Bowdlerise/Video Games: Difference between revisions

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* ''[[The Witcher]]'' was fairly heavily censored in North America (to the point of having its own, less graphic sex cards) until the Director's Cut patch was released.

* Whenever a game is denied sale in Australia due to lacking a rating (due to it being "too much for MA" and the people in charge of giving higher ratings to videogames being more than a little clueless), this will inevitably occur. The most famous is ''[[Fallout 3]]'', where morphine became "Med-X", because we really have to protect Australian kids from getting mixed up in a hospital grade narcotic that is nowhere near as readily available as its illegal counterparts.

** ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'''s Soldier lampshades this through some of his Domination lines for the (Australian) Sniper:

{{quote|Soldier: ''Aww, am I too '''VIOLENT''' for ya, cupcake?! ''

Soldier: ''Your country did not prepare you for the level of violence you will meet on my battlefield!'' }}

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** One game later, in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening]]'', they changed cross-shaped grave markers into "RIP" rounded-block gravestones. Also, one of the quest items was changed from a mermaid's bra into her necklace, which explains why you never see any part of her except her head...

** Additionally, diving underwater near the mermaid will cause her to swim her away from you. While she doesn't say anything in the English version, if you try doing this in the original Japanese version, the mermaid will [[Handsome Lech|call Link a pervert]].

** Also, the Hippo in Animal Village was originally a nude model (with visible breasts) with a towel which she pulls up when Link enters the studio. She screams when you talk to her, which explains why she's sitting on the ground facing away from Link.

** The original release of ''[[Ocarina of Time]]'' had Ganondorf [[Blood From the Mouth|cough up blood]] after you beat him and mortally wound him. The blood was turned green in later-produced cartridges. The vocal track in the Fire Temple was excised as it was a Muslim [[Ominous Latin Chanting|chant]], and the Gerudo symbol of the [[wikipedia:Star and crescent|star-and-crescent]] was replaced with... [http://zeldawiki.org/Gerudo_Symbol who-knows-what-to-call-it], again for its association with Islam. This had the tragic effect of making the Mirror Shield now butt-ugly. (Notably ''The Wind Waker'' [http://zeldawiki.org/Image:NabooruTWW.png includes the WTF-symbol] as a [[Continuity Nod]], rather than the crescent.)

** They still [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|got crap past the radar]] with the WTF Symbol. It's a pair of boobs.

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** One must wonder, though, how much of this is to blame on [[Atlus]] giving the series to their B-team. It's usually pretty apparent when the company puts [[Shin Megami Tensei|real effort into their localizations]].

** Even ''more'' pathetically, Riviera actually Bowdlerised ''itself'' once -- in order to keep the game's rating at CERO-A, Sting was forced to remove the bath scenes from the PSP remake. The "special edition" rerelease of the remake put them back in, but clad all the girls in bathing suits -- they were going ''swimming'', not getting naked! The fandom (and even the [[Fan Dumb]]) found this hilarious, as CGs are still included of the girls panicking when Ein arrives, leading to the meme "OH NOES! EIN SAW MY CLEAVAGE!" It's actually even more funny when you think that it is a remake from a Nintendo platform to a Sony platform.

* ''[[Breath of Fire IV]]'' was hit with this particularly severely (even compared to the rest of the ''Breath of Fire'' games, almost all of which have either suffered some bowdlerising, dodgy translation, or both). The [[PS 1]] international versions had [http://www.zareste.com/web/bof%204%20bath.mov a bit of fanservice] (in essence, an [[Hot Springs Episode|onsen scene]] involving Nina and Ursula) and a [http://www.zareste.com/web/bof%204%20trousers.mov scene involving Ursula proving her womanhood via exposure] (which were not so important to the plot) cut entirely--as well as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr_EL20mPZw a third, ''very'' plot-important scene] where {{spoiler|Fou-lu decapitates Emperor Soniel}}. International versions just ''fade to black'' at the latter scene and people are left [[What Happened to the Mouse?|wondering just what the hell happened]].

** The redaction of the latter scene is particularly puzzling {{spoiler|as the scene where Fou-lu actually offs Soniel is only depicted by black-on-red "washi screen" [[Gory Discretion Shot]]}}--very common to keep games in the equivalent of a PG rating as well as to get around Australian "blood bans"--and which would be considered quite safe for inclusion in Playstation games of the period. Yes, you're reading this right--this may well be the only known case ''where a previously censored scene was itself '''completely cut''' in international adaptations''.

*** And in the recently-completed adaptation of "[[Breath of Fire IV]]" being published by Comic Blade Avarus there is a bit of a [[Take That|Take Your Censorship And Shove It]] response to both the (relatively mild) original Japanese bowdlerisation and the (completely censored) international [[PS 1]] and Windows versions; the "graphic novelisation" [http://80.manmankan.com/200909/569/24359/0991509325824751.jpg is], [http://80.manmankan.com/200909/569/24359/0991509325890409.jpg shall we say], ''[http://80.manmankan.com/200909/569/24359/0991509325910038.jpg considerably]'' [http://80.manmankan.com/200909/569/24359/099150932592268.jpg bloodier] and [http://80.manmankan.com/200909/569/24359/0991509325936869.jpg explicit] in the depiction of that scene. (Of note, the two scenes that could be seen as being at Ursula's expense aren't included at all in the manga.)

* ''[[Family Project]]'' had an English translation done by [[What an Idiot!|JAST]]. A number of scenes involving [[Token Mini-Moe|Matsuri]] were censored, with underwear digitally added in any scene that involved her being remotely nude at all. It didn't help that the customers who pre-ordered this were never warned of the censorship; in fact, [[Blatant Lies|JAST marketed the game as FULLY UNCENSORED]].

** http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/07/21/family-project-kazoku-keikaku-fully-uncensored-eroge/

* Let's not forget the first ''[[Resident Evil]]''. The intro FMV in the Japanese version had gore with bloody corpses and death animations. The Western releases were recut and used alternate footage. The PC version and some PAL releases of Director's Cut contain the original FMV.

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** Gen I had a possessed woman in Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower telling you to "Give... me... your... soul...". Come the remake, she says to "Give... me... your... all...". Making this funnier and weirder is that another woman, in both versions, says "Give... me... blood..." Remember, blood is fine, but anything remotely religious is wrong!

** The [[Dirty Old Man]] staring through the window of Erika's Gym commenting that the Gym is full of women had the line changed to "strong trainers" in ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver|HeartGold]]'' and ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver|SoulSilver]]''.

** The infamous 'Juggler' in both ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue]]'' and ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver]]'', who lost his "dropped my balls" line in the remakes.

** 'Firebreather Dick' in Gold/Silver, who was renamed Firebreather Richard in the [[Heart Gold]] and [[Soul Silver]] remake.

* The NES and "US Set 1" arcade versions of ''[[Legendary Wings]]'' had the [[Stripperific]] Michelle Hart and Kevin Walker replaced by two generic guys with golden mechanical wings, as opposed to angelic feathered wings.

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* FIFA 11 as a very bizarre editing on the songs in the game. They remove the line "when you and I were down on the floor" in "Rules Don't Stop" by We Are Scientists, which I can understand, but they remove the word "corpse" in "Flash Delirium" by MGMT. In Charlotte Gainsbourg's "Trick Pony", they remove the word "rum" in the line. "train, train/come and go/rum cocoa" and make it "train cocoa". Another odd edit is the words "under" and "from below" in "Snowflake" by Malachai, which don't even make sense in context.

* The US version of ''[[Bionic Commando]]'' had [[No Swastikas]], among other minor censorships, but the cutscene of Master D (Hitler)'s [[Your Head Asplode|head asploding]] somehow [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|sneaked through]].

* The german version of most [[Command ~~and~~ Conquer]] games replaced all infantry units with cyborgs (mostly limited to changing the voices and unit names), with a few exceptions (such as Tanya, who appears in the FMVs). ''Generals'' got the worst treatment, altering most voiceclips to sound robotic and all human faces getting edited to make them look like, well, robots. The suicide bomber unit also got replaced by a bomb on wheels (which suddenly gets a voice when entering a civilian vehicle, as that ability was obviously overlooked.

* The german version of most [[Command & Conquer]] games replaced all infantry units with cyborgs (mostly limited to changing the voices and unit names), with a few exceptions (such as Tanya, who appears in the FMVs). ''Generals'' got the worst treatment, altering most voiceclips to sound robotic and all human faces getting edited to make them look like, well, robots. The suicide bomber unit also got replaced by a bomb on wheels (which suddenly gets a voice when entering a civilian vehicle, as that ability was obviously overlooked.

* In the torture scene in the Japanese release of ''[[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker]]'', Strangelove uses the electric rods to ''tickle'' Big Boss rather than electrocute him. Also, the dialogue is different, and Big Boss is laughing rather than screaming. This is due to the fact that the Japanese version was meant to appeal more to children as well as older gamers (in Japan, PSP is a system targeted toward all ages, unlike the US and UK, in which it is mostly targeted toward teens and adults). View the bowdlerized cutscene [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud7YhYnTQHg here].

* The [[Updated Rerelease]] of ''[[~~Conkers~~ Bad Fur Day]]'', ''Conker Live and Reloaded'' was heavily censored for some unfathomable reason. The foul language was half the reason the game was appealing. However, upon finishing the game, you do get the option to hear the swears uncensored.

* The [[Updated Rerelease]] of ''[[Conker's Bad Fur Day]]'', ''Conker Live and Reloaded'' was heavily censored for some unfathomable reason. The foul language was half the reason the game was appealing. However, upon finishing the game, you do get the option to hear the swears uncensored.

* The US version of the MMORPG [[TERA]] censored the Elin models. Compare the differences [http://my.mmosite.com/1cd10251c16a43d090e2399862b464a2/blog/item/1c8e968e01d15c1fdfee5b36fccf123e.html here].

* With ''[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/exile/exile3.htm Exile]'', many items that were drugs in the original ''XZR II'' were already censored in the Japanese console versions. However, the [[TurboGrafx-16]] translation by [[Working Designs]] also obscured the religious themes, at NEC's insistence: Christians, for instance, became "Klispins."