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How much does censorship bother you?

J

Jonneh3003

Banned
I've been browsing through some Project Zero threads and the majority of discussion seems to be about the localisation team replacing bikini costumes with Nintendo themed ones, is it such a big deal? A friend of mine was applauded about some censorship in Fire Emblem Awakening too and I just can't fathom why for the life of me.

Reducing breast physics or covering a revealing image doesn't have any effect on the game itself, I can somewhat understand why it may bother people as they don't want a toned down version of a game but if you played the original version and then the censored one you would literally have the exact same experience (given that the censorship is something small like a costume).

Don't get me wrong I'm not a fan of censorship but it really doesn't bother me enough to change my opinion of a game. I've literally read that people are no longer buying Project Zero due to the censored content. This isn't intended so much as a rant but more of a discussion, how many of you are personally impacted by censorship and will go as far as avoiding a game because of it?
 
E

ElTorro

I wanted to dominate the living room. Then I took an ESRAM in the knee.
I know nothing about that particular game, but generally speaking, I hate cencorship. I am an adult, and I can decide on my own what forms of media and art I want to consume or not. Even if the final product does not suffer a lot from it, censorship always feels presumptuous to me.
 
P

Pankratous

Member
A lot.

Nobody should have the right to decide what entertainment, art or other media another adult is allowed to consume.
 
G

Greddleok

Member
I dislike it because I'm big enough to decide whether I can handle looking at a butt or not. I don't want someone making that decision for me.
 
J

JordanKZ

Member
It honestly depends on the context. I'm totally okay with them covering up 13 year old girls more, Japan has very different cultural norms about that kind of thing.

Some censorship feels needless though.
 
A

axisofweevils

Holy crap! Today's real megaton is that more than two people can have the same first name.
I think games, in general, should respect the artist's original vision.
 
mcz117chief

mcz117chief

Member
It is pointless. The game should come out however the game designer wanted it to come out. Censoring it is like giving David pants.
 
E

Escalario

Banned
One thing I've noticed is that the outrage is always when the character getting censored is underage. I don't remember any outrage for an adult character.
 
V

Vital Tundra

Member
I won't avoid a game if they censor it, but depending on the game it it may or may not bother me. Something like Earthbound may bother me today, but I understand why Nintendo did it back then. Do I think the re-release on the Wii U should have used the original art assets? Yes. But its whatever at the end of the day.
 
S

Skux

Member
Yes it can involve minor cosmetic alterations that don't change the fundamental gameplay, but that's not what's it's about. It's the principle.

There's the sense that you're not getting the 'true' version that the creators intended, or that people in other countries do, while you have to miss out because other people have a different idea of what's appropriate. Who are they to decide what media I should be allowed to experience?
 
6

60EffPeeEss

Member
Its just catering to the market where the game will be released. The one that really gets me is the Bravely Default changes. People flipped out over stupid chibi characters being put in more appropriate costumes so there would be no chance of people crying paedophilia, and the torrents of tears from the "no censorship" crowd was insane.

The game wasn't any different apart from costumes. Just beyond belief.

Personally, I can't think of any situation where it has affected me. I suppose not being able to play localised early SMT games because of religious content is an issue, but with time, society has loosened up on that, so its not much of an issue any more. One game I do remember having "censorship" and being made all the better for it was Manhunt 2. It would have been pretty straight and boring if the executions were just normal camera views with no filters, but all the extra stuff to "mask" the kill added to it, in my opinion.
 
L

LewieP

Member
These aren't really examples of censorship in my mind. The publishers made these decisions because they thought they'd make more money this way. It's just the free market in action.

No commercial art exists outside of the capitalistic framework, you can't separate a work from the society it was created in. Micro and macro economics have an impact on many aspects of creation of commercial art beyond what you have described.
 
J

James Scott

Banned
Under aged girls in skimpy outfits isn't my thing so if that's taken out then that's perfectly fine.
Hope they remove the X costume too
In Japan it's different because younger girls can be legal there and it might be more culturally appropriate so aging a character up or removing costumes would be proper localization
 
B

Bio

Member
I am extremely against it. I will straight up not buy a game/manga/whatever if I know even one thing about it has been censored for america, even it's not a big thing. It just pisses me off to no end.
 
S

Savitar

Member
If I buy a game then I don't want censorship in it as the overall nature of censorship is not exactly a positive one.

That said the censorship in Fire Emblem Awakening did kind of backfire as it made her picture seem more scandalous where as the original was pretty tame.
 
M

Mephala

Member
It is a case by case for me. Generally I dislike it because I feel that I'm getting something that is different from what the developers originally intended. If it is the only way for it to make its way to my country though I'm not going to complain about the censorship rather than the stupid ratings board we have here.

Sometimes a censor might improve the design for me though I can't think of one off the top of my head I do recall it happening a few times before.
 
Gormless Noodle

Gormless Noodle

Member
It really depends on how severe it is. If it's just some outfit changes, I would probably not be too inclined to care, although I certainly don't support any type of censoring.

But if they alter something heavily like say with Mortal Kombat on SNES (ancient example, I know) then I would definitely avoid it.
 
A

Alucrid

Banned
Well of you really want those girls in bikinis the only way to stand up to Nintendo self censorship is to not buy the game. Of course the only way to show future support for the fatal frame franchise is to buy the game. Good luck lol
 
M

markshneider

Neo Member
It's always terrible to have some content you desire censored.
But I think that today, the decisions to censor something or not, are mainly because of ratings. Say, if you have a title to launch, and with it's current content it would receive an Adults Only rating. That alone would cut your profit in half if not less. Specially if you're going physical, since some retailers would not expose your boxes with that rating.
No numbers here, just a gess.
 
G

Garrett Hawke

Member
JordanKZ said:
It honestly depends on the context. I'm totally okay with them covering up 13 year old girls more, Japan has very different cultural norms about that kind of thing.

Some censorship feels needless though.
Click to expand...
Indeed. Scantily clad or sexualised 13 year olds shouldn't be in games anyway so if they're removed for foreign releases I'm fine with it.

If it's an adult wearing outfits, sure, go ahead, whatever. I don't think it's tasteful but it's not creepy or disturbing, unlike the sexualisation of minors.
 
Y

YoodlePro

Member
I hate it with my entire existence. It is babysitting me as an adult as well as restricting the artist's original view.
 
S

Sniffynose

Member
I don't see them drawing clothing on famous works of art at galleries to protect adult viewers so why do games need it? I love the double standards between movies and games. If a game has nudity or blood it's horrible, but if a movie has blood and everyone screwing each other (oops just spoiled every recent "horror" film) then it's perfectly fine.
 
S

Somnid

Member
I'm not familiar with the specifics of this but it sounds fine. It depends on if it's "won't somebody think of the children?!" versus a difference in regional culture. There's a lot of sexist shit that flies in Japan and doesn't here so I'm okay with toning it down if it makes sense. Another example might be the Fire Emblem Fates face touching stuff. It's sufficiently stupid and awkward that they can replace it. Japanophile purists can import.
 
F

Finale Fireworker

Member
I don't care when they make minor adjustments to particularly tasteless material as viewed through the new cultural lens. Especially when the product is intended for mass appeal.

In this case, I don't think it's so much censorship as much as it is editing.

I don't like censorship in virtually all other cases, though. It's not something I just let slide. I would probably feel differently if I played soft-erotic games. Or if games were still censored for violence (in my country).

But, yes, putting a curtain over Tharja's bathing suit is moronic and condescending.
 
BibiMaghoo

BibiMaghoo

Member
axisofweevils said:
I think games, in general, should respect the artist's original vision.
Click to expand...

I feel like this, except in cases where the artists original vision is irrelevant, as in the case of Quiet for example. Or in cases where the artist is a fucking creepy child panty shot guy. Because they don't deserve any respect either.

So not censorship, but rather don't make shit in the first place.
 
M

marrec

Banned
In principle it's troubling. In practice is very rarely upsetting. Changing a bathing suit or removing Christian iconography from the story (as two examples) just doesn't upset me as much as larger, more insidious forms of censorship.

So, in most cases it upsets me very little.
 
M

Mistouze

user-friendly man-cashews
What you are describing is not censorship, just editorial choices.

You can not like it but it's foolish to talk about censorship in these cases.
 
W

wrowa

Member
I think it's quite silly to be angry about some removed skimpy outfits or altered lewd scenes. In almost every case, it doesn't actually affect a game's story / meaning / whatever and it's just such an unimportant issue to be angry about. There are real censorship issues on this planet and this is just not among it.
 
P

PillarEN

Member
Hate it. Wish it would never be implemented no matter what. If the material bothers me so much then I won't buy the art.
 
N

NumberThree

Member
axisofweevils said:
I think games, in general, should respect the artist's original vision.
Click to expand...
Yeah but the problem is, how do you know what's the artist's original vision? What if they didn't actually want to make a game with scantily clad women but figured that's what they should do to sell better in Japan?

Like what the Ojiro Fumoto, the developer of Downwell, (likely jokingly, but still) said:
Ojiro says he initially just wanted to make Spelunky for smartphones, just because he wanted to play that game. He wants to release it in the west and in Japan in Japanese, but he doesn’t think it will do well in Japan. “There would surely be some audience, but mostly people want a cute anime girl. Maybe if I make the character a girl. DLC costumes or something.”
Click to expand...
 
U

urfe

Member
It's not a choice.

If the game is not censored, everyone plays it as such.
If the game is censored, everyone plays it as such.

If s company thinks more people in a market would enjoy the game without X, why not change it? Perhaps better to have both, but when it's breast size or whether you can see a girl's underwear, it becomes awkward.

Conversely, I love the choice in Japanese Uncharted games to censor out blood.

I have little problem "within reasonable limits".
 
C

Catdaddy

Member
I don't like it at all. I can decide what is appropriate for my daughter without the intervention of the government.

That said, still erks me when I hear of parents buying GTA5 for 8 and 9 year olds, that's just plain ignorance.
 
A

Angel_DvA

Member
I hate cencorship, plain and simple, it's like people who write fuck, f*ck... we know what you are writing, just DO IT God dammit...
 
F

Finale Fireworker

Member
BibiMaghoo said:
I feel like this, except in cases where the artists original vision is irrelevant, as in the case of Quiet for example. Or in cases where the artist is a fucking creepy child panty shot guy. Because they don't deserve any respect either.

So not censorship, but rather don't make shit in the first place.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with this. I certainly judge everything on a case by case basis, but this is more or less how I feel.

I respect your right to make Quiet, but I don't support your decision to do it.
 
L

Lord British

Member
If it's something like Bravely Default's fetish outfits for underage characters, then I'm OK with it.

As I get older and spend more time with my nephews and nieces I find myself wishing there was some better way to do this whole videogames thing.
 
O

oti

Banned
Fine with:

- changing a character's age (I don't want a 7-year-old girl with bouncing breasts wearing hardly any clothes, come on Japan)
- censoring brutality (I don't need the heads to explode or arms and legs to fly off the enemies, if it's 18+ it shouldn't be censored of course but it doesn't bother me as much)

I live in Germany so getting censored games is pretty much normal over here. I don't mind it that much. I didn't care about "No Russian" either.
 
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