I’ve always found the era of video game censorship fascinating, particularly in the early 90s when Japanese games were being localized for Western audiences. Many titles were not just translated to English but also altered considerably to fit what publishers thought was acceptable for kids in the West. I’m curious to learn more about how this practice began and what sociocultural factors led to these changes. When did this era of altering games for Western audiences begin to decline, if ever?
5 Answers
Even today, you still see changes made for Western releases. For instance, some recent games like Xenoblade Chronicles X had fan-service elements heavily edited. The evolution of cultural sensibilities continues to impact how games are presented, showing that the struggle with censorship is far from over.
Censorship in video games wasn’t universal across the industry. A lot of it was driven by Nintendo of America’s strict policies, especially since they marketed the NES as a toy for kids, largely due to the fallout from the 1983 video game crash. Other consoles like the Sega Genesis didn’t have the same issues and brought a lot of unaltered content that appealed to older kids and teens.
The rise of organizations like the ESRB in the mid-90s came from the backlash against perceived violent games. After controversies around games like Mortal Kombat and Night Trap, there was a push for ratings to manage content without involving government censorship. It was essentially a means for the industry to self-regulate.
Germany took censorship to another level, especially concerning Nazi symbols. For a long time, many games had to modify or completely remove any references to Nazi imagery to avoid legal issues. They even changed blood to green or yellow in various titles—like how soldiers in German versions of some games were replaced with robots. It was a bizarre workaround!
This censorship actually goes back to the 80s, not just the 90s. In the U.S., games were often considered toys, which meant they needed to be kid-friendly. A lot of Japanese games were based on anime or manga that weren’t exactly aimed at children, leading to cuts or total rewrites to make them suitable.
