Idea Factory Will No Longer Localize Games Which Need Censoring for Western Regulations - Polidicks

[quote]Idea Factory President Haru Akenaga made a pretty eye opening statement regarding the issue of censorship of sexualized women in the West. In an interview with Operation Rainfall, they brought up the recent Dead or Alive Extreme 3 debacle, and how that affected them in deciding what they bring to the west. Haru Akenaga had this to say: That’s honestly their decision, but yes, sadly, it has stopped us from localizing certain Compile Heart games. We don’t want to censor anymore because we know that’s not true to the original developed art. Operation Rainfall also asked if we can start seeing more Asia releases like Moero Chronicle in the future. Akenaga seemed more concerned in trying to fix the situation in the West: That’s actually Compile Heart Asia’s decision, not really ours. We could start seeing that more in Asia, but maybe we should do something to change in the West in the future. Anyway, we just don’t want to censor anymore. Despite Japan’s attitude towards sexuality being quite lax, it seems as though the West’s attitude is making it more difficult for certain kinds of games to make it here unchanged.[/quote] [url]http://nichegamer.com/2015/12/idea-factory-will-no-longer-localize-games-which-need-censoring-for-western-regulations/[/url] It was fairly short so I posted the whole thing.

At least they're showing some integrity.

Not my Nep Nep!

aand this is exactly what I was afraid of when DOAX3 was withheld. I get a bad feeling that this is gonna just snowball more and more over the next couple years until it's completely destroyed the japanese niche scene in the west.

I never really understood why company's are bending over for theses people, if you come along demanding something to me. I'd be like shove off. It would just inspire me to create a game that would be offensive to those groups, why? because it would create drama and as a result interest in my game.

I really don't understand why they are doing this. It isn't like the people who complain about the games buy them anyway. They aren't even the target consumers. When did Japanese developers suddenly lose their spines?

thank you moral guardians for defending the purity of my video games, i dont know what i would do if those terrible video games came over to the west [QUOTE=jimbobjoe1234;49253444]I really don't understand why they are doing this. It isn't like the people who complain about the games buy them anyway. They aren't even the target consumers. When did Japanese developers suddenly lose their spines?[/QUOTE] simple: they own the games press. The Japan game devs may not be as in-depth of the western culture when they port over their games so they see what the game press says about their stuff. When someone calls your game/series a sexist piece of trash which has no artistic merit on a shitty "top 10 games that set womens rights back 20 years" article with a bunch of mis-information/fake reasons why the game is bad AND the comments full of like-minded people because they ban any dissenting opinion, the japanese devs think "Welp, the west hates us and it probably wont sell well, might as well not put the game over there unless we censor it heavily, which takes more dev time and $$$." This is what happened with DOA3X and is now happening with other devs like Idea factory.

Honest question here: If "offensive" games were to be released in the west and cause a huge backlash among consumers, would the company really be hurt by it? Wouldn't the sales just benefit from the controversy, has has demonstrably been the case in the past with other games (albeit mostly in terms of violence as opposed to sexual content)? Or, are there actual laws that require them to spend money and time to censor games before they can be sold in the west?

[QUOTE=Passing;49253429]I never really understood why company's are bending over for theses people, if you come along demanding something to me. I'd be like shove off. It would just inspire me to create a game that would be offensive to those groups, why? because it would create drama and as a result interest in my game.[/QUOTE] Much of the problem boils down to the localization companies and localization branches forcing censorship by feeding misinformation to the developers. They literally sit there and tell them that their fans in the west hate their products and want them censored to hell, either because they're SJW/religious puritan types that have no scruples about lying to get their way or because they're suits that don't understand what a niche market is and only know how to sell to a few mainstream demographics.

[QUOTE=Im Crimson;49253482]Honest question here: If "offensive" games were to be released in the west and cause a huge backlash among consumers, would the company really be hurt by it? Wouldn't the sales just benefit from the controversy, has has demonstrably been the case in the past with other games (albeit mostly in terms of violence as opposed to sexual content)? Or, are there actual laws that require them to spend money and time to censor games before they can be sold in the west?[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure that Japanese companies actually care about their reputation.

Yeah, I think I need to suck it up and learn Japanese. At the rate the western games industry is going, I might be importing all my shit in the next 10-15 years. For fucks sake people grow a spine. Stop letting every fantasy/fictional setting/scenario fucking offend you!

[QUOTE=TornadoAP;49253544]I'm pretty sure that Japanese companies actually care about their reputation.[/QUOTE] The thing is, there's nothing to be gained when you care about your reputation among groups that have no interest in your product anyway. Cowering to it instead sends the message of "Hey loyal customers, we really appreciate that you like our stuff but we care much more about the opinions of these screeching assholes that never cared about our products to begin with. Really sorry about that." I can partially understand it when it's a major publisher like Nintendo, SE or KT, because the mainstream actually does give a shit about [I]some[/I] of their products, but for IF/NISA/XSEED, it's utterly pointless and can only make things worse for them.

[QUOTE=jimbobjoe1234;49253444]I really don't understand why they are doing this. It isn't like the people who complain about the games buy them anyway. They aren't even the target consumers. When did Japanese developers suddenly lose their spines?[/QUOTE] They didn't "suddenly" do anything, Japanese games have been getting censored for the west forever. If anything it's gotten better, remember when Japanese games had words like "Bar" replaced with "Cafe?" It sucks but it isn't exactly new.

This is likely for physical console releases though. Because they are going to port Monster Monpiece to PC/Steam without the censoring that the PS vita experienced. Apparently it was some bullshit with ESRB rating or something. I don't have solid info on the reason but. [url]http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2015/12/03/uncensored-monster-monpiece-coming-to-steam-in-2016/180527/[/url] But I got some doubts after seeing some of the orginal artwork, because Steam doesn't like that although they don't show anything naked, it might as well be at some points. But we shall see I suppose. Not sure if they would localize a game only for PC if they felt like it needed censoring for a physical console release. Edit: The info from that website is from their offical facebook page and is on the offical IFI website here: [url]http://ideafintl.com/updates/2015/12/04/2418.html[/url]

[QUOTE=TornadoAP;49253544]I'm pretty sure that Japanese companies actually care about their reputation.[/QUOTE] But why care about the reputation among consumers who aren't the target audience? The game has tons of fans, why would they care about non-fans being scared of depictions of bouncy jugs more than the developers of western shooters are with soccer moms obsessed with violence in videogames? Are Japanese developers unique in this regard?

We need a new Postal game to really make the industry shit itself. The way I see it, if devs release as many outrageous titles as possible then the press is essentially gonna implode in on itself. People will start to take their reviews with a grain of salt after posting so many articles about how outraged they are, and then maybe companies won't be so scared to try something new.

[QUOTE=Valiantttt;49253909]But I got some doubts after seeing some of the orginal artwork, because Steam doesn't like that although they don't show anything naked, it might as well be at some points. But we shall see I suppose. Not sure if they would localize a game only for PC if they felt like it needed censoring for a physical console release.[/QUOTE] Steam is a bit iffy. They removed Yohjo Simulator post-release despite it not having any sexual content, but Written in the Sky is up despite featuring blatant loli(but she's totally 18 so it's A-OK) nudity. Flip a coin. [editline]5th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=jimbobjoe1234;49254044]We need a new Postal game to really make the industry shit itself. The way I see it, if devs release as many outrageous titles as possible then the press is essentially gonna implode in on itself. People will start to take their reviews with a grain of salt after posting so many articles about how outraged they are, and then maybe companies won't be so scared to try something new.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://store.steampowered.com/app/341940/"]Already been done.[/URL] Hatred, Huniepop, and Protein World all stand as fantastic examples of using outrage culture to sell your product.

[QUOTE=CoixNiro;49254045]Steam is a bit iffy. They removed Yohjo Simulator post-release despite it not having any sexual content, but Written in the Sky is up despite featuring blatant loli(but she's totally 18 so it's A-OK) nudity. Flip a coin. [editline]5th December 2015[/editline] [URL="http://store.steampowered.com/app/341940/"]Already been done.[/URL][/QUOTE] Yohjo Simulator was removed by the publisher Sekai Project from what I have gathered. [url]http://www.siliconera.com/2015/12/01/sekai-project-explains-why-it-pulled-yohjo-simulator-from-steam/[/url] Steam doesn't give a fuck about that sort of shit once it is on Steam. I mean, developers/publishers publicly offer uncensor patches on the discussion forums of their products alot of the time.

[QUOTE=Solo Wing;49253560]Yeah, I think I need to suck it up and learn Japanese. At the rate the western games industry is going, I might be importing all my shit in the next 10-15 years. For fucks sake people grow a spine. Stop letting every fantasy/fictional setting/scenario fucking offend you![/QUOTE] Is it learning Japanese easy because Western media is starting to get dumbed down

[QUOTE=Valiantttt;49254064]Yohjo Simulator was removed by the publisher Sekai Project from what I have gathered. [url]http://www.siliconera.com/2015/12/01/sekai-project-explains-why-it-pulled-yohjo-simulator-from-steam/[/url] Steam doesn't give a fuck about that sort of shit once it is on Steam.[/QUOTE] It was pulled by steam "pending investigation", Sekai freaked out and are keeping it off store until it's sufficiently censored.

You smell it? Smells like Film Noire is on the way.

[QUOTE=CoixNiro;49254078]It was pulled by steam, Sekai freaked out and are keeping it off store until it's sufficiently censored.[/QUOTE] Even though they have answered to a site with the following statement? "Apparently an overwhelming amount of complaints were filed for Yohjo Simulator’s removal from Steam and when Sekai Project realized that the scene in question was included in it, the game was yanked. Before re-releasing the game, Sekai Project will be working with the developer to remove the scene in question as well as anything that “even remotely” resembles it, and will also be looking to add additional gameplay features and in-game content. “We would like to formally apologize for not having discovered this content before the game was released,” said Sekai Project. “Had we known it would have been swiftly removed from the game. Unfortunately, this was not the case and we are truly sorry for the severe oversight on our part. We hope that this has not left a negative impact on how you use Steam as a gaming service, or your experience with Sekai Project and our releases. This has served as a valuable lesson and will have a significant but positive impact on how we test upcoming titles before they are released.”" While I can't verify if they actually said this, there has been no other statements. And to be honest, Sekai Project releases censored versions of their VN's with adult content on Steam but they can be easily patched. So it is likely that they did pull it themselves.

[QUOTE=Im Crimson;49253482]Honest question here: If "offensive" games were to be released in the west and cause a huge backlash among consumers, would the company really be hurt by it? Wouldn't the sales just benefit from the controversy, has has demonstrably been the case in the past with other games (albeit mostly in terms of violence as opposed to sexual content)? Or, are there actual laws that require them to spend money and time to censor games before they can be sold in the west?[/QUOTE] Japanese and several Asian cultures are extremely big on reputation and saving face. Companies will most likely make decisions that are based on preserving relations with other companies. Asian cultures also tend to resolve conflict by avoidance rather than confrontation. In this case it's better to drop localization costs and potential negative reception in order to preserve the Western media's perception of that company, rather than release their products on pride. You can see the exact opposite with companies like RWS, and American based company, when involved in a conflict.

Look at this and try to tell me with a straight face that the SJW crowd isn't trying to remove anything that doesn't fit their narrative. This is their end goal, for all companies they don't agree with to disappear from our markets.

[QUOTE=Valiantttt;49254104]Even though they have answered to a site with the following statement? "Apparently an overwhelming amount of complaints were filed for Yohjo Simulator’s removal from Steam and when Sekai Project realized that the scene in question was included in it, the game was yanked. Before re-releasing the game, Sekai Project will be working with the developer to remove the scene in question as well as anything that “even remotely” resembles it, and will also be looking to add additional gameplay features and in-game content. “We would like to formally apologize for not having discovered this content before the game was released,” said Sekai Project. “Had we known it would have been swiftly removed from the game. Unfortunately, this was not the case and we are truly sorry for the severe oversight on our part. We hope that this has not left a negative impact on how you use Steam as a gaming service, or your experience with Sekai Project and our releases. This has served as a valuable lesson and will have a significant but positive impact on how we test upcoming titles before they are released.”" While I can't verify if they actually said this, there has been no other statements. And to be honest, Sekai Project releases censored versions of their VN's with adult content on Steam but they can be easily patched. So it is likely that they did pull it themselves.[/QUOTE] When it was pulled, the dev was saying steam did it. I guess it could be possible that sekai just had steam pull it without informing the dev in any way whatsoever until much later. I find it unfortunate that sekai would be so willing to censor out of public outrage that was kicked up mostly by a handful of trolls, and I find it kind of fucked up that they both don't test their games(which considering the scale of Yohjo Sim I guarantee was just a lame excuse) and go behind developer's backs on these situations, not even caring enough to keep them properly informed.

[QUOTE=Disgruntled;49254219]Look at this and try to tell me with a straight face that the SJW crowd isn't trying to remove anything that doesn't fit their narrative. This is their end goal, for all companies they don't agree with to disappear from our markets.[/QUOTE] Most of them don't play that type of game. Can't they just ignore it like everyone else? That way everyone can play the game that they like,

[QUOTE=RichyZ;49254226]maybe theres a little bit of legal trouble involved when you make a game about fondling 13 year olds to get them to fight? wait thats a different japanese company same thing applies, i imagine there is some legal shit involved when you sexualize children in games[/QUOTE] It depends on the country. Drawings are exempt from CP laws in the US, but not in the UK or all but a couple of EU countries. Even when they're not exempt, it's still a legal clusterfuck to try and prove the age of something that doesn't even exist, especially when they pull a "lol she's 18 honest".

[QUOTE=Domokun;49254300]Most of them don't play that type of game. Can't they just ignore it like everyone else? That way everyone can play the game that they like,[/QUOTE] It exists, it offends them, therefore EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE [B][I]EXTERMINATE[/I][/B]

[QUOTE=Domokun;49254300]Most of them don't play that type of game. Can't they just ignore it like everyone else? That way everyone can play the game that they like,[/QUOTE] no. It's brainwashing weebs into raping women and children, it must be stopped at all costs. Have the 2014 Boston Weeb Rape Riots taught us nothing?

here's the thing, these Offended people are actually going to accidentally expand fan-translation teams. So they are not doing any "good", just there won't be official localisations...