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[Nibel]

..white!

The PlayStation 4 version of Beyond: Two Souls appears to have been altered so its background cast of Saudi characters have lighter skin tones than in the game's original PS3 release.

The characters appear in the Beyond's third chapter, The Embassy, which takes place in Saudi Arabia.

Beyond's main character Jodie Holmes, played by Hollywood actress Ellen Page, acts as a CIA agent in the level.

Her mission is to infiltrate a glamorous embassy gathering to steal documents from a Sheik.

Images comparing Beyond's PS3 original to its new PS4 release show the Sheik's staff of guards - one of which Jodie can possess and control - have been altered in appearance. Some of the party's guests have been changed, too.

Specifically, the game's PS4 version depicts these characters with a lighter skin tone.

Check the source (Eurogamer) for more

 

[pizzacat]

It's almost like they want this game in the headlines

 

[Corpekata]

Seems like an odd choice.

 

[HORRORSHØW]

getting that hollywood treatment

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

getting that hollywood treatment

Stone cold.

 

[Night Angel]

getting that hollywood treatment

Beautiful.

 

[inky]

They should've made Ellen Page black in return.

 

[FeenixRising]

getting that hollywood treatment

Heh

 

[Courage]

 

[EmCeeGramr]

That... seems very odd.

Are we sure that the characters in question aren't randomly picked from a set of available models?


EDIT: Okay, looking at the comparison linked, that doesn't appear to be the case. Very strange.

 

[RurouniZel]

getting that hollywood treatment

Just like a real movie. Got damn!

 

[Memorabilia]

getting that hollywood treatment

And we're done here.

 

[Storm Raider]

If this was a white person getting a darker skin tone; it would be seen as sexy or something. Amazing.

 

[Sakujou]

nobody likes darker skin tone....



dear devs, keep doing this.

i dont know why games keep doing that, and i dont like this movement.

where is the problem of having people from all over the world in a game?

i heard people in south korea do that too with their family pictures... after taking a shot they get their faces airbrushed and photoshopped like no other.

is this a trend these days or did i miss something?

 

[Nirolak]

That... seems very odd.

Are we sure that the characters in question aren't randomly picked from a set of available models?

It looks like most of them are the same, sans sometimes clothing:

They're specifically changing Saudis.

 

[Possumowner]

getting that hollywood treatment

Boom...end thread

 

[Krappadizzle]

That's strange.


Did people have issue with this in the OG? I certainly didn't when I played it.

 

[Ouren]

This looks like a bug. They are two different character models. I bet they are chosen from a pool.

 

[MMaRsu]

Wow

 

[Roni]

They seem to have changed the mesh in that OP photo too... Or it's the texturing detail from the cheek that is gone.

 

[Z3M0G]

That's not just a lighter skin tone... that's also a differently modeled face.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Seems like a pointless change. Why do this?

 

[Order]

Fuck whoever approved of this

 

[CryptiK]

It looks like most of them are the same, sans sometimes clothing:

There are 2 models in there all Saudi that are different in each screenshot. The one of the two guys on the right and the guy on the left in the far back.

And they are most definitely different character models in the OP. It is probably randomly selected from a set of models.

EDIT: Hell even in the article there is a guard on the right that still has the dark skin colour and a bunch of model swaps in the other screen shot. Definitely model swapping.

 

[rhandino]

This is... bizarre.

 

[Riki]

These look like different character models

They changed their skin tone and made them look more "white" with the features as well.
It's really really disgusting.

 

[vareon]

...why? Seems like unnecessary work. Original file lost or something?

 

[ChamplooJones]

getting that hollywood treatment

Betcha they had no shame in doing this.

 

[Xpliskin]

What the hell ... what's the reasoning behind this ?

 

[Nirolak]

There are 3 models in there all Saudi that are different in each screenshot. The two guys on the right and the guy on the left in the far back.

Yes, and they left the white people are white people. I meant that as a post showing they're explicitly changing Saudis. I'll edit it to make it more clear.

 

[Nikodemos]

getting that hollywood treatment

upupupupu

 

[DrFunk]

smh

 

[TheSpoiler]

Betcha they had no shame in doing this.

We are so sorry about this.

I mean, we won't change our product, but we are super so sorry about this. Promise.

 

[Portugeezer]

Title had me for a second, I was expecting black.

 

[JoseLopez]

To be fair middle eastern people aren't just brown so it's not really unrealistic to see people someone with lighter skin

 

[harSon]

Considering the demographics of his next game set in Detroit, I'm not too surprised.

 

[Crossing Eden]

To be fair middle eastern people aren't just brown so it's not really unrealistic to see people someone with lighter skin

That's not the issue at all.

 

[Dictator93]

You guys are just criticizing David Cages artistic vision for the game. It was supposed to be this way all along, it is just PS3 does not have enough SPUs for white person rendering (WPR). Or at least not enough for more than 3 on screen at any time. Thanks to the power of GPGPUs, this artifact can now be done away with and Cage' sartistic vision can finally be realized.

With WPR you can get more emotion because you can spend more polygons. Polygons = emotion.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

If this was a white person getting a darker skin tone; it would be seen as sexy or something. Amazing.

Yea, poor white people.

 

[True Fire]

Oh dear lord. Did they do this to be politically correct? Because they ended up having the opposite effect.

 

[JoseLopez]

That's not the issue at all.

I know I'm just saying since most posters seem to think that

 

[KooopaKid]

Free marketing!

 

[KenPokesBarbie]

this is just the reality of development it would of doubled the work if they just ported those skin tones over.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Well, that's fucked up.
Who should I tweet at?

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

getting that hollywood treatment

Merciless.

 

[Crzy1]

I noticed when I was watching the DigitalFoundry overview of it, made a mental note. Don't know if there's a reason for it beyond just wanting them to look more caucasian, but seems pretty pointless. If anything it just breaks immersion.

 

[BakkaGames]

This is Beyond ridiculous.

 

[synce]

Why is the PS4 version so blurry?

 

[Chobel]

getting that hollywood treatment

LOL!

 

[CronoShot]

...why? Was anyone complaining about the portrayal of Saudi characters in the PS3 version?