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[Dr. Claus]

Sony with their ongoing dumb ass censorship is back!

The western PlayStation 4 version of Aokana: Four Rhythms Across the Blue will have four modified scenes and three removed scenes, publisher PQube said in a statement.

The full statement reads:

We have recently received many requests for clarification around the potential of scene modification on our upcoming visual novel release Aokana: Four Rhythms Across the Blue. These changes apply to the PlayStation 4 version only and contain amendments to a selection of images and text found in the game.
This includes four scenes which have been modified and three scenes which have been removed completely. Many thanks to our fans and community for their continued support of our releases.

The publisher added that because of these changes, it made the decision not to release a physical edition for PlayStation 4 as it expected “significantly less interest once it became clear that the content is altered.” This decision will be reviewed in a Twitter poll on June 19.

Aokana: Four Rhythms Across the Blue is due out for PlayStation 4 and Switch on August 21 in the west.

SOURCE: https://www.gematsu.com/2020/06/aok...ified-scenes-three-removed-scenes-in-the-west

 

[dottme]

Nintendo doing less censorship than Sony. I know it already happened a few times but it still hard for me to believe this.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Nintendo doing less censorship than Sony. I know it already happened a few times but it still hard for me to believe this.

Just asinine. Even the publisher knows they are making less money because of it. Really wish these publishers would just say "No" to Sony's censorship and not release anything on it. Get them to force change in the westernized company.

 

[Aranea]

Pretty stupid to censor a game when the rating boards already exist.

 

[MayauMiao]

More Japanese game dev should do this. Abandon Sony and go for Nintendo to teach Sony a hard lesson.

Sonybis making PS5 less appealing every time they pull this shit.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Sony cherry picks censorship.

They seem to have no problem with the adult content in LoU2.

 

[JunkerWoland]

With the PS4 version of the game originally releasing early January 2017 in Japan, this was a good title to test whether Sony's arbitrary content policy remained in effect, which sadly seems to be the case. This is something to consider, looking towards the PS5's eventual release.

Otherwise, at least the Switch version does exist for anyone wanting an unaltered console release.

 

[CatLady]

It seems odd that it would be censored on PS but not Nintendo. Since Nintendo is primarily a family and kid friendly system, how bad can the censored material be?

 

[Pejo]

It seems odd that it would be censored on PS but not Nintendo. Since Nintendo is primarily a family and kid friendly system, how bad can the censored material be?

Nintendo took a stance a few years ago to not censor 3rd party software, but that doesn't stop Treehouse from fucking up all the Nintendo properties.

 

[YukiOnna]

So then what is the point of the ESRB? Also, why in blue blazes are you demanding censoring for an already niche genre and audience that wants that content and know what it entails? Stupid. Sony just hurts the publisher and interest in releasing on their platform.

 

[The Cartographer]

It seems odd that it would be censored on PS but not Nintendo. Since Nintendo is primarily a family and kid friendly system, how bad can the censored material be?

Odd? Sony censors everything that it's not produced by its own first party studios or by ''important'' partners like R* or CD Projekt.

 

[CamHostage]

They seem to have no problem with the adult content in LoU2.

Adult content ... where a goal is to have sex with "children" , which seems like a little different case, no?

Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue :: Steam Community

steamcommunity.com

(*NSFW - That's a link to the public Steam Community Screenshots archive, not any one specific picture, so click through or don't; it does have an agegate. Steam shows some of the "adult" content in the game, although it's mostly main story shots.... btw, is there such a thing as "NSFW" when nobody's in an office right now?)

I'm not a prude or puritan, and generally feel like breaking down the walls of content access has been a good thing, but it does still seem weird that there's this idea that platform owners (be they console makers or digital storefronts) just have no rights to standards anymore because internet=everything.

There used to be a place for things, and you used to have to go out looking if there was something you wanted that was outside standard audience interests. There were adult stores and "normal" stores, and things made sense. (And when a movie got away with something over-the-line at Blockbuster, you delighted in seeing the rules being bent.) Now it's like, "Oh, I can't get PornHub on my AppleTV? What world is this?!"

*Granted, one of the challenges of saying "Go get it somewhere else" is that there are becoming fewer devices that go other places. A Roku, an Apple device, an Amazon device, even more and more Android and PCs (if you use the Play and MS stores as your chief access point), they try to wall you into the corporate software garden as much as possible. Chrome and Firefox I believe both come with safe-search as default, and severely warn you if you go to sites uncertified (and porn sites have difficulty getting certified because they aren't treated as legit businesses, same as they have a hard time getting bank accounts or credit cards.) Amazon is every day becoming moreso the only store that most people know exists (or Alibaba in other territories, but then again, same problem with no alternative and hard limits.) With a DVD player, you could go get adult DVDs, but with a streaming device, you cannot get content unless the app is allowed on the device. Uncensored content is everywhere and nowhere at the same time right now, and it's a strange world if that stuff is in your interests.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Sony cherry picks censorship.

They seem to have no problem with the adult content in LoU2.

Yep, these companies are just looking for excuses to become moral arbiters like Google, Apple, and Amazon. Look at how wealthy those companies are! There is profit in preaching.

 

[Rat Rage]

Sony does what Nintendon't

 

[The Cartographer]

Adult content ... where a goal is to have sex with "children" , which seems like a little different case, no?

Aokana - Four Rhythms Across the Blue :: Steam Community

steamcommunity.com

(*NSFW - That's a link to the public Steam Community Screenshots archive, not any one specific picture, so click through or don't; it does have an agegate. Steam shows some of the "adult" content in the game, although it's mostly main story shots.... btw, is there such a thing as "NSFW" when nobody's in an office right now?)

The PS4 of Aokana version is the all ages version so no one has/tries to have sex with anyone, unlike...

 

[ShinNL]

Damn, I don't know if they're brilliant or not to use something negative as a PR move, but it worked. I didn't know about the game and I have now put it in my tracking list.

Because of my very first VN (Worldend Syndrome, which I still haven't finished), which I'm quite impressed by, I ended up going into the VN rabbit hole and have started buying physical VNs. I'm becoming a clichéd anime nerd

 

[Unknown Soldier]

The actual PC original VN Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm is an eroge.

The console versions of eroges are "all-ages" and omit the ero scenes already. After that, who gives a shit what else they do? It's not like anyone was playing these for the story to begin with.

I'm impressed they are giving this a Western release at all. It's the kind of thing that places like Ree Reeeeeee's about.

 

[Vawn]

And the ones "upset" about this game no one ever heard about are Xbox fans.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Isn't this a straight up hentai game on PC? Switch version is prollllly not uncensored.

 

[CamHostage]

The PS4 of Aokana version is the all ages version so no one has/tries to have sex with anyone, unlike a certain other Sony game full of brutal violence and sex (sodomy?).

Sure, it's all the same thing: raw and visceral action, revealing depictions of controversial and horrific subject matter, consensual same-sex relationships between of-age characters, and, you know, child-seduction simulation... it's all "adult content", right?

Again, I'm anti-censorship, and I'm in favor of sexuality being a viable topic in interactive entertainment. But I'm also a realist about there being a proper place for things and an appropriate purpose for the rating system. (Aokana got an M rating for "partial nudity" on Switch, which would be confusing if that wasn't just the already-censored "all-ages" version, because the Steam shots show a bath scene with full-frontal, and probably it's not "partial nudity" just because they don't show the "clitoris part"?)

Also, I'm telling you, you don't want to go down this road of equating all "adult content" the same -- your access to entertainment as we know and like it will go down, not up, if this can of worms is opened in the wider population...

 

[CamHostage]

Isn't this a straight up hentai game on PC? Switch version is prollllly not uncensored.

So, as I understand it, this is the "All Ages", which as I understand it (I haven't played a PC eroge, so I don't know if it's a hot-swappable mode? There used to be 2 separate packages sometimes for like retail main store / adult store products back in the physical media days, but I think the cut-down version usually came out separately later?) All of the included content for the "All Ages" version would have already been pre-filtered on the PC version. Then it got ported, and Sony QA requested more content be removed, whereas Nintendo approved the filtered version as is.

So yes, it's already "censored" for both consoles; the Sony version is a little extra-censored, while the Switch version and PC version (if you leave on safe mode) are in parity.

Descriptors for both products, if anybody is interested:

ESRB (Switch version only; PS4 version may need a separate certificate)

This is a romantic visual novel in which players assume the role of Masaya, a former athlete coaching a team of girls in a futuristic antigravity sport. As players progress through the story, they can make choices to engage in romantic relationships with other characters. Some interactions contain sexual material in the dialogue (e.g., “This is making me super horny”; There's no way I'm ignoring her plump a*s when it's right before my eyes“; “Like I want it…and I want you to drool on me…”; “I'm imagining a raunchy porno…”). A handful of sequences depict partially nude characters, with their breasts, buttocks, and pelvic regions slightly obscured by steam and/or hair. One still-image sequence depicts a female character groping a woman's breast. The word “f**k” appears in the game.​

Steam PC version

The developers describe the content like this:​

Adult content includes a few illustrations with mild nudity and kissing.​

Characters enter a sexual relationship that is not shown on screen, but acts of which are brought up in conversation.
Also, every appearing character is over 18 years old.​

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Also, I'm telling you, you don't want to go down this road of equating all "adult content" the same -- your access to entertainment as we know and like it will go down, not up, if this can of worms is opened in the wider population...

I agree with this and I don't know what PQube think they are doing. This isn't Steins;Gate. I can't imagine the small number of sales this game will get in the West would be worth the potential shit storm that could occur if the West ever found out about these kinds of games.

 

[Shantae]

Not surprised -_- This is part of the reason I have little interest in PS5. Fuck Sony and their censorship. I understand that console manufacturers don't want straight porn on their platform, but fuck off with telling companies what they can and cannot have in their games...especially if it's approved to be M rated or under by the ESRB. What's the point of having a rating system if they won't use their guidelines. Plus, after what I saw what is in Last of Us 2 in the spoiler thread, they sure are hypocrites, that's all I'll say on the matter.

 

[KingT731]

Are you really surprised? It's an Eroge VN. Nintendo is only not censoring because they want the money(not that these type of games sell gangbusters) and it's a "good look" for PR in certain circles.

 

[DESTROYA]

While this isn’t my type of game it still bad to see SONY try to be everyones parent.
Let the developers make the game they want and let the ratings system do the the job they are supposed to do and let the people choose for themselves.

 

[LordCBH]

Utterly goddam ridiculous. If it passes with an appropriate age rating to release, the platform holder should absolutely not be able to mandate further changes or censorship. Let people buy or not buy what they want.

 

[JunkerWoland]

But I'm also a realist about there being a proper place for things and an appropriate purpose for the rating system.

The concern being expressed by some surrounding this release has nothing to do with the ESRB or its equivalents in other countries. Rather, it's Sony's decision to police content that otherwise would pass regional ratings boards, at least in Japan, the US, and parts of Europe.

The PS4 version of Aokana was originally released in Japan in early January 2017; the Switch version hit retail in Japan about a year later and had content parity with the PS4 title. Since then, Sony has implemented their own content policy, beyond regional ratings boards, which is resulting in additional changes to the Western PS4 edition.

The bigger problem, as expressed by developers (primarily Japanese companies), is there aren't any actual guidelines for Sony's content policy; instead, a group supposedly stationed in Playstation's US headquarters gets to arbitrarily decide whether content needs to be altered or cut. Sony, of course, has the right to institute whatever policies its wants for its platform, but there was roughly a good two years of companies and consumers not knowing whether or how a game might be altered for both Japanese and subsequent Western releases. Currently, Japanese companies seem to be adjusting their titles, based on existing precedent, which is resulting in most games launching in the West without further changes.

Aokana is a odd title, since the original PS4 version was released in Japan prior to Sony instituting its new policies. To a certain extent, this news is simply opening old wounds. On the other hand, it's very likely the only reason Aokana was licensed by PQube (announced by them in July 2019) is because of the Switch version, which they knew could be produced without further changes; it's also quite possible PQube was forced to license the PS4 version in order secure the Switch title.

 

[brap]

This is why I'm not looking forward to the PS5 and my next console will be a switch.

Sony cherry picks censorship.

They seem to have no problem with the adult content in LoU2.

Nor with the sexualized little girls in Gal*Gun 2. Remember when they censored the grown womans ass in DMC V? Remember when the took out the hot springs DLC in One Piece: World Seeker because it had grown women in bikinis? Remember the one random shot in Death Mark?

nyonmyan's List of Censored Games

NOTE: This thread is ONLY for posting information for compiling a list of games. No discussion about censorship will be allowed to remain posted. Only post the title, region and reason, do not post your commentary or links. Private Message nyonmyan if you would like to disclose more information. ...

forum.psnprofiles.com

 

[Dr. Claus]

So, as I understand it, this is the "All Ages", which as I understand it (I haven't played a PC eroge, so I don't know if it's a hot-swappable mode? There used to be 2 separate packages sometimes for like retail main store / adult store products back in the physical media days, but I think the cut-down version usually came out separately later?) All of the included content for the "All Ages" version would have already been pre-filtered on the PC version. Then it got ported, and Sony QA requested more content be removed, whereas Nintendo approved the filtered version as is.

So yes, it's already "censored" for both consoles; the Sony version is a little extra-censored, while the Switch version and PC version (if you leave on safe mode) are in parity.

Descriptors for both products, if anybody is interested:

ESRB (Switch version only; PS4 version may need a separate certificate)

This is a romantic visual novel in which players assume the role of Masaya, a former athlete coaching a team of girls in a futuristic antigravity sport. As players progress through the story, they can make choices to engage in romantic relationships with other characters. Some interactions contain sexual material in the dialogue (e.g., “This is making me super horny”; There's no way I'm ignoring her plump a*s when it's right before my eyes“; “Like I want it…and I want you to drool on me…”; “I'm imagining a raunchy porno…”). A handful of sequences depict partially nude characters, with their breasts, buttocks, and pelvic regions slightly obscured by steam and/or hair. One still-image sequence depicts a female character groping a woman's breast. The word “f**k” appears in the game.​

Steam PC version

The developers describe the content like this:​

Adult content includes a few illustrations with mild nudity and kissing.​

Characters enter a sexual relationship that is not shown on screen, but acts of which are brought up in conversation.​

Also, every appearing character is over 18 years old.​

Yep, you are correct. In the vast majority of cases, Eroges tend to be *better* when they are All-Ages versions. I can't think of a single one on the top of my head that was better with sex scenes intact.

The same thing happened recently with the Yu-No remake. The remake was based off an already censored all-ages version, which added more censorship. But then the Sony release added *more* censorship on top of the already censored version of an already censored game. Censored-ception.

Are you really surprised? It's an Eroge VN. Nintendo is only not censoring because they want the money(not that these type of games sell gangbusters) and it's a "good look" for PR in certain circles.

This isn't an Eroge. This is an all-ages version. Eroge would suggest it still had pornographic material. I am surprised that they would add more censorship to an already censored game. Yes, All Ages versions are censored to begin with - but that tends to be the case whenever a game with pornographic material is released on consoles (unless it is a western release like Witcher, The Last of Us, or Red Dead Redemption/Grand Theft Auto). But censoring on top of that? Its silly.

The actual PC original VN Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm is an eroge.

The console versions of eroges are "all-ages" and omit the ero scenes already. After that, who gives a shit what else they do? It's not like anyone was playing these for the story to begin with.

I'm impressed they are giving this a Western release at all. It's the kind of thing that places like Ree Reeeeeee's about.

I play these games for the story. Its why I prefer All-Ages versions. Compare Fate/Stay Night's original release and the all-ages Realta Nua release. The former is far and away a better written, better paced story without the forced sex scenes. Even the creator stated that the only reason sex scenes were originally in was to get attention in the eastern market.