2 things to take care of
OK. First the political then on to the Anecdotal.
------------
Well RE5 has recently gotten bad press again. Why? Because some guy on EUROGAMER thinks that because you're in Africa things are racist. OK, for an outsider point of view (the usual view of politicians and the 80% of the consumer public that is uninformed) I can see why.
I'll hip you to it.
First of all, you're a white guy in military style clothing running around areas of Africa shooting them to death.
Your partner is a light skinned, British accented, Hollywood acceptable African woman.
There seem to be random acts of violence erupting among the masses even though many of them do not have the infection.
There is a confirmed scene where you witness a blonde white woman being dragged off by a group of the infected men. When you go to rescue her, she is all ready infected and must be killed.
This is what people see, but not even close to what is really going on.
The author of the review wants to emphasize that it was probably a dumb decision to have RE5 take place in Africa. In spite of the fact that the prior locations have been Europe and America where all the zombies have been white, Africa is a bad location because of how the people are portrayed in the media. The history of them being portrayed as sub standard humans who are prone to violence isn't helped by the fact that a game makes it OK to shoot them. Even if they are zombies.
OK first some real history lesson. SOME countries on the African continent are INDEED experiencing some "social unrest". Many people should understand that. Yes the media neglects to show some seriously heavy footage of things that are currently going on in other parts of the world, but the truth is that it can be extremely brutal in some areas. Hell, it's a jungle in some areas in America. For exampled, Detroit has been on the list of the worst cities in America for years now. And from people I have spoken to that have lived there... yeah it's pretty justified. Why do you supposed they staged ROBOCOP there? Perfect example of a rundown, corrupt, and heavily crime dominated area.
And of course, the inevitable racial question is that... "Hey aren't these areas in America predominantly black too?" Yes, but it's not a result of them being black. It's a result of people who are in bad economic situations. Doesn't matter if they're white, black, Asian, or Hispanic. Put enough people who are suffering together in a group with almost to way to get out... and they will eat each other. Sorry to say, but the Joker was right. People who are desperate will do anything. They will EAT each other. It's human nature. We are animals at our very core, and if we are threatened in any way we will act as such.
So to amend the above mistruths... here's the full situation. Chris Redfield is a member of the BSAA (an anti-bioterror organization). He goes to Kijuju (fictional place) in order to investigate a new outbreak of what seems to be the T-Virus or the Las Plagas. He is not to interfere in any other way with the lives of the people there. Kijuju is ravaged. The people are scared, the infected are growing, you can't tell who's infected, and there is constant overtone of social unrest. However, things change one day when they realize that almost everyone is infected. The mission begins here... They are't human anymore... They can't be cured... And now it's either killing the all ready dead or dying yourself.
Sheva Alomar is your partner. She was born in this area but was whisked away to America when her parents died in an accident. She knows this area and is your best guide.
The people who are infected have no will of their own. They act because they are being controlled by a central source. The infection doesn't spread via physical contact, airborne transmission, or even sexual contact. It seems the virus is spread via parasites. These parasites seem to be some kind of cross breed between the Marcus Leeches and the Los Plagas.
Finally, a game review should have some history of the franchise burned into their brain. It's like the reviewers who said Metal Gear 4 sucks because of the long complex storyline, long cutscenes, and its inability to appeal to a mainstream audience. To that I say... DUH! If someone wasn't familiar with the MGS franchise they wouldn't be buying the FINAL CHAPTER. You just don't skip to the last chapter because you could care a f*** less about the characters and have no concept on what is going on. This is true for any franchise that has an end. You don't just read the Deathly Hallows and Return of the King. You must read the others before it.
In the RE world, it's important to know why this takes place in Africa. First and foremost... the virus itself. Plus the company that invested into the creation of this virus.
Allow me to explain...
The parasitic version of this infection is the NEWEST incarnation. Here's how it works in reverse chronological order. This current parasite is a definite derivative of the Los Plagas parasite that was used in RE4. Easy enough... let's continue. In Resident Evil Code Veronica you are introduced to 2 other viruses. The Progenitor Virus and the T-Veronica virus. T-Veronica is a lot like the original T-virus but has a much more DRASTIC transformation in the right individuals. The Progenitor Virus was the original engineered virus from the Umbrella CORP. RE3, introduced us to the Nemesis parasite. The parasite is hard to manufacture and if given to the right individual will turn them into an unstoppable creature that is almost invincible. Also, the creature that results can be controlled to do tasks set out for it. In RE2, you are introduced to the G-virus. A new derivative of the T-virus that turns ANYONE into a monstrous beast capable of regeneration. The original Resident Evil introduced us to the most famous virus, the T-Virus. One in every few million people will react favorably to the T-virus and become a TYRANT. The others lose their free will and turn into flesh eating creatures resembling the dead. The Prequel Resident Evil 0 rehashed the Progenitor Virus but also brought to light that there were a few branches of Umbrella that worked on different virus configurations at the same time. The Marcus sector worked off of the original progenitor and adapted it to a living organism. Leeches. These leeches spread the virus when they latch onto the skin. However, these leeches are also capable of banding together into humanoid shape. When all of them come together they bring the original creator Dr. Marcus back to life. He lives on eternally through these leeches. As long as one exists, it may procreate back into a group and reform his consciousness. The 2nd branch of Umbrella worked on the T-Veronica. The third branch (that Wesker and William Birkin were on) worked on the T-virus.
All of these came from the Progenitor. The Progenitor was invented via experimentation from the 3rd branch.
Wesker did a report that chronicled the entire history of the virus creation from the Progenitor all the way to Nemesis Parasite. It is here, that the truth is revealed. The Progenitor was invented because the original strain of virus was EBOLA. They managed to redo the virus structure to where it eroded the frontal lobe capacity of the victims and prevented their quick death but still allowed the decomposition.
One tagline of RE5 is "back to where it all began." OK... where does EBOLA come from? AFRICA YOU MORON!
So to anyone that questions why this takes place in Africa... there's your answer.
Why is it that people get outraged by Black Zombies? Capcom had to pencil in more prototypes so that there are Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Anglo zombies due to the pressure of people who like things to be PC. I don't know why there are so many light colored zombies in what appears to be a sector of Africa that seems desolate and ravaged. Maybe it's South Africa... (Yes there are plenty of white people in South Africa, albeit I'm not sure about other ethnicities).
Besides... who cares if a videogame is racist? Seriously? It's not like the people who it's talking about own a large portion of next gen systems. What about the GTA series where you pick another ethnic stereotype everytime? I once again beg the following... JUST BECAUSE I'M PLAYING A GAME THAT INVOLVES SHOOTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF PEOPLE DOESN'T MEAN I'LL BE DOING THAT IN REAL LIFE. Besides... just because a game MIGHT be racist doesn't mean that it'll turn me racist. Also, the people are victims. Zombification is a disease. So in reality, we're saving these FICTIONAL African people from further infection via another white stereotype. Yes I'm talking about Wesker. A blonde, towering, Schwarzeneggar wanna-be who wears sunglasses in the daytime and sits in a chair all day deciding on what his minions should do. Typical European Villain. Has anyone noticed... Wesker's voice has gone from distinctively strong American accent to slightly garbled European Evil Genius? Seriously.
------------
And now for something completely different...
M'kay so... I was putting my pills in the daily pill case when I bumped into the fridge and something hit my head. Nothing heavy but it rattled. My parents are currently on vacation and I'm watching over the house. Now truthfully... I wasn't curious on what it was until I picked it up to put it back. I noticed that it sounded like there were only a few pills in there. So I looked at the label. 2 pills for the prescription.
That's odd. 2 pills per prescription? What kind of medicine is that? So I turned the label slightly... I nearly dropped it when I saw what it read. Vardenafil.
So class... what is Vardenafil?
Vardenafil is Levitra. The Happy Man Drug that makes you stand up straight.
I wasn't shocked... but it was weird. I wasn't aware that anyone in the house used it. More or less my parents because of the fact that they both were on blood pressure meds which is dangerous to take with such drugs. It can cause low blood pressure and some really bad sides.
I then noticed an open bag. My curiosity got the better of me. I put the bottle back (it was unopened) and opened the bag. 5 bottles of PDE5 inhibitors. Vardenafil and Sildenafil. I was hoping for some tadalafil due to the lower side effects...
Most of the bottles were open. The prescription dated back to 2006. Was this my fate? Was I going to have to use these things in the future? *sigh*
SO in a flash of brilliant ideas, I borrowed a half tab sildenafil. Little did I realize that this was an actual full sized dose.
I had read through many resources that body builders had been using this stuff for three reasons; muscle pumps in the gym, vascularity on stage, and help in the bedroom when taking too strong of a drug. The usual dose is 50mgs. Little did I realize that a half tab was 50 mgs.
So I popped that half tab today.
Resources say... takes 30 minutes to work.
So I popped the pill at exactly ?:30. At ?:56 I was shocked to realize that this stuff actually works... yes it was quite... umm... sudden? However, it quickly went away... the problem is that it was getting difficult to conceal because it makes you more sensitive to stimulation. Then I got the side effects...
Suddenly the room because lighter... both in feeling and view. Literally it was like someone had taken the color nobs on my eyes and turned the blue up about 2 clicks. Everything was brighter and easier to read... but it didn't feel natural. Just to be sure I took a Red Green Colorblind test and I passed it a lot easier than I ever have. No palpitations... but I could tell my blood pressure was dropping. It was getting harder keep working at a high pace. Then the headache. It was dull kind of ache behind the eyeballs. So I had to sit around with my eyes closed in laid back position for a while. Did I also mention the urination? I went to go to the bathroom around 10 times or so. Yes there was a significant volume when I did.
Resources say... half life around 5 hours.
For me... 3.5 hours. It was at that time that the lights became their normal tinge and my headache and slight lightheadedness was beginning to go away.
OK. So I'm obviously one of the guys who gets the bad side effects from this drug. In the case that I have to use it... I'll stick with Tadalafil.
Sildenafil has a problem with dilating the heart vessels which caused that drop in blood pressure. It also messes with pde6. This causes the eye pressure and the change in vision colors. Needless to say, I won't be doing that again. At least not while I'm a healthy adult. This just goes to prove that some of us were not meant to take some drugs.
yeah go ahead and hyuck it up. I told myself that at the very least this would turn out comedic and at the most... tragic.
Besides... I wouldn't want to take this stuff during an APPROPRIATE time. I would have passed out and died of exhaustion. Good thing I got it out of my system like this. Anything else would have been really risky.
------------
Well RE5 has recently gotten bad press again. Why? Because some guy on EUROGAMER thinks that because you're in Africa things are racist. OK, for an outsider point of view (the usual view of politicians and the 80% of the consumer public that is uninformed) I can see why.
I'll hip you to it.
First of all, you're a white guy in military style clothing running around areas of Africa shooting them to death.
Your partner is a light skinned, British accented, Hollywood acceptable African woman.
There seem to be random acts of violence erupting among the masses even though many of them do not have the infection.
There is a confirmed scene where you witness a blonde white woman being dragged off by a group of the infected men. When you go to rescue her, she is all ready infected and must be killed.
This is what people see, but not even close to what is really going on.
The author of the review wants to emphasize that it was probably a dumb decision to have RE5 take place in Africa. In spite of the fact that the prior locations have been Europe and America where all the zombies have been white, Africa is a bad location because of how the people are portrayed in the media. The history of them being portrayed as sub standard humans who are prone to violence isn't helped by the fact that a game makes it OK to shoot them. Even if they are zombies.
OK first some real history lesson. SOME countries on the African continent are INDEED experiencing some "social unrest". Many people should understand that. Yes the media neglects to show some seriously heavy footage of things that are currently going on in other parts of the world, but the truth is that it can be extremely brutal in some areas. Hell, it's a jungle in some areas in America. For exampled, Detroit has been on the list of the worst cities in America for years now. And from people I have spoken to that have lived there... yeah it's pretty justified. Why do you supposed they staged ROBOCOP there? Perfect example of a rundown, corrupt, and heavily crime dominated area.
And of course, the inevitable racial question is that... "Hey aren't these areas in America predominantly black too?" Yes, but it's not a result of them being black. It's a result of people who are in bad economic situations. Doesn't matter if they're white, black, Asian, or Hispanic. Put enough people who are suffering together in a group with almost to way to get out... and they will eat each other. Sorry to say, but the Joker was right. People who are desperate will do anything. They will EAT each other. It's human nature. We are animals at our very core, and if we are threatened in any way we will act as such.
So to amend the above mistruths... here's the full situation. Chris Redfield is a member of the BSAA (an anti-bioterror organization). He goes to Kijuju (fictional place) in order to investigate a new outbreak of what seems to be the T-Virus or the Las Plagas. He is not to interfere in any other way with the lives of the people there. Kijuju is ravaged. The people are scared, the infected are growing, you can't tell who's infected, and there is constant overtone of social unrest. However, things change one day when they realize that almost everyone is infected. The mission begins here... They are't human anymore... They can't be cured... And now it's either killing the all ready dead or dying yourself.
Sheva Alomar is your partner. She was born in this area but was whisked away to America when her parents died in an accident. She knows this area and is your best guide.
The people who are infected have no will of their own. They act because they are being controlled by a central source. The infection doesn't spread via physical contact, airborne transmission, or even sexual contact. It seems the virus is spread via parasites. These parasites seem to be some kind of cross breed between the Marcus Leeches and the Los Plagas.
Finally, a game review should have some history of the franchise burned into their brain. It's like the reviewers who said Metal Gear 4 sucks because of the long complex storyline, long cutscenes, and its inability to appeal to a mainstream audience. To that I say... DUH! If someone wasn't familiar with the MGS franchise they wouldn't be buying the FINAL CHAPTER. You just don't skip to the last chapter because you could care a f*** less about the characters and have no concept on what is going on. This is true for any franchise that has an end. You don't just read the Deathly Hallows and Return of the King. You must read the others before it.
In the RE world, it's important to know why this takes place in Africa. First and foremost... the virus itself. Plus the company that invested into the creation of this virus.
Allow me to explain...
The parasitic version of this infection is the NEWEST incarnation. Here's how it works in reverse chronological order. This current parasite is a definite derivative of the Los Plagas parasite that was used in RE4. Easy enough... let's continue. In Resident Evil Code Veronica you are introduced to 2 other viruses. The Progenitor Virus and the T-Veronica virus. T-Veronica is a lot like the original T-virus but has a much more DRASTIC transformation in the right individuals. The Progenitor Virus was the original engineered virus from the Umbrella CORP. RE3, introduced us to the Nemesis parasite. The parasite is hard to manufacture and if given to the right individual will turn them into an unstoppable creature that is almost invincible. Also, the creature that results can be controlled to do tasks set out for it. In RE2, you are introduced to the G-virus. A new derivative of the T-virus that turns ANYONE into a monstrous beast capable of regeneration. The original Resident Evil introduced us to the most famous virus, the T-Virus. One in every few million people will react favorably to the T-virus and become a TYRANT. The others lose their free will and turn into flesh eating creatures resembling the dead. The Prequel Resident Evil 0 rehashed the Progenitor Virus but also brought to light that there were a few branches of Umbrella that worked on different virus configurations at the same time. The Marcus sector worked off of the original progenitor and adapted it to a living organism. Leeches. These leeches spread the virus when they latch onto the skin. However, these leeches are also capable of banding together into humanoid shape. When all of them come together they bring the original creator Dr. Marcus back to life. He lives on eternally through these leeches. As long as one exists, it may procreate back into a group and reform his consciousness. The 2nd branch of Umbrella worked on the T-Veronica. The third branch (that Wesker and William Birkin were on) worked on the T-virus.
All of these came from the Progenitor. The Progenitor was invented via experimentation from the 3rd branch.
Wesker did a report that chronicled the entire history of the virus creation from the Progenitor all the way to Nemesis Parasite. It is here, that the truth is revealed. The Progenitor was invented because the original strain of virus was EBOLA. They managed to redo the virus structure to where it eroded the frontal lobe capacity of the victims and prevented their quick death but still allowed the decomposition.
One tagline of RE5 is "back to where it all began." OK... where does EBOLA come from? AFRICA YOU MORON!
So to anyone that questions why this takes place in Africa... there's your answer.
Why is it that people get outraged by Black Zombies? Capcom had to pencil in more prototypes so that there are Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Anglo zombies due to the pressure of people who like things to be PC. I don't know why there are so many light colored zombies in what appears to be a sector of Africa that seems desolate and ravaged. Maybe it's South Africa... (Yes there are plenty of white people in South Africa, albeit I'm not sure about other ethnicities).
Besides... who cares if a videogame is racist? Seriously? It's not like the people who it's talking about own a large portion of next gen systems. What about the GTA series where you pick another ethnic stereotype everytime? I once again beg the following... JUST BECAUSE I'M PLAYING A GAME THAT INVOLVES SHOOTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF PEOPLE DOESN'T MEAN I'LL BE DOING THAT IN REAL LIFE. Besides... just because a game MIGHT be racist doesn't mean that it'll turn me racist. Also, the people are victims. Zombification is a disease. So in reality, we're saving these FICTIONAL African people from further infection via another white stereotype. Yes I'm talking about Wesker. A blonde, towering, Schwarzeneggar wanna-be who wears sunglasses in the daytime and sits in a chair all day deciding on what his minions should do. Typical European Villain. Has anyone noticed... Wesker's voice has gone from distinctively strong American accent to slightly garbled European Evil Genius? Seriously.
------------
And now for something completely different...
M'kay so... I was putting my pills in the daily pill case when I bumped into the fridge and something hit my head. Nothing heavy but it rattled. My parents are currently on vacation and I'm watching over the house. Now truthfully... I wasn't curious on what it was until I picked it up to put it back. I noticed that it sounded like there were only a few pills in there. So I looked at the label. 2 pills for the prescription.
That's odd. 2 pills per prescription? What kind of medicine is that? So I turned the label slightly... I nearly dropped it when I saw what it read. Vardenafil.
So class... what is Vardenafil?
Vardenafil is Levitra. The Happy Man Drug that makes you stand up straight.
I wasn't shocked... but it was weird. I wasn't aware that anyone in the house used it. More or less my parents because of the fact that they both were on blood pressure meds which is dangerous to take with such drugs. It can cause low blood pressure and some really bad sides.
I then noticed an open bag. My curiosity got the better of me. I put the bottle back (it was unopened) and opened the bag. 5 bottles of PDE5 inhibitors. Vardenafil and Sildenafil. I was hoping for some tadalafil due to the lower side effects...
Most of the bottles were open. The prescription dated back to 2006. Was this my fate? Was I going to have to use these things in the future? *sigh*
SO in a flash of brilliant ideas, I borrowed a half tab sildenafil. Little did I realize that this was an actual full sized dose.
I had read through many resources that body builders had been using this stuff for three reasons; muscle pumps in the gym, vascularity on stage, and help in the bedroom when taking too strong of a drug. The usual dose is 50mgs. Little did I realize that a half tab was 50 mgs.
So I popped that half tab today.
Resources say... takes 30 minutes to work.
So I popped the pill at exactly ?:30. At ?:56 I was shocked to realize that this stuff actually works... yes it was quite... umm... sudden? However, it quickly went away... the problem is that it was getting difficult to conceal because it makes you more sensitive to stimulation. Then I got the side effects...
Suddenly the room because lighter... both in feeling and view. Literally it was like someone had taken the color nobs on my eyes and turned the blue up about 2 clicks. Everything was brighter and easier to read... but it didn't feel natural. Just to be sure I took a Red Green Colorblind test and I passed it a lot easier than I ever have. No palpitations... but I could tell my blood pressure was dropping. It was getting harder keep working at a high pace. Then the headache. It was dull kind of ache behind the eyeballs. So I had to sit around with my eyes closed in laid back position for a while. Did I also mention the urination? I went to go to the bathroom around 10 times or so. Yes there was a significant volume when I did.
Resources say... half life around 5 hours.
For me... 3.5 hours. It was at that time that the lights became their normal tinge and my headache and slight lightheadedness was beginning to go away.
OK. So I'm obviously one of the guys who gets the bad side effects from this drug. In the case that I have to use it... I'll stick with Tadalafil.
Sildenafil has a problem with dilating the heart vessels which caused that drop in blood pressure. It also messes with pde6. This causes the eye pressure and the change in vision colors. Needless to say, I won't be doing that again. At least not while I'm a healthy adult. This just goes to prove that some of us were not meant to take some drugs.
yeah go ahead and hyuck it up. I told myself that at the very least this would turn out comedic and at the most... tragic.
Besides... I wouldn't want to take this stuff during an APPROPRIATE time. I would have passed out and died of exhaustion. Good thing I got it out of my system like this. Anything else would have been really risky.