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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."

15 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!
    1. Re:Another example by Mekabyte · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yep, it has to be newer than that. I've seen it in the Metroid Prime 2: Echos demo disc and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. It's even featured on the Nintendo DS boot screen now :-/

  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 gl4ss · · Score: 3, Insightful

      that kind of depends.

      would it make star wars any more fun if they changed the mos eisley cantina into a starbucks cafe?

      you see, subtle things do change the story to some extent, and the target audience - if you make a story for adults you'd usually could use places like bars and exotic dancers in the telling of the plot.

      but if you make a kids book you wouldnt be using drugs or strippers... what this censorship did was that it took adult targeted games and re-targeted them at kids.

      (and come on, covering statues? that's just lame. what's true though is that they could have done this because usa's err.. weird stance on some issues. like EXPLODING HEAD == OK! titty == BAD).

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    3. Re:Gore + sex a fun game does not make... by TykeClone · · Score: 5, Funny
      I like realistic games, and medkits without red crosses make no sense.

      With or without crosses - does a medkit instantly giving you 25 healthpoints seem realistic? Or Hitler running around in a mech suit?

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
    4. Re:Gore + sex a fun game does not make... by paulcammish · · Score: 3, Funny
      ...would it make star wars any more fun if they changed the mos eisley cantina into a starbucks cafe?

      But Starbuck was from Battlestar Galactica, not Star Wars!

    5. 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.

    6. 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. Re:Remind me how the US is the free'est country by NetDanzr · · Score: 3, Informative
    None of the changed material is illegal in the US; the worst the publisher can suffer is a higher age category rating or poorer reviews (or a combination). Nintendo changes the offending material just to sell more titles, not because it would run into legal troubles.

    Now, if Nintendo tried to sell some of those games in Germany, for example, it would be forced to get rid of some of the offending material by the country's law, not by the marketplace.

  5. Censorship connotes Government Evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When private individuals or groups of individuals revise materials they created or created at their behest, it is usually referred to as editing and not censorship.

    Auto manufacturers in both Japan and the USA change designs between countries to best suit each market. A concept is being muted in the transition; so is that too censorship?

    The altering of products to conform to different markets (i.e. what research has led someone to believe different markets will respond best to) is nothing new. I don't see it as particularly evil, either.

  6. Mortal Kombat II by CoreyGH · · Score: 3, Informative

    The fatality moves were included, but so were several non-violent finishing moves, such as the "friendship" moves in which instead of executing your opponent you could give him a present or do a little dance.

    Anyone who's played MK2 in the arcade knows that friendships were in the arcade version; they were NOT added by Nintendo to make the game "nicer".

  7. Gadzooks! by Snowspinner · · Score: 4, Funny

    My Lord, Nintendo is censoring games? Removing sex and violence? How horrible! How awful!

    Oh, wait, what's this? A telephone message from 1994? You say they want their fucking news back?

    --
    Philip Sandifer's academic website
  8. Re:repost with line breaks by demi · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Again, Japanese culture VS the USA culture. If you WANT to see domestic violence and abuse, you're a sicko- go someplace else.

    Sorry, but this statement is very silly. Stories about human beings might include domestic violence. Books, movies--why not video games? Not video games for kids, certainly, but this is what is meant by the author when he says these rules locked Nintendo into being a "kiddie" company.

    I watch The Sopranos--it doesn't make me a sicko, and neither would a video game showing domestic violence in a similar context.

    --
    demi