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Beyond: Two Souls is censored in Europe (violence) and probably also in US (nudity)

ekim

Member
http://sceuncut.tumblr.com/post/62430932818/beyond-two-souls-october-2013-censored-in-the-eu

We have just been directed to a rare (but very welcome) comment on the EU Playstation Blog from Beyond’s European Product Manager at SCEE, Ross Alexander:

“I can fill you in with more detail on this.

There are only two amends between the EU and US versions of the game, amounting to about 5-10 seconds of gameplay that’s not been removed, just edited slightly to be in line with a PEGI 16 rating.

For BEYOND we wanted to make the game available to as many people as possible, hence applying for a PEGI 16 rating. The 5-10 seconds I mention above would have upped our rating to a PEGI 18, so it made perfect sense to make these two VERY minimal changes to get our planned 16 rating.

I can assure you that this does not affect the game’s story at all, and that if you didn’t know these scenes had been amended, you wouldn’t even notice.

Hope the above helps to allay your concern.

Thanks,

Ross”

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2013/09/29/the-playstation-blog-recap-27/#comment-427423

One of the cut reportedly contains a scene (Spoiler!)
where Aiden/Jodie impale a person through it's throat with a pipe

and for the US:
PSN user Keiyuu88 has again been scouring German websites and pointed us to the Beyond: Two Souls page of games retailer SpieleGrotte.de. Highlighted in a news post on the listing is the following message (helpfully translated for us by Keiyuu88):

”According to our information, in the European version of Beyond: Two Souls two scenes will be slightly cut. This affects all European versions (UK, AT and so on), as always with Sony. Reportedly, the US version will be slightly cut in erotic scenes. This means, according to Sony, that there won’t be a real uncut version at all.”

A final sentence following that explains that they are unable to offer the US version for sale on their site due to legal issues.

Yay! No uncut version!
 

Alvarez

Banned
I think it's sad that censorship is still happening in this day and age. If the game isn't appropriate for a certain age bracket, then maybe they should not sell it to that age bracket instead of editing it to make it appear as though it is fit for that age bracket when it's not.
 

ViciousDS

Banned
the only people I know picking this game up are 18+ because most kids don't even know what the hell the game is about.
 

Ein Bear

Member
So EU cuts out violence, and US cuts out 'erotic scenes'?

Hah, EU wins.

1375564185548vfjq0.gif
 

Bittercup

Member
After Last of Us and God of War Ascension being censored in Europe not so surprising that they censor again but still a disappointing decision. Even more if it's true that there is no completely uncensored version. I hope at least some regions have an uncensored one.
 

rdrr gnr

Member
I think it's sad that censorship is still happening in this day and age. If the game isn't appropriate for a certain age bracket, then maybe they should not sell it to that age bracket instead of editing it to make it appear as though it is fit for that age bracket when it's not.
I'm trying to find a great Ebert (I think) quote on the topic but I can't and a paraphrasing would probably butcher it.
 
Who are these people complaining about nudity in video games in this country...seriously. We have instant access to porn from nearly any device.
 

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
EU wins! I don't give a shit about the part that was censored for Europe.
 
Who are these people complaining about nudity in video games in this country...seriously. We have instant access to porn from nearly any device.

The US has always been touchy when it comes to sex and nudity compared to violence. You can show people being shot, beat up etc. in TV shows and movies on network TV, but show a bare butt and people lose their shit.
 

Josh7289

Member
Oh, fuck this shit.

Looks like play-asia will get my money.

Oh yeah, maybe the Asian version is uncut? Although Japanese versions of games are sometimes censored for violence, so if it's based on the Japanese version (I don't know if it is) then the issue is still there...
 

Fisico

Member
Pegi 16 audience > Pegi 18 audience... I also don't get it. :(

Had a word with a publisher about it, basically it's very very hard for PR team to communicate about a PEGI 18 game as in some countries there are very stricts rules about it (including nothing before midnight related to the game on TV), so if they can avoid the hurdle with a few cuts like this they won't hesitate.
 

Galdelico

Member
'I can assure you that this does not affect the game’s story at all, and that if you didn’t know these scenes had been amended, you wouldn’t even notice'.

Aw SCEE. The dumbness.
I'll stay Within then, thank you.
 
Fuck everyone who is responsible for censoring either stuff. I'm not interested in the game but I absolutely despise all this censorship crap.
 

tzare

Member
these issues should be handled by the console's own parental control , if the account used for, say your son, has a <16 age set, then the game should not show certain scenes, if you are an adult and your account has no restrictions, then the game could show everything.
Shouldn't be that difficult
 
I know that David Cage will say nothing about this because is Sony, but I will love if some journalist as him about his general opinion on censorship.
 
I dont understand why they went for a 16 rather than an 18 rating, it's insane. How many under 18's are playing GTAV right now? It's not like with movies where getting a 12a rating is the key to box office success, videogames haven't really hit those kinds of age ratings barrier = profit return yet.
I mean, the biggest games this year will all be 18's (Bioshock, Last of Us, GTAV, COD, BF4).

I don't buy the excuse.
 

dezzy8

Member
Fucking US. We love to kill, but we hate showing the nudes. It's a freaking Mature 18+ game. Why is there a need to censor anything???
 
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