And my rant about RE5:
Okay then. I say the preview for Resident Evil 5 and the first thing I thought was "This will be bad." I am a gamer. I've played Resident Evil since I was a teen. I am a young, black male in America. And I know quite well what people on the internet have said about this entire ordeal, good and bad. Most don't seem to see the problem, so here is a bullet point.
1. The developers of the game itself. Japan is world reknown for it's closed-minded, xenophobic view of the rest of the world. This shows in the media they create and statements by their politicians (see 1989, Japanese Prime Minister). Japanese media keeps a stable of the worst stereotypes of cultures everywhere and freely dispense them without care or concern. They will not offend themselves, or the caucasians who make up the bulk of their profits, but others see easily what they do not. Nintendo recieved a harsh critique when in one of their pilot Zelda games, the Muslim call to prayer was featured in the backround music (this was removed when localised for the U.S.). Capcom again recently had been called on a game preview where a creature clearly called out "Allah-u Ackba" (God is great in Arabic) before eating a cannabalistic stew (this has also been removed). Muslims and Black people are not the only ones who "cry and complain" about "supposed" insensitivity. Most people have not heard of Magna Carta: The Crimson Stigmata. Why? Because the group who brought this game over to the U.S. quickly realized the ramifications of trivializing the crucifixion of the Christ and changed it to something else. Or the Metal Slug series about the rebirth of Hitler and the Third Reich. All refererences to Hitler was removed and the prevalent swastikas where changed. It seems to depend on who you insult that results are made.
2. The developers are entirely ignorant of the trials of black people in America as evidenced by the line "bright eyes, simian strength and room temperature i.q.", all of which are popular stereotypes of African peoples in general. As mentioned before, the scenes showed hearken too closely to real-life episodes of violence and terror experienced by African peoples the world over.
Long story short, I do not belive that the game is racist, nor do I think that the makers went the distance to insult African peoples. Ignorant, yes. Blatant racists, not so much. These games have always been about killing monsters that look human and beyond the violence, few complaints have been made. The 4th game has been referenced often as a rebuttal to the racism argument, and would be considerable if the developers had not gone on the record and said that the game takes place in eastern Europe and failing that, Spaniards are caucasian Europeans, not the mixed blood Hispanics of the Americas. All of this could of been avoided had the companies spent some time with their pr people and got the hint that someone may take offense to what you have planned to show and say, especially black people in America who still fight to overcome centuries-old stereotypes and will not tolerate them being proported any longer. That said, the majority of these whistle-blowers need to CALM DOWN. Many have admitted knowing nothing about what they speak of on the subject, and rob others of credibility by crying wolf so quickly. Do some digging, get the facts right and if there is a problem, we will deal with it. And yes, the majority of the ignorant rabble who have posted crude comments on many of these websites do so due to their imagined anonimity and willful desire to hurt others. They do not, however, make up the majority of gamers like me, nor should it be construed as such, as it is as foolish and base as those who you lambast. I would like to see more of this game before my view is set, as should others. The game is not even near release and more information shall be availible later. /comment
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