Kotaku: Sega halts sales and erases Judge Eyes/Judgment after Pierre Taki arrested on cocaine charges

MDSLKTR said:
Talk about escalation, everybody does coke lol
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Lol, ha ha....Good one......I have never seen such an overreaction before, they didn't even get cocaine on the guy......Yet, I'm trying to figure out how this affects persons playing the game, who are they apologizing to...?.
 
Imagine if entertainment products were pulled from shelves any time an actor/musician is discovered to have used illegal drugs. Raffi would be the only artist left on iTunes.
 
Japan goes hard against drug use, with companies and brands tending to wilt in the face of any association, regardless of how tenuous.

I won't be surprised, if the game stays out of retail, until SEGA can push a patch replacing the voice and probably adjusting the character's in-game appearance. Assuming SEGA does opt to perform some additional work on the game, I expect it'll also contribute to a delay in the Western release.
 
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That wouldn't fly here, but that's Japan for you.

Its why I love visiting there. It's about as close to a utopia you're gonna get on this planet.
 
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It's days like these that makes me wonder if Japan is too conservative or too liberal. It's always one extreme or the other with them. Operating entirely in absolutes with little to no nuance whatsoever.
 
ookami said:
In fact, they've been handling drugs' crimes since the 90s' while child pornography is only illegal since 2014... This is quite odd that it took them that much time to prohibit it.
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Wow. I didn't know that.

I'd like to see someone try to defend these policies.

"Are drugs bad?"

"Yes, unforgivable."

"Is porn bad?"

"It's only okay if it's censored."

"Is child porn bad?"

"Uh... give us a moment to think about it."
 
Zambatoh said:
It's days like these that makes me wonder if Japan is too conservative or too liberal. It's always one extreme or the other with them. Operating entirely in absolutes with little to no nuance whatsoever.
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Only siths deal in absolutes..
 
このまま終わらせはしない。
このままなかったものにはさせない。
いつか、必ず、復活させる。

The producer, Mr Sato, strongly emphasizes that they will rerelease the game.

"This will not end here. It will not be as the game never existed. Eventually, with certainty, the game will be revived."
 
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Most of the greatest entertainers of all time are cokeheads. I mean, Richard Pryor.... was hilarious until he STOPPED taking drugs. Same with Robin Williams. Chris Farley was amazing and it was at least in part due to his being cranked up on dope all the time. Of course, all those dudes are dead now. But it doesn't change that they were AWESOME entertainers whose work is legendary.
 
HyGogg said:
Oh, Japan. Cocaine is a major scandal that taints the entire game, but pedophilia a minor controversy at best.
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Japan isn't the US. Their laws operate differently from them.

Doing drugs in Japan is career ending. Not to mention that censorship does exist in games of what you mentioned.
 
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For the PC people here, what is the likelyhood that people could mod the actor back in if and when this eventually releases on steam? It sounds like it would be difficult to do, but modders often do some incredible stuff, so. He plays a very important role in the game and I heard he gives a very good performance, so it would be a shame to miss out.

I hope they just release the game as is in the West. We don't really care about this kind of thing.
 
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DeliciousDoc said:
このまま終わらせはしない。
このままなかったものにはさせない。
いつか、必ず、復活させる。

The producer, Mr Sato, strongly emphasizes that they will rerelease the game.

"This will not end here. It will not be as the game never existed. Eventually, with certainty, the game will be revived."
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Most likely they will either recall and then up re-releasing the game with a different voice actor for the character or patching in one. They might end up delaying the western release by a few weeks as well.

For those who are wondering: Drug use in a japan is EXTREMELY taboo and career ending as nobody to be associated with it. This has happened before in other forms of media in japan and the result is just cutting them out entirely or recasting.
 
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Words of Ivory said:
A baffling decision from a western perspective, but this must clearly be a cultural thing that I at least am not familiar with. Talking to a few people, drug charges in Japan are apparently a huge deal, and any association with individuals involved with them is viewed very negatively by people.

I'm sure we can come up with a dozen similar comparison in regards to Hollywood, such as the recent stuff with Bryan Singer and Bohemian Rhapsody.

I still fail to really understand the logic behind this, but oh well.
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You are right, it is a cultural thing. Japan doesn't take drugs as lightly as America does.

 
Do the same as they do with Kingdom Hearts III, Launch a patch changing the voice and resolved issue. They do not have the reason to stop selling a game, when they can do a re-dub.

So its time to Buy the game now...will become a rare gem value in ebay
 
Heimdall_Xtreme said:
Do the same as they do with Kingdom Hearts III, Launch a patch changing the voice and resolved issue. They do not have the reason to stop selling a game, when they can do a re-dub.

So its time to Buy the game now...will become a rare gem value in ebay
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I don't think it's this easy. My understanding is that they also use the actor as a character model. So they need to change both the voice and the model. Which is much more complicated.
 
dottme said:
I don't think it's this easy. My understanding is that they also use the actor as a character model. So they need to change both the voice and the model. Which is much more complicated.
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Damn. :messenger_face_screaming: thats complicated, i dont even know that are using their model.

so can considered buy now the game before is too late?
 
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DeepEnigma said:
Maybe someone can answer this for me, but do they do the same for their films, etc.?
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Another actor was recently involved in a scandal trying to get a masseuse to give him a happy ending. Same thing happened with all the various movies and shows he was involved in. However I think it only affects stuff in production. The dvd and blu rays of his recent movies were not recalled as it was rentable for me in a local video store I went to last week. One of his movies is a yakuza movie (outrage coda) which is ironic on multiple levels.
 
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DeliciousDoc said:
Another actor was recently involved in a scandal trying to get a masseuse to give him a happy ending. Same thing happened with all the various movies and shows he was involved in. However I think it only affects stuff in production. The dvd and blu rays of his recent movies were not recalled as it was rentable for me in a local video store I went to last week. One of his movies is a yakuza movie (outrage coda) which is ironic on multiple levels.
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Very insightful, thank you for answering.
 
While I think this is extreme I respect that its a part of Japanese culture. I just hope it doesn't impact the Western release as I'm really looking forward to the game.
 
It's interesting how cultures are different. I remember back in the day when the Scorpions album "Virgin Killer" was released, which shows a female child naked with spreaded legs on the cover. In Japan nobody cared. In the west though that LP had to be sold in a black wrapping under the desk.

They have other cultural sensitives and that's alright.
 
SoulChamber said:
Japan isn't the US. Their laws operate differently from them.

Doing drugs in Japan is career ending. Not to mention that censorship does exist in games of what you mentioned.
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Well I meant that people charged with crimes related to pedophilia (like Nobuhiro Watsuki) continue to have their work published.
 
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