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The gore of 'Resident Evil 7' is heavily censored in Japan
A big part of the fun in Resident Evil 7 is the way it pays off the creeping tension with jolts of pure gore. It turns out, however, that gamers in Japan aren't getting quite the same effect. As the Censored Gaming group found out, several of the more shocking scenes of body horror have been dumbed down to TBS levels there.
I'm sorry, Dave, I can't let you see that scene in the South Park game
A leaked image shows what European console players see instead of the scenes censored out of South Park: The Stick of Truth. Clearly, Michaelangelo's David is not impressed. The text below (see the NSFW full image below the break) describes in blunt detail what players aren't seeing, and that comprises seven scenes removed from the EMEA Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, each around 20 seconds long. In Australia it looks to be the same deal, except the still image is of a crying koala instead of David. When asked about the EMEA censorship, an Ubisoft spokesperson told Eurogamer "this was a market decision." As Eurogamer notes, Ubisoft's decision may be tied to ensuring the game was fit for release in Germany, where stricter guidelines on games are enforced. The Stick of Truth brings its mix of indelicate humor and Obsidian roleplay to retail shelves this week: first North America on March 4, then Australia March 6, and Europe March 7.
Iran blocks Guild Wars, World of Warcraft
Reports are coming in that Iran is moving to block access to several MMOs, including World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. This comes following a conference by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance earlier this month. At the conference, the Islamic Revolution Game Designers Community was formed and decided to ban games that promote superstition, mythology, violence, and revealing clothing. Following the decision, the government started cracking down on various services and MMOs, such as Battle.net's library and ArenaNet's Guild Wars series. Other games targeted include RuneScape, Second Life, Dofus, Evony, and Entropia Universe. It's unclear to what extent the government is attempting to enforce these bans, and Iranian players are looking into workaround solutions to access their MMOs. It's interesting to note that Blizzard does not authorize downloads of its products or services in Iran.
German Borderlands importers encounter incompatible DLC
German Borderlands players who just had to import the gory, uncensored version of the title from another region are getting their comeuppance. According to a lengthy thread on the Gearbox forums, players who purchase the Zombie Island of Doctor Ned expansion from the German Xbox Live Marketplace can't access the new content from their imported copies of the game. We've contacted Gearbox to find out if anything is being done to refund the DLC's 800 cost to these depraved, violence-crazed importers. They certainly don't seem like the type of crowd you'd want to upset.
Gears of War 2 not releasing in Germany, Japan
Microsoft has confirmed that Gears of War 2 will be "banned" in Germany and won't release in Japan. Per standard operating procedures in these situations, the title was refused a rating in Germany, which means it cannot be sold in the country. The news isn't exactly shocking considering the original Gears of War was also verboten in Deutchland.The Germany ban was expected, but lack of Japanese release is a little surprising. It could have been the violence was just too over-the-top for the ratings board there -- even with the game's optional gore and language filter.Update: We're not exactly clear on the Japan situation. We've contacted Microsoft to find out if the game was refused classification or wasn't even submitted for a rating. Microsoft responded to our request stating: "We have no announcements to make about Gears of War 2 releasing in Japan at this time."[Via X3F]
Changes prompt accusations of 'censorship' in AoC
'Funcom are removing the mature content from Age of Conan!' Yes, it's that rumor again, springing back up like that man-eating plant boss on White Sands Isle that someone else always seems to be fighting first, so you have to sit politely by the cage in the side of the room and hope they don't think you're going to gank them, then while you're waiting for it to respawn someone else arrives... where were we? Oh, yes. In a patch from nearly a month ago the formerly topless prospecting trainer Gera in Purple Lotus Swamp was unceremoniously clothed, as well as getting a new hairdo and some more prospector-ish accessories. Looking at her former attire, can we honestly say that wasn't a bug fix? Girlfriend, that brown belt does not go with that... er... blue thing made of straps. Even so, the loss of a cherished pair of NPC breasts caused outrage in some quarters, where it's still being seen as the latest in a line of allegedly censorious changes.
Mini-fascist kiddie MMOS are a-ok!
Unlike most seasoned adult gamers, whose first introductions to online play were usually in the cut-throat world of the first-person shooter or real-time strategy genres, kids today are largely insulated from the bullying behavior that once typified the online experience. Creating a safe, collaborative environment that still manages to challenge gamers is one of the chief design goals of MMOs aimed at children, as Richard Aihoshi explores in a recent article for The Escapist.Gathering opinions from developers working on titles like LEGO Universe, FusionFall, and Magi-Nation, Aihoshi explores how these titles seek to eliminate anti-social behavior like ganking and trash-talking through calculated design decisions. While Aihoshi establishes something of a consensus among the developers, he doesn't reflect on the potential ills of setting up these "mini-fascist utopias," as they are referred to by LEGO Universe's Ryan Seabury. One wonders whether this digital extension of helicopter parenting is actually desirable at all. Instead of teaching kids that fighting and cursing is wrong, we take away their freedom to do those things altogether. Lesson learned? This blogger doubts it.
Sword of the Nude World
You type in your username and password on the logon screen, the game loads, and you see your character... in the buff. No, you haven't been hit by a keylogger-- if you're playing Granado Espada (a Korean MMO known as Sword of the New World in North America), then odds are you got hit by some kind of weird hack or hoax. Apparently, players logged out of the server on October 20th, and then logged back in to find their characters naked (NSFW, even though pics are blurred), complete with.. umm.. anatomically correct graphics.How incredibly strange. Random Battle suspects that it's a hoax of some kind, but changes like that have to come server side, so either a player was able to dial into the server and change models somehow, or a wayward mod messed with something as a joke. IMC Games, the game's maker, is reportedly looking into the incident. In other news, Sword of the New World's subscription rate among males has skyrocketed. Go figure.
