4 ms·

I found some (very mild) examples of censorship mentioned elsewhere [1], but I also don't understand the hype here: >In the original North American SNES versio

I found some (very mild) examples of censorship mentioned elsewhere [1], but I also don't understand the hype here: >In the original North American SNES version the spell Holy was renamed "Pearl", the summon "Jihad" was renamed to "Crusader", and Hell's Rider to "Rider". Many sprites were also censored. Overly revealing sprites, such as Siren, Lakshmi (Starlet), Alluring Rider (Critic), Chadarnook (woman), Goddess, Power (Hit), Magic, Lady (Girl), and another untargettable part on the final boss, were censored. The smoke for Misty and her palette-swaps was removed. Pub signs were changed to cafe signs. >During the scene where Locke sees Celes imprisoned in South Figaro, she is no longer being beaten by the guards in the GBA version, and they merely taunt her. The censoring of Celes's beating isn't from the localization; this is also present in the Japanese GBA version. The scene where Celes is being tortured by the Gestahlian Empire was removed because the original Final Fantasy VI was created before the Japanese ratings board, CERO, existed. >The conversation between Edgar and Relm during their first meeting in Thamasa was changed. In the Japanese version, after Edgar learned about Relm's age (10), he said to himself: "I need to get a hold of myself... or it's going to be a crime". In the English versions, Edgar says: "Not even a lady yet. Here's hoping you're still around in eight years, kid". In the Japanese versions, Relm used harsh language, especially for someone her age. The overseas versions toned down the dialogue so that, while still biting, her words are overall clean. >When climbing the Tower of Kefka, in the original version, members of the cult of Kefka are said to be "praying" to him. In the SNES version, this was changed to "thinking" about him. [1] https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Censorship#Final_Fantasy_VI https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Censorship#Final_Fantas...

astrange 5y ago
Gamers are obsessed with censorship and think that anything changed from the original region release is oppression, even if the original creators approved of it. Japan of course does censor some things too. This isn't enough to stop it from happening, because when you don't do it your entire release gets banned in other countries (UK and Australia are known for this.)
- cbozeman 5y ago
  Everyone ought to be obsessed with censorship. Allow creators to express themselves as they see fit, and to quote the late great Paul Mooney, "It offends people, but good... they should be offended."
  - solarmist 5y ago
    I get your point, but I'm also not obsessed and railing against shitty translations. To me this example is much more closely aligned with bad localization than actual censorship.
  - astrange 5y ago
    When you rewrite a joke because it's not funny in a different language, and the original writers approve, that's not actually censorship but they complain anyway. More to the point, when you rewrite a romance game for women because what Japanese people think is sexy reads like being molested to Americans it does serve the creators' desires, which is for people to actually buy their products. (The games getting blocked entirely are censoring the original creators, but also the original creators are pedophiles, so that's their problem.)
    - autoexec 5y ago
      > When you rewrite a joke because it's not funny in a different language, and the original writers approve, that's not actually censorship but they complain anyway. humor can be legitimately difficult to translate. I don't complain about them and I don't expect them left as literal translations + editor's notes to explain them in games (although that's a great option for other mediums). The goal should always be to stay as true to the original as possible. > it does serve the creators' desires, which is for people to actually buy their products. That might be one of the most cynical views of art I've read in a good while. I think most creative people want their works to be seen and understood and are doing it for much more than just a paycheck. Ultimately, everyone does hope their games are successful and they want to be able to make a living, but I don't think many writers and artists would put money as their top priority. If all you want is to be rich, there are a million better career choices.
yuppie_scum 5y ago
Creepy Edgar.
- Wiseacre 5y ago
  Child rape sounds like a reasonable thing to censor.
3np 5y ago
> The overseas versions toned down the dialogue so that, while still biting, her words are overall clean. This is a tricky one. If you translate it literally, it's really not that harsh at all as Japanese doesn't really use curse words in a similar way as English. The words are overall clean. So a translator always has to make a judgement call of "in which sense is this supposed to be true to the original" and how much of the language-associated-culture to bring into it. There's many ways to skin a cat.

astrange 5y ago

Gamers are obsessed with censorship and think that anything changed from the original region release is oppression, even if the original creators approved of it. Japan of course does censor some things too. This isn't enough to stop it from happening, because when you don't do it your entire release gets banned in other countries (UK and Australia are known for this.)

cbozeman 5y ago
Everyone ought to be obsessed with censorship. Allow creators to express themselves as they see fit, and to quote the late great Paul Mooney, "It offends people, but good... they should be offended."
- solarmist 5y ago
  I get your point, but I'm also not obsessed and railing against shitty translations. To me this example is much more closely aligned with bad localization than actual censorship.
- astrange 5y ago
  When you rewrite a joke because it's not funny in a different language, and the original writers approve, that's not actually censorship but they complain anyway. More to the point, when you rewrite a romance game for women because what Japanese people think is sexy reads like being molested to Americans it does serve the creators' desires, which is for people to actually buy their products. (The games getting blocked entirely are censoring the original creators, but also the original creators are pedophiles, so that's their problem.)
  - autoexec 5y ago
    > When you rewrite a joke because it's not funny in a different language, and the original writers approve, that's not actually censorship but they complain anyway. humor can be legitimately difficult to translate. I don't complain about them and I don't expect them left as literal translations + editor's notes to explain them in games (although that's a great option for other mediums). The goal should always be to stay as true to the original as possible. > it does serve the creators' desires, which is for people to actually buy their products. That might be one of the most cynical views of art I've read in a good while. I think most creative people want their works to be seen and understood and are doing it for much more than just a paycheck. Ultimately, everyone does hope their games are successful and they want to be able to make a living, but I don't think many writers and artists would put money as their top priority. If all you want is to be rich, there are a million better career choices.

yuppie_scum 5y ago

Creepy Edgar.

Wiseacre 5y ago
Child rape sounds like a reasonable thing to censor.

3np 5y ago

> The overseas versions toned down the dialogue so that, while still biting, her words are overall clean. This is a tricky one. If you translate it literally, it's really not that harsh at all as Japanese doesn't really use curse words in a similar way as English. The words are overall clean. So a translator always has to make a judgement call of "in which sense is this supposed to be true to the original" and how much of the language-associated-culture to bring into it. There's many ways to skin a cat.