'Censorship' in Gaming

[kanade2]

On the larger scheme though, censorship is ever present in all aspects of our world as it restricts everything we see or hear. However, if you were to remove the censorship at the smallest level in individual forms of media, it would eventually be removed in all aspects of our life. So while censorship is affecting all creative works now, objecting to it on a smaller scale would achieve the same results eventually.

I don't think we will ever get rid of censorship no matter how hard we fight it . As long as there are humans out there that want censorship to exist , censorship will continue to exist .Pretty much the whole human race would have to be wiped out by Houk's Death Star ,or the sun burning out for censorship to not exist anymore .

[CheeseKao]

The day censorship ceases to exist will be the day every single human walks the earth stark naked since wearing clothes is a form of 'censorship', right? Xp

[ArmyofDarkness]

I posted on GameFAQs a while ago that if Mugen Souls passed with a T, the reasoning behind Sadie's change would be questioned by those who aren't very trusting. Since I never believe the motives of a company, I of course never trust their stated intent; nothing personal against NISA, they are higher on my trust level than most. Anytime the content is edited in a way that would potentially alter the rating though, my mind instantly thinks marketing and censorship.

Keep in mind that ratings do not exist on a "sliding scale." That is to say, and I posted this elsewhere, but if you have a movie, say Toy Story, which was rated what, PG? Add two f-bombs to it and it HAS to get rated "R." Now edit out those two f-bombs. It doesn't "slide" down to PG-13, it goes to PG because the perceived offensive content is no longer in the title, and what remains is relatively tame.

So something getting rated Teen in the video game world is under the same set of rules. It doesn't mean "well it would've gotten Mature," at all. It's not a sliding scale.

I don't think anyone was claiming anything differently. But if you cut something drastic enough to lower the rating then aren't you messing around with the original product a tad too much?

[ZekeFreek]

I don't think anyone was claiming anything differently. But if you cut something drastic enough to lower the rating then aren't you messing around with the original product a tad too much?

NISA's ESRB ratings almost never correlate with CERO's.

For example, every Disgaea game in Japan is rated "A" by CERO. This is basically "E for Everyone". However, in North America, they are all rated "T", the equivalent in CERO could be "C". I'm not sure why this is, aside from NISA's tendency to add a few curse words here and there, (which I'm totally fine with).

This is one strange case, where due to the edits, Mugen Souls is rated lower here than in Japan, where it got a "D" rating, the equivalent to an "M".

[ArmyofDarkness]

I don't think anyone was claiming anything differently. But if you cut something drastic enough to lower the rating then aren't you messing around with the original product a tad too much?

NISA's ESRB ratings almost never correlate with CERO's.

For example, every Disgaea game in Japan is rated "A" by CERO. This is basically "E for Everyone". However, in North America, they are all rated "T", the equivalent in CERO could be "C". I'm not sure why this is, aside from NISA's tendency to add a few curse words here and there, (which I'm totally fine with).

This is one strange case, where due to the edits, Mugen Souls is rated lower here than in Japan, where it got a "D" rating, the equivalent to an "M".

Strange indeed. Perhaps that's what sparked NISA's early decision to cut the Minigame. Though nothing will change my mind that they made the choice pre maturely.

[ZekeFreek]

I don't think anyone was claiming anything differently. But if you cut something drastic enough to lower the rating then aren't you messing around with the original product a tad too much?

NISA's ESRB ratings almost never correlate with CERO's.

For example, every Disgaea game in Japan is rated "A" by CERO. This is basically "E for Everyone". However, in North America, they are all rated "T", the equivalent in CERO could be "C". I'm not sure why this is, aside from NISA's tendency to add a few curse words here and there, (which I'm totally fine with).

This is one strange case, where due to the edits, Mugen Souls is rated lower here than in Japan, where it got a "D" rating, the equivalent to an "M".

Strange indeed. Perhaps that's what sparked NISA's early decision to cut the Minigame. Though nothing will change my mind that they made the choice pre maturely.

Oh yeah? Not even this BRAND NEW CAR!?!

[BDSMKane]

Spoiler:

I posted on GameFAQs a while ago that if Mugen Souls passed with a T, the reasoning behind Sadie's change would be questioned by those who aren't very trusting. Since I never believe the motives of a company, I of course never trust their stated intent; nothing personal against NISA, they are higher on my trust level than most. Anytime the content is edited in a way that would potentially alter the rating though, my mind instantly thinks marketing and censorship.

Keep in mind that ratings do not exist on a "sliding scale." That is to say, and I posted this elsewhere, but if you have a movie, say Toy Story, which was rated what, PG? Add two f-bombs to it and it HAS to get rated "R." Now edit out those two f-bombs. It doesn't "slide" down to PG-13, it goes to PG because the perceived offensive content is no longer in the title, and what remains is relatively tame.

So something getting rated Teen in the video game world is under the same set of rules. It doesn't mean "well it would've gotten Mature," at all. It's not a sliding scale.

I see your point, but as I said before, I am generally just a paranoid person that doesn't trust the motives of businesses, or even people really. I also don't want to try to debate with you about that aspect because I respect you and appreciate your candor, so just chalk me up as a loon who needs more faith.

Spoiler:

On the larger scheme though, censorship is ever present in all aspects of our world as it restricts everything we see or hear. However, if you were to remove the censorship at the smallest level in individual forms of media, it would eventually be removed in all aspects of our life. So while censorship is affecting all creative works now, objecting to it on a smaller scale would achieve the same results eventually.

I don't think we will ever get rid of censorship no matter how hard we fight it . As long as there are humans out there that want censorship to exist , censorship will continue to exist .Pretty much the whole human race would have to be wiped out by Houk's Death Star ,or the sun burning out for censorship to not exist anymore .

One can hope, can't they? The day there is no more war and devastation of the Earth we can finally play our video games in their full glory.

[myskaros]

I see your point, but as I said before, I am generally just a paranoid person that doesn't trust the motives of businesses, or even people really. I also don't want to try to debate with you about that aspect because I respect you and appreciate your candor, so just chalk me up as a loon who needs more faith.

I don't see how you expect to get or contribute anything productive in this discussion with that kind of attitude. It seems you're going to deflect all reasonable arguments against you or your stance as "I'm paranoid, I don't believe you," so you're not going to get much from here, and you're not going to have a very easy time convincing other people either.

Maybe your only objective is to convert everyone to your way of thinking, but if you're actually trying to get something out of the conversation you really need to change your attitude, because I personally don't see any value in reading the words of or trying to reason with someone who just openly states "Maybe you're right, but I think you're lying/I don't trust you."

[Houk]

Not that it's happened yet, but topics like this can get heated quickly, so just a friendly reminder to keep things civil and respectful both toward each other and toward the people/groups you may be referring to. You can say whatever you want in here, but if the tone of it turns ugly, so will I.

[Beedlebud]

Not that it's happened yet, but topics like this can get heated quickly, so just a friendly reminder to keep things civil and respectful both toward each other and toward the people/groups you may be referring to. You can say whatever you want in here, but if the tone of it turns ugly, so will I.

The Hawk is watching.

As for the topic, I am of the opinion that in this day and age, we really shouldn't have to. But that's how society works...

[Rednal]

I approve of any sensible edit to a game.

I approve of self-censorship when appropriate, such as a company changing something in a game because they decided it didn't fit with the overall feel they were trying to create.

I generally disapprove of Government censorship, except where there is a clear, obvious, and acceptable reason for it, though I hope the work of groups such as the ESRB will suffice to deal with major problems before the Government steps in. Because I don't want the Government to regulate video games.

o wo b

[perrandy]

I posted on GameFAQs a while ago that if Mugen Souls passed with a T, the reasoning behind Sadie's change would be questioned by those who aren't very trusting. Since I never believe the motives of a company, I of course never trust their stated intent; nothing personal against NISA, they are higher on my trust level than most. Anytime the content is edited in a way that would potentially alter the rating though, my mind instantly thinks marketing and censorship.

Keep in mind that ratings do not exist on a "sliding scale." That is to say, and I posted this elsewhere, but if you have a movie, say Toy Story, which was rated what, PG? Add two f-bombs to it and it HAS to get rated "R." Now edit out those two f-bombs. It doesn't "slide" down to PG-13, it goes to PG because the perceived offensive content is no longer in the title, and what remains is relatively tame.

So something getting rated Teen in the video game world is under the same set of rules. It doesn't mean "well it would've gotten Mature," at all. It's not a sliding scale.

hey lyner long time no see ya.glad to hear that your still around

[Venus]

What Atlus did to the original Persona on the Playstation was unforgivable. They made characters who were originally Japanese into white characters, changed their names...made the game easier...changed the names of Personae, they changed the setting from Japan to America. I've never seen a worst censorship then this.

[Rednal]

I think they've pretty much learned their lesson, though. o wo And let's face it, standards were different back then.

Also: Mark danced crazy!

[Daverost]

I'm opposed to censorship of any kind, no matter how minor, but I do understand that sometimes it's a necessary evil just to simply have something.

While I can accept it, I don't support it, and I will sometimes refuse to support a product on principle.