According to this GamePolitics article, Capcom's racial insensitivity isn't focused solely on African villagers. Nay, the House of Mega Man is truly an equal opportunity offender (assuming you aren't caucazoid). Unlike the Resident Evil 5 issue though, the matter of Capcom vs the most controversial religious group in our modern world seems to have been settled.
Hit the jump for an explanation of what the hell I'm on about, and the most carefully worded post I have ever written.
On the surface, Capcom's upcoming Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is an adorable adventure capitalizing on the company's long history of marketable characters and fun gameplay, but to the trained ears of some, it's an affront to the Muslim faith.
As you can (possibly) hear from the video embedded above, certain native villagers within the game utter the words "Allahu akbar", an Islamic phrase meaning "God is most great". Obviously, the use of such a phrase by fictional savages in a video game is horribly offensive to those of the Muslim faith, and according to a press release from the Council of American-Islamic Relations, Capcom has been browbeaten into removing the phrase from the title.
Normally there would be a joke here, but anything short of copying the ingredients list off of a can of Spaggheti-Os will probably offend some ethno-religious group somewhere, and even in writing that last line, I've probably already offended the National Institute for the Protection of Sensitive Italian Stereotypes.
I'm going to go check my bed for equine heads now. Those filthy Itals have a habit of horribly violent solutions to seemingly common problems (but damn if they can't make a fantastic ravioli).
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The difference between African references and Muslim references is that Islam is often taken to the extreme.
Tomato paste gave my great uncle buttcancer, you son of a bitch!
im not sure if i should laugh or cry...
@ Agent:
Care to elaborate?
I wanna jump on the bandwagon!!
Goddamned Capcom and it's killing of white zombies in Resident Evil 0, 1, 2, and 3.
I phrased that wrong. Islam response is often taken to the extreme, a la the infamous Muhammad-with-a-bomb-turban comic.
Oh shit, hit the fucking deck! Bury your head in the sand!
That is hilariously insensitive. At the same time, CAIR (Council of American Islamic Relations) is a pretty controversial group, possibly because many of their high ranking members have been associated with terrorism and Muslim fundamentalism. They also made Paramount remove the Muslim terrorists in the Sum of All Fears and make the into Neo-Nazis for the movie. But you can't really argue that they're right about this one.
I never really saw any problems for moderate Islam, they should be happy that one part of their call to prayer has seeped into mainstream media culture.
On the other hand, they use the exclamation to call some savage critters to drink soup from their cannibalistic skull-cups... Maybe not the best way to portray the West's "reaching out" and such :)
Guys, this is what it really says:
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
fuck allah
also, Destructiod Akbar!
I think Capcom should tell them to fuck off, what the fuck, can anyone review games and get them pulled from shelves?!? Fuckin' crybabies. Christ.
@SniperFodder
So Muslims can burn down a Dutch KFC? Hell no, man.
Think of the Dutch KFCs.
I do think this is a little bit different than the zombie/Africa case. As mentioned in the other article, as far as I know zombie myths are based out of African culture, and as many have said, it would be odd for a horde of white zombies to be parading around in Africa.
This though, seems a bit different. I couldn't find out the exact setting of the game (besides "Treasure Island"), but because it's got pirates galore and all that I'm assuming the Carribean. The percentage of Muslims in the Carribean is fairly small, somewhere between 5-15% of the population I believe, (and most of those are concentrated in Guyana, Tobago, and Trinidad), and Islam didn't really take hold in the area until the early 1900s. I absolutely detest censorship in video games and don't particularly agree with this (as I don't really agree with most censorship), but at the same time I have to wonder why they made the "savages" Muslim when, based on what I'm assuming the setting of the game to resemble, there is a very small Muslim population that really only popped up recently. I don't think the council is upset that people are saying the phrase "allah ackbar" persay, but rather that the people saying it are the "crazy backwards savages" in a setting that is predominately non-Muslim to begin with. It's kind of like how gamers get upset when they're portrayed in the media as super nerdy, awkward, and unattractive, when we all know that's not the case, at least with most of the Dtoid members.
Again, I'm not a fan of censorship at all and don't agree with the decision to pull it, but I also can see legitimate reasons as to why this group would be upset, way moreso than with the zombie debacle.
@Agent Chieftain: Oh noes, all of our 5 KFC's! They are all full of black zombies anyway.
OMG will someone have the balls to tell these fucking maniacs to STFU?
For once in my life I want to see a radio jock, a news person, a game company or any other media outlet who is accused of "insensitivity" to just tell these special interest groups to fuck off. Theres bodies rotting in the sunlight in Darfur and the best that this group can do is sit there and act like some little fink in first grade running to his/her teacher because some Japanese game company DARES to use a religious phrase in a totally appropriate context.
Can anyone actually say that that's 100% what the character says?
All I hear is "AAAAAUAAAA HWAGBAR". I don't know though, that might just be insulting the God Aua.
...
They are definetly saying Alluha Akbar. The sound sample sounds like it was recorded from a mosque when they were doing their call to prayer. The Black Zombie things is pretty crazy but I can see why some Muslims might be upset over this. Muslim relations with the west are on shaky terms right now, and I don't think Muslims want their call to prayer associated with a savage tribal group that drinks out of human skulls. Fictional or not.
Religion fucking things up again? No way.
Humans, a bunch of delluded animals or a highly evolved species? You decide.
Also of note is that the "savage tribal group that drinks out of human skulls" is ridiculously cartoonish in the safe-to-show-to-your-5-year-old-daughter kind of way.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily make it good or bad, but being confused with adorable animated munchkins would be a step up from the current stereotypical view of Muslim culture in our post-9/11 world.
"being confused with adorable animated munchkins would be a step up from the current stereotypical view of Muslim culture in our post-9/11 world."
Although, because they're cute and animated, it's more likely that younger children who don't understand the concept of stereotypes and things like that will see it.
This is something that's adorable and animated, and most people now (I hope) would consider it to be fairly offensive.
"being confused with adorable animated munchkins would be a step up from the current stereotypical view of Muslim culture in our post-9/11 world."
Although, because they're cute and animated, it's more likely that younger children who don't understand the concept of stereotypes and things like that will see it.
This is something that's adorable and animated, and most people now (I hope) would consider it to be fairly offensive.
Sorry for the double.
Well, you got me there, but insulting stereotypical physical features is generally more easily conveyed by adorable cartoons, than a predilection towards ethno-religiously-sponsored violence, no?
Yeah its kinda offensive, but who cares if something so stupid as this causes a lot of grief it just shows how people need something better to do with their lives then get pissy bout racism/stereotypes.
Yea, it should be removed. The Japanese can really be insensitive of other cultures.
And let's get one thing straight. "Fundamentalism" is such a noob term. It does not and should not connote terrorism. The problem with terrorists is that they are not educated. Therefore they don't even know the proper teachings in the fundamental Islamic sources. (the Qur'an and Sunnah)
@Nex
I hope that didn't come across as me trying to show you up, because that wasn't my intention at all. And I agree that insulting physical features are more easily conveyed, but I also think it's fairly clear when you have a guy drinking out of a skull yelling ALLAH AKBAR.
@Andrew5329
In an equal society, that would make perfect sense and be totally ideal. In a country like the US, where I think the most recent poll said something like almost 50% of Americans distrust or dislike Muslims (I don't have a source for this, and if someone can prove me wrong I'd happily concede), it's a bit more sensitive. Additionally, everyone gets a little pissy about stereotypes when it's something that applies to them. Think about how we all get worked up (or at least I do), when some politician decides to take someone like the Columbine kids and say "LOOK WHAT VIDEOGAMES DO". Also a stereotype, granted it's far more extreme, but I think it helps highlight the point that it's really easy to dismiss other people's concerns about stereotypes yet act differently when the stereotype is a little more personal.
Yeah, who the hell are they to suggest that God is great? That dick still owes me 12 bucks.
Also, I totally want to see Coal Black and the Sebben Dwarfs now.
Oh, please. Stop with the intimidation tactics CAIR. This here infidel would like to tell you to STFUAJPG!
@ Mxyzptlk
.....
I kind of do too.
Lers make all video games with vague and ambiguous genders/races with no voice overs so we won't offend anyone. I think the immersion and realism would make for some great gaming, don't you?!? Hey, while we're at it we should remove any music, as not to offend your grandma that doesn't like that "Devil Music" you always listen to. What the fuck, lets just play a nice safe game of shuffleboard instead, but in silence, so we won't be in jeopardy of offending any passers-by. Also, cocks.
I think it's kind of funny how generally people on the net side against the FOX News neo-cons except when it comes to race and religion.
This game is at least less offensive than some Muslim oriented games are. I think Hezbollah made a game were you play as a young Arab boy that tries to stop the evil genocidal Israelis that try to kill your family for no reason.
@Deus
That's a game that absolutely deserves to never see the light of day. I would say the same thing about any Israeli made game that did something similar.
@ Aerox:
Oh, I'd never assume anyone was trying to one-up me, unless they were literally throwing green mushrooms my direction.
@ trunxkam:
You've got your generalization all wrong, mate: People on the Internet are notoriously pro-free-speech, regardless if it's religiously offensive, paedophilic or otherwise inflammatory. Just because the 'Net in this case seems to be anti-Islamo-fascist AND Fox NEWS has made their entire fortune off of being patently alarmist regarding Islamo-fascism, does not necessarily mean we're agreeing with them.
Though, now that you mention it, I would like to see their take on this whole thing. I'll see if I can get Sean Hannity on the next Podtoid.
@Nex
I used to believe the net-pro free speech thing, but it seemed to me that people felt that way until it came to something that really meant something important to them, and then free speech was out the window. Again I point to the example of when people talk about video games causing violence; it's massively incorrect, and most of the game community gets (legitimately) upset by it. We care because it directly relates to us, and it's a slander on who we are and what we believe in. When it happens to another group of people we don't identify with, it's a lot harder to understand the rationale about why they're upset, and as such it's easy to dismiss their claims. Because most of the stuff like this that happens on the net in general isn't really directed towards the majority of net users, it seems like the net can really be pro-free speech when in actuality it may not be.
@Nex
I used to believe the net-pro free speech thing, but it seemed to me that people felt that way until it came to something that really meant something important to them, and then free speech was out the window. Again I point to the example of when people talk about video games causing violence; it's massively incorrect, and most of the game community gets (legitimately) upset by it. We care because it directly relates to us, and it's a slander on who we are and what we believe in. When it happens to another group of people we don't identify with, it's a lot harder to understand the rationale about why they're upset, and as such it's easy to dismiss their claims. Because most of the stuff like this that happens on the net in general isn't really directed towards the majority of net users, it seems like the net can really be pro-free speech when in actuality it may not be.
Damn it, why are these doubles happening?
Sean Hannity on Podtoid = Failure on a Win podcast
My point I was going to make was made moot by Nex claiming that most net goers are pro free-speech. I despise political correctness and any further ranting on my point is already refuted by Nex.
Um, thanks Dio... I think...
Man, check out some of warner brothers WWII era cartoons, they are full of such wonderfully awesome racism. Coal Black is funny, but I personally reccomend Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips. Should be able to find it and a few other banned WWII era cartoons if you spelunk the torrents.
What I don't like is those old cartoons being censored. Yes, racism is an ugly part of the history of the states, but erasing evidence of that history feels very Orwellian.
I swear I posted something in this thread... now its gone... odd.
It's only rascist when you're shooting people with dark skin, because shooting spaniards and white people and asians is completely fair under the law of douchebaggery.
Now, this is kinda different. Except that it's not. If they are offended because a certain string of sounds appear in a video game, good for them. Go for it I say. I think they're just upset that when it happens in a video game, they're not blowing up REAL people, and we just can't have that.
They are not special, despite what their book written a thousand yars ago on the skin from a camel's ass says. We are all people and we all get equal rites. At least that's the myth.
If they don't like it they can go back under their rock where no one can offend them, but they can't ask our culture and heritage to be put on the back burner and have certain ideas blacklisted in the creative arts simply because their imaginary friend told them he doesn't like it.
@ free:
Really? Sorry to hear it if that's the truth. I'm the last person on the site who's gonna delete someone's shit.
Any idea what it looked like? Maybe it fell out of my laptop and landed on the ground in my room somewhere. There's a ton of shit in here, so we'll probably never find it, but I promise I'll look whenever I wake up tomorrow.
i dont hear it.
T.T
Tell them to fuck off. Political Correctness is for pussies anyway. Capcom, don't bow to them!
Great, that music guy is going to get a ticking off, the characters werent sayign anything the badly recored "Alluh Akbar" bit was a backing vocal in the music. And this is just getting stupid, ok INSULTING their religion ok, id understand people being upset over that but, SAYING THAT THEIR GOD IS GREAT is offensive how? Touchy bastards.
@ trunxkam45 & Agent Chieftain
Just kidding. I totally hate Faux Noise.
I actually am offended (as a muslim) because they are saying "Alluhu Akbar" and it DOES sound like a recording. I'm only offended because they have these savage jungle men thing that are saying it to call them towards their lunch (which looks like cannibalization). Do I actually think anything will change Capcoms continuously offending fashion?...no...but will I buy the game because they did this?..no. Thats my choice as the consumer and everyone should have it that way
p.s. I would have a huge problem with them trying to depict the Prophet (PBUH) in any fashion, great or evil, just because that's very different. Just because the western culture has capitalized from a fictitious image of the Prophet Isa (Jesus Christ) (PBUH) (which I also think is wrong) doesn't make it ok.
love the "National Institute for the Protection of Sensitive Italian Stereotypes" or now known as NIP-SIS. Any childhood memories that we need to know about?
Hold on! When's the last time a game company had to pull a game off the shelves for "taking the lord's name in vain"? I say make the freaking muslims tough it out.
If everyone else can handle people making fun of their fairy tale beliefs then so can they.
Give me a fucking break. These people need thicker fucking skin. Let's censor anything that anyone takes any offense to! That'll make the world a better place. Right? Right?
@cquezaad
What does it mean "PBUH"?
As you said, everybody has the right to buy or refuse to buy a game that could offend his/her beliefs.
For another example of Japanese religious zaniness, read about Jesus: Dreadful Bio-Monster
PBUH = Peace Be Upon Him
it's just something said whenever referring to a prophet.
but yea, if it has something that offends me, I just wont buy it. RE5 offends me in no way, i'll buy it if its good.
just because.
Way to go Grapefruit juice, You've just marked us all for death.
As a more casual muslim, the reason I don't like this... is it serves no purpose. It is there just because. If it was to make a statement, then that would be fine; hell it would even be fine if they used arabic speaking characters. You're allowed to make statements against islam, you're allowed to think we're wrong. The thing here that makes me proud is that they POLITELY asked that the sound be removed, and it was politely removed. simple. At no time did they go to the media or try to blow the issue up.
The images of the prophet however, break a BASIC AND CORE tenant of islam. That tenant is that you have no images of the prophet (because it becomes idolatry, which is a big no no). That's why that was a big deal... if they could have done ANYTHING else with the same theme that would have been fine (like turning the crescent and star into a burning bomb).
Also, this isn't the first time this has happened with the phrase "Alahu Akbar". Listen to the original fire temple music from Ocarina of Time. It's there too. Nintendo took it out for all the remakes though. See? It's polite debate and respect for religion; and it can work.
"break a BASIC AND CORE tenant of islam." So YOU dont do it. If I believed in some magic super man and people made fun, I'd probably just ‘get over it’. Muslims on the other hand, when something is said about islam tend to:
1) threaten to blow someone up
2) blow themselves up
3) blow themselves and someone else up
[url= http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/]corroboration[/url]
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_Rushdie]the good people at[/url] [url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4670370.stm]Capcom should count themselves lucky.[/url]
NO, we don't tend to blow everything up. Just because the Middle East is going crazy right now does not mean that everyone is the same. I don't hold christians against the wrongings they've done. Or hold anything against Jews or anyone else. I respect their thing as you should respect everyone else. You can't generalize like that.
""break a BASIC AND CORE tenant of islam." So YOU dont do it."
Q to the F to the muthafuckin' T
The fact that there were wide-spread acts of violence and murder over some cartoons doesn't seem barbarically backwards to anyone else? (visa vi muhammed cartoons)
CAIR are the hate mongers. They employ, protect and recieve money from known terrorists and funders of terrorism. And the west didnt apply the fundamentalist label, the nutsoid jihadists did.
The fact that there were wide-spread acts of violence and murder over some cartoons doesn't seem barbarically backwards to anyone else? (visa vi muhammed cartoons)
CAIR are the hate mongers. They employ, protect and recieve money from known terrorists and funders of terrorism. And the west didnt apply the fundamentalist label, the nutsoid jihadists did.
@cquezaad
"Just because the Middle East/Somalia/Thailand/India/Algeria/Nigeria/Russia/Chechnya is going crazy right now does not mean that everyone is the same" Fixed and thats just July.
I'm saying, all you should do is respect everyone individually. CAIR asked Capcom politely to take it down, and they did. There's nothing more than that. Generalizing people as terrorist or suicide bombers gets you nowhere. but unfortunately may get you in trouble by a few extremists just as there are in many other religions or groups of various types.
@TheStripe
It's hard to focus on one (so called hate mongering) group without acknowledging the Bush Administration or Bush himself which has also protected and received money from terrorists or oil companies which back a few elite families which hold power in certain groups. I agree that the extremist Muslim (if they can so be called that due to the steps you can take, which can take you out of the folds of Islam, therefore not making you a true Muslim) are awful but the average Muslim shouldn't be held accountable for them. And again...I see no problem with what they asked or how they asked Capcom to handle the matter. This isn't like the RE5 matter. Everyone was civilized.
p.s. we wont know all the information of what's going on in war-ridden areas of the world because of the media and what they decided to leave in or take out of their broadcast. I respect your choice of opinion (even if I disagree) but I ask for the same.
I was going to post this here but it wouldnt fit
http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Grapefruit+Juice/a-little-perspective-37365.phtml
Everything you've listed means nothing. Again, it does NOT represent the Muslim community as a whole. There are a little over 2 Billion Muslims on this planet. You listed off dates and deaths. During the crusades and since the birth of Christianity, there have been countless amounts of death. This, just as many other times in history is a hectic time for different religions. They all have their moments. Simply because there haven't been any "Christian terrorist attacks" in the last 2 months does not mean that so call "Christians" don't commit murder. I'm not trying to point out Christians but simply trying to point out that people can give themselves a specific name or be put in a specific category but unless they display the virtues and proper teachings then they aren't it. Muslims/Christians/Jews who commit murder on innocents can't really call themselves so.
You just seem prejudice against Islam and if I can't make you think otherwise, then so be it. I'm just trying to point out that you need to look at things with an open mind and stop looking at it through the narrow view that the media portrays. We aren't all terrorist that run around bombing people. We are taught noble values and morals.
I hope that you can understand me and where I'm coming from,but for now, I'd prefer to end this conversation. I just finished finals and feel like relaxing (playing games). Sorry we couldn't come to an agreement, see you around on the blog.
Grapefruit Juice, you are a fairly narrow minded individual with Orientalist thinking. You fail to learn from what people have to say and therefore keep ignorance alive.
Even though people slander other religions as well, they are more accepting of them in virtually all forms of culture. Christians and other groups can be perceived as overly conservative or whatever else, but less people will view them as "barbaric" and "fanatic" the way people consider ALL Muslims. It's really impossible to deny it if you've lived in the cozy suburbs.
@cquezaad
1. my list Means everything. the truth hurts
2. ah the old crusades argument, when did they happen again? 800-900 years ago, man thats relevant. Im glad to see some of us have moved on since then.
3. http://youtube.com/watch?v=oMOZvbYJMvU How noble.
I think it's safe to say that you've never met a Muslim. And you're scared of them. I win.