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[levyjl1988]

topic.

There have been many times when a game is localized that it gets butchered by the publisher.
I was dissuaded from buying games that are censored because it doesn't stick to the original vision when the game was released.
I avoided games like One Piece World Seeker because they cut entire content from it while other regions got to enjoy extra content.

(Update) U.S. version of One Piece: World Seeker will not receive 'Hot Springs' DLC mission

www.destructoid.com

In the end, I voted with my wallet and won't support butchered content. It's more about the principle if anything, and honestly do parents really care?
In a world where porn is easily accessible on any smart device, what is with the extreme level of censorship?
Like removing cleavage of any sort is a sin or something.

Anyways, what're your thoughts.

 

[Guilty_AI]

*laughs in fan patches and mods*

 

[lh032]

depends on the game, assassins creed valhalla full of content but i fall asleep playing it.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Uhhh....I wouldn't buy the One Piece game, either, but it doesn't have anything to do with the presence or absence of boobies.

 

[Phunkydiabetic]

No, I'm not that sensitive.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Serious answer, as long as the intent of the work is retained, or there's no content removed that changes the overall image or integrity of the product, I'm fine with it.

The example you gave, or something like censoring the Siren GF in the remaster of Final Fantasy VIII, these are silly, yes, but their presence or absence doesn't affect the entire body of work in an egregious way.

Things like...a studio cutting apart someone's movie to make a shorter run time or censoring an album, these are the things I will avoid. Anything that takes the creators vision for the entire work and changes the whole, I don't dig that.

 

[kunonabi]

All the time. I'll just buy the Japanese version or skip it if the changes are egregious enough. I'll never play Yakuza 3 for instance because of Sega's BS.

 

[jigglet]

Serious answer, as long as the intent of the work is retained, or there's no content removed that changes the overall image or integrity of the product, I'm fine with it.

It's a slippery slope.

What you're talking about is a final product where content is simply removed for some regions. Emphasis on "final product". Yes that's less egregious, as you said.

But it ends somewhere much worse. It ends with it being an integral part of the creative process from day 0, not something done at the end. From day 0 people are asking: what's allowed and not allowed? What art, game concepts, story ideas etc might offend say, the Chinese government?

That's when it becomes more than last minute censorship, that's when it actually affects the creative integrity of the game / story / art from the get-go.

Any creative endeavour cannot be at the mercy of a list of rules like that.

 

[junguler]

well at least with censorship of Japanese games in the west you get to hear about it and make a decision, the worst kind of censorship is the kind these western developers are doing to themselves and their own games and we don't ever hear about it most of the time.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

It's a slippery slope.

What you're talking about is a final product where content is simply removed for some regions. Emphasis on "final product". Yes that's less egregious, as you said.

But it ends somewhere much worse. It ends with it being an integral part of the creative process from day 0, not something done at the end. From day 0 people are asking: what's allowed and not allowed? What art, game concepts, story ideas etc might offend say, the Chinese government?

That's when it becomes more than last minute censorship, that's when it actually affects the creative integrity of the game / story / art from the get-go.

Any creative endeavour cannot be at the mercy of a list of rules like that.

Yeah, when the creative process is stifled before it even gets off the ground, it moves from censorship to thought control, and I really don't like that at all. I'm very passionate about freedom of speech and art, and I think the best way to acknowledge that in an adult world is to recognize that freedom of speech doesn't equate freedom of consequence. Let the art speak for itself, and if it's truly evoking something inappropriate or dangerous, let it make that mistake and face the consequences. To try and pre-emptively "protect," people from content is the path to making a population of docile sheep.

 

[Punished Miku]

100%. Skipped Mass Effect Remaster because of it. Skipped more in the past as well.

 

[009EspadaSageJay]

depends on the game and what platfom its on if its on pc you can mod all the stuff back in or it will come uncensored from the jump on consoles you can just import the JP version if the jp version is censored as well the games getting skipped.

 

[Pantz]

Sure, I stopped buying non-exclusive games on PlayStation all together just from the suspicion that they might censor any of them. I'll get them on PC/Switch/Xbox if possible.

Recently, Diablo II remaster is censored/toned down and that was an easy skip.

 

[rubenburgt]

I threw away last of us once I learned they censored the multiplayer part of it.

I also modded my wii-u just to be able to play games uncensored.

If a game is censored then I simply don't want it. Screw your company for doing this.

The censorship rules from Sony is also preventing me from buying that console. Sony already had the habit of censoring pal versions of the games just because of silly Germany and silly Australia and now are they simply too American. (You Americans glorify violence but shun anything lewd.)

 

[FUBARx89]

Why do these type of threads across forums and reddit always start with the weebo game censored post?

But, I don't care if a game is censored or not. I don't bother looking into different versions in different countries etc.

The biggest one I can think of was TLoU MP (UK) as stated above, even then it didn't bother me. I didn't sit there playing the game thinking "Shit without gore".

 

[Tschumi]

No, I'm not that sensitive.

This. Plenty's the person who is going to rage out at the slightest provocation on this forum sometimes but I for one give few shits. Heck, I barely follow development cycles anyway so I wouldn't know if they cut content... Closest I got to this might have been CP2077 dropping public trains but, like, I still got it and i still love it.

100%. Skipped Mass Effect Remaster because of it. Skipped more in the past as well.

this is a good point, too... I didn't get ME:R because I legit didn't think it looked worth a full price. I love diablo 2 resurrected but I also kinda regret pre-purchasing it, beacuse it really is a more or less a resolution boost sans gstrings.

I wanna somehow add the way Warcraft 3's remaster panned out, I wasn't ever really going to buy it but yeah as soon as it dropped and got panned there was no chance

 

[YukiOnna]

Not supporting the pointless censorship and if I have no control of it due to releasing on Consoles or Handhelds instead of PC, then I skip it. Thankfully, with the rise of PC ports for Japanese games or platforms outside of PS that don't partake in this farce, there are options to make sure you still get it.

 

[_Ex_]

Yes, yes it has.

 

[Kupfer]

Yes, I didn't buy

Medal of honor Allied Assault
Call of Duty 1/2/WaW/MW2
SoF2
Far Cry (2004)
Quake 4
Fallout 3

and many more I can't think of right now. Some of these and others, like the Army of Two games, I later bought via import or used from ebay GB.

The late 90s and early to mid 2000s where hard for German gamers, so many games got censored. Even Half Life 1.

No swastikas
No or green blood
No ragdoll
No gore
Missing content
where the standard here.

Luckily this changed over the last decade and we get most games uncut, even swastikas with the new Wolfenstein games. Finally fighting Nazis and not just "the regime"

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Yes, if a game been censored, I don't buy it

 

[MrFunSocks]

Absolutely, because here in Australia before we got an R18+ rating Left 4 Dead 2 got absolutely butchered that it was not worth even getting.

Left 4 Dead 2: Edited Australian Version Review - IGN

Left 4 Dead 2 has landed in Australia, and it has been heavily edited to gain an MA 15+ classification. Sadly, the edits are drastic and feel rushed. This is one zombie game you should avoid...

www.ign.com

Comparison video of censored vs original:



Even now with the R18+ rating we still get games being banned which is ridiculous. I can go and watch a movie with a drug fueled orgy ending in a mass murder terrorist attack, but I can't play a game where someone dare imply that taking a drug can give you a temporary energy boost.

That's pretty much the only example where my mind changed about buying it because of censorship though. I'll never just out of principle or anything like that not buy a game I want just because it was censored, what matters is how it was censored and what is missing. Taking out all the blood and gore and bodies from L4D2 completely ruins the game. Putting a different name on a syringe doesn't.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I’m pretty sure this happened at least once, but I can’t remember the game.

There’s been times I bought the Japanese version of a game (eg, Xenosaga) after playing it in English. The censoring in those games was ridiculous, removing all the blood to fit the game into a different ESRB rating... for what? The series is niche as it is, removing the blood wouldn’t make it sell a million copies more.

The same is true for most games that get censored these days. They’re pretty much guaranteed to be niche Japanese games whose western audience is set in stone. Virtually zero chance of getting new players onboard, the people who’d buy these games know exactly what they want, so who is the censoring “protecting”? One Piece may be a bit different, but you’re telling me they censored all the hot springs scenes in the anime and manga too? That stuff being in a game doesn’t suddenly make it worse.

 

[Rudius]

I don't support any form of censorship, even if self imposed. I don't care if it's just 3d breasts or a philosophical idea, you can never give them an inch.

 

[STARSBarry]

Yes of course.

As a film student back in the day I learned the importance of creative process and not backing down (probably why I don't work in this industry anymore).

The issue is for an example of something small and "silly" above is the censoring of Siren in the HD remaster of FF8. By itself it seems like a small thing, however consider what message this sends. That this kind of content is unacceptable and as such should be changed to meet the modern day, you have just hit the issue right there. Current and future creators that might have created something deemed risky might no longer do so, and games will slowly step by step change to fit a global "norm". If they don't they will be changed to fit it, so why bother creating something like that in the first place?

Some people won't care about this as they are perfectly happy to consume the same product over and over. This is an issue with an artform that also has to act like business, its one of the reason games tend to "trend chase". Censorship is just anouther less obvious form of this, resulting in titles that are slowly forced into following the same design and aesthetic look as parts are slowly discarded as "unacceptable", this is what people refer to as "the slippery slope" and it's a real thing that happens, you can even observe it right now with titles like Tokoyo Mirage Session. Where entire parts of the game where cut and changed from the Japanese version, creating a terrible underselling mess of a title no one cared about. This western version later became the only version the Japanese could play later as that was deemed the "acceptable" version to re-release on switch.

There are very real consequences to letting the small things slide as it quickly builds up, as such you as a consumer can only make the choice to not purchase a title once the hand of censorship has been revealed to prevent this.

 

[Graciaus]

I stopped buying Sony products in general because of it.

 

[GametimeUK]

I was a bit pisses off about South Part Stick of Truth being censored over here, but ultimately I found the censored version to be more funny.

There have been games that were censored on one platform, but we're uncensored on another. That would usually dictate what platform I bought the game on whether or not it was the one I used as my main.

 

[GymWolf]

Only one time with re3 remake but it was not about censorship, just greedy lazy capcom being greedy and lazy...

 

[Zannegan]

Depends on the cut content. I'm not going to boycott because I can't use the Hooker Barbie outfit to dress-up the badass gun lady of the party (or the "totally 18 but looks 11" "I can't believe my little sister is this kawaii" sidekick) or whatever. Then again, I don't care for in-game cosmetics much anyway.

But, if I believe that something substantial has been withheld from the game to nickle and dime me with, I'll usually give it a pass or pick up the complete edition at a bargain five years or so down to road. There's just too much choice and too little time to waste it on singleplayer adventures that still feel like they're under construction or FOMO-driven multiplayer time-sinks.

 

[Arcadialane]

If we include self censoring, yes. I was really looking forward to little devil inside, but after self censoring because of the typical mob outcries I'll skip the game.

I'll always make that decision.

 

[Spaceman292]

Covering up some anime titties doesn't count as 'butchered by the publisher'