Resident Evil 5: 2008 or 2009?

[Alexia_Ashford]

They were still written by Capcom, and if it's promo material, they're obviously going to promote it with the correct information.

Let's weigh it up here;

Pro 2009-
- Game manual.
- BSAA site
- Adam's blog
- The fact that the first field tests took place in April so it'd be impossible for RE5 to take place in Feb/March 2008 before that first test ever happened, unless it was done in 2007 which is extremely unlikely.

Pro 2008
Chris Kramer's statement that RE5 takes place 10 years after Raccoon City, who is also the guy who didn't know who Sherry Birkin is.

[Stu]

They were still written by Capcom, and if it's promo material, they're obviously going to promote it with the correct information.

Or where not available...make it up?

The idea that it's written by Capcom isn't enough for me. Needs to be clear WHO at Capcom wrote it, for all we know it could've just been some kid on work experience in the mailroom.

Pro 2008
Chris Kramer's statement that RE5 takes place 10 years after Raccoon City, who is also the guy who didn't know who Sherry Birkin is.

hahaha amazing!

[Carnivol]

- The fact that the first field tests took place in April so it'd be impossible for RE5 to take place in Feb/March 2008 before that first test ever happened, unless it was done in 2007 which is extremely unlikely.

One thing I would kindly point out, as far as the "when does RE5 take place" thing goes;

If it was so sure that RE5 was 6th of March (and possibly a day or two out from that) (as suggested by Adam's Blog) and this was so planned out and decided all the way (or at least decided near the end); I'm pretty sure they'd include at least a vague mention of this date, or at least "March" or something in the various attempts at assembling a timeline near launch. Including probably a new entry in copy paste timeline they had in-game.

So even in the case of Pro-2009: Adam's Blog and BSAA desktop should probably not really be considered as part of the official canon. At least not until they're evt. referred to in the future somehow or something in a way that acknowledges their existence (such as something stating that RE5 takes place in Q1 2009, March 2009, Autumn 2009, or whatever.)

Pro 2008
Chris Kramer's statement that RE5 takes place 10 years after Raccoon City, who is also the guy who didn't know who Sherry Birkin is.

This can't possibly be the only thing people are using as a basis for the 2008 claim, can it? (and, yeah, the Sherry thing was kinda hilarious.) <lazy>Didn't someone say something about birthdays earlier in this thread.</lazy> Where'd that stuff come from?


I still stand by what I've said, though; If Village Youth's Diary and RE5 does not take place in the same year, then BSAA doesn't act fast on things, or have terrible intel gathering, and we're once again stuck with the same odd gap of largely undocumented events between "major disastrous events -> Arrival of problem solvers."

It'd almost be like S.T.A.R.S. just moving out to the mansion on a hunch or for a field trip, and there'd be nothing leading up to it... not a single newspaper headline about bizarre murders or anything.
(maybe not entirely as bad as that - as Kijuju itself going shaky surely must've set off someone's alarm. But since everything's relatively close... you'd think it'd take less than 8 months, the absolute minimum for 2009 RE5, before someone finally noticed that the "village" had been screwed too.)

[Mr_Zombie]

I still stand by what I've said, though; If Village Youth's Diary and RE5 does not take place in the same year, then BSAA doesn't act fast on things, or have terrible intel gathering, and we're once again stuck with the same odd gap of largely undocumented events between "major disastrous events -> Arrival of problem solvers."

But wasn't BSAA only in Kijuju because of Irving selling BOWs? They had no idea about the whole parasite thing, Majini etc. I think it was suggested at the beginning of the game that Kijuju was already a "destabilized area" and neither Sheva or Chris reacted when they saw a bunch of people kicking and hiting something alive in a sack at the beginning of the game. It looked as if Kijuju was already something like a getho, surrounded by a huge wall, where poor people were living, killing each other etc, and no one really cared about it.

[Carnivol]

Good point.

But if Irving&co had the situation largely under control in the village, then why would they start to stir up shit nearly a year later in the nearest town?

And this right in the middle of trying to do business with clients (assuming this is indeed what drew BSAA down there. At least their contact speaks of Uroboros, to Chris' surprise.) - was Kijuju a test bed to show clients what they can do with their current BOWs? Could that be why they unleashed ndesu upon the armed forces sent in there? How fast did they manufacture the town's executioner (he seems like... quite the work of art) and why then use a "civilized" and "unstable" area like Kijuju (which surely is observed from the outside world) as a secondary test bed for things when it surely would draw unwanted outside attention to the area... or... I guess that might've been the plan (combat data and all that - good thing they picked their own front lawn for it.)

[ValentineLover]

then BSAA doesn't act fast on things, or have terrible intel gathering, and we're once again stuck with the same odd gap of largely undocumented events between "major disastrous events -> Arrival of problem solvers."

Maybe Excella had something to do with that, she gave the withdrawal order, Maybe she could slow down the BSAA actions (maybe they need aproval of all the GPC members or something like that)

[Smiley]

Why are you reminding people when it was only brought up a few posts earlier?

Because Stu sometimes points need to be brought up yet again in order for them to stick. Case in point: you and the manual.

[Stu]

Because Stu sometimes points need to be brought up yet again in order for them to stick. Case in point: you and the manual.

I don't need to remember the manual though?

Should've just owned up that you were trying to be smart but you didn't realise it was already posted

[TheBatMan]

The reason I am classing Adam's blog as canon as it is his online postings that lead the BSAA to Kijuju in the first place. His blog mentions the plagas, which alerts the BSAA who begin to monitor his blog. Eventually they send in Reynard Fisher to investigate and he confirms their presence. He also spots and identifies Ricardo Irving and learn about his BOW deal. Ricardo is an American citizen, which is why Chris takes part in the operation.

This is all essential back story that really should have been in the game.

Remember that weird scene near the beginning where Chris says the locals are hostile and Kirk tells him to carry on with the mission. Sheva asks in surprise, was HQ expecting this?

This conversation is a direct reference to the goings on at the BSAA website where the Asian analyst deliberately doesn't pass on the vital Intel to Chris. This further cements its canonicity.

But if you are determined to disregard both of these sources, even if they were promo material {The BSAA website certainly wasn't intended to be as it was japanese only, just like Wesker's Report 2 was originally} they still would have had to check their information. Adam's blog would be set in 2008 rather than 2009.

There is no in-game evidence whatsoever to support 2008. If you go by that screen shot next to Jill's pod that says 03/17/08 then according to the in game files that means Tricell found and excavated Umbrella Africa, expanded it {including building that huge atrium with all those stasis pods} and created the Uroboros Virus from scratch in exactly 2 months and 15 days.

Not likely is it?

[Stu]

Remember that weird scene near the beginning where Chris says the locals are hostile and Kirk tells him to carry on with the mission. Sheva asks in surprise, was HQ expecting this?

This conversation is a direct reference to the goings on at the BSAA website where the Asian analyst deliberately doesn't pass on the vital Intel to Chris. This further cements its canonicity.

A lot of effort went into the Japanese website, so i've absolutely no problem taking that as canon.

The production values of the the blog were just so bad, i really do struggle to have any faith in it.

[Carnivol]

The content of BSAA Desktop is mostly fine, but the dates are, like Adam's Blog, just "current" dates (meaning that if someone had overslept one morning or if there'd been a server error one day - they'd be rewriting RE5's history right there on the spot. Not to mention how the last entry in Adam's blog is submitted 2am in the morning). RE5 shifted potential release window so many times that I find those dates hard to swallow as actual ones (but then again, the scenario itself is pretty vague on the when and where, leaving it pretty much open for a lot of things. Just like pin-pointing the exact moment of Resident Evil 4 too.)

Remember that weird scene near the beginning where Chris says the locals are hostile and Kirk tells him to carry on with the mission. Sheva asks in surprise, was HQ expecting this?

Think that was more a case of Sheva being the rookie on the block and no one really being sure about whether or not they'd end up having to use force or not on this assignment (Guns for show or blowing heads). Of course... when Chris starts drawing parallels to Leon's work in Spain... that's when I think someone should've just sent in the cavalry

There is no in-game evidence whatsoever to support 2008. If you go by that screen shot next to Jill's pod that says 03/17/08 then according to the in game files that means Tricell found and excavated Umbrella Africa, expanded it {including building that huge atrium with all those stasis pods} and created the Uroboros Virus from scratch in exactly 2 months and 15 days.

Not likely is it?

Certainly not likely that everything was built/done in 2 and a half month. It's not the Ashfords we're dealing with in RE5 . But I at least don't see that date as a "current date." Like I said before, that has to either be a case of "*insert random numbes*" or evt. the date when Jill was "extracted" from her tube.

How much do we know about that facility anyway? Weren't the computers there a mix of Umbrella OS and TriCell OS ones? Everything there certainly wasn't built recently and chances are that most, if not all, has been there for quite some time (but probably retro-fit with some TriCell enhancements)

[Smiley]

I don't need to remember the manual though?

Should've just owned up that you were trying to be smart but you didn't realise it was already posted

Perhaps you misunderstood my reminder?

But sure, I'll play ball. Let's say I overlooked the point. I don't suppose there's anything to be made against the claims regardless is there?

And I'm sorry, but are you asking me if you need to remember the manual? Because it sounds like you ought to.

For implying I miss the mark it seems as though you may be a victim of your own accusations. Repeating things can be a chore (feel free to look at why the game's manual is flawed on page one of this topic) when they're overlooked, ignored or not acknowledged yet still account as some kind of evidence. Unless of course you actually believe the TALOS incident happened in 2002.....

[Dracarys]

Not to repeat myself but the ages are the only solid proof of anything.


The ages given from the actual game are undeniable FACTS, everything from the actual game is unless a developer directly states an error in game which has not happened. The ages make it impossible to be 2009.


Everything else is speculative. Is the blog canon? It the manual right and not just another typo like the TALOS date directly above it? Is the year of X diary X year? iS BSAA website canon.

The only solid fact leads to the answer of "No, they are not".



People using the marketing to try and argue for 2009 are also being very selective in what they want to use and what they do not. They pick the blog and pick the BSAA website but then for some reason ignore the live action videos, even though nothing has more claim to canon than the last.

I seem to recall the BSAA website filing a report of zombies being spotted in Willamette Shoppng Mall, I guess Frank West and the events of Dead Rising are all canon to the RE universe? I mean if the BSAA website is canon and not just some marketing gimmick this has to be true right?

[Carnivol]

The ages given from the actual game are undeniable FACTS, everything from the actual game is unless a developer directly states an error in game which has not happened. The ages make it impossible to be 2009.

By the way, my memory is still fuzzy on this one;

Where/when does the game tell you the ages of various characters?

Also, the BSAA desktop had indeed a "zombie" link that took you to the Dead Rising Wii site.

(Another random funny tidbit is "WRD: Reidy," which is obviously a reference to Gearoid Reidy and the fact that Adam's profile picture is an edited Ben Judd picture and that Reidy talks about Adam.)

[ValentineLover]

By the way, my memory is still fuzzy on this one;

Where/when does the game tell you the ages of various characters?

In da' Mercs sir