Summary
- Japanese releases of Western-developed games often undergo censorship, just like localized Japanese games. Example: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
- The Japanese versions of games like The Last of Us and The Witcher 3 have toned down violence and removed nudity to cater to cultural sensitivities.
- Even popular games like Crash Bandicoot and Call of Duty: Black Ops have undergone censorship in their Japanese releases, raising questions about the purpose of releasing them in Japan.
Censorship is a hot-button issue within gaming circles. Games are often the products of the societies that they are developed in, and this can often make it very difficult to translate games to other cultures. Whenever Japanese games are localized, it doesn’t take long for avid fans to point out the various ways in which they have been changed, often for the worse!
However, what often goes under the radar are the many changes that occur to Western-developed games when they are then released in Japan. What are some of the most infamous cases of Western games being censored in Japan? Let’s take a look to find out now!
10 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is arguably one of the most important games to come out of the sixth generation of consoles. This open-world sandbox allowed players to do just about anything they could imagine within the imagined streets of San Andreas. Of course, being a Grand Theft Auto title, some of the most popular activities in the game include wanton destruction and reckless driving.
Many fans of the franchise are surprised when they find out that much of the violence that makes up the game was censored upon its Japanese release! Some of the most infamous changes included toning down the sexual references, removing sound effects from hitting pedestrians with a car, and even minimizing violence against civilians!
9 The Last Of Us
Regarded as one of the best story-focused games of all time and the basis of the explosively-popular HBO series of the same name, The Last Of Us is internationally celebrated as an achievement in modern game design.
Much of The Last Of Us is focused on the central characters Joel and Ellie, as they attempt to survive while venturing through the apocalyptic United States. As such, the brunt of the gameplay is focused on gunning down the infected, which, true to Naughty Dog’s commitment to detail, often involves plenty of dismemberment and gory explosions.
However, in the Japanese version of the game, dismemberment is removed entirely, along with all references to the act in the game’s many cutscenes.
8 Fallout 3
The third entry in the storied Fallout franchise, Fallout 3, opted for a controllable camera and action-oriented control scheme that helped to make player choices all the more powerful and prominent.
However, in the Japanese release of this seventh-generation role-playing game, a number of key player choices were removed in their entirety. These are those choices that related to the detonation of atomic bombs in populated areas. These were obviously removed in order to avoid references to the real-world detonation of nuclear bombs in Nagasaki, Japan.
7 Crash Bandicoot
When we think of game censorship, we don’t often find ourselves thinking of the loveable orange marsupial Crash Bandicoot.
Released as one of the PlayStation’s first tentpole titles, Crash Bandicoot is easily one of the most iconic platformers of all time, and this is largely thanks to its unique and lively art style, reminiscent of Saturday-morning cartoons.
However, the iconic slapstick violence of the first game was actually toned down in preparation for the game’s Japanese release.
6 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is now considered to be one of the best role-playing games of all time, thanks to its deep gameplay, a strong sense of player choice, and a truly engrossing story.
Similar to many modern high-fantasy series, like Game Of Thrones, The Witcher is a franchise that features plenty of violence, gore, and nudity.
However, much of the violence was reduced in the Japanese release of the game, while all instances of nudity were removed outright!
5 Call Of Duty: Black Ops
First-person shooters have long been a titan among video-game genres, across the world. Allowing players to step right into the shoes of video-game characters, and wield all kinds of weapons, both real and imagined, it’s no real surprise that the genre has taken off so massively.
However, what does come as a surprise to many is that one of the most important games in the genre, Call Of Duty: Black Ops, had much of its infamous violence and gore removed entirely from the Japanese release of the title. This led many to wonder what the point of releasing Black Ops in Japan even was!
4 Mortal Kombat
Midway’s iconic Mortal Kombat set itself firmly apart from the fighting-game competition when it was released in October 1992. The series exploded in popularity right out of the gate thanks to its violent and gory graphics that allowed layers to engage in a much more visceral fighting experience than series like Street Fighter could offer!
However, many of the original game’s infamous fatalities were significantly toned down, or outright removed, in the Japanese release, in order to minimize the violence. This, of course, resulted in a Mortal Kombat that is almost unrecognizable when compared to other versions!
3 Until Dawn
Until Dawn is a modern horror game that prizes itself on being able to shock and terrify players. Part of this shock was derived from the player agency that the game promoted. If a character died, it was down to choices that players in the game have made!
However, one of the most iconic deaths in the game, in which one of the characters is cut in half using a circular saw, is cut out entirely within the Japanese release.
Many fans of Until Dawn have derided the choice to cut this scene, especially in such a slapshot manner as presented in the game. Instead of simply editing the scene, the game simply cuts to a black screen, with just the sound of the scene playing out.
2 Doom 64
Doom 64 is a simple game that plays upon some very satisfying mechanisms. Spot horrifying monsters from hell, shoot them, and be rewarded with visceral splatters of blood. The simplicity is what helps to make Doom such a winning formula, but in the Japanese release of the Nintendo 64 entry, the visceral splatters of blood were removed altogether.
In the Japanese release, instead of the monsters exploding into crimson-red viscera, the monsters instead release green blood upon being shot, which helps to make the game seem a lot less violent.
1 Mafia 3
Being that Mafia 3 is a game that is entirely centered around the exploits of warring crime families, it should be expected that excessive violence, sexual material, and foul language would be rife throughout the game.
However, the Japanese release of Mafia 3 features some unique censorship. Instead of much of the game’s nudity and sexual content being removed, much of it was simply toned down.
In scenes of nudity, black stars were implemented, to cover up any suggestive elements, and to significantly tone down the adult nature of the scenes.