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Jumping on the Bandwagon

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

Over used stock photo 71.

Over used stock photo 71.

It seems that recently the gaming world exploded on Resident Evil 5’s portrayal of race. It feels like every major gaming enthusiast site had something to say about it. Opinions have ranged from indignant to uncaring, but whatever your stance it is a debate worth having. Many of the articles seem worthy of a response, some even making me reconsider my own position. The more I read the more I appreciated that, for some, images in the game could conjure uncomfortable associations. Rather than re-treading numerous online theological discussions on this topic I am going to keep this short and explain why, especially from my point of position viewing Japanese media as an outsider, I don’t feel this game is racist.

Even Obama isn't safe from Japanese 'comedy'.

Even Obama isn't safe from Japanese 'comedy'.

The thing to remember is that this is not a Western game. As I type this I am watching a female Japanese comedian dance around on prime time TV with shoe polish on her face pretending to be Michael Jackson. Last week I watched a man with his cheeks painted white, burbling absurdities interspersed with the word ‘fucking’ as an impersonation of Quinton Tarantino. While the Japanese are aware of the race issue the culture is not as sensitive to it. There is a lack of exposure to foreign cultures, and the exposure most people receive do are curios. That these curios could be offensive to the ethnicities they represent doesn’t enter the viewer’s consciousness. It is this environment into which you have to place RE5.

Capcom isn’t ignorant. It makes entertainment media for the world market and is aware of the issues involved; but maybe not fully. No matter how much you educate yourself on the subtleties of issues as historical and as deeply felt as race you can never truly appreciate it without living it. Resident Evil 5′s imagery does contain negative or offensive implications to some, but I suspect all of the scenes people are reacting to are iconic images drawn from other media (primarily cinema). The white muscle bound hero, the zombies in African tribal ware, the rioting mob even the (incredibly out of place) victimisation of a white blonde woman are all Hollywood tropes. While any individual element could be dismissed or explained the cumulative effect of all of them viewed concurrently become difficult to ignore. Capcom’s awareness drove them to create their paper thin narrative explanations for their design choices, but these became thinner with each passing digression.

Let’s face it this isn’t the first time Capcom has made use of racial iconography.

Let’s face it this isn’t the first time Capcom has made use of racial iconography.

What I am trying to say is that you have to imagine that Japan and Capcom’s sensibilities are stuck in the early 70’s. Much like my father they use the world view they have been surrounded by for the majority of their life. Sometimes this leads them to say things which could cause offence but with no hate or malice. While they should be savvier to the audience they intend to reach, the reality is that their errors are ingrained, the imagery they use is just what they feel is an accurate representation of what they want to convey. Arguably even the Japanese could simply do with being more enlightened and cosmopolitan. But perhaps equally we have to be more understanding and excepting of the culture that produced this fantastic game, rather than judging it messages by our standards.

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Tags: Capcom, Japan, Racism, Resident Evil 5
Posted in article, culture, Japan 7 Comments »

The DoFuss Podcast – Aimlessly Wandering

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Like my art home work back at high school just getting this one in just in time. After the last rather light podcast we have hit back with a content packed but somewhat undirected episode. So a full month of gaming and news fill the majority of the show.

Darren takes on the iPhone discussion, yet some how manages to keep it retro with Pole Position and Wonder Boy. I try to keep things more current we head back to Resident Evil 5 and rub on a little Madworld. Then we avoid talking about the Watchmen.

News is sprinkled through out. We touch on a number of topics that have been affecting gaming in the UK recently. Then we bitch about Nintendo. Because they deserve it sometimes. We wrap up with the usual Darren’s old games with is a breathless summation of the wonderful Sensible Software.

The DoFuss Podcast [ 1:03:04 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Tags: iPhone, Mad World, Nintendo, Racism, Resident Evil, Sensible Software, UK, Watchmen
Posted in culture, game, news, podcast 5 Comments »

Fashion? – Update (I know I need a scanner.)

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

The first line of Uniqlo gaming shirts are already out it appears. A very reasonable 1500 yen (that’s about 5 quid with the current exchange rate); plus discounts for multiple purchases. I bought three of this first run despite a current lack of funds.

Much to my surprise they are not (for the most part) merely prints. A large percentage are stitched or patches. Very nice. Any way after my failure to find the rest of the line any where on the web I decided to pick up Famitsu and publish their pictures on the site. I know the quality isn’t fantastic but for the most part you can make out the upcoming designs.

For those who are interested I bought the Pac-man and Resident Evil shirts that I pictured in my last post, and the X-Rally flag shirt. (Incidentally the RE shirt is listed in Famitsu by the western title of Resident Evil, the shirt itself however has the Biohazard logo).

Left to right - Arkanoid, Galaxian, Ape Escape.
Left to right – Arkanoid, Galaxian, Ape Escape.
Left to right, Top to bottom - Dig Dug, Resident Evil, Pac-man, Pac-man, Bomberman, Mappy, Ace Attorney, Densha de Go!, Rally-X.
Left to right, Top to bottom – Dig Dug, Resident Evil, Pac-man, Pac-man, Bomberman, Mappy, Ace Attorney, Densha de Go!, Rally-X.
Left to right, Top to bottom - Street Fighter 2, Sonic, Tekken, Tekken, Resident Evil, Family Tennis, Puyo Pop, Monster Hunter, Mega Man.
Left to right, Top to bottom – Street Fighter 2, Sonic, Tekken, Tekken, Resident Evil, Family Tennis, Puyo Pop, Monster Hunter, Mega Man.

Left to right, Top to bottom - Street Fighter 2, Xevious, The Tower Of Druaga, Pac-man, Parappa the Rapper, Bomberman, Everybody's Golf, Doko Demo Issyo, Ghosts n Goblins.
Left to right, Top to bottom – Street Fighter 2, Xevious, The Tower Of Druaga, Pac-man, Parappa the Rapper, Bomberman, Everybody’s Golf, Doko Demo Issyo, Ghosts n Goblins.
Left to right, Top to bottom - Little Big Planet, Sonic, Virtua Fighter, Ridge Racer, Momotaro Densetsu, Momotaro Densetsu, Monster Hunter, Mega Man.
Left to right, Top to bottom – Little Big Planet, Sonic, Virtua Fighter, Ridge Racer, Momotaro Densetsu, Momotaro Densetsu, Monster Hunter, Mega Man.
My new shirts, left to right - Pac-man, Rally-X and Resident Evil (Biohazard)
My new shirts, left to right – Pac-man, Rally-X and Resident Evil (Biohazard)


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Tags: Famitsu, Fashion, Uniqlo
Posted in culture, Japan 3 Comments »

Fashion?

Friday, March 27th, 2009

The latest Famitsu published images of the upcoming line of Uniqlo gaming shirts. Featuring classic games from Tecmo, Hudson, Namco Bandai, Sega, SCEJ and Capcom I will admit to being more than a little excited at the prospect of kitting myself out in these this April when they are released.

 

Resident Evil and Street Fighter provided some of the more subtle offerings. Neither displayed prominent character or logos, siding more with words and symbols. Unfortunately my photos taken surreptitiously in a Lawson didn’t come out to well so I had to fall back on images snapped up from the web which didn’t include my two favorites. The RE5 khaki long sleeved t-shirt with a small BSAA insignia on the front (with Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance written in full on the back) and the Street Fighter shirt with only the iconic down, down forwards, forward, punch symbols emblazed across the chest. Day one purchases for me.

 

Also available are shirts in which iconic characters and logos take more prominent place. The Pacman shirt pictured on the right here is one of the more stylish examples of this. A simple logo on the chest (and four ghosts on the arse) offers a mere suggestion of your favored pass time instead of physically assaulting onlookers eyes with it (like the garish Ridge Racer and Ape Escape shirts).

Uniqlo’s tagline for these shirts is ‘Find one that says exactly how you feel.’ Well evidently I feel ‘exactly’ like a geek, as I am very excited about these and have at least five shirts I am ready to run out and buy already. Roll on April.

 

Images taken from – UTxGame

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Tags: Capcom, Fashion, Namco Bandai, Uniqlo
Posted in culture, Japan 1 Comment »

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