Nintendo has come under fire from Japanese gamers with the upcoming release of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore on Nintendo Switch which is due out on the 17th January. A number of people who had pre-purchased the title digitally had not been made aware that there was censorship in the Nintendo Switch version of the game. Nintendo has apologised and says they are sorry that customers hadn’t been informed that it’s based on the western version of the game which was censored. The company says it will offer refunds to those who weren’t expecting the censorship and had pre-ordered the game. Here’s the apology statement from the company:
“We hereby apologise to customers for the mistake and for not delivering enough information regarding the contents of prior notification for Genei Ibun Roku #FE Encore, the software for Nintendo Switch scheduled for release on 17 January 2020.
This title adds new feature into Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (released in 2016), the Western version of Genei Ibun Roku #FE, the software for Wii U that was released in 2015. We are proceeding with the development with a worldwide common specification and aiming for a worldwide simultaneous release (You can enjoy Japanese language voices in the game).
However despite that, on the promotional activities for Genei Ibun Roku #FE Encore, we did not inform from the beginning that this title would be based on Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. And also in the official home page, we mistakenly posted game screenshots from the Wii U domestic version of Genei Ibun Roku #FE that wouldn’t have been included in this title, so the situation caused a misunderstanding to our customers regarding the content of this title.
So on 10 October 2019, we performed replacements of game screenshots in the home page. And on the 17th we posted that this title would be based on Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. But we acknowledge that we did not deliver enough information to our customers from the beginning.
Concerning this, for all customers who have purchased / pre-ordered Genei Ibun Roku #FE Encore through Nintendo eShop or My Nintendo Store, and want to request a cancellation caused by this matter, we will provide the procedures in this page at a later date.”
Oh no, I won’t be able to see cleavages of underage anime girls, this game sucks…
Oh no, fictional underage girls coming from a fictional world are showing some skin and cleavage, think about the children!
I blame Resetera and Twitter.
The viral infections that just keep giving! :D
You ilk sure like your conspiracy theories.
Your ilk? And what “ilk” would that be exactly?
Cancelera and twitter.
*cancelera and twatter I mean
I might start calling it Wokitter, short for Woke Twitter. lol
Ironic as Resetera wasn’t a thing when this game came out.
According to something I found, ResetEra has been around since 2017. Funny that the site was born shortly after Trump got into office, if this is correct. *rubs chin* Coincidence? Considering how political the site is, I’m gonna say not a coincidence. At all. (If it’s inception in 2017 is true, that is.) Anyway, even though they’ve only been around since 2017, the fact they’ve been able to effect some things that have released from 2017 to now, they definitely have some kind of backing in the industry if they can cause some change to the detriment of everyone else.
Yup. Timelines already messed up
Noooooooo my giant bouncy anime tiddies:'( now I don’t have ANY other way to see them!!!
No vagin@ bones for Japan xP
No one took the reference? No?
*Sad Norwegian noices*
For anyone is on the edge about it, this cover’s everything that’s censored
I should thank SJW culture. Thanks to it, I can save a buttload of money on my movie/TV show viewing/spending habits & video game spending by switching to Geico! Wait…
“SJW” culture. Rolling my eyes. The world is just changing and more folks are apart of it. Sorry it’s been hard for some of you in the transition but this sort of nonsense and complaining is silly imo. This is why people think gamers are wack.
I only played the western version so doesn’t affect me since it was already censored but I can see why some people would be disappointed that they are getting a lesser version of the one they knew before, probably not enough to cancel a pre-order though as the stuff removed is pretty minor
This re-release is based on the censored version..? This is great news actually! This means I can save my money for something else! *start sarcasm* I can’t wait for the re-release of the M-rated game Fatal Frame 5: Maiden of Black Water for the Nintendo Switch that will be based on the censored version! *sarcasm end*
Like you have to censor a horror game from the guys that gave you this.
https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2019/02/momo2/lead_720_405.jpg?mod=1551364681
Who cares. These censorship stories are just fodder for gamergate types angry about Nintendo making adjustments for markets. There was never this major an outrage over “jelly doughnuts”
Also I’m happy to not see sexualized minors cause I’m a normal person and could not care less about that sort of weird fanservice. Its not fanservice for the kind of fan I am. Call me old fashioned but the fanservice I love are awesome throwbacks and shout outs to retro titles. Mario and Kirby do this sort of thing really well.
You never once seen anime outside of Toonami, have you?
I ran my highschool anime club back in the early 2000s, you twit. I’ve seen anime. I was kid then. I’m an adult now. Some of us actually mature with age. Some of us don’t ^
It’s Twerp and speak English I cannot understand a word you are saying.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pixelstalk.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F05%2FFamily-Guy-Wallpapers-Pack-Download.jpg&f=1&nofb=1
If the west (especially North America) gets a censored version then everyone gets a censored version.
Also, I actually like the game, censored or not, sure it’s not the crossover we wanted but I do like how they went with it. Also y’all just still salty about this game not meeting your very high expectations which is why you guys hate it.
well at least they made the effort to get the voice actors for the censored version. I’m thinking about picking this up but the whole idol theme just doesn’t interest me at all. I think I’m just not into traditional rpg games like I used to be and am only interested in fantasy ARPGs at the moment. I’ll probably pick this up when it goes on sale.
If you’re not into idols then this game isn’t for you.
Which is exactly whats wrong with a lot of the censorship in this game, they completely changed a part of the story which relates to the idol industry and made a wedding dress into a body suit to make the game appropriate to little Jimmy who’s parents have never taken to a beach or swimming pool or relative’s wedding, when the target audience is people who watch things like Love Live and play games not made for children like SMT and FE.
Also, I bet little Jimmy is traumatized from Mommy Karen constantly putting her hand over his eyes everywhere they go because there’s women with female anatomy in low cut tops on the loose.
I can see why the changes to the gravure model part of the story would make sense if they wanted this game to appeal to Karen moms, but it still has a teen rating and I hear it has swearing and a lot of players who have no interest in idols have said the game is boring.
Personally I’ve been considering getting a Japanese Wii U, maybe I’ll pick up the original instead.
Remember the days it was the religious right getting upset by s.e.xual themes & se.x.ual fan-service over fictional characters that can easily have their ages changed to 18 because the body of a teenager is no different from that of a fully grown adult? Pepperidge Farm remembers! Now we got the politically correct left crying over it. At their most extremes, both sides are equally fucking shitty.
Not being okay with kiddy porn or sexualized kids is hardly “THE LEFT GONE WILD”. It’s just normal people being like “Ew, why?” LOL. It’s hardly on par. It’s not like you can’t have a sexy character game where both guys and girls can be sexy but at least advertise that’s what your game’s for and I dunno. Make the characters not kids. This doesn’t even seem like the fault of the “PC POLICE” and more like a choice by Nintendo themselves for their western markets. They know that kid shit doesn’t fly as well in the west. So not like a mob stood outside with a gun to their heads. They just figured the west didn’t need this junk to sell it. IF ANYTHING it could repel some buyers. So they just took it out. No need to politicize it.
It’s why my original comment never mentioned SJW or PC or whatever as I get this is just something from the Wii U era worming it’s way into the Switch era. In fact, the censoring this time has nothing to do with even getting rid of what the west finds “problematic” but that they wanted a worldwide release that was the same version for all regions. So Ninty just cheaped out & didn’t pay the voice actors to return to dub new lines more in line with the Japanese original’s dialogue & text since it’s not just US voice actors they’d have to rehire but voice actors from other languages, too. It’s just cheaper to pay the Japanese voice actors to return & redo their lines to be more in line with the US version instead of rehiring multiple groups of other languages to return. Anyway, as I said, there is no difference between the body of a teenager & the body of an adult so changing their age is more than adequate since these are fictional characters & their age isn’t set in stone unless stated in the work of fiction they are currently in. (It’s why po.rn sites don’t get hit with child porn or underage porn lawsuits when they have videos of characters that are normally underage but have been aged up for the video. It’s also why horror movies with nudity don’t get similar lawsuits as it’s adults playing teenagers in those. While US law can be stupid at times, thankfully it’s not stupid in regards to fictional crap. … For the most part, anyway.) It’s also why I roll my eyes when a game like Bravely Default changes the ages of characters because of the adult content in the game but end up censoring the things that forced the age change in the first place. It’s redundant.
Honestly, I’m more annoyed that they censored the bikini stuff in TMS. Like, really!? It’s considered proper attire for all ages for summer & water activities. It’s so stupid. lol
I really don’t care about those bikini changes. *shrugs*. It’s such a minor WHATEVER. It doesn’t effect gameplay. I don’t care. The games still sold and did well and remained jrpg 3DS greats. It’s just not even worth a bead of sweat to think about. I’m more bothered by changes in games like difficulty level changes or game content cut. Just cause we western gamers aren’t as “hardcore” with rpgs doesn’t mean I don’t want the option to play it the way it was originally designed. That’s the sort of thing that would bother me. A bikini covering up a chibi looking character up more… I’m sorry. I just don’t care.
If you already have a Wii U, just mod it. You can get the US/EU ISO and apply a restoration patch. It puts back everything that was taken out and rewrites the dialogue that was changed. Only thing you won’t get is the Hot Springs DLC
Ironic as some of them, later on, became future school shooters. XD
Is there any audience they haven’t alienated with this game yet?
They turned off most Fire Emblem and SMT fans upon reveal. They pissed off core gamers with the censorship and left it undubbed which left out casuals.
And now even the Japanese fanbase is screwed by having to deal with the western edits.
I know a lot of people make fun of those who complain about the censorship in this game, and for a lot of other games I think it’s understandable. But this is one game where I feel like the changes that were made affected the game negatively and genuinely lowered the quality of the overall product. Even if you didn’t know there had been changes and you played the localized version you might be able to tell that something was off. The changes are made seemingly at random, some outfits are ok while other similar ones are not. The edits are sloppy and look poorly made, if you view it next to the original designs it looks especially eregrious. Parts of the storyline were heavily altered in ways that make no sense and makes you question why the characters are acting the way they are. The censorship is inconsistent as well, some things will be covered up in one scene while being visibe in the next, and it all just ends up feeling very jarring.
I really like this game, the gameplay is fun and I enjoy the music. I think it deserves better than this sloppy localization, and I’m very dissappointed that the Switch port will be based upon it. Looking at the game’s age rating, making any changes at all just seems baffling to me, especially comparing it to other games with the same ratings. The absurd decision making behind this game’s management will forever remain a mystery.
The irony is they censored cleavage in a game from a country where people don’t wear revealing clothing irl for markets where people wearing revealing clothing are everywhere.
Hey Nintendo, here’s a bright idea; If you want to apologize for this misunderstanding, THEN JUST RELEASE THIS GAME UNCENSORED!!! THAT’S WHAT PEOPLE WANT!!! We’re not pussies!