Posted By John Sears on January 10, 2012

It’s a brand new year, and that means it’s time to plot out our next moves in the campaign for full and true Undead Equality here in America. How to reach this lofty goal? Well, in a word: outreach. Lots and lots of outreach.

And outreach often means traveling to where people are and educating them about the plight of the Zombie Community.

With that in mind, the ZRC is pleased to announce our first major convention appearance of the year: we will be attending Horrorhound Weekend in Columbus, Ohio on March 23rd through March 25th.

Why Horrorhound? Well, for starters, it’s typically a huge event, very well attended, which gives us a lot of opportunities to talk with potential converts one on one, and of course, sell them some Zombie Friendly merchandise.

For another, this represents an opportunity to add a new city, indeed, a new *state* to the ZRC’s list of personal outreach appearances. We’ve never been to Ohio on official Zombie Rights business, and so this is an untapped wellspring of potential Zombie Tolerance.

And then there are the guests! Any number of celebrities from the world of (sadly) Anti-Zombie film will be in attendance this year, including Judith O’Dea, who really was a very nice sport at Famous Monsters and took our literature to read on the plane.

Also slated to be there this year is our very own Zombie of the Year for 2010, Baron Mardi, along with some other weirdos from Bloomington who are best left undiscussed on this, a family friendly blog.

Finally, longtime ZRC pal and my personal NanoWrimo nemesis Michelle Hartz will be in Columbus too, and may have some Zombie Friendly surprises in store for you all. Exciting.

So anyone in the greater Columbus area in late March, come see the ZRC at Horrorhound! We could use your support in this great humanitarian endeavor.

Category: Zombie Media, ZRC News | 3 Comments »
Tags: Movies, Public Appearance, Zombie Public Event

Posted By John Sears on January 9, 2012

The ZRC last talked about the film ‘A Little Bit Zombie’ regarding a flagrantly inappropriate contest to win a ‘Zombie Killing Truck’ featured in the movie.

However, a full-length trailer was recently published that gives us a great deal more hope that the final film will be Zombie Friendly, or at least, Zombie Tolerant:

A Little Bit Zombie – Trailer from A Little Bit Zombie on Vimeo.

There’s a lot to like there; the consistent characterization of the Zombie protagonist as, well, a protagonist, the clear villainy of the Anti-Zombie faction, etc.

Though the unfortunate brain-fixation, even as an over-the-top parody (we hope), is of course troubling.

Now you have us intrigued, ‘A Little Bit Zombie’, and the ZRC will have to see your film to judge for ourselves.

Well played.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Movies

Posted By John Sears on January 9, 2012

Action figures. If you’ve ever wondered why ‘classic’ Anti-Zombie films don’t get action figures, well, maybe it just took some time:

“They’re Back from the Grave and Ready to Party” The first ever ROTLD Action Figure! Tarman Zombie features ball jointed neck, Shoulders, Opening Jaw and base with Trioxin cannister and bitten brain!

Oh, if only this action figure really celebrated the Undead and promoted a party, even the Global Reanimation Block Party!

Alas, it doesn’t seem like it, does it?

I mean, this action figure is all about the ‘Opening Jaw’ and the ‘bitten brain’. Divisive! Overly negative and inflammatory!

Oh, if only we could get some Zombie Friendly action figures instead. Something that tells the public, and of course our children, that it’s ok to play, even, party, with the Differently Animated.

If only.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Anti-Zombie Products, Toys

Posted By John Sears on January 9, 2012

As discussed in our previous post on the subject, the ZRC had serious concerns about the new, otherwise highly enjoyable looking tabletop gaming project ‘Legend’ from Rule of Cool.

So we sent them a link to our blog post on the subject and asked for a response. We didn’t have to wait long. Here it is, in its entirety, with a ZRC response to their answers afterward:

Hello John,

I was pleased to see the Zombie Rights Campaign taking an interest in Legend. As you know, the plight of the noble zombie has been foisted upon them unfairly by decades, if not centuries, of abuse at the hands of Romeros and player characters and MMORPGs. We at Rule of Cool Games understand the mistreatment and abuse that zombies have suffered and work to rectify matters. As your review noted, we have extended our core rules to include characters of undead backgrounds, though I would not characterize their relegation to a latter section of the book as ostracism or segregation, as you have. Rather, we consider it a form of affirmative action: we recognize the strong, thriving and unique culture of the undead, dragons and other such entities, and have duly crafted for them whole tracks that better portray their rich heritage in a way that “assimilated” peoples such as elves and orcs no longer express.

Regarding the supposed “parasitic” characterization of the undead, I would note that we as human beings are equally parasitic on the energy of the sun, in all of its myriad forms. The specific ability of the undead to draw on energy is called out because of their capacity to apply it in an extraordinary fashion, above and beyond the simple dietary functions of basal sustenance.

On the point regarding ghouls in Legend, I am told that they represent the Dungeons & Dragons ghoul, which was explicitly an altogether different breed of undead, a gluttonous entity bent on devouring human flesh. I regret that this does leave zombies unrepresented officially, but the campaign for their inclusion is not over yet. As can be seen on all copies of Legend at present, our core rulebook is still in its beta stage and content is constantly being created, revised and reorganized for the full release. I have forwarded the concerns of the Zombie Rights Campaign to the design team and am confident that they will see represententation of zombies in a capacity beyond that of shambling mook as a brave step forward.

If you have any specific suggestions for the promotion of zombie rights as pertains to Legend, I would be more than happy to hear out your ideas.

Most Zombie Friendly Regards,

Laird Smith
Publicity Director
Rule of Cool Games

First of all this is a remarkably thoughtful and constructive reply, and one that the ZRC is hopeful we can build upon.

Second, as regards the Ghoul/Zombie issue: I’m not sure we can let ‘Legend’ off completely. As Mr. Smith notes, there are no Zombies, at least labelled as such, in ‘Legend’; these Ghouls, however, conform to many of the most negative and harmful stereotypes of the Differently Animated.

On the other hand, it could be a lot worse, and often is, in the world of tabletop gaming. Indeed, judging from the D&D/D20 Ghoul, the Legend version of a Ghoul is a huge step forward; in D20 at least, a Ghoul is a being animated solely by hunger, possessing no unique personality, individual skills, or special abilities.

They are definitely not player character material.

Finally, the larger discussion over racial assimilation and parasitism is interesting, and in that regard a lot of it comes down to emphasis and wording. Yes, Dragons are in the same racial track category, and it’s hard to argue that Dragons are an oppressed minority here. But then again, look at the framing around the two groups. The Undead get lots of dark imagery and pejorative language that is hard to equate to the near-idolization of Dragons in fantasy themed recreational activities.

Indeed, Dragons come off pretty well in Legend. The Undead? Well..

Page 82:

3rd Circle – Lord of the DamnedSU: As a master of the forces of undeath, you can grant the mixed blessing of undeath to a fallen creature.

…

4th Circle – The Blight SpreadsSLA: You gain a powerful attack that cripples your foes:

(note for our readers: SU and SLA are suffixes denoting the type of ability; I left the original formatting in the interest of pedantic levels of accuracy for direct quotes)

Now, why are the Undead ‘damned’, anyway? That’s a pretty harsh theological judgment to apply so broadly. And why would anyone want to characterize Undeath as a ‘Blight’, anyway? Especially since in Legend, Undeath can only be ‘spread’ willingly to a Living subject, or otherwise to a corpse.

In other words, it doesn’t spread like a disease at all. People either opt-in, or they get a free extra life after they died, and they can do with that what they please. Hardly a bad proposition if you ask me.

Now, how do Dragons fare in their presentation? Well…

Page 79:

3rd Circle – True DragonEX: This marks your transition from your previous form to the dragon you were meant to be.

…

4th Circle – DignityEX: All conditions and [Binding] effects have their durations reduced by one [Round] when affecting you. If a condition would normally persist for an [Encounter], it instead lasts eight [Rounds]. Permanent conditions are unaltered.

Yes, the ‘dragon you were meant to be’, and they get ‘Dignity’ as an actual ability no less.

It’s worth noting that one other common trait of Dragons and the Undead in ‘Legend’ is that they’re very hard to permanently kill; their final racial ability, the ultimate expression of their power, comes down to free revival under certain conditions from death and defeat.

However the way this benefit is presented to the reader gets to the heart of the matter quite nicely, so, one last compare and contrast:

7th Circle – Great WyrmEX: You have grown in power, transcending the mortality of lesser beings. Whenever you die, if your body is destroyed or your heart is interred in the deep places of the earth, you are resurrected at the beginning of the next [Quest]. Many dragons opt to remove their hearts in order to better take advantage of this ability, a process that is inexplicably quite survivable for a Great Wyrm.

…

7th Circle – No RequiemSU: Heroes that manage to strike you down are doomed to frustration. Once per [Scene], if you are killed, you return to undeath after 1 [Round] with full hit points. You can delay your resurrection or choose not to return at all.

See? A Dragon who has ascended to the height of its power is a ‘Great Wyrm’, above ‘lesser beings’ but the Undead in a similar position receive ‘No Requiem’.

And don’t get me started on the obvious assumption that whoever struck your Undead character down was a ‘Hero’.

All matters of emphasis and language, I suppose, but words hurt! ‘Legend’ came so far toward a truly Zombie Friendly roleplaying experience, but these little jibes and put-downs, however unintentional they might have been, also have a cumulative effect. Players reading ‘Legend’ can hardly be faulted for assuming their Ghoul player character has to be a villain under these circumstances, and while it’s sad that Villain status is a step up from the usual ‘cannon fodder’, it’s also not something the Zombie Rights Campaign is going to accept lying down.

Food for thought, and we do appreciate the dialogue. I’m thinking of getting a game together myself and making an Undead character with the Vigilante track. Think Undead Power Ranger; a Zombie of Justice if you will. It’d help to counter the awful Zombie Antihero thing Marvel has been pushing on the public if nothing else.

Though I just realized that, with the summonable motorcycle and the costume that appears out of nowhere, an Undead Power Ranger might look a lot like Ghost Rider.

Hmm.

Undead Sailor Moon then?

………………

Reminder: You too can get, and perhaps condemn to the appropriate degree, ‘Legend’ now on a Pay-What-You-Want basis from Rule of Cool with all proceeds going to Child’s Play.

And if you’re in the Madison area, I might have an opening for a few Undead Sailor Scouts in the near future.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Zombie Gaming

Posted By John Sears on January 7, 2012

I was intrigued to learn of a new gaming system called ‘Legend’, reminiscent of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ (and built upon the Open Game License) from good old Brian Clevinger:

“…Legend is built to be understandable, to be learnable, and finally, to be something you can own and change and use without too much fear of making the game go boom.” – Legend, page 8.

And that pretty much sets the tone.

If I had to review Legend in one sentence, and it’s my website so I don’t, it’d be this:

“The more I read Legend, the more I’m convinced this is what 4th ed D&D should have been.

For more info, see Legend’s site, especially this handy About page.

We’ve talked before here at the ZRC about the often-fraught and strained, but still promising, relationship between the gaming community and Zombie Rights; the Undead are usually, but not always, treated as adversaries in such systems. And of course, the ZRC would love to see a good method to make inroads toward better and more widespread Zombie Tolerance in the nerdy community.

So I decided to check out ‘Legend’, especially while the game is available under a ‘Pay What You Want’ fundraiser for Child’s Play.

Unfortunately the resulting game is decidedly mixed on Zombie Rights, and has distinctly Zombie Unfriendly elements.

Firstly, the Undead, along with Robots/Androids/Sentient ‘constructs’ and a few other races/species, are segregated from the usual motley assortment of Gnomes, Dwarves, Elves, Halflings and the like, into a separate-but-supposedly-equal ‘Racial Track’ system, and unlike those humanoid character types, playing as an Undead requires special permission and group consensus (Legend core book, page 77):

Racial Tracks
These tracks provide racial abilities for various types of monstrous NPCs or unusual PCs. They are available to PCs with group approval (since not all groups want to play on the same team with vampires or dragons).

Because, you see, while being an Elf just makes your character a person, being Undead defines you much more narrowly, and a gaming group can’t be expected to tolerate that automatically.

Riiiiiiight.

It gets better: the Undead are defined as a group based upon, essentially, destruction and the theft, often violent theft, of living energies (Legend core book, pages 81-82) :

1st Circle – ConsumptionSU: You feed on energy that
belongs to someone else. The specifics of this vary based
on your subtype:

Ghoul: You draw life and sustenance from the flesh of sentient creatures. Once per [Round], if you successfully hit an opponent with your bite attack, you can force the bitten creature to make a Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ your level + your Strength modifier). On a failed save, you regain 1 hit point per level and a +1 bonus on your next d20 roll, and your opponent is [Shaken] for one [Round].

Lich: You draw strength from ambient magical energy. Every time you cast a spell or spell-like ability, you can reduce your level by 1 for purposes of calculating numerical effects of that spell (if you are level 1, all numerical effects are halved). Doing so causes you to regain 1 hit point per level. Additionally, any time a magical effect within [Close] range is dispelled, you regain 1 hit point per level.

Mummy: You draw strength from the fear of surrounding mortals. Every time an opponent within [Close] range fails a saving throw against a [Fear] effect, you regain 1 hit point per level.

Vampire: You draw strength from feeding on blood. Once per [Round], if you successfully hit an opponent with your bite attack, you can force the bitten creature to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ your level + your Constitution modifier). On a failed save, you regain 1 hit point per level and your opponent takes 2 Constitution damage

Skeleton Champion: You draw strength from the heat of battle. Each [Round], as your opponents become weaker, you grow in power. You gain My Name Is War as a bonus feat. Alternatively, you may choose one other feat that you qualify for.

I quote at length to show the wide variety of Undead individuals this game besmirches! Just starting out with the greatly deprecated term ‘Ghoul’ instead of ‘Zombie’ is bad enough, not to mention confusing the issue of Zombies with legitimate dietary needs and that of Living cannibals. But to then define the Undead as all being somehow parasitic on the larger world’s ebb and flow of energy (which, presumably, Legend assigns as belonging to the Living?)

This is doubly tragic because, unlike so many other gaming systems, ‘Legend’ presumes from the outset that sentient, meaningful Undead characters are *desirable* to play and incorporates them into the basic product. Just, it seems, somewhat less desirable than the Living.

Not automatically antagonists, but neither necessarily worthy of shared humanity? It’s an odd middle path to strike out upon.

And not to broaden our mandate too far, but the ZRC also is suspicious of their extremely negative characterization of Demons (ibid, page 78):

Demons are malevolent and destructive creatures, remnants of a dead universe. They spread chaos and despair in many different ways, but all are known for their mobility and the tactical threats they pose.

Given, as we’ve often noted, the broad and blurry line between Demons and Zombies (see ‘Evil Dead’ or the Italian horror classic ‘Demons’ for examples), we have to be vigilant in guarding the Demon-ish flank of the Zombie Community against such prejudices. Must we always characterize Demons in such a harshly negative fashion? They probably have their own side to the story, you know. Ever heard of Good Guy Lucifer?

In the end, despite noteworthy and laudable attempts to mainstream the playing of the Undead in tabletop gaming, ‘Legend’ fails pretty spectacularly at sympathizing with their plight, either in the fictional gameworld or the real one.

The Zombie Rights Campaign is thus reluctantly forced to award it an Anti-Zombie rating, at least until some of these concerns have been addressed:

Update: See this post; rating adjusted to Zombie Tolerant as a result of discussion with Rule of Cool and clarifications.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Zombie Gaming

Posted By John Sears on January 7, 2012

The ZRC was pleasantly surprised by ‘Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?’, and ultimately regarded the first season as uneven but Zombie Friendly. News of a second season therefore made us happy as well.

More details on the second season are becoming available now, along with a surprisingly tawdry little promo video:

The Japanese publisher Kadokawa Shoten began streaming a 143-second promotional video that announces the title for the second anime season of Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? (Is This a Zombie?) on December 27. Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? of the Dead will begin airing in Japan in April.

‘of the Dead’? How delightfully cheeky!

The show, of course, was always a bit, ahem, mildly racy. It also subverted the long tradition of racy, boob-and-butt filled ecchi anime series with its much-put-upon, involuntarily cross-dressed protagonist Zombie, who has to wear the same frilly, pink, and remarkably short-hem-lined outfits as some of the female characters.

Now, I did promise a video, didn’t I? Yes. It’s not subtitled, and it’s a tiiiiiiiny bit NSFW (not safe for work), so if you are at your place of employment you might want to watch this later at home, or at least on a break:

Restraint, in either violence or T&A, was never this show’s strong suit, and I can’t fault them for being honest about it.

Speaking of a lack of restraint, check out this reminder about Japanese media prices:

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? of the Dead’s first Blu-ray and DVD release is slated for May 25 in Japan. The retail price of the Blu-ray version will be 7,980 yen (about US$100), and the limited and regular editions of the DVD version will retail at 6,930 yen (US$90) and 5,880 yen (US$76), respectively. The anime’s second volume will ship in Japan on June 29 with similar versions for the same prices.

Ouch! That’s gotta leave a mark (on one’s wallet).

Anyway, no word yet on if the second season will be coming to America, but I’ll let you know as soon as there’s news.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Anime or Manga, Television

Posted By John Sears on January 7, 2012

I’ve discussed this at length with other interested members of the larger Undead Equality Movement, and easy answers are hard to come by; what, exactly, is the relationship between the ‘Silent Hill’ games and the Zombie Community?

Unlike ‘Resident Evil’, which clearly defames Zombies, ‘Silent Hill’ is a bit harder to pin down. Are your ‘opponents’ in the ‘Silent Hill’ games Zombies per se? Probably not. They could be demons, or hallucinations, or dreams, or people from some alternate plane of existence; I’ve never been entirely certain on that, despite playing a bit of the series, and watching that godawful movie as well.

So the news about a new ‘Silent Hill’ coming out only makes the topic more important for Undead Equality campaigners like the ZRC:

Developed by Vatra Games, Silent Hill: Downpour will be the eighth installment in the Silent Hill series. The game will include and an expanded town from previous games, all-new “Side Quests,” and about 50 weapons. Hulett stated that the production team is aiming to offer more fine-tuned combat. Silent Hill: Downpour will also be the first game in the series to incorporate 3D technology.

Food for thought. A lengthy video about the development of ‘Downpour’ is also available at the above link, for those who want to learn more.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Videogames

Posted By John Sears on January 6, 2012

We’re a pretty tolerant area for the Zombie Community here in Wisconsin, and the Undead are active members of our communities, as we’ve copiously documented on the blog.

So when I heard about an explicitly Anti-Zombie angle on a local gaming convention I was shocked and offended:

WESTON — Every year, the D.C. Everest Gaming Club works to make the annual Evercon gaming convention bigger.

This year, however, things have exploded.

“Everything is new this year,” said co-director Jonathan Elmergreen.

…

The Friday evening events will feature a panel on how to survive a potential zombie apocalypse, and attendees are encouraged to come to the panel dressed as zombies.

“The first night of the event is on Friday the 13th, and 2012 is supposed to be the end of the world, so we really wanted to have some fun with it,” Elmergreen said. “Zombies have become huge in pop culture, and everyone is talking about how they would survive a zombie apocalypse. We just thought this would be a fun way to start the con.”

First of all, Mr. Elmergreen, the preferred nomenclature is ‘Global Reanimation Block Party’, not ‘Zombie Apocalypse’.

Well, at least it is around here.

Second, way to show the vibrant Wisconsin Zombie Community the cold shoulder! Zombies don’t have to equate to the ‘apocalypse’; we’ve been getting along quite well with the Undead for some time here in the Upper Midwest, so this sort of a backslide is awful for public relations as well as civil liberties.

We need to be an example for the nation, not another area piling-on the Differently Animated, adding to their troubles.

For shame, Evercon 2012. It’s a new year and we all need a fresh start, not the same old tired stereotypes about the ‘Zombie Apocalypse and videogames glorifying the violent suppression of the Undead.

For shame.

Category: Zombie Media | 2 Comments »
Tags: Anti-Zombie Public Event

Posted By John Sears on January 5, 2012

I’ll admit to having played quite a bit of ‘House of the Dead’ back in the day, particularly ‘House of the Dead 2′. I even own a copy of ‘Typing of the Dead’, a typing tutor game made from ‘House of the Dead’. Yes, they really did that.

Still, in the years since I’ve seen the light, and simultaneously, most arcades have vanished from the face of the Earth (which is sad). The ‘House of the Dead’ series trudged gruesomely onward, and produced a third, then a fourth entry in the ‘We Have a Grudge Against Zombies and Want Your Money’ arcade franchise.

Now those latter two flagship HotD titles will be coming to the Playstation Network, in HD, and with Playstation Move support even:

The game publisher Sega announced on Thursday that it will reissue 2002′s House of the Dead 3 and 2005′s House of the Dead 4 with high-definition graphics on the PLAYSTATION Network for PlayStation 3 consoles. House of the Dead 3 will be available on February 7, and House of the Dead 4 will be available this spring — for the first time on a home console.

For those unfamiliar with the games, you can get a taste of ‘House of the Dead’s surreal take on Anti-Zombie violence and bizarre storytelling from the trailer for HotD 3:

All those poor ‘Mad Science’ Zombies.

For shame, Sega. For shame, Sony.

For shame.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Videogames

Posted By John Sears on January 5, 2012

The ZRC’s position on the nightmarishly boring, intellect-sapping evil known as ‘Sparkly Vampires’ is well known to our readers. However, what about Sparkly Living Supremacism?

Well, you’ll get plenty of that, tragically, in the upcoming game ‘Lollipop Chainsaw’, previously covered here and here on the ZRC blog.

It’s not pretty:

Sparkle Hunting? Giant glowy hearts and excessive violence against the Undead?

And it’s being written by James Gunn of the ‘Dawn of the Dead’ remake? Oh this is going to end poorly.

The ZRC will keep you updated on this disgusting spectacle as it unfolds.

Hat tip to Siliconera for alerting us to this one.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Videogames, What's Up with Japan?