jackson that would be a paradox that might implode the world. Good grief.

Quote: It takes action on both sides to "stop" racism,

So good, and then...

Quote: which i dont believe really exists.

And I've already stated my point on that matter.

Quote: They complain about stereotypes. Well where did we get those stereotypes in the first place? Well at one point they must have been somewhat true, at least to agree.

Stereotypes aren't true in the sense of that we think they are. They often come from situations in which
people jump to conclusions about a group of people without looking at the entire situation and why they do the things that they do. It's a confusion of race and culture a lot of times. For example, there's the stereotype that Asians are smarter than everyone else- people don't take in to account the fact their educational systems mostly just expect more from them and teach them at a higher level at an early age. It's not because of their race, but culture. And acting like these negatives stereotypes are "deserved" only adds to the anger from all sides, and that just adds to the annoying mess of the people screaming that "you're racist, and now I'm justified in my claim!". It's stupid, and ranting without knowing what you're really talking about only makes it worse.

Quote: Maybe if everyone could just think about why we don't get along and just quit accusing each other of being racist every chance we get maybe just maybe we might forget why we hate each other.

Race is not and should not be an issue. We are all humans. You are not anything else, you are a human.
Either accept that or get off the planet. Labels such as asian, black, white, middle eastern are meant to
describe a person not separate them into a separate race alltogether.

Excellent. I think if you had posted this part alone you would have made perhaps the best argument that I've heard in awhile. We've gotten to the point where there are people are holding on to grudges that are not ours, but those of our ancestors and are killing over them. It's absurd and it's insane, but there are enough people that won't let it go that it ruins things for everyone else.

Oh yeah, and Resident Evil 5 isn't racist

i agree with ArtificialRaindrop. the games have been made in Japan.. and they probably don't really understand the segregation we used to have. maybe Capcom is just trying to mix things up a little? usually, the zombies are white.. except in Resident Evil 4. i don't ever remember a debate like this about that game, and the infected humans weren't American.. they were from a European country.
if you think the game is racist.. then don't buy it. everybody has different views and opinions. us Resident Evil fans just want to play and enjoy the fricking game in peace.

I saw a recent interview with the Japanese creators and their response to the criticism and their reasoning seemed solid to me. They really wanted to emphasize the battle between light and darkness and the best way to do this with black and white skin color. They also wanted to go to the origins of the virus and what better way to do that than go to the origins of man. It isn't so much the emphasis on race so much as the symbolism behind it.

I think considering how much more games are being compared to legitamate art, this is probably the case. When you have games out there like Bioshock and Okami that really break that normal game paradigm and border on the artistic, it's highly possible that even the RE creators are trying to make something more than a game, but more symbolism.