Hope you put that insight to good use.
Star Ocean 5 character gets less-sexy underwear 'in Fear of Western Criticism'
- Thread starter ponpo
- Start date
Nothing was cut. An outfit was slightly redesigned for both the original japanese game and the localized one. S-E has already done this with other games (Birth By Sleep comes as an example). This change doesn't affect the quality of the game, but could have affected its reception and critiques. If the size of this little girl's panties actually mattered or had any function in the final game, they wouldn't have changed it.
I don't blame S-E for this change, I actually approve it, but I don't think making an statement about this was necessary, and it really backfired. No one would have noticed if they wouldn't have told us so.
KojiKnight
Member
Our media is always hungry for someone to blame for the fact that today isn't like yesterday and that getting old is scary when younger people are more open about sex.
toythatkills
Member
Content has actually been added in this case.
I am sure some people would spend hours combing through preview materials specifially analysing the panty shots and comparing them to the final game. At least that's what I get from the overblown reaction. I guess everyone has their fetishes, mine is to judge and ridicule people for their weird fetishes.
chillumchilla
Member
Isn't idolizing sexy Japanese schoolgirls a mainstream cultural thing in Japan which is reflected in their videogames?
Any Japanese GAFfers who can chip in on this?
In my ideal world there would be zero censorship.
If you don't like something because of too much panty showing or too much violence then just don't buy it. Cultural imperialism emanating esp. from North American would get on my tits if I was Japanese.
Any Japanese GAFfers who can chip in on this?
In my ideal world there would be zero censorship.
If you don't like something because of too much panty showing or too much violence then just don't buy it. Cultural imperialism emanating esp. from North American would get on my tits if I was Japanese.
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
In the interview, they said there were comments in the stream about it, but if I remember correctly that would have been a NicoNico stream, so who knows
Interesting. If you'd asked me a year ago, I'd have told you that Japanese devs didn't give a shit about Western controversies. But between the ceo of compile heart saying they didn't want to bring over some games because they'd have to edit them, the KT rep's explanation for DOAX3 not being localized, and this, it seems they're actually keenly aware of Western attitudes towards sex in games.
I think its a manufactured controversy to drum up interest on both sides of the pacific. Like its been said before, if they were really in tune with the comments on the game, they'd fix thing's face so it doesn't look like a dark crystal elf.
Obviously they should sell the smaller panties as DLC!
Stone Ocean
Member
Phew, for a second I thought Fiore was getting changed, all is well.
CrispyBoar
Banned
Violence against people? Acceptable. Sexuality? Nope.
It's America & their hypocrisy at it's finest.
Exactly.
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
This is too probable lol
Because CDPR presents actual sexuality in their games, instead of ridiculous female sexualization like the usual otaku game (see tittywitch).
encephalon
Member
Do you know what hypocrisy means?
captainpat
Member
This is the worst of times to be an assman in videogames.
Funny in the livestream just now the producer and staff talking about Dengeki Playsation's cover art and how Miki has panty or not for few minutes.
See, original japanese version was already censored. She was suposed to not wear any panties!!
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
The change was unnecessary but the reaction to the change is pathetic. People getting angry over not being able to see a young video game character in sexy underwear.......just listen to yourselves.
Lapidus' Beard
Member
We truly live in an age of fear.
CrispyBoar
Banned
It is hypocrisy, especially when most Western games contains more sexually explicit content more so than most Japanese games do.
How can people be OK with violence against other people, but not be OK with sexuality as well? You don't pick & choose.
I don't think we should compare "expressing your sexuality" to overexposing a teenage character. The thing is, I would be okay if Miki, as the character, gave a reason for her underwear ("I wear underwear like this because I am secure about my body, etc", whatever, really). But when it's the creator and the public who are both objectualizing a girl in a way that is not intended, I don't think Miki's sexuality is what is being put in question.
I know that people try to spin around and contort to try and make it not about this, but this is all there is about his particular case.
The gaijin is ruining everything with his intolerance of the hometown.
The change in itself and the reasons given are what upsets people.
You know by the ads on your neogaf page we can tell a lot about what you have been searching/looking at on the web, right?
Just wanted to let you know that...
Please stay on topic.
Machinehead
Member
For some reason, I absolutely love this post.
KimonoNoNo
Member
One annoying change by a Japanese developer over "Concerns" that sticks in my craw was done to Disgaea 4.
Original
Changed
I mean it's just so half-assed.
Original
Changed
I mean it's just so half-assed.
Western attitudes towards patronising and objectifying depictions of women, you mean. Sex is everywhere in Western games.
The problem with games like Star Ocean and more generally the depiction of women in Japanese games, is not the visual representation of the female characters but that the majority of them (especially the younger looking ones) are depicted as toddler-brained objects to be leered at. It's always the younger characters that have the most unsettling sexualisation in these types of games and it seems that publishers in Japan don't really understand why the Western world takes issue.
Hentailover
Member
I personally don't care about this change on a personal level, but it is worriesome as a trend.
I kinda agree with some of the japanese reactions about how in the west, violence is OK, but sex is the devil. It's hypocritical, and I don't like decisions made based on hypocrisy, teenage underwear changed or buttslap removed or whatever...
To provide an adequate comparison, imagine next Mortal Kombat come out without gore and violence, to avoid criticism from germany and japan.
How would you react?
That seems kinda paranoid. I think it's more likely that they're sharing an honest anecdote about the game's development that they thought would be amusing, and didn't think it would blow up like this. In hindsight, definitely a mistake.
OK, and? That falls pretty neatly under the umbrella of "Western attitudes towards sex in games." It really wasn't the point of the post at all.
Rising_Hei
Member
The changes are too subtle for me to care, and she is far from being the sexiest character anyways :>
Edit: They are right in many points tho, our society has many double standards, but so do theirs.
Edit: They are right in many points tho, our society has many double standards, but so do theirs.
One annoying change by a Japanese developer over "Concerns" that sticks in my craw was done to Disgaea 4.
Original
Changed
I mean it's just so half-assed.
Wow original lewd.
where was this outrage over some b tier JRPG's character's ass cheeks showing when you try and go for a panty shot? the only outrage i saw was how stupid her face looked
Akhe
Member
This so much. It's so simple but someone just want to watch the world burn. Even my wife think it's ridiculous.
The game is not only geared towards Japanese males. It's getting translated for a reason. There are featurettes and a bunch international trailers for a reason. This game is geared just as much to the West as it is to the East, so why shouldn't the developers keep Western standards and moral standings in mind during development ?
I'm not too worried about it.
This is extremely disingenuous since a significant amount of Japanese titles in the past few years have received backlash from western bodies due to similar issues. Just because the company is smart and anticipating the backlash and getting ahead of it doesn't mean the backlash doesn't exist.
we're talking about 2 inches of white fabric here
General Lee
Member
I prefer to keep the fan service in my games, but that's my personal choice. What I don't get is why devs should cave to the demands of people who clearly aren't the focus group of the game. Either you go for mass market appeal and don't create anything objectionable, or you focus on your niche and forget the rest. I'm all for inclusiveness and variety in gaming on the whole, but I'm also a firm believer in not watering down any content for political correctness and mass appeal.
My personal take on objectification in games is that entertainment media shouldn't be about teaching us how real life works, so in a fantasy world fantasy fulfillment is perfectly fine, be it violent or sexy. I can appreciate women as equal human beings despite the fact that I also like fan service. If you are an adult, you should be capable of choosing for yourself what you support with your money. Censoring really isn't the right way of going about making gaming more inclusive to women.
My personal take on objectification in games is that entertainment media shouldn't be about teaching us how real life works, so in a fantasy world fantasy fulfillment is perfectly fine, be it violent or sexy. I can appreciate women as equal human beings despite the fact that I also like fan service. If you are an adult, you should be capable of choosing for yourself what you support with your money. Censoring really isn't the right way of going about making gaming more inclusive to women.
King Gilga
Member
Bullshit, they could have given any possible reason and those nerds would have still been outraged.
CrispyBoar
Banned
LMAO, "Western standards & moral standings."
Like some other posters had mentioned, there are far more sexually explicit content in most Western games than in most Japanese games. Yet no one bats an eye on that.
What a joke.
encephalon
Member
It's not hypocritical to have a value system where you are okay with one thing but are not okay with another. Furthermore, it's entirely possible that people who have a problem with certain sexual content in games also have a problem with violence.
Being able to pick and choose is pretty integral to being able to judge something, as well. Taking into consideration each individual instance of violence or sexual content is a more measured approach than all or nothing.
Context and the way it is presented matters.