When I first saw the trailer like this, sadly the first thing that popped in my head was "awww hell, some idiot is going to use this as some damn racial flame war claiming the white man is beating down on the black man again!". Pathetic.

People should look at it this way, the second thing that popped into my head.
There was a great movie put out in 1988 called "The Serpent and the Rainbow" which delved into the zombie-like practices of witch doctors in Haiti. This trailer for RE5 reminded me of that as many of the zombies reminded me of the Haitians in TSATR.

Guys,

Note that the blogger in question is in Africa, or at least is fighting for African equality. I'm assuming that after apartheid they're still having quite a few race equality issues like the ones we in America had during the 60s. Now a lot of us really don't care so much about race (because there's so many other reasons to not like each other!) but for her she's always watching for when the next infringement might make her life more difficult in her homeland. Now she's made some VERY racist statements after that ("All zombies should be white from now on") as well as a particularly boneheaded statement ("I'd love to play RE4, let me get it from my 10 year old nephew") but we may be able to chalk it up to frustration, but honestly this entire fiasco could stem from the fact that she just doesn't know any better.

Look i have played many games which i killed white people. i am black, african. and i find nothing wrong with the game. We blacks did not have a problem killing white people in the other resisdent evils so why should there be a problem in killing black people this time. its only fair. but also in the spirit of fairness, WHY ISNT THE MAIN CHARACTER BLACK THIS TIME?

The most ridiculous part of this whole shitfuck, is that the game isn't even out yet, this whole PR mess is just due to a fucking trailer.

If these type of people want equality, why is it these equality groups are always the 1st ones to make an issue of skin colour or sexuality. In a perfect world someone would look at the video and go "that guy is killing zombie" but these groups who demand equality look at it and split that white/black line all over again. Its groups or ppl like them that keep racism alive.

I have a solution: during the game, Chris picks up an alternate costume where he is a black guy.

The comments at the Black Looks article have now been disabled, which tells me that they're not very open to discussing the issue. Sure, the spammers are annoying, but you don't cut off all discussion because of them, you just ignore them.

Are you kidding me with this? Stop crying you silly c*nt. typical racist BS. People like you suck you race card pulling jerkoff.

Well said sharky, well said. Anyone who thinks racism doesn't exist need only read some of the more outrageous and blatant comments in this very thread. Probably one of the BIGGEST threads on GP to date.

I personally PREFER racism to be blatant and in your face because then its easier to identify. When its subtle, like when 90% of protagonists in media are portrayed as white in this country, then you have a harder time pointing out WHY its racist.

We MUST remember that this is a video game that hasn't even been released yet and that those among us who are true gamers come to this site to discuss topics JUST LIKE THIS so that others will learn from it and gain a better insight into video game culture and those who partake of it rather than rush to judgement and broad sweeping generalizations like the author of the Blog entry this thread is discussing.

You open up the can, expect to get the worms.

"I confess I don’t know much about video games, gamers, etc. I don’t play video games, but I occasionally play solitaire on my gf’s PC. However, given the response from gamers… I think we should all be very afraid. Many of these folks seem like the type who would try to reenact scenes from Resident Evil 5. Can you say Columbine?”

Solitaire? You're fucking 1337.

How the hell would gamers reenact fucking RE5? For one there would have to be zombies, something that doesn't exist (yeah, she's a learned one). Secondly they'd have to be in Africa, which is loaded with third world countries, which means no video games, video gamers, or, you know, development.

I think the governments of these countries are much more apt to cause mass violence against these African communities, but we can't really play the race card when it's black leaders committing genocide against black civilians, can we?

Or maybe you'll just blame the game when something like that happens. Stay off the internet until you get some reading done, you aren't doing anything except instigating more racism.

"Can you say Columbine?"

Yes, it's name is Kym.

Ok so, did you ever notice that if you're white and you say something like, "That guy is ugly." And then he happens to be black you get called racist, but the other way around people just agree with you. I mean, for some reason people still take into account the effects of slavery, which was abolished HUNDREDS of years ago. Many people still think white people are racist, and they call us that. Really that is racism, making an assumption about somebody because of their race. People are too damn touchy. It is annoying. And anyone who complains about someone being racist because that person is a different race should... die. They are contradicting themselves... idiots.

i knew this was going to happen

some how i just knew

but this game is NOT INTENDEND for children it intended for adults

i knew this was going to happen

some how i just knew

but this game is NOT INTENDEND for children it intended for adults

[...] A post on Blacklooks (via Gamepolitics) that was apparently a  response to a Village Voice article that had originally brought it to their attention, indicates that they have a big problem with the Resident Evil 5 trailer. “The new Resident Evil video game depicts a white man in what appears to be Africa killing Black people. The Black people are supposed to be zombies and the white man’s job is to destroy them and save humanity. “I have a job to do and I’m gonna see it through.” [...]

As a black gamer, I'm a bit torn here.

On one hand, I think that the Resident Evil 5 trailer, when taken at face value, can obviously be seen as offensive to black people and really anyone who doesn't take well to scenes of a white guy killing truckloads of black people. I can fully understand why people would see such a game as being degrading and setting bad social precedent. I think that the people who on this thread who have made comments along the lines of "black people complain too much!/what about all the white zombies?/etc" have a fundamental lack of understanding concerning America's racial history, the use of institutionalized racism as a buffer for white privilege, the effects of those things on the present-day black mindset.

At the same time, I think that black bloggers who are dismissing Resident Evil 5 as unbridled racism are displaying a (severe) ignorance of the greater context here. As others have noted, Res Evil is a Japanese game developed by a Japanese company. In light of that fact and considering the very different pool of cultural experiences the developers of the game share (as opposed to, say, Grand Theft Auto's developers), it's reasonable to assume that this backlash was neither intended nor unanticipated on the part of Capcom. Without knowing more about the game, it's a bit foolish to assume that this is another attempt to vilify black people. Long story short, people on both sides of this debate need to do their homework before spewing their rhetoric.

As for all the complaining about black people complaining, when is society going to understand that black bloggers (you could replace "black blogger" with "Jesse Jackson" or "Spike Lee") don't speak for all of us? People are taking what appears to be a vocal minority and interpreting their viewpoint as that of some sort of fictitious monolithic black mass. Think before you rant.

@Ezza

"Think about it, how many of you would buy a game depicting a yardie rasta gunning down the white suburban folk of Essex, regardless of how rabid they may or may not be."

San Andreas starred a black guy killing white guys, and it sold 9 million copies.

This is what happens when Africans start using the Internet. They just don't understand entertainment, fiction and video games (obviously) and all that other stuff.

The internet is serious business!!!!11oneoneshift+one, to them...

But I agree with the fact that they see anything with "blacks" as being racist. For example these "blacks" are saying that the recent media attention on Micheal Vick is related to his color... Funny how they totally missed the entire Lindsey Lohan situation that also had just as much, if not more, media attention...

Anyway these African complainers should contact Jack Thompson and call him out to Africa so they can cry on his shoulder. If we're lucky, they'll all be eaten by lions and we can enjoy our 'entertainment' without the drama...

This lady needs to get her facts straight. There is no way this game is being marketed by kids or young adults. If she wasn't so ingnorant she would know that the average gamer is in his 30s. This is just crazy and I agree with what most say in here. It's a double standard that needs to be pointed out not to mention the simple fact that IT'S JUST A GAME!!!

I'll also add a couple more things.

1) I'm not offended by the trailer, if my commentary in my last post wasn't transparent enough.

2. Capcom could make a lot of this go away - and not sacrifice much in the way of creative vision - by simply making the protagonist black.

When I first saw this article, i was in awe. I knew that something like this would crop up sooner or later. But even still, you watch that trailer, and you will see not only black zombies getting shot, but also white (the guy who Chris punches in the face, he's white.)

This is truly pathetic and petty, trust someone to play the "race card" once again because their fragile little disillusioned world has been shattered by reality. Resident Evil 5 is set in Africa, and guess who live in Africa? The majority being BLACK people! I think that Capcom should stand strong and not change it because of being feared "racist". Its not like Chris is in there armed to the teeth intending to slaughter every man woman and child based on them being black. They become infected and he has to defend himself. Case closed.

Wow, a lot of comments for this artical, lol. I hope Capcom doesn't change it, that would probably push back the release date.

I think the company is just trying out a different setting. It just happens that most of the population in Africa is black, so it makes sense to make zombies in Africa black.

yeah, its too bad we have to look at these black people all the time.... but atleast we get to kill them :). Those damn black people

Dear Puti Tang,

After reading this article I find it an obligation to tell you that there have been many games Resident Evil games, before this game. And all of the zombies in the previous games were of European descent. Now, I can only guess that this lady is a person who will complain on just about everything. I suppose if they hadn't included Africa in the zombie demographic she would question the gamers underlining "racial" tones, and ask why they didnt include Africans.
This lady clearly is just some Neo-Panther Anti-White racist who is looking for a reason to complain about something. If there were only zombies of european descent who lived in africa, the lady would probably cry over how the gamers are trying to rob her "people" of their land. I know that this comment wont do much, and honestly I just don't care, but I hope my cynical words peirce the air somewhere, and it hopefully reaches her ears.

As a black person myself I am not offended... but if they want an easy way out of this they could simply write in a black main character (but I'm sure there already is one)

It's Resident Evil... it's obvious that the portrayed attackers are infected with something. And given RE4s shops not all of them are going to turn out to be after your ass...

[...] So, the trailers for Resident Evil 5 have been out for a while now. They’ve received a lot of feedback, look gorgeous, and have been accused of being racist. Yeah, Chris sure has his hands full fighting all those black people… [...]

That woman is dumb, seriously, HOW MANY GAMES about the World War 2 haved comes out in wich we where shooting Germans? She didn't really understand the meaning of "Why it was black people that where infected this time", it's because the organisation that spreed the virus in these games are doing it on POOR places, in Resident Evil 4, it was in Mexico, why? They don't have a lot of medication, hospital, so it was the PERFECT place to spreed it. Now it's in a black country, and look at the houses, why they're are spreeding it there? BECAUSE THEY'RE POOR! And why you're not seeing: Canada, USA, France, place like this being infected in the new Resident Evils? Because we got the defense against those things, period. That woman should just take a chill pill, sit on her couch, and look how this game is awesome. Thank you

This game is gonna rock! Racism? That's for whiners. A game's a game. ;)

The thing that bothers ME the most is that she says she'd prefer all zombies to be black from this day forth

Honestly, I have been playing RE since the first game on the PS1. There have been black S.T.A.R.S. members as well as black zombies in a few of the games.

1. I'm a black person and it truly pisses me off to see someone bitching the way that they are. Not all people are this ignorant and try to find racism in EVERY little thing out there. I mean honestly black people, where were you at in the last game when they were shooting spaniards? Maybe it's just an issue when you decide you need to get your face in the news or get published somewhere.

2. Capcom is indeed a Japanese company. I'm sure that they didn't decide, "Hey, let's make a racist ass game and market it to young children."

3. The author of this game is truly a moron. I'm sorry but if you have no idea what the game is about, then why are you talking about it? Perhaps if you familiarized yourself with the entire series you'd realize they have never targeted a specific race. The games take place in a numerous amount of countries. They span from America to Europe. Now with this new game taking place in either Hati or Africa, there's an issue. STFU! You should really do research before typing up an article voicing your idiotic opinions on how something is racist.

4. [to the author of the article & anyone else being a whiny bitch] I love how you give an age demographic for which this game is aimed at. You obviously know nothing about the subject and you just figured that you'd jump in on some controversy. If you knew anything about video games as a whole you'd know they have a rating system just like films do. This game is rated M for Mature. That means that it's intended for gamers 18+. Show me how this is trying to show young white children how to kill blacks.

All in all, you should know what you are talking about before you go making assumptions about things and calling out racism at the first sight of black and white. We all know what they say about assumptions--you make an ass of you and mumptions. So as the previous statement ended: GTFOY and shut the hell up.

~theron_~

i think every game should be about a white guy killing hordes of black guys. in fact...they should just skip the whole 1st person view with guns and just put you in a helicopter where you can simply drop bombs on whole villages in africa. I do complain about the graphics though, I don't think they really show expression of pain and horror on these black faces when you shoot them up! Cmon Capcom, get your sh*t together...if we're gonna kill these coons at least make it look real...thus making it more FUN! I REAAAALLY wanna see those white eyes and teeth when get wide when there's a knife comin at their neck! I mean realistically it's Darwin's theory of evolution all wrapped up in a pretty package for you. I think one day after we really do wipe them all out, black people will be right next to the monkeys at the zoo on the endangered species list.... Maybe they'll even have those crackers you can buy to feed them.

I know a perfect solution. Just lose in the Game, this way the the african horde kills the white person, and then the game won't be racist, since its okay for them to kill a white person.

Really if people are that retarded not to be able to distinguish between a human and zombie they should just die. It's pretty obvious that that they are zombies or why would they attack him out of nowhere (I don't see the main protagonist having bunch of money or food on him either).

the racest stuff- LOL, really funny.
its in africa or somthing ppl get over it!! -

- on that note, capcom has prob pushed back the relese date just so they can set the story some where where their are hordes of white ppl to kill.... hum it cant be in north america -its all mexicans here, and we dont want to piss them off (no offense- ive got mnexican friends too), thought set the story in a trailer park and it should be smooth sailing.

- but hay wait a muinite, dont black people kill mases of black ppl too... makes you wonder - has this writer lady herd of whats happening in durfur??? i gess its like gangster talk, its ok for them to do it to eachother and its not ok for white ppl to.

-and hay i lived in Berkley CA, i was the one white kid in a fifteen block radius, almost all my friends where black - if an outbreak happend, and i had a machettie and an m16, i would have shot zombies regardless of race -- theyre ZOMBIES!!!!

This is ridiculous. The year is 2007, every aspect of life no longer needs to be dictated by a color! It's a video game, in which you kill zombies! If the name of this was "Ultra-Nazi 007" and you ran about and slaughtered these "savages" while barking racist epitaphs I could understand your outraged, but come on.

The Resident Evil series consistently changes locations during it's series (the last was Spain) so obviously the inhabitants of said region will change to reflect said region. Perhaps in the future all video games will have pink and yellow colored characters in them so as not to upset the sensibilities (sic) of some moronic alarmist who's quite clearly never done ANY research into said topic or even bothered to Google the name.

By writing this article you've proven your just as ignorant as the beer-swilling bigot flying a confederate flag in some backwoods US state. Any publication which would give you journalistic license should immediately be put out of business for further the struggles of an already disenfranchised people by pushing another BS reason as to why they should be persecuted. Way to keep yourself down... THE REASON THERE'S SUCH A RACIAL DIVIDE IN PRESENT-DAY SOCIETY IS BECAUSE PEOPLE LIKE YOU CONTINUOUSLY FORCE THERE TO BE ONE!

I for one would love to speak to Ms. Rueberg and make her understand exactly how ignorant her simplistic (to say the least) view of race-relations will affect any person who reads it.

How could any 'credible' journal of opinion let a racist like her write for them with her obviously slanted racial prejudices?

San Andreas contained a man armed with machine guns, rampaging cars, satchel charges, a military combat helicopter and jet fighter, a rocket launcher, a chainsaw, etc. the man was black, and most of the city was white, hispanic, asian, and black. but the shit hit the fan when he, like the billions of people before him, had sex with someone. Huh?

[b]Hmm...alot of people are complaining that you can’t tell that the black people in this game are cannibalistic mutants that are trying to kill you. probably because they are like that in real life anyway…[/b]

@dan

so wait anytime a white man kills black men, it is racial? That is a very stupid statement to make. Also anyone who is against racism should be offended by this? Why? He's not shooting them because they are black he is shooting them because they are zombies, if there was a white zombie in the bunch he would not hesitate to shoot them as he would shoot any other zombie. The thing is once you become a zombie you are not human anymore so what race you were no longer matters. Let me put it this way, say a large mob was trying to kill you, and you had a gun, lots of ammo and no means of escape, what would you do? You would probably kill them, or maybe not because you may have reservations about killing that much people, but say they are not people but instead lifeless drones that can't be reasoned with, drones that are not human anymore, now would you shoot em? You'd probably say yes, but even not the fact that they used to be black means absolutely nothing now since he can't be changed back now does it?

Dan- Thank you. Thats an outstanding answer. I'm bothered by the fact that racial profiling exists, and that if my name didn't sound American, I may not be called in for an interview. This is a problem that has to be solved from all angles by everyone. It's a matter of discrimination that we all have to work through.

As for the game...well, we've already gone there. It's a dead horse. The articles stemming from the game and the original article aren't really at issue, but it's the fact that race is brought up- that's the real issue here.

There are other places to fight that battle and have that talk. I don't this game was the right reason to bring up race and video games. I do think that other games were better for that discussion and that in this case, the monsters being black is a matter of geography. For something like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas or Scarface, where a person of color was willingly taking part in unlawful or immoral activity...that's where this needs to be.

I don't think that removing depictions of negative acts is the solution. I actually don't have a solution as I think that avoiding depictions shows fear of addressing the issue. I also think that those that aren't able to really understand that the depictions are entertainment, or for educational reasons, would take something and go entirely overboard with their opinions.

@Dan:

Putting them on a pedestal won't increase equality -- it will only lend credibility to the white supremacists' argument that blacks and whites are fundamentally different. We as a society, and as a race for that matter, need to stop worrying so damn much about who might take offence and get to work on the REAL problems faced by minority groups. Poverty immediately comes to mind.

"What this SHOULD be about is sensitivity."



This is about sensitivity, with 12 games bearing the Resident Evil title for far too long the black zombie hasn't been represented. This exclusion shall end and black zombie equality will reign!

From what I have seen of the trailer, there is a scene which shows a black man being held down and infected or changed into a zombie (or whatever the enemies are). This would imply that all of the people are being changed against their will. The reason they are attacking him is not because black people are savages, but because these particular black people have been exposed to some kind of toxin or agent that causes this behaviour.

If people would only look at the context of this stuff before immediately decrying it as racist. As everyone above pointed out, no-one complained about the defeating of all the white zombies in the previous games. Perhaps it was more transparent that they were zombies as they shuffled about slowly. With the new "24 hours later" style fast zombies it might not be as apparent, but still, this is jumping to a conclusion that insults Capcom by accusing them of racism where none exists.

The accusations at the end are the worst however.

"including the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages"
WRONG. It depicts black people who have been transformed through some kind of plot device into something not human that makes them act savagely. The savage behaviour is not due to the colour of their skin, and to suggest otherwise is a false accusation of racism.

"the killing of Black people by a white man in military clothing"
The white man is Chris Redfield who has been a protagonist throughout the entire Resident Evil series. They are continuing a story and want to continue using the characters that people have become familiar with. If the protagonist were black, I believe this person would still cry racism, stating that Capcom is trying to get black people to destroy each other...

"the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults"
How many times does this have to be said? Mature content video games are not marketed to children. Young adults (of appropriate age) are perfectly ok playing the game. The fact that children often want to do things that older people do combined with the fact that many parents do not monitor or care what their children watch or do does not mean these things have been marketed to them.

"Start them young… fearing, hating, and destroying Black people."
Once again, young people should not be playing the game due to the violence it contains. On top of that, I would like to point out that many years ago, people feared, hated and destroyed black people because they saw them as different. Now that (more or less) people are treated equally, saying that black people in video games being shot is bad while they have no problem with whites being shot in previous games is absurd. All people are equal despite differences in skin colour, whether it be in real life, or as heroes or villains in fictional stories told through video games.

Slavery. Pure and cut, slavery.

This is not about whites feeling guilty. Of course you shouldn't feel guilty for something that, although the effects of it are still evident, you weren't responsible for.

What this SHOULD be about is sensitivity. The understanding by whites about this country's checkered past. The admission that things in this country are still terribly skewed in favor of whites. The realization that until everyone is brought onto a level playing field, ANY depiction of the dominant race in this country performing negative acts against minorities (especially ones they enslaved, beat, lynched, raped, murdered) needs to be removed and scrutinized further.

@ Kit: I don't think ONLY blacks should be offended.

As a white male, I think ANYONE who is against racism and prejudice should be offended by this. The insinuation that ONLY blacks can be offended by this is in and of itself the proof of white denial. You don't have to be black to be offended by this. You just have to have a heart, a conscience, and a clue about race in this country.

A whole lot of videogames include the killing, hunting, exterminating and feet-tickling of people from countries, ethnic groups and even several blends of religion. However, those are videogames. And they're usually set on a theme.

For many others can be said that they follow historical events. It's perfectly fine to kill gazillions of germans in every world war shooter. Nobody's ever complained. They're Nazis.

For many of them there can be said that it's fantasy. It's made up. As with Resident Evil. It's perfectly fine to finish hordes of zombies, no matter where they come from. They're Zombies.

Why would there be anything wrong with that? If I were to make a game based on vampires, and how the player is going after them as a vampire killer, and those vampires just *happen* to bite several black people, should I switch off the cam and say "CUUUT! We can't do that, they must be treated special, we can't show them like this, we can only show them... just here and there, one at a time, so they don't complain they've been left out."?

This is what's wrong with the whole idea. You really have to accept that, in order for everybody to be treated equally, not special, you will have to *play* the bad guy too, from time to time, when it's play-time. Nobody's pointing at you saying that you're ideal for that role. It just hap