The next Resident Evil game will have 255 minutes of cut-scenes, according to a filing by the British Board of Film Classification.

That's four hours and fifteen minutes. Hope you like cinematics, Resident Evil fans.

For comparison, the BBFC lists Resident Evil 5 at 65 minutes and 17 seconds. Resident Evil 4 is 127 minutes.

Metal Gear Solid 4? 545 minutes and 47 seconds.

RESIDENT EVIL 6 [BBFC via Electronic Theatre]

I've never played as a black video game character who's made me feel like he was cool. Worse yet, I've never played a black video game character who made me feel like I was cool. Instead, I've groaned and rolled my eyes at a parade of experiences that continue to tell me video games just don't get black people.

The faces that look like mine that I've encountered in video games have been, at best, too inconsequential to be memorable and offensively tone-deaf at worst. What about Barrett from Final Fantasy VII or Sazh from Final Fantasy XIII, you might ask? Or Cole Train from the Gears of War games? Wait, there's Sheva from Resident Evil 5, right? No, no and no. Too many elements of caricature in each, I'd say, and they're all sidekicks. Their stories aren't the focus of the adventure players go on.

But, hey, it's a given that video games tend to present exaggerated characters. Marcus Fenix isn't like any white guy I've ever met, after all. But he doesn't have to be. For every Marcus Fenix-type grunt hero, you can also get a witty Nathan Drake, a charming Ezio or a regretful John Marston. Enough white characters exist in video games for a variability of approach. That's simply not true of black characters.

In creating Half-Life 2's Alyx Vance, Valve gave players a woman who was feisty and fragile at the same time. Alyx ranks amongst the best black game characters of all time, but she's another sidekick. C.J. from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas comes closest to this pie-in-the-sky ideal I'm dreaming of. C.J. managed to hold a core contradiction inside of himself—an intense love of family balanced against the violence of thug life—that added depth to his characterization. And while he was the lead of the game he starred in, he was still a gang member. Rockstar found interesting things to do with him but C.J. still comes into being by virtue of another overused stereotype.

Does this stuff matter in video games? Yes. The thing to remember is that beneath all the comforting platitudes about a character's color not mattering lies a sticky web of stereotypes and cheap myths that can still insult and anger people playing a game. Even if I wanted to like Sam B from Dead Island, for example, I'm still running up against the fact that he's a hot-tempered thug rapper.

Stop leaning on this stereotype. Stop creating loud black soldiers who only know how to yell. Stop putting spear-carrying primitives in games.

What I want, basically, is Black Cool. It's a kind of cool that improvises around all the random stereotypes and facile understandings of black people that have accrued over centuries and subverts them. Black Cool says "I know what you might think about me, but I'm going to flip it." Dave Chappelle's comedy is Black Cool. Donald Glover is Black Cool. Aisha Tyler is Black Cool. Marvel Comics's Black Panther character is Black Cool. Their creativity is the energy I want video games to tap into.

There's a book about it. In the anthology Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness, author Rebecca Walker assembles a crop of personal essays that talk about how Black Cool manifested in their lives. One of those writers is Mat Johnson, a professor in the University of Houston's creative writing program. Johnson's like me, a lifelong comics-reading, game-loving geek who continues to bump into jarring, awful portrayals of black people in video games.

"I played Dead Island when it came out last year and there's a point when you get the Natives Camp area. I was like, ‘Oh, OK, we're going to have an African-style primitive out here,'" he told me. "The bizarre thing is that the stereotypes you encounter in the games don't even match up timewise with our current culture. That's what's so odd about it. The mainstream culture at large has moved beyond the trope of the black primitive. You can't get away with that kind of thing in a movie."

Johnson's written prose along with graphic novels and when he compares video games' racial awareness to comic and he says "comics had a much more concerted effort to change images of minorities in the work. And part of that was a market-driven concern." There's a difference of scale, too, he continues. "If comics can access another 5,000 or 10,000 in their possible audience, it has a huge impact. Whereas video games have become a mass market phenomenon that have an even bigger scope than movies. So they're not as worried about minority concerns as comics are."

The importance of seeing a face that looks like yours when stepping into a fictional universe can't be overstated. I'm a big Superman fan, but it was DC Comics' Black Lightning that piqued my interest when I was growing up. Every black superhero face I saw growing up was another signpost that said "Hey, you're welcome here. You can be larger-than-life, too." The absence of such characters doesn't make fictional constructs hostile; it makes them indifferent, which can be far worse.

"Another difference with games is that, as a medium, they're about invoking our fears so that we can overcome them," Johnson speculates. "I think that's what happens in both Resident Evil 5 and also Dead Island. They're not just invoking fear of zombies, they are invoking fear of blackness, and offering the gamer an opportunity to challenge their racial fears as well as their other fears. What you're seeing here is a subconscious action. And the reason it becomes clear because it's not in one game, it's in several different games."

"There have been exceptions in games like Left 4 Dead," Johnson observes, "where you have an actual black nerd character in the game." "I honestly think the move away from this going to be generational, when it's so easy to produce a 3D video game that it's the equivalent of shooting a movie today with a digital camera. But, until then, when I see a game that clearly walks right into a racial dead-end, I know I'm seeing a room of developers talking out a story with not one black person, not one Latino person of power in that room. So I think the single biggest thing that many of these companies could do to make sure that they are being representative of the larger culture's ethos, would be to hire in a diverse way."

"It's not a question of [developers and publishers] pushing culture forward," Johnson said. "It's a question of them catching up to mainstream culture. Part of it, I think again, is market success. They haven't had to worry about that at this point, because they're still going to sell a ton of games if the basic gameplay is good. But being better about black characters and characters of other races would make the overall quality better, too."

In other mediums and creative pursuits, there've been the black people who pivoted the conversations, expanded the possibilities and deepened the portrayals about what black people are. In jazz, it was Charlie Parker. In literature, it was Ralph Ellison. In comics, I'd argue that it was Christopher Priest, followed by Dwayne McDuffie. For me, the work of the deceased McDuffie managed to create characters that communicated an easily approachable vein of black cool.

Video games need this kind of paradigm-shifting figure. Not an exec, mind you—sorry, Reggie—but a creative face who steers the ethos of a game. For example, you know what kind of game a Warren Spector or a Jenova Chen is going to deliver. With Spector, it's a game that'll spawn consequences from player action. With Chen, you'll get experiences that try to expand the emotional palette of the video game medium. I want someone to carry that flag for blackness, to tap into it as a well of ideas.

Blackness can be a sort of performance, a lifetime role informed by the ideas of how people see you and how you want to be seen. One thing I've heard over the years is some variation of the colorblind testimonial: "I don't see a black guy when I look at you. I just see you." Well, if you're not seeing a black guy, then you're not seeing all of me. And if you're seeing just a black guy, you're not seeing all of me in that instance either.

I'm not naïve: no one's going to buy a video game because it's less wince-worthy on matters of race or diversity. But, maybe if Black Cool found its way into video games, I wouldn't have to hear the word "nigger" during online multiplayer sessions so much. Or maybe I wouldn't have to listen to characters that sound like 18th-Century minstrels in cyberpunk games.

While I'm sick of video games stumbling around the same ol' stereotypes and being afraid of black lead characters—"they won't sell!," cries the panicked logic— I'm not going to love Starhawk or Prototype 2 more because they have black lead characters. But if Emmett Graves and James Heller tap into some kind of deeper, more surprising portrayal than Standard Gruff Black Guy #29 and feel more human as a result, I'd feel better about the creative possibilities of video games.

Any mode of creativity that wants to be called mature needs to grapple with the sociopolitical issues of its time and place, especially if it wants to hold onto future generations. If it doesn't, then said medium just remains stuck in its own adolescence. When it comes to the examining the realities of how race can be lived in the world, movies, books and TV all do it. I'm not saying video games won't or can't, but damn if it's not a long time coming. Getting black characters who don't make me grit my teeth would be a great sign that video games are growing up.

For the past 15 years, Sweden's Yami has been cosplaying. While others might favor cool or cute characters, Yami specializes in zombies, gore, and the stuff of nightmares.

In these images, she cosplays as characters and zombies from Resident Evil, RE5, Left 4 Dead, and The Walking Dead.

"I love to cheer my love for zombies to the world," Yami told Kotaku.

Yami's currently planning a series of new cosplays that range from Left 4 Dead 2's Ellis to Mass Effect's Female Shepard.

For more photos and more zombie love, check out Yami's site in the link below.

YAMI_NO_COSMOS WEBSITE! [Official Site]

As far as short nicknames go, hers must be on of the shortest. Going by the frisky sounding "H", this cosplayer focuses her attention primarily on one thing: games made in Osaka.

Her cosplaying efforts breathe life into characters appearing in titles from Platinum Games, such as the titular Bayonetta, and also characters from Capcom games like Resident Evil and Devil May Cry.

But for all her cosplays, Bayonetta is the standout. She effortlessly wears Bayonetta's skin tight threads and stilettos. Those scribbles on her shoulders are signatures of the game's designers. Talk about a seal of approval.

BAYONETTA and Capcom [だらんぶろぐ]

Remember the time you gunned down all of those terrifying, pasty monks? Or when that unhinged fella with the chainsaw chased you down the alleyway? Man, that was really fun.

This trailer for Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D for the 3DS put me in mind of a late night spent marathoning Resident Evil 4, or some of the terrific co-op times I had with RE5. This newest trailer introduces us to the eight franchise favorites who are due to kick some zombie ass late next month. We've got chesty Chris Redfield and sister Claire. Jill Valentine can be spotted breaking necks with her hips. There's Barry Burton and masked HUNK, demure Rebecca and the opposite-of-demure Krauser. And last but not least, "I wear sunglasses at night" Albert Wesker.

The title, which is contains remastered stages from installments 4 and 5 of the series, is due to hit shelves on June 28, exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.

Late last week, Sony revealed its new portable, currently codenamed NGP, to the world. Perhaps you read my liveblog? Now you can watch the real thing, complete with English voice-overs.

The event showed off the new NGP as well as games like Uncharted and Little Deviants. Game developers like Capcom's Jun Takeuchi (Resident Evil 5) and Konami's Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid) showed tech demos of games running on the NGP.

The second and the third clip are the most interesting, followed by the tech demos. If you are looking for me, I'm in the very front row. Wave if ya see me! I...won't wave back.

It's January, typically gaming's slow month. But Capcom, best known for Street Fighter and Resident Evil, is hard at work on two big time original games. One will make you question Capcom's sanity.

Capcom is not one to shy from sequels or resurrecting its popular games. But in the latest issue of Japanese game magazine Famitsu, Takeuchi apparently stated, "We have two big original titles for 2011 that we haven't revealed yet."

According to Takeuchi, one of the titles will make people think, "At this point, what the hell are you doing? What, are you stupid?"

By this summer, Takeuchi promises that players will be surprised twice, a remark that could point to a summer reveal for the games and not a release date per se.

Previously, Takeuchi produced Resident Evil 5 as well as Lost Planet 2.

カプコン「今年の夏までにユーザーを2回驚かせる」 [2ch]

Chinese toy company Hot Toys is working on another Resident Evil 5 toy. This one's another Jill Valentine, only this time, she's looking ready for a midnight swim.

This 1/6 scale figure — which actually depicts Jill in her "battle suit" — will be out later this year. As is expected with Hot Toys figures, she's incredibly detailed, and as is expected with Hot Toys figures, she'll most likely be prohibitively priced (most likely around the $150 mark).

In a nod to the kind of demographic expected to purchase this, it not only includes a range of weapons and interchangeable hands, but...you can also unzip the front of her suit. Stay classy, Hot Toys!

In Japan, there is an array of hotel options. There are traditional inns, business hotels and places like Hotel Akaikutsu (above) where people go to screw each other's brains out. And when they finish, they can play video games.

Love Hotels have their origins in the post World War II years, when prostitution was legalized in Japan due to fears that American forces would run amock.

A (literally) cottage industry sprung up with rooms being rented by the hour for daily "rest". After the occupation ended and the turbulent 1960s began, love hotels began to dot the urban landscape. What originally were simple rooms for trysts became gaudy playpens. Even Nintendo, which started out as a playing card maker, owned love hotels in Kyoto.

Japanese houses and apartments are traditionally cramped, and even married couples visited love hotels for some private time away from the kids. Around love hotels, prostitution also began to flourish.

By the heady 1970s and 1980s, love hotels were long a staple of city life. To attract guests and remain competitive, love hotels began to open themed rooms, whether that be S&M or Hello Kitty or both, as wells as room service, alcohol, dress-up costumes, adult toys, magic mushrooms (until around 2001 or 2002 when they became illegal), karaoke machines, and yes, video game consoles.

Back when the Wii and the PS3 were first released, select love hotels would proudly promote that they had the latest, cutting-edge game hardware — as well as the old standby, the PS2, a love hotel favorite for years.

The consoles are typically either located in the room or can be ordered via room service, often with a surcharge for games.

Now, a hotel in Kobe called "Swing" is under investigation for renting games like Mario Kart Wii and Resident Evil 5 to guests, a violation of Japanese copyright law. In Japan, renting video games and consoles is generally not permitted. According to the Japanese reports, the hotel in question is a "camouflage love hotel", meaning that it looks a bit classier than your typical love hotel, but functions in much the same way, renting rooms by the hour. The hotel, however, does say it accepts families and vacationers as well.

Last fall, five individuals rented games at Swing, prompting a crackdown from the cops. The hotel, however, offers consoles for guests's enjoyment free of charge.

This all falls into the gray area of Japanese law, but Nintendo was able to successfully side-step all this during the 1980s and 1990s when the game company released Famicom and Super Famicom coin-operated consoles. Guests in hotels could feed the "Famicombox" or "Super Famicombox" yen and play various games for anywhere between 5 to 15 minutes a pop.

Culture Smash is a daily dose of things topical, interesting and sometimes even awesome — game related and beyond.

[Pic]

In Japan, there is an array of hotel options. There are traditional inns, business hotels and places like Hotel Akaikutsu (above) where people go to screw each other's brains out. And when they finish, they can play video games.

Love Hotels have their origins in the post World War II years, when prostitution was legalized in Japan for a period due to fears that American forces would run amok.

A (literally) cottage industry sprung up with rooms being rented by the hour for daily "rest". After the occupation ended and the turbulent 1960s began, love hotels began to dot the urban landscape. What originally were simple rooms for trysts became gaudy playpens. Even Nintendo, which started out as a playing card maker, owned love hotels in Kyoto.

Japanese houses and apartments are traditionally cramped, and even married couples visited love hotels for some private time away from the kids. Around love hotels, prostitution also flourished.

By the heady 1970s and 1980s, love hotels were long a staple of city life. To attract guests and remain competitive, love hotels began to open themed rooms, whether that be S&M or Hello Kitty or both, as wells as room service, alcohol, dress-up costumes, adult toys, magic mushrooms (until around 2001 or 2002 when they became illegal), karaoke machines, and yes, video game consoles.

Back when the Wii and the PS3 were first released, select love hotels would proudly promote that they had the latest, cutting-edge game hardware — as well as that trusty old standby, the PS2, a love hotel perennial favorite.

The consoles are typically either located in the room or can be ordered via room service, often with a surcharge for games.

Now, a hotel in Kobe called "Swing" is under investigation for renting games like Mario Kart Wii and Resident Evil 5 to guests, a violation of Japanese copyright law. In Japan, renting video games and consoles is generally not permitted. According to the Japanese reports, the hotel in question is a "camouflage love hotel", meaning that it looks a bit classier than your typical love hotel, but functions in much the same way, renting rooms by the hour. The hotel, however, does say it accepts families and vacationers as well.

Last fall, five individuals rented games at Swing, prompting a crackdown from the cops. The hotel, however, offers consoles for guests' enjoyment free of charge.

This all falls into the gray area of Japanese law, but Nintendo was able to successfully side-step all this during the 1980s and 1990s when the game company released Famicom and Super Famicom coin-operated consoles. Guests in hotels could feed the "Famicombox" or "Super Famicombox" yen and play various games for anywhere between 5 to 15 minutes a pop.

Culture Smash is a daily dose of things topical, interesting and sometimes even awesome — game related and beyond.

[Pic]