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Post by Fryguy64 on Sept 24, 2009 4:50:05 GMT -5
I have started working on a feature covering censorship in Nintendo games. Specifically, things Nintendo of America has censored from the original Japanese version. We all know they were strict on third party content, but it's interesting that they regularly had to censor their own games as well.
I will be covering various topics, including alcohol, sex and sexuality, certain forms of violence, and so on until I run out of ideas.
As always I need some help making sure I have tracked down as many examples as I can. Here's a general list of ones I can remember, or that have recently been brought up by other people.
Alcohol & Alcoholism
Super Mario Kart
Bowser and Peach guzzle their champagne during the trophy ceremony in Japan (Peach is clearly getting a bit drunk), but their animations were changed in the US.
EarthBound
Famously, all references to bars and alcohol were changed to coffee shops. One clearly drunken character holding a glass of beer was rewritten to be drinking a cappucino (a yellow, frosty cappucino, apparently!)
Wario Land 2
The mine-throwing penguins that make Wario dizzy originally appeared emptying a glass of beer over Wario. So it's not "Dizzy Wario" but "Drunk Wario".
Sex & Sexuality
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Towards the end of the trading cycle, a mermaid asks you to find her necklace. In the original Japanese version she had actually lost her bra.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Vivian, the youngest of the Shadow Sirens, has an inferiority complex that eventually leads her to leave her sisters and join Mario on his quest. In Japan, the reason for this inferiority complex is made clear: Vivian is actually a transvestite.
Violence
A quick note here, as a European, America's relaxed attitude to extreme violence seems just as odd as Japan's attitude to sexuality. Most violence isn't taken out of the games, unless it's low level or "personal" violence.
EarthBound
All direct references to "killing" or "death" are skirted around with some clever rewriting. The sequence near the start where Porky & Picky's father scolds them for their behaviour was actually a beating in the Japanese version - the sound effects and script were changed to reflect this.
Religion
I actually need some more examples in here. I could list EarthBound again, but until there are a few more games worthy of note, I'm wary about adding this.
Of course, there's Devil World which was didn't get released in the US only (and as a result, Tamagon's exclusion from SSBM), but that wasn't censorship until 2001.
Almost more notable is what WASN'T removed. Particularly the crucifix symbols throughout The Legend of Zelda.
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Post by TV Eye on Sept 24, 2009 8:40:46 GMT -5
I got one, in the Japanese Mario RPG, when you win a battle with Bowser, he would give the "Up yuors!" sign, but the American version was changed to him clenching his fists. LinkFrom the Mushroom Kingdom. |
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Post by wanderingshadow on Sept 24, 2009 11:13:39 GMT -5
In the category of alcohol, there's the change in Punch-Out!! from Vodka Drunkenski to Soda Popinski. However, check this out. NOA didn't change the guy's name in the Super Punch-Out!! An interesting example of the different attitudes NOA had towards arcade games and home consoles. Also, before there was Vivian, there was Birdo. This one might make a better story since they've flip-flopped on the gender of the character. I can also enlighten you on why America is so accepting of violence. In the U.S., the same people that make a public up cry about video games, movies, music, ect. are the same people that are very adamant on gun rights. They have no problem letting their children fire real guns at a young age, so virtual guns don't bother them either. |
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Post by Wildcat on Sept 24, 2009 13:11:58 GMT -5
Yeah, covering what HASN'T been censored could also make an interesting feature.
I'll rack my brain and see if I can remember anything beyond these.
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Post by Grandy02 on Sept 24, 2009 14:41:54 GMT -5
Source for the WarioWare: Twisted! censoring is Asho's site. In Dr. Crygor's bar counter game in WarioWare: Twisted!, all drinks are changed to milk, and the shapes of 2nd and 3rd glasses are changed (the latter one is obviously a wine glass in the Japanese version). When the player succeeds in Dribble & Spitz's game "Key Ring" in WarioWare: Twisted!, the bearded wrestler appears with the masked wrestler in bed in the Japanese version. But after the censoring, the bearded one just looks through a window. Whether this is sexuality related is up to interpretation.  By the way, are all those wrestlers a reference to Pro Wrestling? At least the green guy bears a strong resemble to The Amazon. "Cupid Kirby" is actually known as Angel Kirby in the Japanese version of Amazing Mirror. By the way, is the censorship of cultural references also worth mentioning? |
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Post by wanderingshadow on Sept 24, 2009 15:09:44 GMT -5
Okay, I've looked around and come up with some stuff.
Ice Climbers - The Japanese version had you clubbing seals instead of yetis. I think this was mentioned in the Smash Bros. trophy guide.
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - The American version had green blood instead of red. Also, later releases removed the star and crescent from the mirror shield as well as the Islamic chant from the Fire Temple.
Pokemon - There's the whole "Jynx is a blackface cartoon" fiasco. I'm not sure which game you'd list that under.
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Post by nocturnal YL on Sept 24, 2009 15:10:59 GMT -5
In WarioWare Twisted!, there is a microgame where you have to slide a cup of milk to a customer. In the Japanese version, it was originally cocktail and the background was different.
The same setting was unchanged in Touched! - Nintendo started distorting WarioWare since Twisted! - like removing lots of Japanese references and changing the catchy "SPEED UP" to "FASTER" (which I think makes less sense in a rhythmic, Japanese-styled game).
And on the censorship of killing and death, deaths in Super Paper Mario are referred to "Game Overs" in non-Japanese versions (which I think sounds more awesome). And also in the same game, a D-man in Chapter 7-2 asked a question involving numbers that you don't need to calculate. Where the Japanese version has "666", the overseas version has "667" instead. (Which sounds like "we are avoiding it obviously so you know what the original is" - I'd rather see they change it to some completely unrelated number.)
I think there are some other games that do change 666 to something else, mostly 660, 667 or 670. Notable is that Golden Sun 1 did not edit this out in the Crossbone Isle puzzles (where there are treasure boxes containing 111 to 999 coins each).
What hasn't been censored? Hmm... The fact tthat Waluigi is still out there cutting his crotch?
Certain games with old-fashioned background, like Fire Emblem series, do contain some references. For example... FE8 has Biblical names like "Ephraim" and "Myrrh" in it. I was quite surprised to see these names in the English version of the game.
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Post by kirbychu on Sept 24, 2009 17:10:37 GMT -5
And on the censorship of killing and death, deaths in Super Paper Mario are referred to "Game Overs" in non-Japanese versions (which I think sounds more awesome). Huh. So it's just referred to as death in the Japanese version? |
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Post by Fryguy64 on Sept 24, 2009 17:47:13 GMT -5
This is all quite fascinating. While I was aware of a handful of these, many of them I wasn't... or at least wouldn't have automatically considered for here.
Jynx, for example. To me it was always clearly mimicking an opera singer or something, and it never occurred to me that it was supposed to be a "blackface". I wonder if the original designer consciously intended it too (although they may have unconsciously lifted elements).
I wonder if Bowser's fist pump was intended as well. Yes, America censored it, but I wonder if the Japanese designer who animated it was even aware that it could be construed as rude at all, or if it's something with a completely different meaning in Japan.
For now, I don't want to focus too much on what hasn't been censored. This may well turn into a series of features on each of the topics listed, and "the ones that got through" will probably be the last of them.
Changing Japanese cultural references to US ones isn't censorship, it's localisation, and the same thing happens in reverse as well. These will not count here, but may be interesting notes when I start putting "mysteries and other interesting stuff" up (no doubt under a more succinct title).
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Post by TV Eye on Sept 24, 2009 18:24:51 GMT -5
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - The American version had green blood instead of red. Actually, my OoT has red blood. It was later versions that were changed to green. |
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Post by The Qu on Sept 24, 2009 20:04:05 GMT -5
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - The American version had green blood instead of red. Actually, my OoT has red blood. It was later versions that were changed to green. Yep. When I was young, it shocked me when I got to Ganondorf. Blood in games didn't shock me- a Nintendo game with a character vomiting blood did. For one I am shocked didn't get changed was teh Manji Dungeon in the original Zelda. You know- the swastika dungeon. I know what it is- I'm studying Eastern religion and philosophy- but it's enough of a stickler here in the west that I am surprised they did not change it. |
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Post by wanderingshadow on Sept 24, 2009 22:09:29 GMT -5
If you decide to do a bit with things slipping through, Kid Icarus is the game to go to. Not only did they leave crosses on the tombstones in Level 2, but the manual had the Syrens bare breasted. |
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Post by kirbychu on Sept 25, 2009 1:16:55 GMT -5
Jynx, for example. To me it was always clearly mimicking an opera singer or something, and it never occurred to me that it was supposed to be a "blackface". I wonder if the original designer consciously intended it too (although they may have unconsciously lifted elements). It was actually based on the "Ganguro" fanshion trend, where Japanese girls dye their hair blonde and get ridiculous suntans. Like so. It's actually a pretty funny joke, but one which doesn't really carry over to the West. |
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Post by Fryguy64 on Sept 25, 2009 3:40:48 GMT -5
Oooh, now THAT is interesting! I believe many other nations had a similar trend during the 90's... and it was gross! ;D Kid Icarus boobs have been well documented (although really, nobody could possibly whack off to them, so I don't see it as a problem). Looks like we're getting quite a decent list of things that slipped through the net. I'm guessing Nintendo hasn't actually censored all THAT much from their own games then! Although stuff that did make it over but was later changed so as not to offend sensibilities also counts as censorship (but after the fact), so that kind of thing can be used too. Some games I want to look into further censorship: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the PastThere is a bar in Kakariko Village, but I don't recall anyone mentioning drinking (even though everyone in there is clearly drunk). Is this any different in Japan? Any localised Nintendo RPG / Adventure GameThese are potential hotbeds of censorship. Of course, without a Japanese reader, we may miss a few, but there has to be some out there. There's not many: - EarthBound (very well documented already, although we could add more about Mother's official unreleased translation) - Pokemon series - Super Mario RPG / Paper Mario / Mario & Luigi series - Golden Sun Series - Magical Starsign - Another Code (Trace Memory) - Hotel Dusk (not likely to be censored, as its themes are already quite adult, and they're not shy about putting alcohol consumption in a good light, which is awesome!) - Fire Emblem (Oh yeah, there ARE some changes in these games!) WarioWare SeriesWe have some already, but these games are WEIRD! On the subject of things that slipped through the net, I was surprised the Manneken Pis (that you use to pee out a fire) made it through. I know it's a famous statue, but you're using it to pee on a fire!!  |
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Post by nocturnal YL on Sept 25, 2009 6:37:21 GMT -5
Bowser's butt is no longer called a butt in M&L3? But all parts of Bowser's body are renamed as if they are parts of a battleship or something anyway. Fire Emblem doesn't experience much change in terms of censorship. Biblical references are still referenhces, and a drunk Shinon remains drunk. Besides the fact that the first 6 Fire Emblem games are not released at all, there aren't much you can say about censorship. If FE4 is re-released in the US, characters will probably continue to incest. (will edit later on Paper Mario series)EDIT - Alright. Paper Mario. Mentioned above was Vivian's gender change and the 666 thing I mentioned before. Don't think there are others... there are a lot of discrepencies in case of Paper Mario TTYD (like Bonetail's gender change from female to male and Flavio is called Marco (nod to Marco Polo?) in the JP version), but none is controversy-inudced. And Golden sun has the famous "dragonsbane". It was orignally sake that Susa was feeding the monster. |
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By the way, are all those wrestlers a reference to Pro Wrestling? At least the green guy bears a strong resemble to The Amazon.
