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Sony forcing Japan only games to go through content inspections which are conducted in English

CatCouch

Member
So is Death Mark censored in NA or not? I bought it on the Switch and want to start playing soon and I'm hearing both that it's censored and not censored depending on where I'm reading.

I tried reading Resetera but they just started getting mad at anyone who liked fan service and I couldn't get answers outside the EU version is censored. (On a side note it's weird how hostile the mods let people get over fan service on Resetera, why are they allowed to call it"shit" and personally go after those who like it without being warned? I see people getting banned for mildly rude behavior but attacking people for liking the fan service in Death mark is allowed? What happened to respecting the developers and the audiences that do like these games? WTH?)

I hate that I can't get a straight answer on things like this due to the sheer amount of hate and confusion thrown around by trolls, pro-censorship people, those who call everything sexist and the like. It's so muddy.

I'm going to lose confidence in buying games if I can't figure out what's censored even days after release.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
So is Death Mark censored in NA or not? I bought it on the Switch and want to start playing soon and I'm hearing both that it's censored and not censored depending on where I'm reading.

I tried reading Resetera but they just started getting mad at anyone who liked fan service and I couldn't get answers outside the EU version is censored. (On a side note it's weird how hostile the mods let people get over fan service on Resetera, why are they allowed to call it"shit" and personally go after those who like it without being warned? I see people getting banned for mildly rude behavior but attacking people for liking the fan service in Death mark is allowed? What happened to respecting the developers and the audiences that do like these games? WTH?)

I hate that I can't get a straight answer on things like this due to the sheer amount of hate and confusion thrown around by trolls, pro-censorship people, those who call everything sexist and the like. It's so muddy.

I'm going to lose confidence in buying games if I can't figure out what's censored even days after release.

To answer your questions:

The Switch Version should be uncensored while the PS4 version will have the bullshit Sony censoring. Unless things have changed, this should be the case. As for why the mods on Era do what they do: They are fuckin' dumb and crazy as shit. There is a reason why that site is considered the most toxic 'gaming' community on the internet.
 

CatCouch

Member
To answer your questions:

The Switch Version should be uncensored while the PS4 version will have the bullshit Sony censoring. Unless things have changed, this should be the case. As for why the mods on Era do what they do: They are fuckin' dumb and crazy as shit. There is a reason why that site is considered the most toxic 'gaming' community on the internet.
I guess I'll find out if it's uncensored sometime soon!

As for Resetera, all I can do is shake my head in disappointment at how intolerant those handful of perpetually upset users are. I see tons of solid discussions derailed by the same few arguments over and over by a pretty small group, sometimes only one or two posters. Disagreement is fine and debate is great but the personal offense some take on there to anyone who enjoys something they don't is baffling.

At some point just labeling things "racist", "objectification" or "sexist" will no longer suffice as a conversation ender. For all the accusations of entitlement hurled at gamers I think one of the biggest culprits are Resetera users who think they can get anything censored just by wishing it in a post (looking at the Smash Bros. Mr. Game and Watch racism thread >.>).
 
One of the bigger YouTube channels, Lost Pause, made a video 2 days ago talking about Sony's censorship policy:



This is excellent, this news needs to get more exposure since im sure Sony really dont want any negativity since the PS4 is in his last days and they want to sell their next Censorship machine to the same people who bought the PS4 without knowing that their Japanese games will be censored in the end by new policies.
 

FStubbs

Member
Getting rid of the boob slider discriminates against women of varying bust sizes who want to have a character that reflects their body type.
 

kunonabi

Member
Getting rid of the boob slider discriminates against women of varying bust sizes who want to have a character that reflects their body type.
I actually wouldnt be able to make my Xenoblade X character in the US version since I wouldn't be able to give her the proper proportions or voice set. Her boobs actually would have been too big. This war on bust sizes is the most ass backward thing I can think off.
 

FStubbs

Member
This is excellent, this news needs to get more exposure since im sure Sony really dont want any negativity since the PS4 is in his last days and they want to sell their next Censorship machine to the same people who bought the PS4 without knowing that their Japanese games will be censored in the end by new policies.

LOL at this point - third parties leaving the Sony platform for the Nintendo platform? Maybe half of the otaku developers but that's about it. EA and the other big AAA developers would go out of business before abandoning Sony for Nintendo.
 

Enygger_Tzu

Banned
LOL at this point - third parties leaving the Sony platform for the Nintendo platform? Maybe half of the otaku developers but that's about it. EA and the other big AAA developers would go out of business before abandoning Sony for Nintendo.

They mean for smaller Japanese titles...and regarding how far Sony will crack down on censorship, other Japanese titles as well.
 

Blam

Member
As for Resetera, all I can do is shake my head in disappointment at how intolerant those handful of perpetually upset users are. I see tons of solid discussions derailed by the same few arguments over and over by a pretty small group, sometimes only one or two posters. Disagreement is fine and debate is great but the personal offense some take on there to anyone who enjoys something they don't is baffling.
Only thing they bring it back around to is it being a block towards pedophiles? But like the fuck is that reasoning it's so narrow visioned it's insane.

I actually wouldnt be able to make my Xenoblade X character in the US version since I wouldn't be able to give her the proper proportions or voice set. Her boobs actually would have been too big. This war on bust sizes is the most ass backward thing I can think off.

Yeah it's stupid that they'd do that.
 
LOL at this point - third parties leaving the Sony platform for the Nintendo platform? Maybe half of the otaku developers but that's about it. EA and the other big AAA developers would go out of business before abandoning Sony for Nintendo.

I was talking about the customers who bought a PS4 that loves Japanese games, i have a normal PS4 and a pro and if i knew that Sony would be censor happy then i would have never bought any console from them.
 

petran79

Banned
Otherwise, I'm enjoying all the adult games on Steam that take nothing to run and are dirt cheap. I can't believe I'm having more fun with games like Eroico and Evenicle than I am with full games on my PS4 like AC Odyssey. I actually feel good, like I'm free from Sony! Thank you Sony for destroying yourself enough to force me out into a brighter world!


Welcome to the club!

13200lkd5y.jpg
 
This has to be due to the SJW-types infiltrating the HR/PR departments in these companies and spreading their BS.

I've got a sneaking suspicion that they have used the failure of the Vita to get this policy. "If you let the PS4 get all those awful games with sexy girls like the Vita did, it will hurt your brand!" And the VPs and such ate it up.

Sony needs a wholesale flush of the people responsible for this. It will drive developers away.
 

Senhua

Member
So now there are claims that the US Vita version of Death Mark is uncensored.
Regardless of the "is there any version of the game uncensored?", one lesson I get from this Death Mark mess is : Localized or not never to trust of any ps4 release of Japanese games ". We cannot expect all publisher as honest as a XSEED (which now I doubt too - post Tom and Hatsuu departure)
 

kunonabi

Member
Regardless of the "is there any version of the game uncensored?", one lesson I get from this Death Mark mess is : Localized or not never to trust of any ps4 release of Japanese games ". We cannot expect all publisher as honest as a XSEED (which now I doubt too - post Tom and Hatsuu departure)

XSEED probably isnt worth bothering with anymore.

ERA users are reporting that NA Vita is censored. I'm inclined to believe they all are unless somebody with a Switch version proves otherwise. I'm just going to buy the Japanese version and call it a day.
 
We need someone to confirm if the Switch US version is censored or not since that was the version that started this rumor of an uncensored version of the game.
 

Pallas

Gold Member
The whole concept of the game.

If someone made a game teaching how to lure kids into a van, without any visual violence, sex or nudity or implications of the intentions behind the purpose of luring the kids into the van, you think it should be approved because there is nothing visual to censor?

Poor analogy, why would you compare something that society accepts and normal behavior as heterosexuality to luring kids to a van that implies pedophilia...? You should go back to the drawing board on that one.
 
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CatCouch

Member
Nekopara Vol. 1 rated E for the PS4 version while the same game is rated M for the Switch. What kind of dramatic changes Sony forced the developer to make for the game's rating to go down not just one tier, but two tiers?
Nekopara is just crazy. When I bought it on the Switch it was T for teen. It was bumped up to M a little bit after, I think I mentioned that somewhere on GAF back when it came out.

Nekopara could potentially be the first game that has been rated E, T, M and have an adult version with sex! I assume that the E is a place holder, though. Anyway, I really hope ratings don't become meaningless as platforms just impose their own new policies overriding them.
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
Nekopara Vol. 1 rated E for the PS4 version while the same game is rated M for the Switch. What kind of dramatic changes Sony forced the developer to make for the game's rating to go down not just one tier, but two tiers?

Well in that case Sony Can fuck off for me. I mean i have PS4 but they cant do this kind of shitty things

I have Steam, is more cheap and uncensored.

Its truth that Death Mark Will be in PC? In that case i Will pick in this versión.
 
Regarding Nekopara, even with the known alterations, I have a hard time imagining (event though it's already on sale for PS4) that it'll retain the "E" rating. As for the possible invisible bounce slider, I wonder how long that will escape Sony's notice.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
Regarding Nekopara, even with the known alterations, I have a hard time imagining (event though it's already on sale for PS4) that it'll retain the "E" rating. As for the possible invisible bounce slider, I wonder how long that will escape Sony's notice.
Indeed, the characters talk about being "in heat", climaxing and being lovers... >.>
 
Indeed, the characters talk about being "in heat", climaxing and being lovers... >.>
There have also already been comparisons of the Japanese releases, showing the PS4 visuals aren't that different than the Switch, meaning you still have images of naked girls with fog obscuring their breasts and genitals. Relatedly, some of the JP videos suggest the players couldn't find the invisible-bounce slider, making me wonder whether it's really just a bug.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
There have also already been comparisons of the Japanese releases, showing the PS4 visuals aren't that different than the Switch, meaning you still have images of naked girls with fog obscuring their breasts and genitals. Relatedly, some of the JP videos suggest the players couldn't find the invisible-bounce slider, making me wonder whether it's really just a bug.
In the comparisons I saw there was more steam version and less sliders in the PS4 version.

 
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CatCouch

Member
According to Censored Gaming Nekopara is rated E on PS4.



That's some serious censorship! From adult to M to E, guess I won't be returning to my PS4 anytime soon.
 
That's some serious censorship! From adult to M to E, guess I won't be returning to my PS4 anytime soon.
This shit starts to remind me of how (self-)censorship was in Germany some 25 years ago.

This particular example reminds me of some movies which were so heavily cut for free TV that they went down from an 18+ rating to a 12+. Like "Bad Taste" (Peter Jackson's first movie) is such a movie... every splatter scene had been removed, the movie was a shell of its former self, and that isn't even the most extreme example... there were movies that got cut down to a runtime of under an hour (I remember Cyborg, a Van Damme movie, where this was the case - they cut out half an hour or so).

I really wanna know what they changed to get an E rating for Nekopara. It can't just be the Boobslider and censored cleavage... they must've changed or cut out some dialogue as well.
 

CatCouch

Member
This shit starts to remind me of how (self-)censorship was in Germany some 25 years ago.

This particular example reminds me of some movies which were so heavily cut for free TV that they went down from an 18+ rating to a 12+. Like "Bad Taste" (Peter Jackson's first movie) is such a movie... every splatter scene had been removed, the movie was a shell of its former self, and that isn't even the most extreme example... there were movies that got cut down to a runtime of under an hour (I remember Cyborg, a Van Damme movie, where this was the case - they cut out half an hour or so).

I really wanna know what they changed to get an E rating for Nekopara. It can't just be the Boobslider and censored cleavage... they must've changed or cut out some dialogue as well.
I still wonder if it's a mistake. The dialogue would need to be edited. I can't imagine that the bath scene even with more steam wouldn't at least be teen. It looks on par with the Neptunia games which usually hare rated teen. E is pretty crazy.
 
Not sure if it's been mentioned here or not but Idea Factory has confirmed two more games will be censored on PS4.

Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation (which will be uncensored on PC) and Dragon Star Varnir (only on PS4).

I'm losing track of how many games are censored now.

Sources:
https://noisypixel.net/date-a-live-censored-west/
http://ideafintl.com/updates/2018/11/08/6425.html
Welp, if I’m getting Date A Live (apparently, the anime is getting a 3rd season btw), I know which version to buy.

The Change.org petition is nearing 7000 signatures. People are still signing it which is decent sign though the growth rate has definitely slowed down. Also, the number is still too small for Sony to care.
 

CatCouch

Member
Welp, if I’m getting Date A Live (apparently, the anime is getting a 3rd season btw), I know which version to buy.

The Change.org petition is nearing 7000 signatures. People are still signing it which is decent sign though the growth rate has definitely slowed down. Also, the number is still too small for Sony to care.
I also saw that a topic on GameFAQ's noticed that Mary Skelter 2 is not listed in the announcements so it's possible it's being skipped for localization. I guess the wait is on for all these companies to move away from Sony. PC and Switch are the future!

I know nothing about Date A Live but I'll give it a look when these all release on PC!

I'm sure that petition could reach one hundred thousand and Sony wouldn't care. Sony clearly doesn't respect their audience just from the fact they have all this confusion around censorship and they won't comment on it, even as it hurts developers. This is just mere days after Shawn Layden stated they would be communicating with fans more after the cross-play issues. I guess they are ashamed of these games and don't want to be associated with them.
 

Senhua

Member
This is just mere days after Shawn Layden stated they would be communicating with fans more after the cross-play issues. I guess they are ashamed of these games and don't want to be associated with them.
After what happened yesterday at California, and yet they still bother to censor this not violence. Truly boggle my mind about how out of touch SIE these day.
I starting to think that Trump need to be told to start looking at the "violence games should be banned" rhetoric again to make these people at SIE understand about loli in games != pedophiles in real life.
 
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CatCouch

Member
After what happened yesterday at California, and yet they still bother to censor this not violence. Truly boggle my mind about how out of touch SIE these day.
I starting to think that Trump need to be told to start looking at the "violence games should be banned" rhetoric again to make these people at SIE understand about loli in games != pedophiles in real life.
I don't know what to make of it. I assume Sony is intentionally targeting certain games like Sony is going after what they consider "underage" characters but don't have a definition for what underage looks like so they just pick on games they notice. The censorship is so erratic it's hard to think there is a method to the madness. I just finished the main story for Death Mark and the amount of sexual imagery is pretty intense but maybe Sony didn't think it looked like an "anime waifu" game so they didn't scrutinize it.

Sony is confidently promoting the Last of Us Part II so I assume they are fine with mature themes and intense violence (holy hell, that game looks to be one of the most violent I've ever seen). This weird dissonance between these two subjects is bound to catch up to them. I'm sure plenty more angry articles will be written about TLOUPII in regards to violence against women or anger over LGBT representation (I've already seen a few). I'm curious how Sony will handle that kind of criticism now?

Sadly, with the way our culture is focused on outrage I can see Sony censoring violence or guns before tolerating more Japanese style sexual content. All it takes is for someone to spark that debate again although it probably can't be Trump as that already happened earlier this year and it led to lots of hypocritical writing from game journalists rebuking Trump despite expressing similar views in the recent past.
 

Zenaku

Member
Not sure if it's been mentioned here or not but Idea Factory has confirmed two more games will be censored on PS4.

Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation (which will be uncensored on PC) and Dragon Star Varnir (only on PS4).

I'm losing track of how many games are censored now.

Sources:
https://noisypixel.net/date-a-live-censored-west/
http://ideafintl.com/updates/2018/11/08/6425.html
It's great that developers are keeping the content, or readding it for the PC release, but we can't say if that'll keep happening for newer games if Sony carries on trying to cut them off at the source.

A part of me is scared that Sony will try to bury the issue with a modern parity clause. If they dictate that PS4 versions have to have the same content as other platforms on same-day release, it'd force developers to remove and censor content from the other releases as well. It's hard for people to complain about censorship if there's no way to compare, after all.
 
Not sure if it's been mentioned here or not but Idea Factory has confirmed two more games will be censored on PS4.

Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation (which will be uncensored on PC) and Dragon Star Varnir (only on PS4).

I'm losing track of how many games are censored now.

Sources:
https://noisypixel.net/date-a-live-censored-west/
http://ideafintl.com/updates/2018/11/08/6425.html
And continued silence form Sony. As long as the developers/publishers are essentially forced to capitulate to Sony's demands and coverage of the issue remains ghettoized to small websites and social media, consumers will continue to get screwed. Sadly, Sony's garbage policy has essentially sapped much of my desire to use their system, which sucks, because I have a decent-sized backlog.
 

GHound

Member
This shit is honestly fucked and will only serve to ensure I never buy another Sony product. Love how they're actively trying to destroy the Japanese gaming industry now after it served their purpose as a talking point against Xbox for years.
 
And continued silence form Sony. As long as the developers/publishers are essentially forced to capitulate to Sony's demands and coverage of the issue remains ghettoized to small websites and social media, consumers will continue to get screwed. Sadly, Sony's garbage policy has essentially sapped much of my desire to use their system, which sucks, because I have a decent-sized backlog.
It's the exact same case with me. I haven't touched my Pro for weeks because I just don't feel like playing on a console of a company that insults the consumers' intelligence.

I really hope Idea Factory sticks to what they said prior. To paraphrase, they said among the lines of "We won't release our games on a platform if we're forced to censor them". I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt with Date A Live and Dragon Star Vanir because they already poured money into PS4 development and likely don't want that going down the drain. Niche developers need to stop developing for Sony consoles in favor of the Switch and PC to make a point.
 
It's the exact same case with me. I haven't touched my Pro for weeks because I just don't feel like playing on a console of a company that insults the consumers' intelligence.

I really hope Idea Factory sticks to what they said prior. To paraphrase, they said among the lines of "We won't release our games on a platform if we're forced to censor them". I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt with Date A Live and Dragon Star Vanir because they already poured money into PS4 development and likely don't want that going down the drain. Niche developers need to stop developing for Sony consoles in favor of the Switch and PC to make a point.

That would be stupid and it would mostly hurt niche publishers.

PS4 is too big to ignore - much better strategy would be to continue releasing uncensored versions on platforms where it is allowed and slowly migrate their fans to those platforms.
 
I just sold my Pro 4 days ago after finishing Uncharted 4 and GOW which i found really boring, i guess i stopped enjoying these cinematic experiences. all the games i enjoyed this year ( Dragon quest 11, Xenoblade 2, Soulcalibur, Assassins creed) i played on other systems and they are miles better than the PS4 version like playing Dragon quest with orchestral sound and in 4K.
The only thing that kept me from selling my PS4 was the exclusive niche Japanese games and since Sony fucked that up they made their console worthless to me.
 

Barakov

Gold Member
Not sure if it's been mentioned here or not but Idea Factory has confirmed two more games will be censored on PS4.

Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation (which will be uncensored on PC) and Dragon Star Varnir (only on PS4).

I'm losing track of how many games are censored now.

Sources:
https://noisypixel.net/date-a-live-censored-west/
http://ideafintl.com/updates/2018/11/08/6425.html
This is getting nuts. I guess this shows how intrusive Sony's policy is. Rather than heading for PS3 2.0, looks like they're heading for a Nintendo 64 scenario.
 
It's the exact same case with me. I haven't touched my Pro for weeks because I just don't feel like playing on a console of a company that insults the consumers' intelligence.

I really hope Idea Factory sticks to what they said prior. To paraphrase, they said among the lines of "We won't release our games on a platform if we're forced to censor them". I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt with Date A Live and Dragon Star Vanir because they already poured money into PS4 development and likely don't want that going down the drain. Niche developers need to stop developing for Sony consoles in favor of the Switch and PC to make a point.
For what it's worth, I recognize how juvenile it is to avoid playing games I already own and know are unaffected by Sony's moral shenanigans, but I've been exceedingly anti-censorship from a young age and it annoys me to feel somehow slightly supportive of their current platform. Had Sony handled games in this manner from the start, I simply wouldn't have purchased a PS4.

As for Idea Factory, while I don't expect any company to take a financial hit and kill products, unless they begin announcing unaltered releases in the Asian region or English-text options for the JP releases, then they get no sympathy or praise from me for their previous statement. Sony's policy is BS, but if they truly believe in providing Western consumers with uncensored products, then situations like this would be where the company gives people other options.

Somewhat hot off the presses and related to my above statement concerning Idea Factory, here's a tweet from the company: .

Hopefully the above is a true statement and not just blowing smoke. And I guess as someone who doesn't support DRM, hopefully the plans aren't just dump games on Steam.
 
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kunonabi

Member
I just sold my Pro 4 days ago after finishing Uncharted 4 and GOW which i found really boring, i guess i stopped enjoying these cinematic experiences. all the games i enjoyed this year ( Dragon quest 11, Xenoblade 2, Soulcalibur, Assassins creed) i played on other systems and they are miles better than the PS4 version like playing Dragon quest with orchestral sound and in 4K.
The only thing that kept me from selling my PS4 was the exclusive niche Japanese games and since Sony fucked that up they made their console worthless to me.

This new policy just really limits any reason to own a PS4 if you're aren't a huge fan of their 1st party stuff. The big multiplats are better on XboneX/PC and the Switch/PC is now the place for a lot of the smaller Japanese/indie stuff. It's basically only good for Yakuza team's output and the Japanese exclusives that dont have uncompromised versions elsewhere.

I cant imagine any scenario where a PS5 is worth the trouble under these new circumstances.
 

CatCouch

Member
For what it's worth, I recognize how juvenile it is to avoid playing games I already own and know are unaffected by Sony's moral shenanigans, but I've been exceedingly anti-censorship from a young age and it annoys me to feel somehow slightly supportive of their current platform. Had Sony handled games in this manner from the start, I simply wouldn't have purchased a PS4.

As for Idea Factory, while I don't expect any company to take a financial hit and kill products, unless they begin announcing unaltered releases in the Asian region or English-text options for the JP releases, then they get no sympathy or praise from me for their previous statement. Sony's policy is BS, but if they truly believe in providing Western consumers with uncensored products, then situations like this would be where the company gives people other options.
Well, it's not like they can release uncensored Asian versions, either. Sony is blocking this content worldwide. There's two options I see going forward, either drop Sony as a platform and only release games on the Switch and PC (and Xbox if they can) or start self-censoring and just never make a game that needs to be censored. I guess there's some other, unlikely options of just going out of business or Sony reversing these unknown policies.

I think it would be a bad idea to remodel all game development just to fit on a Sony platform since their policies are inconsistent and ill-defined so I imagine the Switch will be the big new platform for these games with PC filling in some of the gap left from the hole Sony has left. Unfortunately I can see see sites like Polygon and Resetera protesting to get these games banished for good, they've tried in the past. The US has a terrible culture for artistic freedom now (from my personal experience of being an artist in California), we put way more emphasis on those who don't like things than those who do creating an environment where nothing is up for debate and people feel entitled to censoring those they disagree with. Censorship is viewed as "protecting the vulnerable" to some people I've talked to.
 
This new policy just really limits any reason to own a PS4 if you're aren't a huge fan of their 1st party stuff. The big multiplats are better on XboneX/PC and the Switch/PC is now the place for a lot of the smaller Japanese/indie stuff. It's basically only good for Yakuza team's output and the Japanese exclusives that dont have uncompromised versions elsewhere.

I cant imagine any scenario where a PS5 is worth the trouble under these new circumstances.

Yeah, even the Yakuza team started to put their games on PC which is the better version too. Sony dont understand that a lot of people bought their console for the Japanese games and not for their first party exclusives.
 
Well, it's not like they can release uncensored Asian versions, either. Sony is blocking this content worldwide.
Dragon Star Varnir was released in Japan this past October, which conceptually should have seen it altered for its domestic market; it's at the very least reasonable to assume an unaltered Asian release may have been possible. One of the biggest current problems related to this policy is having no way of knowing how consistently it is/will be handled across regions. We don't currently have enough precedent to know whether unaltered Asian-region releases are completely off the table, although I'm more willing to believe every game will end being its own case-by-case situation; or to put things another way, I'm expecting very little consistency from Sony.
 
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