Resident Evil 5 wasn't altered after racial kerfuffle

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jun 4th 2008 at 12:55PM }

Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi tells Kotaku that calls of racial insensitivity haven't affected the game's design. Takeuchi tells the site that the team didn't "set out" to make a racist or political statement and he feels there was a misunderstanding about the initial trailer.

Takeuchi says there are Arab and Caucasian targets for Chris Redfield's bullets in RE5 and insists they were always going to be included in the game -- despite the initial trailer showing a less ethnically diverse group of zombies. We'll have to take a "wait and see" approach on whether Japanese developers will continue to fuel the fires of black/white racial tensions across the ocean.

[Via GameDaily]

Gallery: Resident Evil 5 (06-02-2008)

Tags: capcom, re5, resident-evil, resident-evil-5

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Wii60Warrior @ Jun 4th 2008 1:00PM

I'm very happy to hear that. This whole "RE5 is RACIST" shit is beyond ridiculous...

I can't wait to shoots some zombies...

syrik zero @ Jun 4th 2008 2:01PM

Worded that well, friend

Cellien @ Jun 4th 2008 2:19PM

^Lol!

offday @ Jun 4th 2008 2:29PM

I agree. That's retarded. No one complains if all the zombies are white, but as soon as we get some black zombies, OH NOEZ IT'S RACIST!

I'm so sick of this crap. I think it's about time white people start complaining about all the racist black people in the world, instead of just taking it because our ancestors did bad things to their ancestors.

Example: BET, can you imagine how much crap white people would take if we ever made a WET (White Entertainment Television).

I'm not racist at all, but I think it's about time some people, and not even just black, grow some nads and stop acting offended by EVERYTHING.

kbomb1upc @ Jun 4th 2008 2:48PM

@offday
"Example: BET, can you imagine how much crap white people would take if we ever made a WET (White Entertainment Television)."

.... I guess you don't know why BET, Black History Month or all black colleges were even needed. I guess you also think white people are missing out because there is no White History Month...

These things were needed because blacks were denied admission into colleges... because great blacks like George Washington Carver and Frederick Douglass were not being talk about in public schools... and despite talent blacks shows wouldn't be shown on national television. So I'm very sorry you feel like a victim but maybe you need to re-evaluated your situation and really look at somebody that's a victim.

Michael @ Jun 4th 2008 2:50PM

"can you imagine how much crap white people would take if we ever made a WET"

So true. I have made that argument before. The racist card is thrown around whenever white people mention something about black people. But how ofter do we recognize their racism...if we were to do that, they would probably call us racists in defence.

offday @ Jun 4th 2008 3:08PM

kbomb1upc: Michael's comment is more on than yours.

I understand their past, and what they went through, but the truth is most of the people who went through that are no longer with us, and most of the people guilty of doing those horrible things are no longer with us either. They were victims, but today white people are just as much victims as black people. With people like Rev. Wright and other black racist fanatics spreading crap like cancer was invented by white people to kill off blacks. I'm sorry, but some black people have no idea how good they have it today. They can basically do anything and everything, but if anyone stands up against it they are automatically racists. What happened to black people in the past was horrible, but it's in the past, and it's time to move on, and stop calling everyone who doesn't kiss your ass a racist.

Armi @ Jun 5th 2008 6:50AM

"We'll have to take a "wait and see" approach on whether Japanese developers will continue to fuel the fires of black/white racial tensions across the ocean." Seriously? They didn't see a problem shooting all those white zombies over the course of the series?

You set a game in a country that has a large black population, you have to make the assumption there's going to be a lot of black zombies, not unlike the Spanish zombies in RE4 that few people took issue with if I recall.

Besides I think we can all agree that zombies as a whole are bad no matter their race, I mean once they go brain hungry they don't care what color you are.

azuravian @ Jun 4th 2008 3:51PM

@kbomb:

I won't argue on the necessity of other things (such as the NAACP or Black History Month), but I will on BET. BET was started in 1980, after the huge popularity on national networks of shows such as "The Jefferson's", "Good Times", and "What's Happening!!"

kbomb1upc @ Jun 4th 2008 4:04PM

@azuravian
Agreed... But there is nothing wrong with BET because was also channels that's dictated to Asians (AZN TV), Indians (Zee Café), Hispanics (Dish Spanish Package) and the Middle Eastern (Dandana TV) …so the whole BET being racist thing is very ignorant.

Michael @ Jun 4th 2008 4:21PM

@kbomb

And see, no one really has a problem with those channels. However, you can't tell me that if a white only TV package became available, it wouldn't be flagged as racism.

LameDuck @ Jun 4th 2008 6:24PM

offday, I love you. So freaking much... I'm crying right now. ;_; If I was a woman, I would have your babies.

c1ee @ Jun 5th 2008 3:31PM

@Michael - I think you need to go educate yourself. The moment black people or asian people or feminists or jews or gays or lesbians or disabled people (insert minority), the moment any of them start lynching others and control the power structure of the country, that's the moment when you can make that retarded argument of yours.

White Power has such negative connotations BECAUSE they resorted to savage treatment of blacks and killings, including public lynching. When BET start advocating against whites and promotes violence against them, that's when you can make your retarded argument.

jack shaftoe @ Jun 6th 2008 11:15AM

"And see, no one really has a problem with those channels. However, you can't tell me that if a white only TV package became available, it wouldn't be flagged as racism."

I think that the point with BET is that all of the other channels, especially in the 80s, were WET in everything but name. Much like the other 11 months of the year are white history months.

Oh, and I don't see african americans in a kerfluffle over CMT, so there. You know, 'cause country music is for white people, and so CMT is like WET, and, well, nevermind.

Marty @ Jun 4th 2008 1:01PM

Just make the main guy a race other than white. Problem solved.

License to ill @ Jun 4th 2008 1:07PM

They did change his name to Chris Jose Redfield....

xFenixKnightx @ Jun 4th 2008 1:09PM

Yeah, Latino Heat FTW! How about an Alejandro Ortega or a Miguel Vasquez. He'll be like get off me fucking mayates! lol!

Fernando Rocker @ Jun 4th 2008 1:12PM

Or a Fernando. =p

riggs @ Jun 4th 2008 1:28PM

id let the zombies eat me everytime fernando :D

DangerMouse @ Jun 4th 2008 1:28PM

Or Geraldo.

Fernando Rocker @ Jun 4th 2008 1:31PM

rodrigo @ Jun 4th 2008 1:44PM

hahaha xFenixKnightx dat was funny u just made my day hahaha

Desert Eagle @ Jun 4th 2008 1:51PM

No mention for RE3's Carlos Oliveira? Sad just sad.

That guy was awesome, but pretty much underrated.

baby sea tuna @ Jun 4th 2008 2:40PM

He was no Luis Serra.

xFenixKnightx @ Jun 4th 2008 3:12PM

rodrigo

De nada primo. ;)

Fernando Rocker @ Jun 4th 2008 1:03PM

The game is ambiented in Africa. The % of black people in Africa is like 92%.

I don't see any racism in the game.

Fernando Rocker @ Jun 4th 2008 1:10PM

Damn...

The game is "set"... I was using the word in spanish "ambientado", and I thought that in english it was "ambiented"

Sorry =(

copa @ Jun 4th 2008 1:11PM

Like Stephen Colbert, I don't see race, period.

If everybody tells me that those zombies were black, I'll just have to take your word for it.

And if 8% of the enemies end up being hard working, white zombies, I don't have a problem with that either.

borland502 (SDF - Macross Ring) @ Jun 4th 2008 1:49PM

"I don't see any racism in the game."

The 1-Up show made an excellent point that I hadn't considered. There isn't any racism present, unless you live in a society where that tension exists. How many white people secretly fear some gang-banging mindless stereotypes going savage on them? Try showing a scene of mob violence where a Japanese soldier desperately tries to fight off savage Chinese. It's the cultural context that makes it uncomfortable for many. The game shouldn't be canceled or altered, but its useful to consider that there may be a valid reason for angst.

Desert Eagle @ Jun 4th 2008 2:05PM

Hmmm... ambiented? That's a new word.

I'm going to copyright it so I can make profit with this little thing.

Wii60Warrior @ Jun 4th 2008 1:05PM

Dude you automatically get +500 just for using "ambiented"

Thats fucking sick...

Fernando Rocker @ Jun 4th 2008 1:17PM

What means "ambiented"?

=(

Really, sorry if I said something offensive.

borland502 (SDF - Macross Ring) @ Jun 4th 2008 1:40PM

He's messing with you Fernando. It doesn't mean anything in English, Esperanto, or any other language known to man.

Zertoss @ Jun 4th 2008 1:44PM

Ambiented is a word meaning "sexually aroused by bisexuality, particularly in insects."

Just kidding. It's not a real word. You're thinking of ambient or ambiance, which are both words for setting or environment.

animeman_59 @ Jun 4th 2008 1:07PM

This is stupid. Only those who want to start idiotic arguements or white people who feel guilty about what they are complain about this crap.

I didn't hear anybody complaining about killing all those Spaniards in RE4, or how about the massive amount of white zombies from the past games?

It's in Africa. What the majority in Africa? Gee, Africans. Specifically, black Africans. You put the setting in France what will you see? French. You put the game in Japan, what will you only see? Just Japanese people. Unless I actually see some dudes in white hooded cloaks hanging a black man in this game, the racist arguement is invalid.

Nigeria @ Jun 4th 2008 1:23PM

Not wishing to start anything - and I feel I've made this point before - but black representation in video games is rather shoddy. If it's not a sports game, a Saint's Row (shudder), or a handful of other games, it's most likely the protagonist is going to be either a caucasian or a Asian.

Couple that fact to the strong imagery - a burly white man mowing down "sub human" black antagonists, the frivolous story we expect from a Resident Evil game - a real Aids problem blighting parts of Africa = Chris battling zombies effected by a virus - it can be interpreted as being insensitive. To brush off genuine concerns people may have as "stupid" is rather short sighted. But I wouldn't be one to judge.

And anyway, a couple of my friends have seen these images they seem rather divided if it crosses the line from acceptable to insensitive to Stormfront. But again, I wouldn't be one to judge.

arrrgh @ Jun 4th 2008 1:27PM

Yeah we'd best be careful we dont step on anyone's teos.

FROM NOW ON ALL VG CHARACTERS MUST BE RENDERED IN GREYSCALE AND HAVE NO UNIQUE OR IDENTIFYING FEATURES.

Otherwise people might wonder why there are "black" people in "africa" ugh

Nigeria @ Jun 4th 2008 1:35PM

"FROM NOW ON ALL VG CHARACTERS MUST BE RENDERED IN GREYSCALE AND HAVE NO UNIQUE OR IDENTIFYING FEATURES"

This generation is allergic to colour.

Arnob @ Jun 4th 2008 1:44PM

there have been a lots of good non stereotypical black characters too though. take cole train from GoW for example...

Alex @ Jun 4th 2008 1:47PM

Do you know about Castle Crashers? It was made by the guys behind Alien Hominid, and it had to be changed before release because all of the teddy bears had dark brown or black fur. That was the stupidest case I've ever seen.

animeman_59 @ Jun 4th 2008 3:40PM

To Nigeria:

Agree with you on the whole "shoddy representation of blacks". But I find that more embarassing in American made games than in the Japanese ones. America is a much more diverse country and we constantly see the whole spectrum of races here, but in Japan, you'll usually never see anybody of a different color. Maybe you'll see a black person nearby a military base or an area that foreigners frequent, but even then, it's only 1 or 2 out of hundreds of people. The Japanese don't have a clue on how to represent non-Asian characters. American developers don't have that excuse and I'm disgusted by all these "Saint's Row" type of games. And any game with 50 cent is a disservice as well.

As far as the imagery being AIDS = Virus = Zombies, and white man has to purge angle. I didn't see it that way. When I first saw the trailers, I immediately started seeing all those archival footages of mob mentality in the more unstable parts of Africa (Rwanda, Somalia, and more recently Kenya). That shit is scary. If Capcom wanted to represent that kind of fear (of being outnumbered against a murderous mob) then they hit the nail on the head.

I'm a minority myself and I have had plently of racism dealt to me by all races, including my own. I don't see anything racist about this game.

PojoMofo @ Jun 4th 2008 1:06PM

+1 to Alex for use of the word "kerfluffle", you must have a very good thesaurus :)

Alex @ Jun 4th 2008 1:44PM

Kerfuffle I think was first used in Little Britain in the Lou and Andy sketches.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=G10PJXmVDuQ
He says it here at 0:36.

borland502 (SDF - Macross Ring) @ Jun 4th 2008 1:59PM

@Nigeria

"...but black representation in video games is rather shoddy."

I think its been mixed depending on the game. UTIII had "General" Malcom talking like he just stepped out of a bad rap video, but others like Halo had a decent depiction even if they took a secondary role. Still, I also wonder what would resonate better? Some African-Americans like 50Cent seem to revel in the stereotype. "Blood in the Sand" doesn't seem to break any conventions either for the hero or the enemies.

Considering the most popular movies haven't gotten rid of stereotypes, I doubt games will lead the way.