Censored!

[Rep]

Didn't Streets of Rage 3 have some things removed like trannies and the gay boss who jumps of the boat on the first stage?

Sure did, here's the original

[Sieg]

The PAL release of 'Silent Hill' had a changed enemy IIRC ... knife-wielding babies became small monsters instead, something like that ~

S.

[yosai]

The clansman looking dude was removed from the US version of Bangaioh.

[yosai]

^ The kid isn't naked either.

[markgreyam]

Didn't all the console versions of Duke Nukem have cuts made? I'm pretty sure the N64 versions all had the boobies and swearing taken out, and I think the Saturn and PS1 versions were cut but less so.

The PC version released in Australia also had these changes made. The thing was that they didn't actually remove them, just drew in totally transparent sprites. So you could walk up against the chicks wrapped in green goo, and still even give money to the strippers, and shoot them, but you couldn't see them. US .exe fixed that. They still had the 'swearing' though. I think.

Oh and of course GTA3 was recalled in Australia because you could beat up hookers once you shagged them. I remember considering getting a copy of that game before I owned a PS2, cause I knew I was going to get one anyway. But in the end I didn't bother, and they got pulled a few days later. I ended up just ordering one from the UK anyway. I think they got in early for Vice City, again I have no idea

Narc, LSL : MCL, Manhunt have all been banned in Australia. Manhunt was released for a while until some WA politician asked for it to be re-classfied (ie banned).

BMX XXX doesn't have the nudie videos, or they are censored (I don't know which cause I don't have the Australian version).

The Punisher game was originally banned.

There was even (get this) calls by some idiotic NSW politician to ban PGR2 because it promoted dangerous driving around the streets of Sydney. Hell, I took photos of that stretch of road when I went to Sydney because I driven around them in the game (but then I'm a huge nerd).

So yeah, it's a land full of uptight morons down here. I reckon there are a few more examples but I can't think of them off the top of my head.

[Keitaro]

In the US release of Rockman Zero as Mega Man Zero, a good bit of "blood" (they're robots, do they really have blood?) was removed, probably down to the fact that it was very Kill Bill-esque in terms of high pressure spray and they were going for keeping the game what the series has always been rated in America as, E - for everyone.

And what's the deal with Nunchaku in Europe? I don't really understand - granted I have trouble grasping why some things are censored the way they are in America for that matter.

Hell - censorship is a bizzare business wherever you go really.

[Flabio]

A lot of the changes made between Japan and the US are to secure a viable rating. There's no restriction on alcohol or tobacco references in Japan, but having them in a US game gets you the dreaded M rating. Which for something like Skies of Arcadia is a bit daft as it'll chip into your sales massively, so it's best to just make it a bit more harmless.

It works both ways though, the Japanese version of Tomb Raider fades out when Lara falls too far rather than show her hit the ground and die.

Different cultures have very different ideas on whats acceptable for the various age ranges. Game developers these days are getting better at knowing these things from the get-go, and producing territory specific versions wheras in the past they tended to be picked up late and had to be sorted quickly.

[pentarou]

Final Fight also had food items such as beer and whisky removed from the western versions

[Kotatsu Neko]

That's interesting. Have you got a linky to anything further re. the above? I never knew that...

Funny thing is, on the EU DC version Shenmue 2 was in Japanese but with English subs, so the mis-translation/censoring was really obvious. Some situations were pure comedy, with the subs baring absolutely no relation to what was being said.

[buster_broon]

And what's the deal with Nunchaku in Europe? I don't really understand - granted I have trouble grasping why some things are censored the way they are in America for that matter.

Hell - censorship is a bizzare business wherever you go really.

In the UK we are a bunch of lemmings

Bruce lee makes it big in the cinema and then copy cat idiots start battering granny's with the mighty Nunchuck

same with clockwork orange - copy cats battering people in boiler suits and then the director got death threats, so he pulled it from the uk

[eastyy]

In the UK we are a bunch of lemmings

Bruce lee makes it big in the cinema and then copy cat idiots start battering granny's with the mighty Nunchuck

same with clockwork orange - copy cats battering people in boiler suits and then the director got death threats, so he pulled it from the uk

Trouble with things like that the people who do that stuff were probably not right in the head to begin with.

I remember the matrix was pretty big but i do not remember headlines of people trying to jump from building to building or moving in slow motion

[MattyD]

And what's the deal with Nunchaku in Europe? I don't really understand - granted I have trouble grasping why some things are censored the way they are in America for that matter.

Nunchakus and shuriken are no longer 'banned' in the UK because the ratings body relaxed its criteria for censorship a couple of years back.

The problem if you're in a PAL territory is Germany, which is really strict on violence and gore in any form whatsoever. Valve had to change the marines in Half Life into robots to secure a German release, and even games without any gore or personal violence like Command and Conquer have been banned for depicting war too realistically. So it's them we have to cuss when our version of Ninja Gaiden has no decapitations, for example

[NekoFever]

I seem to remember the cutscenes for Twisted Metal: Black being deleted or edited for the PAL release.

Not sure about cut-scenes, but I remember the first level being edited. The US version included a plane crashing into a building, but since the PAL version had the dubious pleasure of being released in late 2001 they removed it. Any censorship is sad, but probably for the best in that case because it would have been a PR disaster.

[Darwock]

Manji from Blade of the Immortals was a bonus character in the Japanese 'Way of the Samurai'.. taken out of the other versions because of (again) the similarity between the buddhist logo on his back and a swastikka.

Also Selphie in FFVIII had her nunchucks changed in some way, whether it was just the description or not I'm not sure. I believe the SeeD uniforms in FFVIII were also changed because they looked a bit too Nazi-esque but I'm not sure on that one.

Nazi-ness doesn't seem to be a source of shame for the Japanese, I am also into Zoids, and the number of customised 'Berserk Fuhrer' models you see with golden eagles and swastikkas all over them is unreal.

[Kotatsu Neko]

Not sure about cut-scenes, but I remember the first level being edited. The US version included a plane crashing into a building, but since the PAL version had the dubious pleasure of being released in late 2001 they removed it. Any censorship is sad, but probably for the best in that case because it would have been a PR disaster.

It's not sad, it's bad. We lost one of the last DC games (Propeller Arena) because it had, shock, horror, planes in it.

It's retarded and frankly it's not the fault of game developers if a few people take offense. I find a whole lot of stuff offensive (such as religion) but I just switch the channel, I don't moan and bitch to the production companies, start petitions, call ambulance chasing lawyers or send death threats.