Report: Fallout 3 Nuke Quest Nixed for Japanese Market
Report: Fallout 3 Nuke Quest Nixed for Japanese Market
November 11, 2008
Kotaku reports that a Fallout 3 side quest involving the possible detonation of an unexploded nuclear bomb has been edited out of the Japanese version of the best-selling game.
Developer Bethesda has made changes to the Japanese Fallout 3. The side-quest The Power of the Atom has been changed. Non-playable-character Mr. Burke has been taken out of this side-quest, removing the option of detonating the nuclear bomb.
That's not all, the name of a weapon was changed as it was deemed "inappropriate" for Japan. Smart money says the weapon is mini-nuke launcher "Fat Man" for obvious reasons. The online reaction from the Japanese users seems to be largely disappointment to these edits. Fallout 3 goes on sale in Japan this December.
Japan, of course, is the only nation to have been attacked with a nuclear weapon to date, so cultural sensitivities to the issue are understandable. The atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki at the end of World War II was nicknamed "Fat Man."
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Posted 03/13/10 at 05:49pm
JDKJ: Justin Beaver.
JDKJ: Justin Beaver.
Posted 03/12/10 at 07:31pm
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Here is a trailer of Dead or Alive Paradise. It´s basically a summary of the game...
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Here is a trailer of Dead or Alive Paradise. It´s basically a summary of the game...
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:54pm
Valdearg: *sigh* I'm friends with some sad, sad people.. If they weren't such good drinking buddies.. Lmao.
Valdearg: *sigh* I'm friends with some sad, sad people.. If they weren't such good drinking buddies.. Lmao.
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:54pm
DarkSaber: Pssssh, the answer is Populous.
DarkSaber: Pssssh, the answer is Populous.
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:54pm
JDKJ: I'm still in the beavers. Any chance I get, I'm in the beavers. Nut-deep.
JDKJ: I'm still in the beavers. Any chance I get, I'm in the beavers. Nut-deep.
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:54pm
Valdearg: Seriously? I mean.. Couldn't they have picked a different topic to argue about?
Valdearg: Seriously? I mean.. Couldn't they have picked a different topic to argue about?
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:53pm
Valdearg: Wow. Two of my friends are arguing on my facebook about whether Age of Mythology or Black and White was the better God Game...
Valdearg: Wow. Two of my friends are arguing on my facebook about whether Age of Mythology or Black and White was the better God Game...
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:52pm
DarkSaber: I was having a shower. That time of the week again. Boys Brigade? Never heard of them, but I was in the Beavers.
DarkSaber: I was having a shower. That time of the week again. Boys Brigade? Never heard of them, but I was in the Beavers.
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:44pm
JDKJ: Your deafening silence says it all, Saber.
JDKJ: Your deafening silence says it all, Saber.
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:39pm
JDKJ: Be honest, Saber. You were in the Boys Brigade when you were a lad, weren't you?
JDKJ: Be honest, Saber. You were in the Boys Brigade when you were a lad, weren't you?
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:39pm
DarkSaber: Also, had Schrodinger been hanging about?
DarkSaber: Also, had Schrodinger been hanging about?
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:37pm
JDKJ: And did the mice then get to playing?
JDKJ: And did the mice then get to playing?
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:35pm
DarkSaber: ah, but was it also out of the bag?
DarkSaber: ah, but was it also out of the bag?
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:33pm
JDKJ: And didn't the cat have to be curious nine times before its curiosity got the better of it?
JDKJ: And didn't the cat have to be curious nine times before its curiosity got the better of it?
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:30pm
JDKJ: Keep it real, Saber. You know your Christmas Day wouldn't be complete if you didn't have a listen to the Queen's Speech.
JDKJ: Keep it real, Saber. You know your Christmas Day wouldn't be complete if you didn't have a listen to the Queen's Speech.
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:29pm
Andrew Eisen: "Curiosity killed the cat." Makes you wonder just what that cat was doing when that phrase was coined.
Andrew Eisen: "Curiosity killed the cat." Makes you wonder just what that cat was doing when that phrase was coined.
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:28pm
chadachada321: And to really bring this full circle...tradition would have "Under God" omitted from the pledge, because it was only added in 54
chadachada321: And to really bring this full circle...tradition would have "Under God" omitted from the pledge, because it was only added in 54
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:27pm
Valdearg: I never understood humanity's insistence on adhering to tradition. But hey, as long as there's no harm done, I don't really care, Lol.. Like you guys are saying, sometimes it's downright entertaining.
Valdearg: I never understood humanity's insistence on adhering to tradition. But hey, as long as there's no harm done, I don't really care, Lol.. Like you guys are saying, sometimes it's downright entertaining.
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:23pm
DarkSaber: I know, makes you wonder how a practical joke becomes a centuries old tradition. I doubt when it first happened people looked at each other said "We should do this EVERY year!"
DarkSaber: I know, makes you wonder how a practical joke becomes a centuries old tradition. I doubt when it first happened people looked at each other said "We should do this EVERY year!"
Posted 03/12/10 at 01:21pm
JDKJ: That thing where the Commons slam the door in Black Rob's face and make him bang on it before they'll open up always makes me laugh. Who comes up with this shit?
JDKJ: That thing where the Commons slam the door in Black Rob's face and make him bang on it before they'll open up always makes me laugh. Who comes up with this shit?
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Comments
Not suprised, and honestly I don't think anyone should complain about it... no other nation on earth can currently, and hopefully never will, be able to understand the effect things like this has on Japanese society.
My reaction is that it kind of sucks for them, but it's understandable why they wouldn't want it like that, and I'm not complaining.
I'll say I'm sorry about Hiroshima and Nagasaki when they say they're sorry for Nanking.
I do complain because is simply a nonsense
explain me this: what's the point to ban a nuclear blast, set in Washingthon, in a videogame, by a Jap, today?
and even if I was an very old 'sensitive' Jap, with parents dead by that REAL WWII nuclear blast, do you think I feel hurted from see Washington wiped off by a nukebomb?
I guess that is always the same ol story: governant's are way out their people needs and thinking.
I don't think there has been any reference to the Japanese asking for it to be removed has there?, looks more like a Bethesda decision.
ok my fault - strip out my last sentence and "by a Jap" because manifestly off context
but the remains are still good
Just curious but you do know the term "Jap" is racist right?
What?
I've never heard of such a thing. It's just an abbreviation of a Japanese person. Just because it used to have a negative coontation doesn't mean it still does when someone today uses it.
Damn PC freaks.
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"What for you bury me in the cold cold ground?" - Tasmanian devil
Yes and just because nigger used to have negative conotations we should be able to use it now... ooo how about frog and kanuck(sp) or yank etc ...
Just because you don't think it has negative conotations doesn't mean it still doesnt go under the guideline of racist words but whatever stay close minded those are the best people in the world.
Did you just call Japanese people 'those people'? Really?
I'd put Jap as offensive as Brit.
Not sure if you are referencing my post but I said
"but whatever stay close minded those are the best people in the world."
That would imply that I feel that close minded individuals are the best type of people in the world (obviously this is sarcastic).
I'm sorry but I come from the school of thought where intent means more than the actual words.
Now go away you myopic short-tempered imbecile.
The intent of that sentence was 'Fuck Off', take whichever choice of words you like even though they still carry the same thought with about the same level of hostility. Because after all clearly you have to avoid using whatever words we arbitrarily decided were bad when talking about someone.
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"What for you bury me in the cold cold ground?" - Tasmanian devil
kanuck(sp) or yank
I have yet to see anyone take offense to being called a Yankee, or a Canuck. Heck, I think this is the first time I've seen someone claim that they're racist terms.
-Gray17
I believe everyone that doesn't like the new york yankees dislikes being called a yankee...
What the hell is a Canuck?
What the hell is a Canuck?
A Canadian. Likewise Yankee is a generic slang term for an American.
-Gray17
If your from the southern US "Yankee" is also used for someone born north of the "Mason-Dixon" line.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
I'm not too sure about the first one, but "Yankee" was used by the British to describe Americans with an air of disgust. That is, until the Americans turned it around and used it as a term of endearment and wore the name "Yankee" like a badge of honor. They used it to their advantage like blacks turned the n-word around and use it as a compliment or non-hateful description today. I'd actually feel glad (and have a small sense of pride) if someone called me a Yank.
Game on, brothers and sisters.
I'm talking specifically about Jap, which as I said is short for Japanese person not any other word. Oh and yes people take offense to yankee and canuck all the time, which is why we name professional sports teams after them. Frog is a reference to a green, warty, slimey amphibian, it's supposed to be an insult even if you don't aim it at the French.
But thank you, you clearly know what people consider racist.
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"What for you bury me in the cold cold ground?" - Tasmanian devil
>> It's just an abbreviation of a Japanese person.
Yeah, and Nigger's just a variation on Negro, which is just another word for Black, right?
I'm Italian and if anyone calls me an Iti and tries to justify it as "Just being short for Italian", they're getting punched.
Anyhoo, back on topic - I feel that in cases like this the content should either be subject to an optional filter (content disabled by default) or be available as free DLC - you don't offend those who are likely to be offended, and those who don't mind can still play the content for no extra cost. That seems like the most sensible solution.
I've never heard the expression iti but why be so offended by it? Is it because it sounds stupid or because it sounds too much like itty?
Nigger's the exception not the rule, and I really think it's very much hypocritical and completely stupid for certain, ahem oversensitive people to flip out whenever a white guy says it but be perfectly ok when someone else says it. But that's another topic.
And I've never heard anyone take offense at Jap, ever!
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"What for you bury me in the cold cold ground?" - Tasmanian devil
Go to Japan and spout it off and watch the term baka gaijin be thrown around towards you.
What exactly does baka gaijin mean? Oh well if it insults them then they're free to insult me back, although really I don't see what all the fuss is about.
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"What for you bury me in the cold cold ground?" - Tasmanian devil
Baka Gaijin means Stupid Foreigner.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
"Baka gaijin" means "idiot foreigner."
I've no idea if it really is still a racist term, but "Jap" was first used by the Allied troops as a derogative term/code word for the Japanese. OF course, that said, it was used similarly to how the Allied troops may also call Germans Jerries during the war.. Its kinda ambiguous as it is, as some consider it racist, but my half-Japanese cousin uses it without issue..
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Oooh! You mean there are people around with the mythical "Common Sense"?
That's actually a good idea allow a patch through xbox, ps3 or pc that turns the quest back on if you do want it and ship the offical version with out it. That way if some individuals are still effected by the past event or take offense to it they don't see it and those that are not offended/don't care/whatever can still get their hands on the quest.
You know, for handlkeing questionable content That would be a clever idea except well... hot coffee.
I know hot coffee was unoffical and all that, but if the meda can freak out that much over an unoffical, unsupported mod, imagine how they'd react to something offical.
The same way they do with all violent content, either ignore it or complain about it and possibly go bananas over it. The only reason they'd freak out more than normal is if the content changed the game rating.
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"What for you bury me in the cold cold ground?" - Tasmanian devil
I'm not english native but I think is clear I used 'Jap' to curtail 'Japanese'
never tought to start a flame that's for sure
Thats correct, if only they had tentacle rape in this game it would then be okay because we all know that sort of thing as well as 13 year old girl panties vending machine for Japanese men is a good thing there.
We should understand them being offended at a nuke because they provoked a war with everyone in which they literally went into China and various other countries and kidnapped women and held mass raping parties.
In fact they even had fun with Aussie, British, Canadian and American women who were captured on cruise ships during the war!
Poor Japanese, forget we should all apologize to them but of course they still refuse to apologize to us or the Chinese or raping millions of women and committing untold acts of crimes against humanity. The Japanese a Rapests wet dream for a country to belong
/facepalm
Dude. I dislike the atrocities of war as much as anyone. But in this case just DROP IT.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
Thats right, we can sit back and understand how sensative they are to a bomb that was dropped on them on a War they provoked but forget about all those women raped in the millions all those Chinese, American, Canadian, Aussie women who had there lives changed forever.
You see it purely from your side, they see it purely from their side.
Uh, what? What about the Japanese people offended by the removal of the content? The middle ground isn't always exactly between two extreme viewpoints.
Actually, the tentacle rape stems from "working around" anti-pornography laws put into their constitution after their surrender. Tentacles were a loophole they found while trying to create smut. Also, if you take a loook at REAL Japanese pornography, large portions are blur mosiacs so "dry humping" and body fluids become a central theme because those do not have the be blurred due to Japanese law. Of course if you saw all that tentacle stuff how the Japanese see it, 3/4s blurred out rather than the uncensored stuff we see here, you'd have a little more understanding. Might even be curious and research some things but of course you only want to see one side so research is a hard tactic.
Fact: The only country EVER to use nuclear weaponry is the US. The only country EVER to have seen their effects are the Japanese. We were actually very close to using them again in the Korean war. As in the paper was signed to approve their deployment. And yet WE'RE afraid of Iraq having WMDs. How do you think the rest of the world feels? The only country with a history of using them currently has the most. No wonder MGS constantly shines the US in a negative light.
Also, "hey look everybody! War crimes that our nation has no history of similar events." Dipshit, research the war with Native Americans and Mexicans in US history. Look at the Japanese-American Internment camps during WWII. Hell, look at how we ran that prison, Abu Gharab, in Iraq. To say Americans have no similar history to Japan in WWII is ignorant and shows just how gap filled History lessons in the US educational system truly is.
But fact of the matter is, until you see a place that has been struck with this kind of weaponry, you have NO basis on this arguement, period. You can SAY how awful the Spanish Inquisition was, but until you see the locations used, you have no clue. You can say the Jewish Ghettos in Germany were a hell on earth, but until you've seen the history first hand, you have no frame of reference. The bomb sites in Japan hold a history, a scar on society that may never heal. And until you've been a part of that, your perspective on "get over it" has no validation.
Wall of Text Simulation- Insert coin to continue.
Very well written.
Well, its a nice written block of text.. However, I have to disagree with something. Tentacles weren't used as a workaround porn laws, as far as I know. Tentacle porn isn't exactly a new invention. Old wood block artwork of women in various states of undress engaging in relations with various tentacled creatures have been found. Be it octopi or large cuttlefish.. IIRC, they date back to the 1500s at the least.
That said, I'd like to get my hands on some of those old artwork.. For research and intellectual purposes of course..
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Oooh! You mean there are people around with the mythical "Common Sense"?
You're both half-right. The guy who created La Blue Girl used those paintings of tentacled animals (such as "The Fisherman's Wife") as inspiration to make tentacled monsters that didn't acutally have genitals so they could get around censorships laws, even though the tentacles worked like penises.
*slow clap with increasing speed* Excellent parry. Winner: sheppy.
*inserts $10 worth of coins*
Game on, brothers and sisters.
So, unexploded nuke, bad. But Godzilla is ok?
Only in Japan.
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
Well, Godzilla is something of a story about the perils of nuclear weapons testing.. where as the quest in question, is at its heart a chance to let you nuke an innocent village.
You.. uhh.. don't see a difference and a reason that it might be just a little much for the Japanese market?
I actually completed this quest once myself... went back to a save game before I'd detonated it because I felt bad, and I can't even finish the other direction because it won't let me defuse the bomb now :(
Godzilla was created after WWII, to get the people's spirits up, methinks.
'Sides, some of them over in Japan are quite disappointed with Bethesda's decision.
I guess I'm just looking at a nonexistant double standard. After all, why should one fictional depiction of nuclear destruction be bad, if another fictional depiction of nuclear destruction is ok?
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
Absolutely understandable.
But tell me some of these games aren't political or some form of propaganda of American dominance?
Godzilla represented the 'evil' Americans when Japan was occupied by them after the war
Yeah, it is understandable, but does hiding things like this really do any benefit?
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Nido Web Flash Tutorials AS2 and AS3 Tutorials for anyone interested.
Financial Calculator
Did they remove the Fort Constantine quest? Where you can launch an ICBM? Where you get the Fat Man in the first place? Or did they just remove the 'bomb Megaton' sequence? Either way, I feel bad for the japanese, they're paying more for less game.
I have the fat man, just found it somewhere. I haven't even found Fort Constantine yet.
Yeah, I got it when I went to Galaxy News Radio off of a fallen Brotherhood of Steel soldier.
I didn't even get it off a soldier, it was just next to an ammo box. I wish I remember exactly where. Germantown Police HQ maybe?
I got mine in a metro utility room, of all places.
Edit: Actually, having been a DC resident (and metro rider) for many many years, that actually makes a lot of sense.
Yeah... So far, I've found at least 7 Fat Man launchers in several locations, and I only picked up 4. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun weapon, but Big Guns aren't my thing. There's something to be said in bringing down 10 Super Mutants in front of the Washington Monument with only a Hunting Rifle and a combat puppy.
Note: Bring lotsa Med-X and Stimpacks.
On one hand I can kinda see where they are coming from with this edit, but then you got the Metal Gear Solid series which practically centralizes around the controversy of nuclear weapons, so is there not some sort of double standard at work here?
Not really, you have to look at the story involved and the direction it is coming from. MGS, if memory serves correctly, isn't about.. as I said earlier.. blowing up an innocent village. Its a tale about the perils of an arms race and how badly it can all go wrong.
True, although if you recall, one of the characteres in MGS2 was called Fatman, who incidentally, was an expert on explosives.
Thats pretty much when I learned more of the bombing since school didn't go into too much detail.
Fatman was a baddie though, it's not like Fatman was a playable character. The reference, though valid, is pretty insubstantial.
From my point, it just seems that Japan has been over the bombing for some time. The game is japan made, they must have known about the name "fatman" and since the game generally revolves around nuklear weapons...must have had some connection between the 2. I recall mention of Otacon's father being involved in a project (I just remember the curst the family has with nukes).
The significance? I believe that Japan has been over it for some time (considering MGS1 has been around for a long time), or at least enough enough to not take much offense to it.
Otacon's father was a member of the Manhattan Project, which developed and built Fatman and Little Boy.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
I'd say they're partly over it. You're not likely to see many get all worked up and offended by references to it, talk about it, and so forth. On the other hand losing WWII and the aftermath of that had a huge cultural impact on them, and that's still apparent today.
-Gray17
The online reaction from the Japanese users seems to be largely disappointment to these edits. Fallout 3 goes on sale in Japan this December.
So in other words, the Japanese users aren't deeply sensitive to the issue of nukes, and are unhappy that the developer has told them, "No we don't think you can handle this."?
-Gray17
That's what it sounds like. Really, this seems like more of a PR move on Bethesda's end. I'd say they're less concerned with offending Japanese consumers (who have already voiced their opinion) than they are with saying to American interest groups 'We are sensitive to the atrocities commited in the past, and this is how we will show it so please don't come knocking on our door and tell us what a bunch of horrible people we are.'
I was waiting for someone to point that out. The Japanese AREN'T offended by it, and it appears that they are ready to move on. This is what happens with the passage of time. I'm looking forward to the day when I can turn on the news for a full year without hearing 9/11, terrorist, and Taliban come out of the speakers.
Could be related to their age, a gap of over a generation helps with coping. My guess would be it's easier for them than for those who faced the consequences.
I'd like to point out something: Metal Gear Solid 2. One of the member of Dead Cell was, in fact, named "Fat Man," most likely named so due to his mastery of bomb-making. I know that it was the name of a character instead of a mini-nuke-launcher, but still...
Alternatively, they could've called it a "Davy Crockett." Though, since those actually existed, they might have ruled that out...
After seeing that when re-reading the article more closely, that's exactly what I thought of.
And I do believe 'Davy Crockett' was one of the weapons in MGS3. I'd have to look up the MGS encyclopedia to double-check, though. (wasn't it like a mini-nuke?)
300 Episodes and counting: http://www.orangeloungeradio.com/
The Davy Crockett portable nuclear weapon does, in fact, make an appearance right at the beginning of MGS 3. After you rescue Sokolov, during the cutscenes at the bridge, Volgin takes one out of its case and fires it at a research facility. It was a gift from The Boss.
Of course, during that game you also see the Shagohod, which is essentially a tank/first stage of an ICBM missile rolled into one.
Perfectly Understandble. I mean hey, if someone made a game with a reference of something horrible that happend in this countries past i would be offended.
Look up reactions to the 9/11 Space Invaders mod.
But in the end, it has more to do with something everyone here seems to be forgetting. If this was a flash game, developers could throw in a kitten raping minigame between rousting rounds of "smear the queer" carmageddon clone runs through the streets of San Francisco. But this isn't just some flash game.
This is a commercially developed and released game. The GAMERS are not so much the worry for Bethesda. The Japanese media that's currently intent on crucifying the game industry as a plague on the youth, however, are the concern. Nuclear deployment themes mixed with a weapon named FatBoy makes for a hell of a news story. Keep in mind, Japan has news stations just like Fox.
Wall of Text Simulation- Insert coin to continue.
Back in the 60s and 70s, kids were growing up on Japanese shows like Speed Racer and Astro Boy.
About a decade later, Japanese game developers were witholding or editing their games to make them politically correct for US markets, under the rationale that Americans would take offense at their Japanese crap.
Now WE are editing OUR games to make them politically correct for THEIR markets under the rationale that Japanese will take offense at OUR American crap.
And yet we're driving Japanese cars, watching Japanese cartoons on Japanese TVs, adapting Japanese media into movies for watching on those Japanese TVs, and playing Japanese video games on Japanese game consoles hooked up to those same Japanese TVs. We use Japanese massages and remedies for recreation and relaxation, and we teach our kids Japanese martial arts techniques.
Everything else, we get from China.
Not to be insensitive or anything. It was probably better that they DID edit that stuff out, considering Japan's history with nuclear weapons. But when you think about their history with US trading, it gets pretty ironic.
Some great points
I had to laugh at 'everything else is from China' heh heh
I should also mention that the original Astro Boy manga, being written during WWII (the same war that ended with Japan getting nuked), features American forces as recurring villains throughout the series.
Today, you can walk into any store that sells manga and buy a copy of any of the Astro Boy manga without fear of arrest or criticism (besides you buying manga, otaku fantard! :P). Even today, Astro Boy still retains popularity in both Japan and the US.
Doesn't it stand to reason that if Americans can handle a Japanese manga that villainizes them and the US Armed Forces at every turn (not to mention features a kid with buttcheek-mounted lasers. Really, WTF?), Japanese can handle an American video game with nukes in it? (But fortunately, no butt lasers.)
(IMMA FIRIN' MAH LAZER!)
Actually, having been a fan of anime/manga (not so much anymore, it all started to blur together after a while, it's all the same themes and humor), you get used to Americans being the "villan" repeatedly, not just in Astro Boy. Pretty much any time an anime/manga writer needs a crass, overstepping government, or arrogant, ineffective military personel, they turn to the US.
NGE, the remenants of the US Navy are made out to be completely useless and comical. Ghost in the Shell: SAC frequently shines the US as a pack of assholes, even when Japanese and American individuals are working together (to be fair, the Japanese government is often shown negatively, as well). Blood Plus, the evil country working to unleach the monsters on the world were Americans. Code Geass changed the name and the history, but frequently shows the evil empire on maps coming from here. In Read or Die!, the US President is trigger happy with the military, and pees his pants twice during a two hour OVA. I can list many more, but you get the picture.
Yet, I just shrug my shoulders. I don't expect them to change or edit those shows to appease my sensitivities. It's just a story. So, I agree that Bethesda didn't need to do this, no matter what reason people use to justify it. The Japanese can handle it. Hell, considering the nuke is on American soil, some might even enjoy a little virtual payback. :)
Wow, you almost had me. Except for the Code Geass part. If you look at the behaviors of the empire, the colonization, the militant expansion and demands on conquered regions, and the fact that the envil empire has it's roots in Europe and goes by the name of Britiannia and somehow you see "America," kinda of speaks volumes of your pursuit of a theme. I mean, the even REVEAL the homeland of Britannia in the name for crying out loud and America, I believe, is Area 7.
I mean, the Holy Empire of Britannia is... America? Really?!? What series were you watching? All of that was clearly Europian Nobility social class or rather a form of social darwinism that Britian pushed for majority of the countries lifespan.
Wall of Text Simulation- Insert coin to continue.
I hate to nitpick, but I'd rather die before teaching my kids traditional Japanese Martial Arts. They have a lot of them, but the only ones that are worth a darn, in my humble opinion, are Judo and JuJutsu... and maybe hapkido. Give me San Soo Kung Fu or Jeet Kun Do anyday of the week.
Can't say I'm surprised, probably a good idea.
Funny that everyone keeps mentioning MGS2 -- didn't they edit the end of that game to not show the destruction of New York because of the proximity to 9/11?
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The Mammon Industry
I say Bethesda overstepped here. It was unnecessary, and the Japanese gamers seem to agree.
At what point are you supposed to stop being "sensitive" about past tragedies? Haven't there been a few games that more or less destroy New York? Shouldn't we be thinking about the victims of 9/11 when releasing "Turning Point: Fall of Liberty"? How about that guy that wrote in to the newspaper, deeply offended about seeing DC ravaged in Fallout ads in the subway? Didn't most of us dismiss him? Should be put all Civil War games on hold, lest we stir up old feelings of the tragedy that killed more Americans than any other war?
Ok, Japan is the only country that got a nuke dropped on them. But that was over 60 years ago. Time to move on. If you're beholden to every tragedy that has ever happened in history, then every subject matter would be off limits.
"If you're beholden to every tragedy that has ever happened in history, then every subject matter would be off limits."
Hear Hear. If only more people realized this.
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"What for you bury me in the cold cold ground?" - Tasmanian devil
Thats to bad that they are tearing stuff out of the game for no other reason than they think it may offend ... I could understand if there was a huge outcry from Japan but from everything I have seen they are very pragmatic about the nuclear bombings and I truly doubt there is a huge outcry against fallout 3.
Bah, my reply jumped to a different post. Ignore...
What happened in Japan is a tragedy, but it happened a while ago. And while they were the only ones to ever experience a nuclear strike, they also committed horrific acts during the war, so it's wrong of anyone to say they are an innocent party anyway.
Either way, sucks for the players in Japan who are going to be missing out on a quest, but is it really all that important? Besides that, I think Fallout 3 is region free, yes? Maybe they can import if they want to play the quest that badly.
Well, the quest is really fun for evil characters. And the Fat Man weapon is fun as hell to use. So yeah, I think they're getting a lesser game.
It's only the quest being removed, the launcher is still there just under a different name, it's not a great deal differnet from not using 'morphine' in the game
I thought that 1940/1950s virtual reality simulator i went through at the other vault in that game was funny, I couldnt quit laughing after i tricked one character into using the oven.
So why hasn't someone gotten as1r banned yet for spamming?
Back to the point, while I disagree with what Bethesda is doing. People have to remember that gamers aren't the majority of people that live in Japan, and most politicians are of the age to have been alive when said occurances happened or born sometime closely after the nuclear attack. I guess they just want to have their game released in Japan without any delays.
And not even in english...
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Can't read...is that Arabic?
Yeah I can understand the POV of the older Japanese generation, the areas around Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still feeling the effects of the blasts (much higher then average rates of cancer and birth defects being the main lingering effects.)
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
It's not really a unique idea. Inclusion of the WTC has been removed from TV shows, games/simulations, and movies. It seems both an issue of sensitivity and overly sensitive at the same time in some cases. Sometimes, it seems like rewriting history, for example, removing the WTC from Flight Simulator and not having the option to have it included and omitted depending on the pilot.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Nightwng2000 has also updated his MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/nightwing2000 Nightwng2000 is now admin to the group "Parents For Education, Not Legislation" on MySpace as http://groups.myspace.com/pfenl
I know people will shout "censorship is evaaal" at the top of their lungs, but this is a voluntary decision made by the developers for the purposes of cultural sensitivity. Cultural sensitivity is overall a good thing.
Does it suck for Japanese players who want to play the additional mission? Yes. However, Bethesda made a political decision here: it's better to upset a minority by stripping the content, who still have the choice of importing if they want it, than to upset the majority by including strong references to a very recent atrocity.
Remember when they changed the box art for Red Alert 2, which originally featured an attack on the WTC? It's roughly the same principle, but in this case a mission has been scrapped instead of a piece of art.
The thing is, a chunk of the game is a bit more substantial than a piece of box art.
-Gray17
Two-parter. First, it was RIGHT AFTER the WTC fell. It was still fresh in everyone's mind. We bombed Japan over 60 years ago.
Second, the WTC don't exist anymore. Leaving them in games and art makes less sense, because they're no longer a part of the New York skyline. The most recognizable skyline in the world.
Plus, in Fallout, it's not like they recreated Hiroshima virtually and then blew it up. They blew up a rickety shanty town in what is left of the United States. If anything, some Japanese might think of it as some virtual payback. :)
Case in point, to show that I, as an American, no longer treat the WTC with any kind of overblown sensitivity. I am currently looking for a very cool ad that featured the WTC, but disappeared after 9/11. Back before most people knew there was going to be a new series fo Spiderman movies, there was an trailer where some bankrobbers are getting away in a helecopter, when suddenly the copter goes out of control. They pull back the camera to show the copter stuck in a web between the Two Towers. Seeing that trailer the first time, was one of those "aww, cool!" moments that you sometimes get in a theater.
What a failure. Bethesda fails in their stated goal of making the game "the same in all regions" (despite justifying some of their earlier censor-y changes under that rationale), and they shy away from contraversey in a game that <I>supposed</I> to be contraversial. It doesn't make sense to me that a game about the aftermath of nuclear war would try to tiptoe around the topic of nuclear war, even in Japan.
PR/suits ruin games.
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
So just about every anime movie ever made starts or ends with a nuclear holocaust, and Fallout 3 has to be censored? Japan has been getting more conservative lately, but this is disappointing.
I don't really see why they would even bother to edit it out at all. Constantly shying away from past events like it will scar people just gets us nowhere. This is even more considering that the Japanese gamers them selves don't care.
and honestly, I love everything about japan and it's culture(more than just anime =P), but when it comes to WWII, i honestly don't feel much for them when i remember i had family in Pearl Harbor, despite the fact that i know how horible it was for us to drop a nuke on any country. That being said though, i have no problem with games that take place in Pearl Harbor because i know it's a VIDEO GAME.
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Kinda of silly,this is jsut a marketing tactic and for a mature rated game...why? It smacks of retardness from any grounds other than not wanting to often the amrket you are trying to sell the product in.
Of corse if they toned the gore down and made it a teen class game then I can see it but still........
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
The Japanese reaped what they sowed when they were attacked with nuclear weapons. Anyone whose read up on their occupation of southeast asian countries will have very little remorse for the use of these weapons. The Japanese medical experimentation unit, Unit 731, committed some of the most vile acts of cruelty and inhumanity known to science to date.
But lets not have our games show nukes, the Japanese are "sensitive" people...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731
This is true and if the US did a full attack and dropped a few thousand normal bombs the outcome would have been the same only with a few 100K wroth of US casualties.
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
Look at it this way, while their troops and millitary and leaders have done some pretty nasty stuff. They hurt civilians. They bombed lands, killed people. Was it justified to do the same to their civilians? As far as I could tell, the majority of the victims of the bombs were civilians.
Anyway, the main thing that irritates me after reading on the atrocities and the bombs was this, the Japanese Emperor then was all but ready to end the war and was going to accept the peace offer and surrender. However in typical fashion, they sent a statement out asking for time to deliberate. However, they used a term which literally translated, was the equivalent of "Keep in View". Which when translated can mean "ignore" or "deliberate". The translator used ignore in his submission to the Allies. Hence the bombs went down on people who were tired and wanted to give up.
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Oooh! You mean there are people around with the mythical "Common Sense"?
And people, this is an inherent danger of only relying on someone else's knowledge and why why you DON'T use just one translator for important communications. It's too easy for someone to put their "Spin" on what they are translating and thus influencing the outcome.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
Well, you have a point. Technically speaking, my view that they were going to give up may be wrong, and that they were ignoring the surrender demand.. But I guess at this point in time, any debate over it is kinda like "Too Little, Too Late". Of course translation wise, based on my own experience, it wasn't easy a job as the Japanese response then was kinda terse.. (Speaking from my experience being a holder of JLPT level 2 and taking level 1 this year)
Of course, then we can have the conspiracy theory of how the translator had it in for the Japanese and wanted them to get nuked to hell... =/
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Oooh! You mean there are people around with the mythical "Common Sense"?
They were sent two ultimatums. The last one explicitly mentioned that the U.S. could destroy cities. They really didn't have an excuse to deliberate further. This was all, by the way, after the firebombing of Tokyo, which killed more people and did more damage than either bomb. The emporer had no real power, either.
They should make a patch available for voluntary download that adds it back in. Much like they should have made the game playable at a lower violence/gore level. Woulda kept my pre-order then.
Then I'd have found out they lied about their DRM scheme and gotten hugely majorly POed.
Well I feel the gore levels in raider bases is unneeded in Super mutants since they are eating humans...ya...its needed but a gore slider would be nice, I'd like less decaptacions and more rare head explosions.
I dunno about creo but the ESRB dose not allow for rating changing modifications made by the devs/publishers.
Sicrom is annoying but frankly its better than the online activation BS.
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
While I am sorry about what heppened it's been what, 63 years? I mean come on.
So it's ok to be in a bombed out DC, have the bomb displayed in the center of town, and have a (renamed) bomb launcher but actually seeing one go off now that's going too far?
I'm getting sick of games getting changed because they aren't politically correct. Games should be what they are and if you don't like it then **** OFF!
Relax man, if ya read further into this whole thing. You'd realise that its Bethesda being PC about it and censoring themselves pre-emptively. Also, if you noticed, the Japanese gamers are kinda put off that Bethesda would do something so silly...
On a side note, I would point you towards the Space Invaders/WTC display thingy. That's the point which people who've experienced disaster want to make.
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Oooh! You mean there are people around with the mythical "Common Sense"?
It's a bit like the removal of that song from Little Big Planet.
A little bit but there are some big differences.
1. The song is apparently blasphemy to Muslim religious code, there's no guarantee that the Japs would get really offended by the nuke.
2. LBP was rated E and looks like a kiddy game with that in mind they had more of a reason to ensure it offended as little as possible (within reason).
3. It didn't result in a delay and it's only for one region (thus avoiding the wrath of people looking forward to the timely or uncensored release of the game).
Oh and the good news is that according to this article some of the Japs don't like the changes and complained about them. I know I'd be probably complain if something like this was done for the U.S.
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"What for you bury me in the cold cold ground?" - Tasmanian devil
I guess this would make sense....
If the game took place in post-apocalyptic Japan....
There comes a point where you really need to say, "Hey, I know this may really hit home on something horrible that happened in your nations past... but being that the situation is completely turned around in this context, we need to accept it for what it is and get on with our lives."
If the subject matter at hand is still so touchy then why the hell was the opening sequence of Akira made the way it is?
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" - Benjamin Franklin
Like from the things we have all been exposed to on the news, I kinda feel like they wanted to play the game with a Neuclear bomb.
It is like a history lesson within a fictional Videogame world to them that is being denied because of their countries censorship laws against heavy digitally realistic Violence.
So I feel sorry for the Japanese Gamers.
As for the Rape in WW2, heck everyone was doing it.
Even the Germans, the French, the Italians, the Americans, the Brittish, the Australians, (Yes, I come from Australia but I admit that there is always possibile for that sort of thing to be going on behind the country's back that I am not aware of)
War is horrible, and instead of hiding it or trying to say that only the bad guys were doing it, we should focus on the fact that in war everywhere almost everyone was doing crimminal things....
Yet the Politicians will only talk about the dead but they will never talk about how they are the ones who said if or when their country should go to war.
I feel sad for those who died and those who did not want to go to war but were forced.
As for the comments about the tentacles, I have really deep feelings about the tentacles in both positive and negative ways.
Rape is horrible in reality, but to have it in fiction like Anime/Hentai, Manga/Hentai and also Hentai Games is one way to focus on the real issues without making it realistic. So it is a bit better than the realistic rape in my view.
But even then, companies in Japan like Nintendo, Sony and even Sega NEVER EVER went into that sort of thing when they were marketing their Videogame Consoles to a world wide market.
Like ever since games like Custer Revenge on the Atari that was the first reason why many of the Japanese companies wanted to have full say of what games come onto their consoles because they never wanted Pornographic games in the first place if their console is going to be marketed.
Only if there were a console that was not doing well commercially did a comany ever decided to having Hentai games on their consoles, but that also ment that their consoles would only be avaliable in Japan and no where else,
so Hentai games before the days of the Internet were like a double edge sword, you could market to that sort of audience but at a cost you could never really sell them in a world wide level.
To those who try to say that GTA is like a rape game, those people have never really played any videogame at all, or much less their knowlage of Hentai or Porn in Videogames is really limited to their lack of understanding.
Also for the tentacles, tentacles was used for artwork in the 1500s like "The Fisherman's Wife" was more like tentacle love, NOT tentacle rape. But it was used as inspiration for the 80's Classic Hentai such as Legend of the Overfiend and also La Blue Girl that first started out as Manga Hentai and then translated over to Anime Hentai.
You could also say that Hollywood had something invovled as there have been many 50's movies that had Plants that had tentacles (Voodoo Island for example) that attacked women who were bathing in a lake in the jungle. Or even the famous Tree Rape scene from the Evil Dead movie that was set in the early 80s.
So yeah, for anyone who wanted to write about tentacles and Hentai I would suggest to do a little bit of history lesson and even look on wikepidea for a start to understand this. Or else I believe there may be many ignorant comments here that is not really needed.
TBoneTony
ps. and believe me, I know about the tentacles, so please be careful as it is quite sensitive to me.
pps. There have been some themes from WW2 in Anime, like Grave of the Fireflies that was one of the Studio Ghibli films and also there was a Hentai called Adventure Kid that also had themes of WW2 Rape and the Bomb that hit Heroshima.
So yeah, it may be sensitive to talk about WW2 but Anime and Manga has delved into a little bit of that so far.
Seriously? 'Heck, everyone was doing it'? If Japan jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?
I live in Japan and have a teenage Japanese boy and he has many, many gamer friends (they drive me nuts - often) and I know a lot of other 20 - 40 somethings since I have been here for a very long time and I asked over 40 adults and about 20 kids if they took offense on this point and NONE of them said they had an issue with having nukes in a game. The reason given was pretty much that since they are on TV, in the movies and in manga what would be the point and it would not be fair. So seems to me someone got sold a load of shit at Beth.
I also live about 10 minutes from Keio U and I bet if I would go there and do a proper survey the results would be the same.
BTW: I'm an American - none Japanese
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"The most difficult pain a man can suffer is to have knowledge of much and power over little" - Herodotus