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A Survey of Nintendo's Game Censorship Policies

Posted by Zonk on from the who-is-staatsmeister? dept.

ccnull writes "Found a page which offers a survey of Nintendo's policies on censorship, paying particular attention to how U.S. games differ from their Japanese counterparts. It's not just blood splatters, the author has interesting comparative screen grabs showing "clothed" statues and de-Nazified Hitlers."

9 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. Another example by Radix37 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There was a treasure in Pikmin 2 worth 666 Pokos in the Japanese version and changed to 670 in the US. What's far worse is that all new games (only in the US) now have a 5 second health warning EVERY TIME you start them because of that stupid lawsuit earlier this year.

    --
    Speed Demos Archive - Lots of speed runs!
  2. Earthbound / Mother 2 by sosuke · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well in the re-released versions of these games from SNES to GBA the game was further edited to remove things like cigarettes, which I think ruins some of the fun.

  3. Gore + sex a fun game does not make... by (SM)+Spacemonkey · · Score: 4, Interesting
    By the mid-90's, Nintendo's censorship practices were increasingly becoming both an embarrassment and a financial liability. Nintendo was earning a reputation as being a "kiddy" company that was both too patronizing and immature for older gamers.
    Today, Nintendo does not actively censor the games it releases. Games such as the infamous Conker's Bad Fur Day, which include swearing, blood, and sex are now openly published under the Nintendo banner, as long as they carry with them a "M for Mature Gamers" rating.
    Just wanted to say gore and sex doesn't make a game good. Nintendo may have a history for regional censorship, but they have a far greater history of making honestly fun and addictive games.
    1. Re:Gore + sex a fun game does not make... by (SM)+Spacemonkey · · Score: 3, Interesting

      America is comparatively relgious. I could imagine some people being offended by religious imagery. As far as I know Germany still has strick censorship of Nazi imagery. I know the original Wolfinstien had trouble being released there. A real estate agent told he would have trouble selling our house because it had with a direct path from the front door to the back door, and this spooked many Chinese people. There are many buildings without a 13th floor. Yes these are all fairly baseless beliefs. I can't see how the number 13 has any special power. But it is just being respectful to other cultures. And really, does removing the cross from medkits make a game any less fun?

    2. Re:Gore + sex a fun game does not make... by Rie+Beam · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yeah, I mean, why cover statues? It's not like anyone would be offen...

      http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/01/29/sta tues.htm

      You know what, perhaps Nintendo was right.

    3. Re:Gore + sex a fun game does not make... by Lord+Kano · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Just wanted to say gore and sex doesn't make a game good. Nintendo may have a history for regional censorship, but they have a far greater history of making honestly fun and addictive games.

      Mortal Kombat.

      They removed the blood and gore from the fatality scenes and they eliminated Johnny Cage's "Nut Cracker" split punch. It adversely affected the game play. Even though it looked much, much worse, the Genesis version of that game was much more fun to play.

      Gamers and girlfriends have something in common. The bad things you do are remembered for much longer and taken far more seriously than the good things.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
  4. This example is cited too often: by KDR_11k · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sony censored BMX XXX more than Nintendo did.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  5. Re:Remind me how the US is the free'est country by shidarin'ou · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Before 1994 there was no ratings board; there was no higher age catagory;

    Nintendo primarily marketed towards younger children; and since there was no way of distinguishing a game for young children at the time from a game for mature audiences..

    They don't censor anymore; know you're videogame history

    --
    www.GrenadeHop.com
  6. Re:Conker's Bad Fur Day by ndogg · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Did you forget that Nintendo owned Rare for a while before Microsoft? Rare developed the game, but they didn't publish it.

    --
    // file: mice.h
    #include "frickin_lasers.h"