-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Beyond: Two Souls is censored in Europe (violence) and probably also in US (nudity)
- Thread starter ekim
- Start date
There;s no censorship here. Censorship is enforced changes. Sony and QD decided to tone down a couple of scenes to get a specific rating - their choice hence no censorship.
They clearly decided they didn't want an 18 certificate as with Heavy Rain and slightly edited a few seconds here and there. Happens in films all the time - appropriately or ironically enough take your pick.
So EU cuts out violence, and US cuts out 'erotic scenes'?
Hah, EU wins.
lord knows
Fried Food
Banned
the US version better not be censored. At this point it's basically a matter of principle for me.
And I don't get that part about censoring it in order to get a lower rating? I know this is game has bloody killing and f-bombs, so I'd think it would have gotten the M rating equivalent no matter what.
And I don't get that part about censoring it in order to get a lower rating? I know this is game has bloody killing and f-bombs, so I'd think it would have gotten the M rating equivalent no matter what.
boredandlazy
Member
No they weren't. I'm not talking about the box art, I'm talking about the logos on the actual disc. Sometimes Australia get discs with only the AUS ratings logo, sometimes we get games with PEGI logo as well etc.
I don't really see why there's any uproar over this. Films get minor cuts all the time to hit lower age brackets. It's just a business decision. As he says, the game could have been released completely uncut at PEGI 18, but they didn't want to do that.
Now, whether business decisions should be allowed to trump artistic decisions is another matter. How necessary were the edited sections to the directors artistic vision? Was that level of violence or nudity a crucial part of the story? How much responsibility does the director have to the people bankrolling the game?
All told, I'm really fine with this decision, and although I would like to see more adult only story driven games, that doesn't mean every serious game has to have an 18 rating.
Now, whether business decisions should be allowed to trump artistic decisions is another matter. How necessary were the edited sections to the directors artistic vision? Was that level of violence or nudity a crucial part of the story? How much responsibility does the director have to the people bankrolling the game?
All told, I'm really fine with this decision, and although I would like to see more adult only story driven games, that doesn't mean every serious game has to have an 18 rating.
Succinct Verbosity
Member
The same thing is happening with big budget films. Good luck getting a large budget for a film made for anyone above the age of 12.
Both and play through each of them to see the censored content apparently.
Maybe we will luck out and there will be an Asian Uncut version though. Personally I'm not picking up up censored out of principal.
Really? I wasn't aware of that, thanks. Continue the rage then!
Fried Food
Banned
The game is still rated M in the US though. It had to have been an order from higher up.
MrRegularGuy
Banned
Because when I try to jerk off in a cinema, people throw things at me.
At my place, not so much.
dragonbane
Member
I don't give a shit about these changes. Especially since it is not removed, just slightly censored.
Drug usage. Australia is strict about it.Huh. It's 18+ in Australia. Probably had to remove everything in the game to get that rating though.
They did. Multiple times. Not surprisingly he hates the current rating system.
cj_iwakura
Member
They didn't create the game though. So yeah, it's censorship.
Also, considering the game has a shower scene in previews and the ESRB rating makes no mention of it...
WeylandxYutani
Member
Its a sub 10 second re-edit. It's not as if a large swathe or a feature has been cut.
Nothing to see here. Move along
Nothing to see here. Move along
NuclearSpy
Member
I don't understand why we can't just get an AO rating and get on with it. Let adults make their own choices. The crap on tv is worse.
Literally.
Because Sony wants the game to sell, a lot.
Ugh, this is why I hated PEGI taking over the BBFC's duties in the UK.
Cultures across Europe vary massively, which is why we have individual film classification boards. So why on earth did they think we could homogenise the same for video games?
Aside from the Manhunt 2 embarrassment, the BBFC are/were fantastic at rating game content and understood the importance of context. Perfect example:
Mass Effect 1 PEGI rating: 18
Mass Effect 1 BBFC rating: 12
The BBFC's reasoning was that the game's violence was very similar to Star Wars, and didn't have graphic injury or a mean-spirited/sadistic tone.
PEGI? Laser. Guns. Shoot. Bad. GERMANY.
Cultures across Europe vary massively, which is why we have individual film classification boards. So why on earth did they think we could homogenise the same for video games?
Aside from the Manhunt 2 embarrassment, the BBFC are/were fantastic at rating game content and understood the importance of context. Perfect example:
Mass Effect 1 PEGI rating: 18
Mass Effect 1 BBFC rating: 12
The BBFC's reasoning was that the game's violence was very similar to Star Wars, and didn't have graphic injury or a mean-spirited/sadistic tone.
PEGI? Laser. Guns. Shoot. Bad. GERMANY.
Funny because Germany has its own ratings board and nothing to do with PEGI.
PEGI is not the legally binding rating in Germany.
NuclearSpy
Member
It is unlikely that an M rating or AO would even make the slightest of differences in sales.
phosphor112
Banned
How dare they deny the digital breasts of Ellen Paige!? lol.
dragonbane
Member
Just that everyone is understanding this right, similar to Heavy Rain in Japan nothing is removed. They simply changed the camera angles for about 5 seconds in 2 parts so you can't see the extreme violence. The scenes itself are still completely there. They are not crucial to the plot anyway, so it's not like it's the final scene or anything.
I care as much about this as the 1 second cut in GoW:A. Annoying that it still happens sure, but not really a deal breaker.
And I doubt that the US version is censored in any way. The blog doesn't mention it and there is likely no nudity in the game anyway. Don't trust a single retailer.
I care as much about this as the 1 second cut in GoW:A. Annoying that it still happens sure, but not really a deal breaker.
And I doubt that the US version is censored in any way. The blog doesn't mention it and there is likely no nudity in the game anyway. Don't trust a single retailer.
masterkajo
Member
The funny thing though, Mass Effect 1 USK rating: 16. USK is Germany's own rating System and is normally the main reason stuff gets cut. So instead of making a separat German version Sony just takes the German version for all of Europe lately.
Psykotik
Member
there's an asian directors edition listed. maybe uncut?
http://asia.playstation.com/sg/en/newsdetail?id=1061
http://asia.playstation.com/sg/en/newsdetail?id=1061
Until I see evidence otherwise I'm not assuming Cage had no idea or didn't agree to this. All the signs are that QD/Sony jointly decided this from what I see.
Unless Sony forced QD to change the game to get the rating there is no censorship. Rated media always involves choice and choosing a lower rating and dropping content isn't censorship - you might as well argue the PG-13 Die Hards were censored.
Really what we're actually talking about is selling out for money if we want to quibble the point and be negative - not censorship.
Heavy Rain landed with nudity (and a sex scene too I think? Can't remember) in the US and an M rating so this erotic scene is probably a little more suggestive.
OR
Heavy Rain right from the box art, to the plot and actual scenes is clearly a Mature title which isn't pulling any punches about not trying to appeal to kids. Whereas maybe with Beyond they want more of a mass market hit and don't want to offend people. So even if it ruffles David's and our feathers, they might still want that bigger pie.
I'd guess self censorship. But who knows.
OR
Heavy Rain right from the box art, to the plot and actual scenes is clearly a Mature title which isn't pulling any punches about not trying to appeal to kids. Whereas maybe with Beyond they want more of a mass market hit and don't want to offend people. So even if it ruffles David's and our feathers, they might still want that bigger pie.
I'd guess self censorship. But who knows.
dragonbane
Member
But a lot of retailers in the US don't sell AO rated games right?
The shower scene doesn't show anything (probably not even in the EU). Ellen Page is notorious for not allowing it.
There is always an exception to the rule.
GTA is it's own beast. This game won't sell that much as it is so it's a smart move.
Actually now that I think about it, Indigo Prophecy was censored in a lot of areas including the US so maybe he doesn't have a problem with it, or perhaps he's not in as commanding of a potion as I would expect him to be.
This is why I support Steambox/Steammachine more than Sony/MS consoles for next-gen. The sooner the console videogaming industry moves to an open, standardized market under no private company's direct control (like the Video, Music platforms) - the better.
We cannot get visceral and explicitly adult themed video-games in all their glory because Sony/MS have a reputation to uphold on their closed console platforms. Save us, SteamOS.
We cannot get visceral and explicitly adult themed video-games in all their glory because Sony/MS have a reputation to uphold on their closed console platforms. Save us, SteamOS.
Apparently, that's from the EU version.
I did some research and found some footage of the US version:
Well played.
ComputerMKII
Banned
LukasHeinzel
Banned
I trade a headed William Dafoe over Ellen's "heads" every Day.
As I stated earlier in the thread, one of David Cage's earlier games Indigo Prophecy was censored in the US. Unless I'm mistaken the PC version is no exception. It's likely not a matter of platform it comes down to publishers. Sony in this case and IIRC Atari in the other.