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Square Enix 'Extreme Edges' is new label for publisher's violent games in Japan
As Square Enix continues to expand globablly, it's starting to publish titles in Japan that aren't traditionally "Square Enix," like Modern Warfare 2 and games from its newly acquired Eidos subsidiary. According to Famitsu (via Andriasang), president Yoichi Wada has announced a new box label to be used by the publisher that will differentiate its "mature" Western games from its usual slate of more innocent fantasy products: "Square Enix Extreme Edges." Wait -- didn't Wada say he wanted Japanese gamers not to discriminate against Western games? The "Extreme Edges" label will be used for Western-made games bearing CERO "D" (17+) or "Z" (18+) ratings, though Square Enix has yet to publish any CERO Z titles. The Z rating is legally age-restricted, and games bearing it are often not displayed in stores. Square Enix, however, will release Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days in Japan on August 26; a game that at least seems "edgy" and "extreme" enough for the new label and probably worthy of the CERO Z rating, as well.
Wada wants Japanese gamers to stop discriminating against Western games
[Hachimaki] Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada wants Japanese gamers to be more open to Western games. In a Japanese TV interview (excerpted and translated by Kotaku), Wada said, "Even now, there have been people in Japan using the label youge- (literally 'Western games') with a terribly discriminatory meaning." While the concern about Western games may seem uncharacteristic for the head of a Japanese publisher, this is the Japanese publisher who just purchased Eidos, and who is currently marketing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in Japan. "I'd like them to try it once," Wada said about Modern Warfare 2. "If they play it once, they'd realize how incorrect that label is." Just like the subtitles.
