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[Battlechili]

A CA employee of Marvelous Inc.'s Japanese branch made a petition against Sony to try and get them to reverse their decision with regards to their requiring Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal's Intimacy Mode to be removed from the PS4 version of the game (as well as restricting Pqube's Omega Labyrinth Z from release in the West on PS4 and Vita).

According to this employee Kenichiro Takaki (director of the Senran Kagura series) is extremely disappointed with recent news and that this is affecting their sales substantially and that this is affecting more games than just Senran Kagura and Omega Labyrinth Z.

https://www.change.org/p/sony-towards-sony-their-new-policies
The petition is as follows:

This pedition applies to SONY Interactive Entertainment about anime and fanservice with limit.
The new strategies and policies recently announced by SONYare far from good for their own future.
Games such as SENRAN KAGURA & Omega Labyrinth Z are the epitome of fan service. Games like these have some limitations on what is definitely enough to enjoy them in full-length.
Removing the Intimacy Mode (Diorama feature) in SENRAN KAGURA is a bad idea and you know it.
Sony allows games like "The Witcher" and the like to offer far more fan service. Is anime the reason for it? We do not know it.

Games like "Estival Versus" are available for many years already and now you want to update it? You want to censor future games and remove an important part of the game?
You offend against your own policies which worked well over these years. Do you want to destroy yourself or why are you doing it all?

You disappointed a lot of fans on several occasions, now you do it again.
You ban innocent players for senseless reasons. But if someone acts offensive, you don't do anything.
To the face of your honor, overthink again what you will do in the future if you want to keep your players.
Back to the topic.
All these games have a good limit and do not break any of your laws.
The Playstation is known for asian games and we love the consoles for that. But with your current status, it could fundamentally turn it around.

You want to completely lose your fans to Nintendo and PC?
I don't think so.
Do something about it!
Keep the games like they are!
Best regards,
your community

 

[Battlechili]

SONY WARS EPISODE V: JAPAN STRIKES BACK

 

[Louis Cyphre]

A CA employee of Marvelous Inc.'s Japanese branch made a petition against Sony to try and get them to reverse their decision with regards to their requiring Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal's Intimacy Mode to be removed from the PS4 version of the game (as well as restricting Pqube's Omega Labyrinth Z from release in the West on PS4 and Vita).

According to this employee Kenichiro Takaki (director of the Senran Kagura series) is extremely disappointed with recent news and that this is affecting their sales substantially and that this is affecting more games than just Senran Kagura and Omega Labyrinth Z.

https://www.change.org/p/sony-towards-sony-their-new-policies
The petition is as follows:

I wouldn't worry about it, Shawn Layden says they are cranking up communication with fans.

 

[Javthusiast]

Good on them to try and fight back. Probably won't change sonys dumb decision, but better than doing nothing.

 

[Pallas]

Good on them to try and fight back. Probably won't change sonys dumb decision, but better than doing nothing.

Well the only way change can happen is by consumers demanding it. It’s not very relatable, but the same thing happen with the DRM controversy with the launch X1.

If you want change, you gotta put it on Sony, hard.

 

[kunonabi]

I signed although I dont expect much. Personally I'm cutting down on as many purchases as possible, my wishlist has gone from 40+ titles to about 15, wont be subscribing to Plus outside of mega sales to pick up these last few titles, and I wont be buying a PS5.

When Nintendo pulled this crap I just imported since I was a big Nintendo fan and really wanted those games but I don't care about Sony enough to put in the effort.

 

[The Mad Draklor]

Good on them to try and fight back. Probably won't change sonys dumb decision, but better than doing nothing.

Simply encourage consumers to not buy the PS4 version. If you buy it on Steam, you support both Marvelous and XSEED without giving Sony the platform cut.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Simply encourage consumers to not buy the PS4 version. If you buy it on Steam, you support both Marvelous and XSEED without giving Sony the platform cut.

If you don’t have a pc though, you might be screwed unless it is imported though.

I doubt the petition will help, but Sony did eventually give into Cross-play so maybe they will change their stance. This is probably not the same though. It’s all about appealing to the West unfortunately.

 

[Codes 208]

Good on them to try and fight back. Probably won't change sonys dumb decision, but better than doing nothing.

It certainly helps to try. Words can change things.

We got cross-play didnt we?

 

[The Mad Draklor]

If you don’t have a pc though, you might be screwed unless it is imported though.

I doubt the petition will help, but Sony did eventually give into Cross-play so maybe they will change their stance. This is probably not the same though. It’s all about appealing to the West unfortunately.

I also don’t think the petition will work unless it manages to garner a whole ton of signatures. Otherwise, consumers who oppose censorship should use multiple tactics which include importing the PS4 version or playing it on PC.

If Sony sees a substantial reduction in earned revenue from Estival Versus/Peach Beach Splash to Re:Newal, then they will be forced to re-assess the effectiveness of their censorious policy. It will also be a litmus test to see if they care more about money or appealing to the vocal minority who are not even part of the audience.

 

[Pot Meet Kettle]

If Sony sees a substantial reduction in earned revenue from Estival Versus/Peach Beach Splash to Re:Newal,

... that revenue loss must be Sony's goal.

 

[DonF]

Considering the current social climate, I'm sorprised he isn't being brigaded, called for firing, getting death threads, banned from Twitter, banned from resetera or worse.

 

[TheShadowLord]

Wouldn't it be easy just to compromise? The mode would not be in the base game but you can download it on the PlayStation store. Not sure why this has happened yet.

 

[CatCouch]

I signed. I damn near dropped Nintendo when they started censoring games for western releases. Sony is somehow worse since they're blocking completed and already rated games from release. Hopefully they'll reverse blocking and censoring these games before they screw up another release in the future. I fear Sony won't care if they lose sales or even whole series like SK over this but we did see Nintendo change it's tune, Microsoft did back off after backlash with the launch of the XBox One and Sony go back on it's cross-play as mentioned earlier. I'll try to be optimistic!

 

[Senhua]

I signed although I dont expect much. Personally I'm cutting down on as many purchases as possible, my wishlist has gone from 40+ titles to about 15, wont be subscribing to Plus outside of mega sales to pick up these last few titles, and I wont be buying a PS5.

When Nintendo pulled this crap I just imported since I was a big Nintendo fan and really wanted those games but I don't care about Sony enough to put in the effort.

Yup same here.
Signed and will make all my future multiplatform purchase at Nintendo and PC.
Thankfully this days the only ps exclusive I have an interest about are Atlus and Ryu Ga Gotoku studio output.

 

[meirl]

This is 4 the players, amirite?

 

[The Mad Draklor]

... that revenue loss must be Sony's goal.

After seeing the UK Playstation Twitter's response, it does seem to point that way... though I do want to see their reaction when they notice that import sales are higher than usual and a higher proportion of sales are coming from PC.

I signed. I damn near dropped Nintendo when they started censoring games for western releases. Sony is somehow worse since they're blocking completed and already rated games from release. Hopefully they'll reverse blocking and censoring these games before they screw up another release in the future. I fear Sony won't care if they lose sales or even whole series like SK over this but we did see Nintendo change it's tune, Microsoft did back off after backlash with the launch of the XBox One and Sony go back on it's cross-play as mentioned earlier. I'll try to be optimistic!

It is rather funny that we're seeing the most 'family friendly' of the console makers being arguably the most open to fanservicey games. And Nintendo will continue to be rewarded by the consumers if they keep their hands off overreaching in localization efforts.

 

[legendaryskitch]

Expect nothing but signed anyway. Really against censorship of any kind in gaming. It's not full on pornography, it's literally no worse than the absurd amount of sex and violence in other games and media.

 

[kunonabi]

Yup same here.
Signed and will make all my future multiplatform purchase at Nintendo and PC.
Thankfully this days the only ps exclusive I have an interest about are Atlus and Ryu Ga Gotoku studio output.

Yeah, the RGG team's stuff and Shenmue III are the main reasons I didnt just sell the thing outright.

 

[FranXico]

Sony could have opted with filters set by account, where you can opt out of and hide certain "questionable content" that they chose to flag as such.

You don't want to see Super Seducer in the Store? Just check a box in your account settings. Live and let live.

Anything is better than censorship. FFS.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

Good!

 

[DeleteriousObnoxious]

Signed and spread the news. i hope that this will send a message... not expecting sony to do anything though.

 

[Pot Meet Kettle]

It is rather funny that we're seeing the most 'family friendly' of the console makers being arguably the most open to fanservicey games. And Nintendo will continue to be rewarded by the consumers if they keep their hands off overreaching in localization efforts.

Nintendo's situation is really interesting:

• 2013: An outrage mob wants to request a feature in Tomodachi Collection, makes up "content censorship" against homosexual content because their requested feature isn't there. Tried to get the localization head fired by distorting his claims that nothing was censored to "if you want that, you should wear a drag". Get an apology about a commitment to future representation but not changing/cancelling this game (the sequel didn't feature any marriage at all).

• 2014: Get Xenoblade X censored. Some PR hit is taken and even their PR Allison Rapp is against that. Despite she's a feminist, SJWs try to get her fired and relent when the alt-righters are accusing her of interfering with the localization and pretend they're outraged at her being targeted. She gets fired not too long after after a dox that revealed a compromising moonlighting job as a prostitute. Nintendo is then accused of supporting GamerGate for firing Mrs. Rapp for the wrong reason, the wrong time. Bravely Default had some costumes removed (weirdly, male fanservice) and a few female costumes very slightly covered up, but it was still tame.

• 2015: Fire Emblem Fates has a controversy drummed up about drug rape and a petting mode (that actually only covers the face and isn't lewd) prior to its US release. Some content that was already localized is then retroactively cut and heavy censorship is applied. Got noticed in Japan by gaming media (and led to a controversy about Star Ocean V censored to appease the west) and the Fates developers apologized to overseas fans for the censorship and hoped they will get it anyways, they usually never comment on this. Game is utterly butchered and a disappointment for many, so much a zero-day retranslation is started. All LGBT characters were rewritten to remove all character flaws standing in the way of their divine perfection (this continued as late as Super Mario Odyssey and Zelda Breath of the Wild). But just TWO pairings with LGBT characters were dropped with all the butchering that took place, so Nintendo was still accused of LBGT erasure and oppression, and game journalists still mock the game and think it shouldn't exist and should have been cut some more. The game was delayed massively in Europe because NoA had to make sure they would censor it, leading to lost sales.

• 2015: Bravely Second has a very censored overseas version. Nearly every single female costume covered most exposed flesh (even bellies and shoulders) and now the story started getting major cuts to remove "uncomfortable" bad endings where side characters DIE (in comparison, the first game had two little girls massacre each other), as well as art book censorship. Nintendo had to comment on the bad ending cuts, saying it was Square's doing. A costume with american-indian attire was changed to a cowboy one to avoid cultural appropriation and guess what news covering it accused Square/Nintendo of cultural appropriation because of the cut. Also around the same time: Fatal Frame V.

• 2016: Fire Emblems: Tokyo Mirage Sessions is even more heavily censored, this time whole dungeons have their assets replaced, whole chapters replaced or cut (especially NPC), and Japanese VAs are summoned to dub the censored lines. Nintendo tries to deflect blame to Atlus (which in turns suffers a PR hit prior to their very important Persona 5 release) and is still accused of not cutting enough since the lower resolution battle models aren't consistent with the censored field models, and that the concept of idol girls is problematic enough to not warrant a purchase anyways. It bombs massively in Europe because the release was English only, since its censorship was important. For reference, while Nintendo of America started to interfere with the JP versions as they were developed home (Echoes has removed alcoholic beverages in all version) Echoes had a much more reasonable localization that included content that would be cut by 2015 NoA.

• 2017: A game journalist in an internet fight with Gamergate accuses Nintendo of mocking her suffering and supporting it, because of a Watergate reference. Her ridiculous accusation is signal boosted by game journalism ahead of a Paper Mario release. Nintendo issues a clarification about it "We don't comment on localization practices but we are distancing ourselves from hate movements" but doesn't cut the reference.

A similar story happened with curation too, when they should add it (Wii U) when they should drop it (some indie darling can't get his game on Switch, Star Cosmic Heroine) also third party approvals with Binding of Isaac that's an offensive game that should be approved, and then Dragon Ball Fusions that had swords cut by Nintendo request...
Simply beautiful.
At one point, Nintendo thought the outrage mob would complain anyways and took the option that brings in more money, so they started bringing games like Octopath and Xenoblades 2 made for weebs mostly unscathed, and character popularity polls in the west revealed of course the most "problematic" story arcs for game journalists were among the most popular. They still censor some minor content, but the real litmus test will be the 2019 Fire Emblem.

 

[gela94]

and signed even though I'm not a fan of these games its wrong to censor. I mean these games have age restrictions for buying so why censor we are adults and can make our own decisions! Fuck german usk!!!

 

[Javthusiast]

Exactly. It was rated mature so let adults make their own damn purchase decision instead of outright censoring some pretty mild content compared to plenty other games, and make the choice for us.

Anybody know if hong kong psn version or japanese one have english text?

 

[Blam]

I'm pretty sure if they pulled all of their on PS4 and swapped to Xbox this would be a golden opportunity. This time Sony can go and lose and entire developer to their policies and have all their sales go to a different platform.

 

[Barakov]

Oh, this is juicy. What was that saying? "Get Woke, Go Broke".

I'm pretty sure if they pulled all of their on PS4 and swapped to Xbox this would be a golden opportunity. This time Sony can go and lose and entire developer to their policies and have all their sales go to a different platform.

I mean it wouldn't happen because of the gulf in sales numbers but what if all censorsing of the anime tiddy is what caused Sony to ultimately lose the gen in the long run? That'd be some delicious irony.

 

[Kreydo]

Just boycott Sony, industrie only listen to money.

 

[TheUndeadGamer]

I signed! Censorship is not cool.

 

[Blam]

Oh, this is juicy. What was that saying? "Get Woke, Go Broke".


I mean it wouldn't happen because of the gulf in sales numbers but what if all censorsing of the anime tiddy is what caused Sony to ultimately lose the gen in the long run? That'd be some delicious irony.

I mean this is basically if people fearmonger that Sony will start censoring everything.

 

[Paulistano]

.

 

[manfestival]

I never buy anything with censored content.

but it hurts the developer more than the distributor

 

[The Mad Draklor]

TechRaptor has published an article covering this topic.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I'm pretty sure if they pulled all of their on PS4 and swapped to Xbox this would be a golden opportunity. This time Sony can go and lose and entire developer to their policies and have all their sales go to a different platform.

I think they would be even more disasterous for Marvelous. Switch or even PC maybe, but their games would not sell well on Xbox at all with their anime aesthetics. Look at Valkyria Chronicles 4 for example. I think Microsoft would be even quicker to censor a game like Senran Kagura as well.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Oh, this is juicy. What was that saying? "Get Woke, Go Broke".


I mean it wouldn't happen because of the gulf in sales numbers but what if all censorsing of the anime tiddy is what caused Sony to ultimately lose the gen in the long run? That'd be some delicious irony.

I see what you are saying, but censoring a handful of niche anime titles probably won’t hurt them much in the long run, especially in the West. Now if Sony censored something like extreme violence, gore and profanity, I can definitely see can that being detrimental to them since a plethora of games shamelessly feature that type of content now.

 

[cireza]

Sony don't need any rating systems. They decide themselves what is good and what is bad. Western tits are fine, anime breasts aren't.

 

[Blam]

Sony don't need any rating systems. They decide themselves what is good and what is bad. Western tits are fine, anime breasts aren't.

Western is Artistic. Right?