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La Pucelle Tactics Publisher Explains Alleged U.S. Censorship
Thanks to 1UP for its interview with La Pucelle: Tactics publisher Bill Swartz regarding alleged censorship to the PlayStation 2 SRPG from the developers of Disgaea, after an eToychest interview with the game's Japanese producer revealed: "We did take out a very few things we felt would cause problems in North America." Following sustained noises of discontent on the GameFAQs messageboards, it's explained: "Alloute wore cross earrings a few times and we took them out. We also removed a few other cross accessories and changed a handful of devices that looked like crosses (unless you looked carefully) to devices that looked a little less like crosses." Swartz laments: "There are well organized forces that work hard to punish software makers and sellers for what they consider religious transgressions", and clarifies the changes were "...not things that either carried meaning to the game's original audience or were in any way part of the substance of the game."
Given the games visibility it's hard to imagine a church group on a letter writing campaign this early in the process. There's the soccer mom factor where in people with far too much time on their hands and not enough sense to use it well are asked their opinions on products which will be used by other demographics. And of course the headless suit factor which is practically the definition of following and never catching the wave.
I'd bet the latter. More likely they ran into some Walmart-esque troubles. (Hiring illegals because they're cheap and keep their traps shut is a Christian thing to do. Cosmo is communist, but products made exclusively by prison labor in China are all-American.)
It might be something for Sega or Nintendo's american brances to do, help other games cross the pacific. They could have either another subsidiary kind of like their own off brand Disney vs Buena Vista, or just do it on the downlow like how boeing finances used Airbus planes.