It's something that's gotten a few people really worked up over the past few years--various Nintendo games getting altered in some way when they come to the US. Here's a brief list, but I might've missed some:

Fire Emblem: Awakening -- Tharja's swimsuit bottom covered by curtain

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS -- Tharja trophy removed

Fatal Frame 5 -- Underwear/bikini outfits removed, including in a story sequence (replaced with Nintendo character outfits as unlockables)

Xenoblade Chronicles X -- "Boob slider" removed, underage character outfit altered

Fire Emblem: Fates -- "Petting" minigame mostly removed except certain situations when married, purchasable "bikini" outfits removed

Bravely Second -- Native American style outfit changed to cowboy/cowgirl, some outfits covered up, art book pages modified to remove blood or scantily clad girls, bad endings for certain choice-driven sidequests removed (it's a little unclear if this is NOA or not, but they're publishing the game in the West so it might be)

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE -- Covering revealing clothing

I thought it might be good to talk about the latest Nintendo controversy and see what you guys think. Is the localization team not doing their job well by altering content? Are the games better off without the extra sexuality? Is the principle more important than that? And is today's censorship any more or less acceptable than NOA's censorship in the 80s to mid-90s? Let's hear what you guys think! (and add to the list if I missed any recent examples)

@Zero

That example looks fine to me. In fact, I haven't come across anything really egregious in Fire Emblem Fates as far as dialogue is concerned (minus me not jiving with many of the characters as much as in Awakening, but that could change, and that could just be how it was originally written).

I thought Tri Force Heroes was slightly obnoxious in its writing, though. As it turns out, I'm one of those guys who's really sensitive about internet memes (not to be confused with pop culture references) popping up in games and I strongly feel that it dates them.

@VofEscaflowne Not really. In fact I'd say most people, even on the Internet, would see this and shrug. It's bizarre to me that this became a BIG THING.

@TriforceBun Honestly I'm not a huge fan of Internet meme culture either and in most cases seeing it in a game is a negative for me. But it's usually one of those negatives that is like shrug, move on, forget about two seconds later.

@Zero

Oh I just mean that people enjoy to blow things out of proportion (much like I just did maybe ) to prove their silly points of censorship and removing content. Most of these are just a few lines of dialogue line in what I assume is overall a pretty huge script. They just make it seem like the entire game was completely trashed due to the localization.

Another example is Paper Mario: Color Splash where people are already petitioning for its cancellation based on what, a trailer that lasted for less than a minute? Apparently that's enough to judge a game that will last dozens of hours.

@VofEscaflowne

But it really really looks like Sticker Star 2!

That said, a lot of online petitions are just dumb.

@Zero

REKT

@VofEscaflowne With the Color Splash thing I think journalists don't help much because when a teaser is announced they have to find things to say even if there isn't much to say, so a lot of them do these detailed over-analyzing pieces with tons of speculations and such. Bah.

I mean, we do it too on forums, but I think actual features should contain less speculation than random forum posts.

@Zero Funny thing is, that support isn't too bad. Like, I think some people are misinterpreting the localised text as some BEAUTY AT EVERY SIZE diatribe, but even if that was intentional, I didn't read it as one. It's a fairly normal thing to say in the context of the conversation, just seems fairly stilted and unnatural when separated off on its own like that.

@TriforceBun Likewise. I despise memes in games with a passion, excluding the rare few that are references to, say, something in the games that became a meme at a later date. Say a Zelda game makes a riff on DODONGO DISLIKES SMOKE, that's not exactly going to bother me. The only real egregious thing to myself in Fates is a reference to a tumblr in-joke, "RAWR MEANS I LOVE YOU IN DRAGON", and that's less for the meme itself; more because it was thrown in to an otherwise serious scene and kills any emotional impact the reunion of Corrin and his daughter could have had. In other words, I think it's like any other kind of pop-culture reference, in that there's a "right" way to do it, but the wrong way just sticks out like a sore thumb and heavily dates the game.

@VofEscaflowne All I know regarding Colour Splash is, I liked Sticker Star, more of that is hardly a bad thing. I mean, I'm sure some people would disagree, and that's fine, they're entitled to their disagreement, but if they want a TTYD-style Mario RPG, one was released a few months ago and, last I checked, it was really, really good.

This isn't related to NOA stuff but it is a comment from the director of Overwatch, another game that "self-censored" recently (removed a specific "butt pose", in part due to player criticism of it, which turned into a BIG DEAL for some reason.) I think it adds an interesting perspective and gives a small bit of behind the scenes that we don't usually get.

For instance, they specifically WANT feedback, and feel like it helps them make a better game. Etc.

Here is the dreaded "butt-pose."



I'm totally fine with that and fail to see why anyone would take offense to it.



I would think the real issue is the character's cheek-enhancing holsters and (especially) crack-tracing pants. Which the butt-pose just happens to spotlight.



(I believe this is the default outfit, I'm not an Overwatch player, at least not yet)

The complaint seemed to be more about it not fitting the character who is apparently the "fun, innocent" girl or whatever. There were other more sultry characters with butt poses that are still in the game.

But my point was more about the developer's position themselves. There seems to be this implication that developers are being pressured / forced into changes, but I think often they do what all creatives do... listen to feedback, decide if it has merits, and accept or reject it.

nate38 said:

I would think the real issue is the character's cheek-enhancing holsters and (especially) crack-tracing pants. Which the butt-pose just happens to spotlight.

Yeah, this is what I've been saying. I don't understand why they made the character look like that in the first place if they didn't want everything she does to look sexy.

@Zero

That character is supposed to be female? I'll be honest, that's not what my first guess would have been.

@GameDadGrant Usually a developer wouldn't give a guy an ass like that!

I dunno, even ass aside she looks clearly female to me but then again I grew up in punk rock culture and 90% of my crushes had short "boy" hair.

@Zero Oh dude yes, a girl with the right "boy haircut" is irresistible. Bonus points for leggings that follow her buttocks all the way inside her asshole, obviously.

Short haircuts are great, I'm not too into the overly-boyish style though. But bob cuts or pixie cuts, etc are goooood stuff.

Wait, what was this thread about again...?

You know, it's almost like you can see a theme developing: Every time a female character or characterization is made somewhat less sexual, it means creators are pandering and/or being censored. I personally didn't realize penises cared so much about free speech.

...

No, I don't think I'll edit that. It says exactly how I feel...

Anyway, I'm not naturally attracted to girls with boyish haircuts. In first grade I broke up with my first girlfriend because she cut her hair into a bob. Or, rather, her parents cut it because she was a first grader and didn't make decisions about her hair. So there you go. Kris Wright: Sexist Shithead since 1986. But... speaking of adult women, now, I find boyish hair can work with the right face shape or even the right attitude. Definitely a punk rock thing. But I have to admit a lot of times I still don't dig too boyish of a cut. It's a risky look that usually doesn't work.

That said, if I saw this Tracer chick walking down the street, it'd be hot. I mean, come on. Just look at her.


nate38 said:

@Zero Oh dude yes, a girl with the right "boy haircut" is irresistible. Bonus points for leggings that follow her buttocks all the way inside her asshole, obviously.

That last sentence is comedy gold!

Yetttttt a lot of the same people are having a heart attack over the new Baldur's Gate expansion having an openly trans character. Sure they make up some other reasons to publicly state about why they don't like it, but when they start whining about SJWs and political agendas because A TYPE OF PERSON IS SHOWN TO EXIST IN A GAME, their motivations are pretty clear.

I think it really is just about T&A. Only thing worth defending in games for some reason.

@Zero I wonder how many people demanding this NPC's removal from the game were upset about the transphobic backer joke in Pillars of Eternity being removed.

@X-pert74 Do you really wonder though?

I'd say approximately 0 of them.

@Zero I think you mean 100% of them

Oh wait I misread that as "were upset about the transphobic backer joke". Like, upset that it existed to begin with. Because their phony "this isn't about a trans character it is just about bad writing!" logic would also suggest they would be against bad joke writing too.

Also if they were really just against bad writing in video games well... there are about a million other games to complain about too.