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[Pot Meet Kettle]

So the stench from the censorship policies was too big to ignore for Sony...

『
Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan president, Atsushi Morita, finally addressed the censorship regulations that Sony has employed for PS4 games, speaking at the Japan Studio “Fun” Meeting that took place in Tokyo, Japan on December 1st, 2018. The event was themed around a celebration of SIE Japan Studio’s projects, but was also open to some fan questions. The news was picked up by Ebitsu.net, which briefly covered some of the topics Morita addressed while at the meet-and-greet.


Morita explained that there was no “profound meaning” behind the decision other to match global regulation, saying…

“Regarding the regulation of the depiction of content, it’s simply a matter of matching global standards.​

​

“As for the freedom of expression… we have to think about what might be unpleasant for children and shield them from those things while also thinking and assessing ways to find a balance [for that expression].”​

』

It's so weirdly appropriate on so many levels that:

• this is the best excuse Sony Japan came up with to justify this
• Sony has a recent focus on violent games overseas, many are Z rated (not allowed on retail ads, not purchasable unless with credit cards) and very culturally inappropriate in Japan, yet Sony is one of the few publishers who go the extra mile to market them in Japan
• it's also unintentionally a backhanded insult at those who support and push for those policies
• Some Sony exec actually said in an official comment the PS4/PS5 is now the kid console (yet Sony failed in all ways to court the children demographic and isn't doing much to change this, in Japan or elsewhere, and their child-friendly franchises were moved to phones and in one case -Popolocrois crossover- to the fucking Nintendo 3DS)
• Nintendo, the actual kid console, in their launch trailers for the Switch made a point of educating parents about ratings

 

[Enygger_Tzu]

Also, Pot Meet Kettle OAG said it best here:

https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2018/...atch-global-standards-and-protect-kids/72781/

So essentially Morita was fed a “think of the children” line regarding the current censorship policies being applied for PlayStation 4 games, globally.

However, this doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense when you actually “assess” the games that are being censored.

For instance, Omega Labyrinth Z was already rated for a mature audience, yet Sony completely banned it from being released in the West even though it was already out in Japan.

Mary Skelter 2 was also already rated and released for a mature audience, yet Sony had the localization team to censor the game’s interactive “Purification” mode via a post-launch patch… in China. Worse yet is that the post-launch patch broke the game for many Chinese gamers, which forced them to have to Jerry-rig a method in order to roll the game back to version 1.00 just to properly progress through the game.

In that case, it was a mature game for mature audiences, so according to Morita’s standards, why was it censored?

This also applied to other third-party games aimed at older audiences, including Silverio Trinity and Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal, both of which had to be censored despite being rated for mature audiences. The upcoming Senran Kagura 7EVEN will also have to be censored for release on PS4, even though it, too, was supposed to be designed with the CERO D crowd in mind (or at least it was).

More in the link of the article.

 

[michaelius]

Looks like petition creator will have chance to talk with Playstation UK about this.

petition

At least they might pass some feedback to US HQ

 

[Senhua]

So what is Global standar for the definition of underage in Anime Art style?
- < 18?
- < 16?
- psychically looked like this USA teenager?

- or like this 23 YEARS OLD Japanese Gravure Models?

Oh yeah there aren't any, So Atsushi Morita, you pull your standard from your great American master's a**hole.

 

[kunonabi]

Laughable response by Sony as expected. If were thinking about the children I'd say rewriting history in battlefield is far more problematic than some cartoon breasts but whatever.

 

[JordanN]

Laughable response by Sony as expected. If were thinking about the children I'd say rewriting history in battlefield is far more problematic than some cartoon breasts but whatever.

Honestly, the idea Sony now "cares about the children" just screams fake.

The reason the first Playstation took off was because it wasn't seen as a kid's toy. We had the Genesis and SNES before that, but PS1 made it ok for games like Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto share the spotlight that they previously wouldn't have gotten in an era of Mascot Platformers.

 

[Endless Fluff]

That "matching global standards" is infuriating to hear. There is no "global standard", because every culture is different.. SonyUS wants to force their standard onto everyone else and I hope they'll crash and burn for trying this shit.

 

[s_mirage]

That "matching global standards" is infuriating to hear. There is no "global standard", because every culture is different.. SonyUS wants to force their standard onto everyone else and I hope they'll crash and burn for trying this shit.

It's the old "community standards" ploy. Whether someone's clamouring for censorship because "somebody think of the children", or because it offends them, or because they believe it's against their religion, the old "this violates community standards" argument is put into effect. Of course, no-one ever says who decided these standards, when the community was consulted, who elected the people involved to speak for the community, or where these standards were codified. No, it's a lazy excuse used by people who want to censor things for their own reasons, but want to appear as if their hands are being forced.

In this case it's even more nonsense than usual considering there are no global standards of any kind regarding video games, and the cultures of nations vary wildly. Should all games be censored globally to meet the standards of the most restrictive countries in the world?

 

[Javthusiast]

Think of the children please, while our first party studios only produce violent mature games mostly. Nice one Sony.

 

[The Cartographer]

So now SCE(A)/Sony came out and actually said what kind of design they're trying to implement (force) on users on their consoles and even other systems.
I'm glad we got Nintendo and personal computers around but I also think it's time to get some more hardware houses into the industry because those clowns at San Mateo need to feel the fucking heat.

 

[Aranea]

Hopefully more developers make their games available for PC/Switch. This whole thing about "protecting the children" is a very poor excuse. Those games are rated for a mature audience for a reason or are they gonna start censoring games such as God of War, Grand Theft Auto, etc. just to protect the children? Of course not. They hypocrisy from Sony is very clear.

 

[Javthusiast]

Exactly. Japanese developers need to lead with other platforms and release uncompromised versions, instead of selfcensoring their ideas from the start and put out scuffed versions on all platforms. But I fear the latter will happen.

 

[JordanN]

Hopefully more developers make their games available for PC/Switch. This whole thing about "protecting the children" is a very poor excuse. Those games are rated for a mature audience for a reason or are they gonna start censoring games such as God of War, Grand Theft Auto, etc. just to protect the children? Of course not. They hypocrisy from Sony is very clear.

Fun for the whole family!™

What's funny is at one point, Dead or Alive actually had a lower rating than God Of War.
The European versions are rated 12+.

 

[JunkerWoland]

Headline news: Japanese businessman makes vague, noncommittal response to random individual's question at event meet-and-greet!

We already know Japan isn't pulling the strings on this situation, and Mr. Morita's not about to put his job in danger, due to his bosses potentially hurting a bunch of small-to-mid sized Japanese developers. The only way we might get a real response out of SIE Japan is if these changes begin to erode domestic sales. DoA:Xtreme3 Scarlet will be a good upcoming test to see whether Japanese consumers tell Sony to shove it and purchase the technically inferior version of the game on Switch.

 

[The Chairman]

#ThinkOfTheChildren

 

[Clear]

Errr Omega Labyrinth Z wasn't banned by Sony, it was VSC in who straight-up banned it in the UK, after it was already rejected by similar bodies In Germany and Australia. Check the BBC link for details.

When that happened its pretty obvious that Sony realized that it could happen again with similar titles in future, and took steps to ensure that it wouldn't.

Regarding ESRB ratings: People need to understand that ESRB doesn't check games as part of the submission process. Its literally a content checklist that if its subsequently found to deviate from (for example something as simple as not checking the "alcohol" tickbox and a beer bottle is shown as a non-interactive part of background scenery counts as an infraction), a fine gets levied. Fines increase massively if the same publisher infracts multiple-times within a certain time-period, meaning that publisher who release a large amount of product annually are extremely vigilant about compliance.

The last submission I personally handled was for an EA title around 2011, so my apologies if things have changed since then. But I assure you that was how the process worked back then.

 

[JordanN]

Errr Omega Labyrinth Z wasn't banned by Sony, it was VSC in who straight-up banned it in the UK, after it was already rejected by similar bodies In Germany and Australia. Check the BBC link for details.

When that happened its pretty obvious that Sony realized that it could happen again with similar titles in future, and took steps to ensure that it wouldn't.

Why are they going after games being released only in Japan, and forcing them to converse in english?
And if a game gets banned in one country, why does the whole world suffer?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games

Literally every country is different. There is no "global standard".

 

[JunkerWoland]

Errr Omega Labyrinth Z wasn't banned by Sony, it was VSC in who straight-up banned it in the UK, after it was already rejected by similar bodies In Germany and Australia. Check the BBC link for details.

The VSC blocked the game's physical release in the UK, but it was still issued a PEGI rating of 18. The game would have remained salable on PSN, and I believe PQube would still have been able to fulfill physical orders via its website. Sony outright blocked the game's Western release in June 2018. PQube's official comment is the "platform holder" forced the game's cancellation (link).

To play devil's advocate, it's possible Sony told PQube further changes needed to be made to the game that the companies involved couldn't justify from a development and/or financial perspective, forcing PQube to kill the release.

Otherwise, the notion Sony took steps to prevent similar future occurrences doesn't jive, when they're forcing Japanese developers to alter products for their domestic market that already comply with the country's standards and ratings board.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Errr Omega Labyrinth Z wasn't banned by Sony, it was VSC in who straight-up banned it in the UK, after it was already rejected by similar bodies In Germany and Australia. Check the BBC link for details.

When that happened its pretty obvious that Sony realized that it could happen again with similar titles in future, and took steps to ensure that it wouldn't.

Regarding ESRB ratings: People need to understand that ESRB doesn't check games as part of the submission process. Its literally a content checklist that if its subsequently found to deviate from (for example something as simple as not checking the "alcohol" tickbox and a beer bottle is shown as a non-interactive part of background scenery counts as an infraction), a fine gets levied. Fines increase massively if the same publisher infracts multiple-times within a certain time-period, meaning that publisher who release a large amount of product annually are extremely vigilant about compliance.

The last submission I personally handled was for an EA title around 2011, so my apologies if things have changed since then. But I assure you that was how the process worked back then.

Pretty sure they were specifically referring to NA, where the game was cancelled by Sony due to their unnecessary requests.

 

[Clear]

Why are they going after games being released only in Japan, and forcing them to converse in english?
And if a game gets banned in one country, why does the whole world suffer?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games

Literally every country is different. There is no "global standard".

Simple answer I imagine is money. Centralized certification with content standards for all territories is the most cost-efficient and risk-averse strategy. Especially in a time where cultural standards are volatile, and running into real regional censorship issues (as with Omega Labyrinth Z) is an issue. As is dealing with any potential negative publicity from a title that really can't be defended on artistic merit.

Bottom line, why deal with all the hassle down the line when you can avoid it early on, especially on product where the expected upsides (sales) aren't particularly compelling.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of censorship, and I'm most certainly not offended by any of this "problematic" content personally. But the truth is, in the present climate I quite understand why they'd want to err on the side of caution. As to centralizing submission in California, that's just business. It is what it is.

The reason why I mentioned the ESRB stuff is just to point out getting a rating actually means nothing. Its what happens post-release that's the concern.

Edit: The VSC's full ruling on Omega Labyrinth Z can be found here

 

[The Mad Draklor]

I can't stop laughing at the cookie-cutter "Please think of the children" excuse. It's among the laziest statements to come up with.

 

[Endless Fluff]

Simple answer I imagine is money. Centralized certification with content standards for all territories is the most cost-efficient and risk-averse strategy. Especially in a time where cultural standards are volatile, and running into real regional censorship issues (as with Omega Labyrinth Z) is an issue. As is dealing with any potential negative publicity from a title that really can't be defended on artistic merit.

They better provide guidelines for violent games as well, because there is always a risk that some games don't get a rating in germany... and regional censorship for some EU markets is a thing that happens yearly (swastikas being removed for example).

But they strangely don't provide those guidelines. It's only the sexy anime tiddies that are affected by all of this, so far.

 

[CatCouch]

What is the global standard? If Sony is going for one worldwide standards I think the violence in games like the Last of Us Part II might be a bigger issue, especially since it's a much more popular title and in no way can be targeted towards kids.

 

[The Mad Draklor]

Sony has this false impression that it's up to them to decide what games and content the consumers can and cannot consume. No, Sony. Do you have any idea what the ratings boards are for? They are there to inform the consumer what kind of content will be in each game so they can make an educated purchase. And this is what John Lee Packard pointed out about Nintendo educating the parents:

 

[JunkerWoland]

What is the global standard? If Sony is going for one worldwide standards I think the violence in games like the Last of Us Part II might be a bigger issue, especially since it's a much more popular title and in no way can be targeted towards kids.

The "global standard" is whatever content Sony Interactive Entertainment in California deems they're fine having represent their platform, while regional ratings boards can keep their jobs of cleaning up any further issues related to local convetions.

At the moment, it's clear Sony feels erotic content primarily geared towards heterosexual males is to be frowned upon, whereas violence and other displays of affection are fine from a corporate level. The company seems to want to be the mainstream Hollywood of video games, even if that potentially means alienating some existing consumers.

 

[Clear]

They better provide guidelines for violent games as well, because there is always a risk that some games don't get a rating in germany... and regional censorship for some EU markets is a thing that happens yearly (swastikas being removed for example).

But they strangely don't provide those guidelines. It's only the sexy anime tiddies that are affected by all of this, so far.

What's going to be "protected" and what isn't is all going to be down to money. And the truth is that in the biggest and most lucrative single-market (NA) provided the violence isn't sexualized or attached to hot-button issues like school shootings you can ladle on as much gore as you want.

And yes, this has been going on for years. Hell have people forgotten the EU versions of TLOU's multiplayer mode having head-blasting trimmed?

The difference of course is that there's no way that a big game like TLOU was not going to get released, its just too big of an investment to do other than tone stuff down. Its all economics. Partly overall opportunity cost and partly how easy/difficult it is to change a title to fit into the guidelines.

I'd also add that ratings boards tend to have no legal value, for example in the UK a BBFC classification does not rule out prosecution and conviction under the Obscenity laws. Its just that typically its enough to ward off specious legal challenges. Ratings boards tend to be advisory, compliance is rarely a legal obligation and most often an economic one.

 

[CatCouch]

I'm quite disappointed with how many people are defending this censorship as I'm reading other sites. Reading a lead moderator argue that this isn't censorship on Gamefaqs and telling people to make their own platform is depressing.

I really woldn't be surprised if games like Cyberpunk 2077 run into problems. The "think of the children" response is not what I was expecting, honestly. I'm not so sure the violence in these games is completely safe now. I'm eagerly waiting to see how future games will release. If only Japanese anime games are censored then we have a clear biased policy that Sony will not be able to clarify but if it is a real, defined policy it will likely hit at least some western games. I'm very interested in seeing how far this goes~

 

[Pot Meet Kettle]

It was never going to stop with softcore porn games, it has already affected a lot of non porn elements like "problematic subcultures" (like pick up artists in the case of Super Seducer) and mandating content cuts for female fanservice that go beyond covering their modesty and into ensuring it doesn't feel too problematic by Californian standards, and now horror and -guess what- violence in videogames again (after sexualized content, game journalists are drumming outrage for RDR2 asking for the removal of violence against NPCs)

Errr Omega Labyrinth Z wasn't banned by Sony, it was VSC in who straight-up banned it in the UK, after it was already rejected by similar bodies In Germany and Australia. Check the BBC link for details.

It was rated in the US as well with no further problems, as well as having been banned in just two European countries. PQube also made it very clear that incident and after it that the platform holder was the party who wanted the game gone.
Incidentally, a lot of the folks from San Mateo are regulars at resetera.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of censorship, and I'm most certainly not offended by any of this "problematic" content personally. But the truth is, in the present climate I quite understand why they'd want to err on the side of caution. As to centralizing submission in California, that's just business. It is what it is.

There was one time where the US government was threatening to take action against videogames over violence, and publishers stood their ground, on in one case released minigames mocking the proposed bans and the rationale behind it. Yet it seems the reason why some people think that rationale is wrong is not because of the underlying faulty logic, but because of the political alignment of the people involved back then. There's no erring on the side of caution when Sony clearly took sides and stood for equally adults-only erotic content targeting a different audience.

In related matters, Monolith Soft added the censored Hikari costume with black pantyhoses retroactively to Xenoblade 2... as an optional costume, and after it became fetishized by fan artists, to the dismay of proponents of the censorship who are wondering why didn't Nintendo take this occasion to censor Pyra too.

 

[petran79]

If they paid that money to some developers instead of their censoring boards, PS1 Classic would have much better emulation

 

[Enygger_Tzu]

I wonder what is Sony's position on pride parades? Since they sponsored one, after all.

But hey, think of the children! Except when you have to indoctrinate them!

 

[CatCouch]

I wonder what is Sony's position on pride parades? Since they sponsored one, after all.

But hey, think of the children! Except when you have to indoctrinate them!

I honestly wish we would move past comparing sexy games with a male audience in mind to anything LGBT. Nothing is wrong with either!

This is getting to be a "two wrongs makes a right" scenario. I want games to have the freedom to include whatever content the creator wants for the audience they target. Give me gay and straight games!

Being gay or straight should not be a "think of the children" thing, anyway, especially if violence is not part of the discussion. Now, someone needs to make a gay furry game, dammit!

 

[Thiagosc777]

This is not a "global standard", it is a San Francisco standard.

 

[Pantz]

censoring mature rated games for children makes no sense

If the kids have access to mature games then they most likely have access to a web browser and much more mature things than what's in some anime video game

 

[Pot Meet Kettle]

I honestly wish we would move past comparing sexy games with a male audience in mind to anything LGBT. Nothing is wrong with either!

This is getting to be a "two wrongs makes a right" scenario. I want games to have the freedom to include whatever content the creator wants for the audience they target. Give me gay and straight games!

Being gay or straight should not be a "think of the children" thing, anyway, especially if violence is not part of the discussion. Now, someone needs to make a gay furry game, dammit!

I agree about your argument that two wrongs don't make a right, but frankly speaking that speaking point is still relevant here (as long as it's in relation to the content approval process, and not defending revenge censorship the way FF15 was deemed "problematic" over the all-male main cast, because of the previous "wrongs" of the series that weren't cleansed enough with the Lightning trilogy or FFX-2's all-female main cast) because... Sugar Daddy is really really far from the kind of games that are "fun and uncontroversial for the whole family". It's a fanservice game. Yet it gets an official push by Sony's marketing whereas they ban other fanservice games (no matter what constitutes "unacceptable fanservice", since even horror and off-screen narration is too much for Sony)

There could have been some plausible deniability that the publishers or the platform holder is doing these cuts to avoid media scrutiny or bad PR or whatever flimsy excuse trying to shift blame to someone else, but with the existence of an equally NSFW game on their platforms, that's given preferential treatment no less, that means Sony isn't afraid of the bad look of supporting sexualized lewd pervy content on their consoles, but have other motives that can be explained away by the trail left by their policies.

 

[CatCouch]

I agree about your argument that two wrongs don't make a right, but frankly speaking that speaking point is still relevant here (as long as it's in relation to the content approval process, and not defending revenge censorship the way FF15 was deemed "problematic" over the all-male main cast, because of the previous "wrongs" of the series that weren't cleansed enough with the Lightning trilogy or FFX-2's all-female main cast) because... Sugar Daddy is really really far from the kind of games that are "fun and uncontroversial for the whole family". It's a fanservice game. Yet it gets an official push by Sony's marketing whereas they ban other fanservice games (no matter what constitutes "unacceptable fanservice", since even horror and off-screen narration is too much for Sony)

There could have been some plausible deniability that the publishers or the platform holder is doing these cuts to avoid media scrutiny or bad PR or whatever flimsy excuse trying to shift blame to someone else, but with the existence of an equally NSFW game on their platforms, that's given preferential treatment no less, that means Sony isn't afraid of the bad look of supporting sexualized lewd pervy content on their consoles, but have other motives that can be explained away by the trail left by their policies.

Sugar Daddy? Is that something new or did you mean Dream Daddy? Dream Daddy is Teen rated so it's not particularly lewd. There's nothing wrong with Dream Daddy (or the lesbian themes in the Last of Us games) so I really wish people would stop going after them. It's incredibly counter-productive to argue against LGBT themes in games as a response to censorship.

No one can be happy in this scenario, I actually fear it will create so much distress that devs will stay away from content they fear will get them attacked by either side. That's real self-censorship. I honestly suspect that's already the case as we are not seeing many games like Dream Daddy and the west has severely cut down sexy art. Hell, we rarely even get romance options in games now *fingers crossed for Dragon Age to return to form*.

I do suspect that bias against Japanese art is a big part, if not the entirety of Sony's policy, though. If Dram Daddy were Japanese who knows if they would promote it even if it was the same game.

It makes me wonder if Sony would have a different response if you put a sexy anime game in front of them and say it's from a progressive western developer in San Fransisco. Would Sony censor 2064 Read Only Memories, (which has sexual content and a Japanese art style but was made in San Francisco), if they were told it was a Japanese game?

(On a side note, looking up 2064 on wikipedia it says the producer of the game, Matt Conn, stepped down after "allegations of sexual abuse, underpaying workers, and workplace harassment" this year. Wow.)

I'm waiting to see if the Neptunia games are censored in the future, which are also Teen rated. As it is, I don't think Sony has any idea how to communicate their policy. I suspect it's a case-by-case "I'll know it when I see it" kind of thing. The violent, sexual content that was left untouched in Death Mark is way more explicit than the bikini and panties they made other developers cover up. Sony didn't ban Senran Kagura altogether so I suspect they are just bullying devs when they see fit because they can.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The policy changes seem aimed at all the anime-kiddie-upskirt kinds of games and visuals. If you like these kinds of games, the censorship policies are a kick in the nuts.

If you are a gamer who like violence, GTA types of games, God of War head smashing, and shooters, you have nothing to worry about.

 

[Barakov]

So the stench from the censorship policies was too big to ignore for Sony...

『
Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan president, Atsushi Morita, finally addressed the censorship regulations that Sony has employed for PS4 games, speaking at the Japan Studio “Fun” Meeting that took place in Tokyo, Japan on December 1st, 2018. The event was themed around a celebration of SIE Japan Studio’s projects, but was also open to some fan questions. The news was picked up by Ebitsu.net, which briefly covered some of the topics Morita addressed while at the meet-and-greet.


Morita explained that there was no “profound meaning” behind the decision other to match global regulation, saying…

“Regarding the regulation of the depiction of content, it’s simply a matter of matching global standards.​

​

“As for the freedom of expression… we have to think about what might be unpleasant for children and shield them from those things while also thinking and assessing ways to find a balance [for that expression].”​

』

It's so weirdly appropriate on so many levels that:

• this is the best excuse Sony Japan came up with to justify this
• Sony has a recent focus on violent games overseas, many are Z rated (not allowed on retail ads, not purchasable unless with credit cards) and very culturally inappropriate in Japan, yet Sony is one of the few publishers who go the extra mile to market them in Japan
• it's also unintentionally a backhanded insult at those who support and push for those policies
• Some Sony exec actually said in an official comment the PS4/PS5 is now the kid console (yet Sony failed in all ways to court the children demographic and isn't doing much to change this, in Japan or elsewhere, and their child-friendly franchises were moved to phones and in one case -Popolocrois crossover- to the fucking Nintendo 3DS)
• Nintendo, the actual kid console, in their launch trailers for the Switch made a point of educating parents about ratings

Haha. They literally said it. Sony is going to get trashed so hard next gen. Developers in Japan are just going to move over to Switch. The hardware is weaker for sure but there are less hoops to jump through as a developer and they won't have to deal with Sony's censorship committee. In the west, MS is going to come out swinging with Scarlet and mark my words they are going to make damn sure that it(Scarlet) is easy as hell develop for and make it as inviting as possible for western developers. I'm thinking of ways Sony couldn't mess up any harder than this but I'm sure they figure out a way. I guess the only way they could is asking Activision to take out the blood in the next COD, thus creating a Mortal Kombat situation in 2019.

They talk about being kid-friendly and shielding them from bad things yet then they are releasing Last of Us - Part 2 which has actual scenes of people getting mutilated. I mean what in the actual shit?

 

[Dr. Claus]

Haha. They literally said it. Sony is going to get trashed so hard next gen. Developers in Japan are just going to move over to Switch. The hardware is weaker for sure but there are less hoops to jump through as a developer and they won't have to deal with Sony's censorship committee. In the west, MS is going to come out swinging with Scarlet and mark my words they are going to make damn sure that it(Scarlet) is easy as hell develop for and make it as inviting as possible for western developers. I'm thinking of ways Sony couldn't mess up any harder than this but I'm sure they figure out a way. I guess the only way they could is asking Activision to take out the blood in the next COD, thus creating a Mortal Kombat situation in 2019.

They talk about being kid-friendly and shielding them from bad things yet then they are releasing Last of Us - Part 2 which has actual scenes of people getting mutilated. I mean what in the actual shit?

It may prove to be even better for those developers. They won't need to develop cutting edge graphics, nor will they really need to create brand new engines (or spend more time with higher resolution textures/models).

 

[CatCouch]

The policy changes seem aimed at all the anime-kiddie-upskirt kinds of games and visuals. If you like these kinds of games, the censorship policies are a kick in the nuts.

If you are a gamer who like violence, GTA types of games, God of War head smashing, and shooters, you have nothing to worry about.

I'm not sure anyone really knows what the policy encompasses since it appears Super Seducer was the first game hit. Dead or Alive isn't kiddie, either and DOAX3 Scarlet is censored (very interested in seeing if this gets a western release).

I have a few things I'm waiting to see:
1. Do they censor any teen rated games.
2. Do they censor games like Catherine.
3. Do any western games need to be toned down (games that have sex, nudity and/or content someone might call sexist).

If any of those things happen I probably won't return for the PS5. There's a ton of Teen rated games with anime upskirt art so if those are censored (looking at Neptunia games) then Sony should be called out on their double standard "think of the children" policy since violence is not questioned at all (that we know of).

Self-censorship may be the real enemy, though. Not actually knowing what they are targeting for censorship means that game devs likely don't have guidelines they can follow like rating boards do. It actually doesn't look like Sony's policies are as strict as we thought because the "white light" stuff was seemingly done in panic to make sure that game could release. That's what happens when you don't know what the rules are under pressure. Not a good move from Sony.

 

[Pot Meet Kettle]

There's nothing wrong with Dream Daddy (or the lesbian themes in the Last of Us games) so I really wish people would stop going after them. It's incredibly counter-productive to argue against LGBT themes in games as a response to censorship.

As I said in the very beginning of my reply (where I got the game's name wrong), I'm not arguing for either game to be censored as I don't think two wrongs make a right, nor am I going after either. Their existence doesn't upset or trigger me that much to advocate for their forceful disappearing.

The whole point why bringing up those games in the debates is useful is to show that Sony's claim they are cleaning up for kids or mass appeal are hollow and fake as hell, when they are allowing some lewd games with lots of fanservice made to titillate (I don't think the T/M rating is representative that much of how lewd it is considering even Senran Kagura who's affected by this got a T for its first game) or trying to sneak Z-rated versions of their very gory, ultra-violent Western games (Uncharted, GoW) past CERO that mandates legal retail restrictions on par not only with the M rating, but the AO rating.

Then it's no longer "ban this filth because some soccer mom might not buy the console for the kids, the primary target audience for us" but a ban with clearly ideological undertones easily perceivable in the very way they pick and choose which adult-only or lewd content (still inappropriate for kids) is allowed, and which isn't.

 

[Dunki]

There's nothing wrong with Dream Daddy (or the lesbian themes in the Last of Us games) so I really wish people would stop going after them

Dream Daddy follows the same principle than many dating sims and visual novels. There is nothing great or bad about it. But the double standard about these is what makes people upset in the end. Also it play with common otome tropes as well. You know tropes that if they were done on female characters people would criticize.

As for Last of US. It was never about Ellie being a lesbian it was about Naughty Dogs agenda they are trying to push in theri games and also marketing by even handpicking a racist straightphobic trans actor who always rants on twitter how much he hates white males.

 

[CatCouch]

As I said in the very beginning of my reply (where I got the game's name wrong), I'm not arguing for either game to be censored as I don't think two wrongs make a right, nor am I going after either. Their existence doesn't upset or trigger me that much to advocate for their forceful disappearing.

The whole point why bringing up those games in the debates is useful is to show that Sony's claim they are cleaning up for kids or mass appeal are hollow and fake as hell, when they are allowing some lewd games with lots of fanservice made to titillate (I don't think the T/M rating is representative that much of how lewd it is considering even Senran Kagura who's affected by this got a T for its first game) or trying to sneak Z-rated versions of their very gory, ultra-violent Western games (Uncharted, GoW) past CERO that mandates legal retail restrictions on par not only with the M rating, but the AO rating.

Then it's no longer "ban this filth because some soccer mom might not buy the console for the kids, the primary target audience for us" but a ban with clearly ideological undertones easily perceivable in the very way they pick and choose which adult-only or lewd content (still inappropriate for kids) is allowed, and which isn't.

Yeah, I will say the "think of the children" response makes no sense at all. Not even a little. I suspect Sony is just spinning with a typical PR response since they don't actually know how to express their new policy, probably due to how biased it is against Japanese art. Even Sony wouldn't come out and state they are targeting one countries culture for censorship. That would likely cause more problems.

It's clear Sony doesn't want to publicly defend what it's doing, a sure sign that what they are doing is 100% wrong. We need more western devs to make lewd games with men and see if Sony buckles. That's my ideal solution!

Dream Daddy follows the same principle than many dating sims and visual novels. There is nothing great or bad about it. But the double standard about these is what makes people upset in the end. Also it play with common otome tropes as well. You know tropes that if they were done on female characters people would criticize.

As for Last of US. It was never about Ellie being a lesbian it was about Naughty Dogs agenda they are trying to push in theri games and also marketing by even handpicking a racist straightphobic trans actor who always rants on twitter how much he hates white males.

I know nothing about the actor. I can't comment on that but I did follow ND's Boon Cotter (spelling?) who went on quite the rant about how he wasn't a gamer because gamers are homophobes and he doesn't make games for gamers. Stuff like that. I was very disappointed. He did walk it back a bit and I liked other tweets he posted (he had one stating you don't need a reason to have nudity in your games, do what you want!) so I don't think ND is just out to push an agenda. I do feel people on the far left are not careful with their words as they often don't think there are ramifications because they are on the right side of history. I really want to see that mentality go away so we can try to have debates, at least. Both sides being full of people lashing out at each other sucks, especially when it's game companies doing it.

 

[Sakura]

It's funny because my Japanese version of RDR2 is censored while the western version is not, yet lewdness needs to be censored on a global scale.

 

[Dunki]

Japanese will always censor These Kind of games. They did the same with the witcher 3

 

[The Mad Draklor]

The author of the Change.org petition against Sony's policies will meet with Sony UK next week to talk about the company's censorship policies. Sony UK does not have any control over the other branches of SIE, but they do have the capability to get in direct touch with the HQ. Some more information can be found at Oneangrygamer's article.

I highly doubt it will do anything, though I definitely appreciate the person's passion to talk in behalf of the anti-censorship folks. Would I like for Sony to realize the errors of its ways and strip out the policy? Definitely, but that's just too good to be true.

 

[Pantz]

The author of the Change.org petition against Sony's policies will meet with Sony UK next week to talk about the company's censorship policies. Sony UK does not have any control over the other branches of SIE, but they do have the capability to get in direct touch with the HQ. Some more information can be found at Oneangrygamer's article.

I highly doubt it will do anything, though I definitely appreciate the person's passion to talk in behalf of the anti-censorship folks. Would I like for Sony to realize the errors of its ways and strip out the policy? Definitely, but that's just too good to be true.

Let's see if he can do it without blushing haha

 

[JordanN]

Does anyone know the source of this quote?

I read that Sony apparently has a contract with developers so that they cannot port or release their games on other platforms until after Sony is done censoring them.

 

[The Chairman]

 

[Pot Meet Kettle]

It's clear Sony doesn't want to publicly defend what it's doing, a sure sign that what they are doing is 100% wrong. We need more western devs to make lewd games with men and see if Sony buckles. That's my ideal solution!

For what it's worth, even otome visual novel Japanese developers like Koei and Chunsoft (dating sims with typically heterosexual relationships between the heroine and sexualized male hunks) are dropping the PS4 in favor of the Switch suddenly after this policy (one year ago).
Either the heterosexual aspect (you'd have to remember at the onset of VR technology game journalists were campaigning against sex simulators from the point of view of either character because it was too "rape-y" for them, player engagement be damned) or the country of origin, or the availability of virtual dating experiences with not enough proper politics and framing and too much escapism and fantasy, are at fault in Sony California's eyes.

The issue is that it won't stop with lewd games, and has so far managed to affect games from the genre of horror, brawlers and then even RPGs (with Arc of the Alchemist, and Catherine which somehow managed the blessing of some feminist critics because of its criticism of "toxic masculinity" and earned the "flawed mature experience" label) with some games like Super Seducer getting banned by request from game journalists or because they aren't ideologically compliant.

 

[petran79]

Regarding Game Tengoku cutemup and Clarice discussed earlier, Degica announced this:

All the bomb images are included in the Steam version.
They drop one after another, and that order resets when you die. If you want to see the racing car, you need to drop 5 bombs without dying.
1 A-10
2 Riki
3 Poyoyon♥Rock
4 Asanagi
5 Hirohiroki (Racing Clarice)