Doesn't seem like a big problem to me. If the game's makers had a history of white guy vs. non-white guys themes, it would be more plausible. Although I've never played it, I know the history of RE and it seems to me that they're just changing the setting to something new. If the hero was wearing an LAPD uniform and working his way through South Central, THAT might be an issue.

And on a side note, I don't the problem with video games is the violence. I think they just encourage quick, reflexive actions without intelligent judgment and analysis. I would say they're not very good for younger folks still working through their growth periods (I'm referring mostly to FPS type games).

I can see where people might have a problem with the racial overtones presented. There was a similar aspect to Resident Evil 4, where the "zombies" were Spanish villagers... but that wasn't quite as pronounced.

Now, the zombie as an "African" character is a common trope in zombie cinema. The first zombie pics, based in the caribbean, focused heavily on the voodoo aspects of the "disease." Unlike Romero's later movies, it wasn't quite a raging infection; it was more of a magical curse from some whacked-out character who had managed to raise the dead (and who, despite the settings in the Caribbean, was often white).

So, in RE5 we could have an attempt to return to the roots of the zombie-- especially considering that the "zombies" in RE4 were more of possessed beings than infected corpses.

Then again, the setting in African could do much to grate against the stereotyping in those early zombie flicks if they have a prominent African character in a hero role of good strength (rather than rehashing either a whimsical sidekick role or something flatly voodoo or with disinterest). We shall see... I'm optimistic, and excited.

Man... I mean... I'm all for being sensitive and shit... But I haven't read anything that makes me feel like a racist for getting excited about this game...

Watch the trailer for Resident Evil 4... It wasn't that much different... Just Spaniards instead of Africans...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WYNvjv1kqo8

Are we still tiptoeing through the tulips with shit like this? Is this not okay?

What's the difference between RE5 and RE 1 - 4, with exception to the setting?

Call me ignorant, but I saw that trailer and didn't know the African people in it were supposed to be zombies. All I saw was that huge guy shooting crowds of black people who were fighting back with pitchforks and rocks.

It made me a little uncomfortable, but I was just in South Africa in June. But doesn't zombie mythology go to Haiti and back to Benin and other places in West Africa?

And it's true that South Africa and other countries there have an AIDs epidemic, but it's not true for the continent as a whole. Take a look at the Muslim-dominant countries and you'll find a VERY low rate of infection.

i'm really sick and tired of people ragging on video games! pull your head out of your asses! racism in a game? people should grow up and worry about more important things, like how are president sucks ass and is running our country into the ground!!! i play loads of video games and im as normal as normal can be. ( if there is actually a normal) but people should quit bitching about video games, if some uppity soccer mom thinks video games are bad then don't let your kid play them, but they should just keep it to themselves and quit making such a big deal out of it!

Looks like the "zombies" are going to be the same as in RE4. As in, they use weapons and they can run. not like the traditional RE zombies.

As someone else has already mentioned, the last RE was set in spain, no one bitched then?
Are we never allowed to have a white character face off against a black character?
What if the main character was black and the "zombies" were all white?
Would anyone be bitching then?
not likely.

That's the thing- they wouldn't be zombies in this case. They'd be more voodoo zombies. Or a take on them: alive, possessed, but not original RE-style corpse.

That's based on RE4, though.

Based on some of the coverage of the trailer so far, and on Skinny City Girl's comment (no offense, SCG!), I'm wondering if reaction to this trailer is mostly due to an ignorance factor when it comes to videogames. In other words, do people who play videogames (and thus are familiar with the RE series) know that there's nothing necessarily racist in the trailer because of their familiarity with the games? Are those who are offended upset simply because they're reacting to the surface-level images, unaware of the story behind the game? And--here's the clincher--does that make their viewpoint any less valid?

If anything, I guess you could make a pretty solid point that the RE games are far more anti-zombie than they are to any specific race. And I think anti-zombieism is something we can all feel pretty good about.

NERDS!

Tron is right. It's the same as the previous 4 RE games, just a different setting. In that case, RE6 could feature Arab zombies, or maybe native american zombies. And RE7 could be set on a plantation!

I hope they have better dialogue this time. RE4's script, though a step away from the series' previous cheese levels, still could've used a few rewrites.

The real question is: will they explain how that creepy merchant stores an armory in that pervert coat?

it's obviously not racist.

Wow, it's based in Africa. If the Hero was black, and it was based in some country that was almost all white, and he was killing white zombies, no problem at all!

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