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Censorship Entertainment Games

King of Fighters Censored for Stateside Release 290

Posted by CowboyNeal from the less-jubble-to-go-around dept.
Coreyh writes "The just-released King of Fighters 2000/2001 game compilation for the PlayStation 2 has been censored. The content removed from the 2D fighter includes blood, guns, and Mai's 'bouncing.' Apparently SNK Japan is a bit cautious about the USA's acceptance of content. I wish SNK USA had more control over this sort of thing. The content changed seems very mild to me. King of Fighters 2003 has also had a limited Jamma PCB release for arcades around the world this week. Here is a trailer of the opening and gameplay. It has tagging and interesting new characters along with old favorites."
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King of Fighters Censored for Stateside Release More

King of Fighters Censored for Stateside Release

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  • Mai's bouncing?! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:31AM (#7710818)
    Noooooooo!!

    • Code? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by t0ny ( 590331 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @12:31PM (#7711150)
      Did they at least make a code you can use to enable the blood and bouncing tits?

  • hrm (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It's playmore that's rlsing them, not SNK since SNK is out of business. So blame them. But oh well. Makes you wonder though with all the other crap that's released (i.e., silent hill 3). Probably those bastard MOM's with nothing else to do.

    • Re:hrm (Score:2, Informative)

      by tenton ( 181778 )
      Playmore is SNK; Playmore is mostly comprised of the former SNK people (lead by former SNK CEO Eikichi Kawasaki); after Aruze (a pachinko company) bought SNK, Playmore was founded and successfully bought the intellectual rights (as Aruze just planned to use the characters in pachinko games). The company was renamed to SNK Playmore (that's the official name).
  • That's just plain stupid. Maybe I'll have to watch house of 1000 corpses while playing it then...

  • Oh noes! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The brutal killographys will contaminate our precious bodily fluids... They flourinate the water! It's a conspiracy!

    Save me from the violent 2d fighter...
    Sounds like Mortal Kombat's controversy all over again... well maybe not that wide-spread.

  • Censored in arcades, too (Score:5, Informative)

    by tuffy ( 10202 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:36AM (#7710847) Homepage Journal
    Mai's "bounciness" was taken out of KoF2002 in US region MVS units, as I recall (the game code would check which region it was running in and run accordingly) - though the blood was selectable as always.

    The big question is will anyone care? The whole KoF series has been recycling sprites for years and is looking increasingly dated. I'm not sure how much longer Eolith/Playmore can milk the series without an overhaul.

  • I feel robbed (Score:5, Funny)

    by k8er ( 642660 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:37AM (#7710856)
    This must be a marketing ploy. Now I must have an uncensored version of this game, and this is the first time I've ever heard of it.

  • You know (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:38AM (#7710857)

    In vietnam the soldiers where not allowed to write swearwords ie fuck on the side of their planes but they where allowed to napalm villages and spray AgentOrange all over them and (fsk the enviro)

    is there something fundamentally wrong with the USA when they think that showing dead people that they just killed on TV or watching the pornography of laser guided bombs hitting their targets killing REAL people live on TV is acceptable ? yet you are freaking out abou a fucking video game ?

    seriously, whatever you are doing to try and improve your culture/outlook, its not working

    • Re:You know (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Can you read and understand basic sentences? The Japanese company is 'censoring' the game, not anyone in the USA. And it is certainly not the govt. that's doing this. Look at GTA3, if anything should be censored, that should be. What a crappy game. (Of course its the most popular, and we all know what that means from music, movies, clothes...)

    • Re:You know (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Carmelia ( 718891 )
      is there something fundamentally wrong with the USA when they think that showing dead people that they just killed on TV or watching the pornography of laser guided bombs hitting their targets killing REAL people live on TV is acceptable ?

      Trust me, they don't show on their tv what they really do to the people in war, U.S. news stations censor the major part of that stuff. I guess they don't want the population to realize how inhumane their country's decisions are being.
      On the other hand, Canadian stations

  • Mai's bouncing (Score:5, Informative)

    by gasaraki ( 262206 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:39AM (#7710866)
    Actually, Mai's bouncing is reduced even in the arcades since KOF 2000. She still bounces during her moves but her standing/walking animation (in which the bounce is MOST obvious) is removed. Obviously they weren't willing to make 2 animations for everything, but it is her walking/standing animation have makes her bounce seem most obvious.

    Interestingly, if the Neo Geo machine is set to the Japan locality, the bouncing will return. So it's not removed from the game as such, but rather "swtiched off" when the machine is set to English.

  • Oh? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by /dev/trash ( 182850 )
    The content changed seems very mild to me.


    You must not have children, then?

    • Re:Oh? (Score:5, Funny)

      by 403Forbidden ( 610018 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:51AM (#7710937)
      I'm pretty sure a kid shouldn't be playing a game called "King Of Figthers" anyway.

      Besides, you know.. people beating the crap out of eachother is fine.. But that damn bouncing and those evil guns.. That just makes it morally deplorable.
      • Yeah but come on, who's going to be buying and playing this game? Kids.

        • Re:Oh? (Score:3, Insightful)

          by irc.goatse.cx troll ( 593289 )
          You mean kids parents. Most people under the age of 14 still have their parents buy their games. Even up until 16 thats usually true. By 16, I think a few guns and some booby jiggle shouldnt be enough to scar you for life.
      • "I'm pretty sure a kid shouldn't be playing a game called "King Of Figthers" anyway."

        And this is why people with little or no knowledge of games should not have authority over their content.

    • Re:Oh? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by pixelgeek ( 676892 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @12:08PM (#7711023)
      --You must not have children, then?

      I'd like to think that if I did I'd take some responsibility for them.

      I'd also remember all the utterly violent and sexist crap I watched when I was a kid (remember Conan either the books or the movies) and realise that it is how you raise your kids that is just as important as what they watch.

    • Re:Oh? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Hillman ( 137883 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @12:26PM (#7711108)
      Yeah, let them play a violent game BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T LET CHILDREN SEE BOOBS.(because I would have to explain to them the "things of life" and it's really embarassing...)War is cool, sex is bad.

    • Re:Oh? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Hatta ( 162192 )
      You make a good point. Something happens to people when they have kids, they see things way out of perspective. I think it's genetic. It makes good evolutionary sense, as I'm not sure one could suffer raising a child without going a little insane.

      As a former child myself, I say bring it on. It's not what you see, but how you organize it. And that's what makes parents so powerful, they provide that all important context that really shapes a person. So yeah, were I a parent I'd let my kid play this game,
  • Don't these policy makers understand human psychology? If they watched Bowling for Columbine, they'd see or understand that it's not violent video games that cause violence among young adults. It's the constant barrage of fear-mongering in the media. People become violent out of fear, not through the influence of violent media. I think that is an important point to consider. Banning or censoring violent video games doesnt solve any problem other than imposing restrictions of free-speech and the right to cho

  • Bouncing a no no? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by carcosa30 ( 235579 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:40AM (#7710875)
    Oftentimes in american culture there's this strange phenomenon where any amount of killing, gore, and disemboweling is perfectly fine.

    But you show one breast and soon the censors come jumping in. Pretty strange.

    On the other hand, we don't want atrocities like the fighting game "Battle Raper" from Japan (Where else?)
    • Sounds like the primary reason "Battle Raper" is an atrocity is poor game play. Obviously it's not meant to be sold to children :P Now I just have to figure out where I can get it...
    • Well, it's self censored, so you have to think that maybe the company releasing it wants to target the game at a younger audience and doesn't want the hassles involved with keeping a small addition to the gameplay like "jiggle."

      Mai's bouncing is a big joke and I wished they'd left it in, because it's funny. The gunplay and tiny blood splatters really won't be missed. The KOF series has a history of being low on gore, has almost no killing and no disembowling at all. It's a competetive fighting game and
    • On the other hand, we don't want atrocities like the fighting game "Battle Raper" from Japan (Where else?)

      We don't?
    • Oftentimes in american culture there's this strange phenomenon where any amount of killing, gore, and disemboweling is perfectly fine.

      But you show one breast and soon the censors come jumping in. Pretty strange.

      perhaps you missed the part about all the gore, disembowling, blood being removed as well?

  • That is one of those reasons... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...why pirated versions (from other countries and without stupid censorship) are so popular.

    Piracy is competition. A competition that hopefully make censorship disappear (somewhen).

  • The originals are emulated! (Score:5, Informative)

    by axolotl_farmer ( 465996 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:41AM (#7710879)
    For those who want to play the original versions, all the KOF games are perfectly emulated in MAME [mame.net] and several other emulators such as Nebula [sys2064.com] or Kawaks [retrogames.com].

    Really sad that these games will be censored. Especially about Mai Shiranui's bouncing! [vgmuseum.com]

  • The USA unaccepting of blood, guns and boobage? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Terragen ( 727874 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:41AM (#7710883)
    Apparently SNK Japan is a bit cautious about the USA's acceptance of content.

    Huh? Isn't "Blood, guns and boobs" the premise of 99% of the movies made in hollywood today?

    I would think americans wouldn't accept a game without guns blood and boobs. ;)

    • Re:The USA unaccepting of blood, guns and boobage? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:52AM (#7710943)
      Ok, who leaked my script? "The Bouncing Boob Gun of Death" was going to be a Hollywood masterpiece.
    • "Huh? Isn't "Blood, guns and boobs" the premise of 99% of the movies made in hollywood today?"

      But video games are inherently more evil. Just ask Senator Lieberman, while Senators Hatch and Hollings will be able to tell you all about the importance of artistic freedoms in our movie industry.

      Although I'm willing to bet there wouldn't be as much hue and cry in Congress about video games if they were made by an American industry (ie. were allowed to contribute to election campaigns)...

  • WMV? (Score:1, Funny)

    by viniosity ( 592905 )
    Here is a trailer of the opening and gameplay

    I don't use Windows Media formats you insensitive clod!

  • I sense some undue influence from Mr. Walden...

  • This happens all the time (Score:3, Informative)

    by caffeineHacker ( 689198 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:42AM (#7710890) Journal
    Xenogears the orginal for PSone almost didn't make it to the states, and when it finally did it had 'horrid' voice acting, all due to it's religious overtones. Even as far back as Lunar 2 for Sega CD they changed the warp pads from pentagrams to Star Trek symbols so as not to offend over here. I don't think Pretty Fighter X ever made it over either, due to strong sexual content. This is nothing new...and it will continue to happen until people wake up and realize they are just games.
    • "Xenogears the orginal for PSone almost didn't make it to the states, and when it finally did it had 'horrid' voice acting, all due to it's religious overtones."

      After the release Square admitted that it wasn't due to the religious themes, but to the volumes of text that had to be translated.
    • "they changed the warp pads from pentagrams to Star Trek symbols so as not to offend over here. "

      This is why we need more companies like IDSoft. IMO, ID really is the best game company ever. Rather than worrying about offending people, they worry about making a fun game thats worth playing. For the record, Quake had powerups called 'Pentagram of Protection', it was a floating pentagram that if you got it you would glow red and have godmode for about 15 seconds, during which time your armor value will rea

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @11:43AM (#7710891)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I remember the good old days of KoF on the Game Boy. Back then, it was just good fighting action that kept you entertained for ten minutes. I didn't care much that there wasn't blood or "bouncing", KoF was just a quality game to me. It doesn't much matter whether I see few pixels of gore or a couple others on a character's chest move.
  • Going by the wording of the title and story, you guys are making it like some horrible, evil thing is going on. But editing for content, or censorship if you will, in this case doesn't look like a big deal to me.

    Different cultures and societies have varying degrees of what is considered acceptable. SNK just seems to take the cautious route here. If you want to say that they're being prudes that's onte thing. It's really not much that's being edited. To say that it's CENSORSHIP is a little harsh and

    • Different cultures and societies have varying degrees of what is considered acceptable. SNK just seems to take the cautious route here

      You would think SNK would be quite aware of what its competitors are doing (ie: other video games) and they aren't really redfining the genre or pushing any limits here. A 2D fighting game with some blood and bouncing boobs isn't anything new or controversial. Mortal Kombat is a lot bloodier and I haven't heard anyone complain about Mortal Kombat is a long time..

      So I'm

      • ESRB rating (Score:2, Funny)

        by tepples ( 727027 )

        You would think SNK would be quite aware of what its competitors are doing

        Many of KoF's competitors are rated T for Teen by the ESRB. Many video game stores have begun to require state-issued identification in order to sell M rated games. I'm guessing Playmore wants to sell to kids who don't have fake IDs.

  • The link to the trailer is in .wmf format! :(

    And I am runing Linux in a Windows world... [sigh]

  • Simple solution, DON'T BUY IT! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Lord Kano ( 13027 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @12:02PM (#7710995) Homepage Journal
    Let the game companies know that we don't want a watered down version of the Japanese version.

    If the sales for the game are shit compared to the Japanese version, they'll get the message.

    Companies are driven by profit; if they know that they will make less profit, they will be more willing to take the criticism from people who don't buy their games to begin with.

    LK
    • Markets are not so precise. You make a product, you only get one number as market feedback - total units sold (oversimplification, I know). Lucas made two films of questionable quality, but because they were still better than nothing, total sales were very healthy. I don't care about fighting games or arcades very much, but if others want to get their hands on this game, they will buy it now, even if they want an original version, because realistically, their chances of getting it are slim. People make rati
      • Markets are not so precise. You make a product, you only get one number as market feedback - total units sold (oversimplification, I know).

        Almost. There will USA Sales Vs. Japanese Sales, if a market like Japan outsells the US 10 to 1 shareholders and executives will start demanding to know why.
        • And unless they are complete morons, they won't think this happened because "bouncing" or whatever it is was removed from the US version. Certainly other factors are much more important.

          Developers of BMX XXX (or how was it called) thought that this WAS the most important factor and where did it get them?

  • This is not censorship. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BigZaphod ( 12942 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @12:05PM (#7711005) Homepage
    Censorship is when the government or another body imposes restrictions on information onto a 3rd party. It sounds like in this case the company that made the game is choosing to take out certain elements. It is not the same thing.

  • pixelboobs should pixelbounce (Score:4, Funny)

    by eyenot ( 102141 ) <eyenot@hotmail.com> on Saturday December 13, 2003 @12:09PM (#7711027) Homepage
    the blood being taken out, i find typical, unnecessary, but nothing to whine about. it's just my opinion -- blood makes a fighting game gaudy, the same way excessive blood makes a war movie gaudy and even unrealistic.

    and i agree wholeheartedly with taking out the guns. no fighting game should involve weapons, that's how i feel. i was pissed that scorpion was allowed into the mortal kombat tournament. i mean, nobody else showed up with synthetic weapons, they all used mystic forces. whether subzero's icy blasts could have actually been technologically produced or not is up to debate -- i say it was magic. i didn't even like the metallic fan thing in the sequel. i don't like weapons in empty-hand fighting games, they belong in samurai fighting games where at least a sword is expected. do you think it's fair to take a sword against honda? he'll never get out of the way or block more than one strike. he's a sumo wrestler -- that's why people like he and zangeif joined the tournament, to fight with their hands, not weapons. keep the guns and crap hidden under samurai showdown kimonos. in fact, take guns out of the fighting games. leave them in the war games. nobody wants to escape back to a time long ago when any moron could pick up a gun and negate evolution. that's not why we play fighting games. we play them to revel in a style of doing battle that has been outdated by something so easy to use that eugenics may as well be abandoned while inbreds rule the world.

    but, i digress. while i can tolerate censoring blood, and i think guns shouldn't be in fist/magic/combo-fighting games, this junk about removing 'bouncing' is intolerable.

    there is probably nothing more distracting to the gamer than the first time they run into a pair of realistically jiggling boobs on what they had hoped would be an easy-to-beat opponent. it's seriously disarming. any realistically portrayed part of female anatomy is disarming to other gamers, sometimes especially other females.

    it's a great feat of human ingenuity to take pixels that are often so large you can see them as clearly as lego-blocks on your bedroom floor and turn them into an illusion of anatomy so realistic that the player can be aroused by it. for this technology to be stifled is a real shame in the pants. you think this is bad, wait until they censor 'falling/flying/f**king' (lawnmower man.) now that's outrage.

  • feh. (Score:5, Funny)

    by ErikZ ( 55491 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @12:20PM (#7711075)
    Ah yes. Unused to natural breasts, millions of Americans go into shock when subjected to "Bouncing".

    We'll probably never see any more of this sort of thing coming from Japan's entertainment industry.

  • For those of you who actually still play KOF faithfully (like me) this is an outrage! KOF has always been about flair and tradition which is why this game is still released stateside.

    Remember when the Mortal Kombat sparked the whole violence in videogames debacle? The Sega Genesis Mortal Kombat was the first game to realistically (umm... 16bits was realistic back then...) portray violence and capture media attention. Though the premise of killing was no different than say Smash TV or NARC for NES. It was

  • serenity now (Score:2, Interesting)

    by h0mer ( 181006 )
    Why is anyone surprised by this? Sure, it doesn't make sense for Playmore to do this. Some of the guys on the Neo-Geo board said they had emailed the company and asked about censorship, and Playmore told them there would be none. Obviously people at the company had the wrong information.

    As anyone who's been a Neo-Geo fan since the beginning knows, this is nothing new. There was this same outcry back in the early 90's when KOF '94 came out. Good thing it can be reversed on the MVS by changing the region.

    As

  • Dead or Alive (Score:5, Informative)

    by Control-Z ( 321144 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @12:50PM (#7711250)

    If you want to see massive boob bouncage, try Dead or Alive for the PS1. Behold the giant perky braless wonders on the redhead chick. They bounce probably twice as long as they should when she stops moving. Kinda weird in a facsinating way. :)

  • But what if... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by hc00jw ( 655349 )

    While I in no way agree with censorship, I don't understand why bouncing boobs had any place in the game in the first place! It was the same with Street Fighter Alpha 3 and R. Mika. It was obvious why Capcom decided to include that character, and it wasn't to balance the game play.

    Maybe the bouncing wasn't so much censored, as changed for the good of the game? Maybe somebody at the U.S. headquarters with half a brain realised it was unnecessary and could reflect bad on the series in the U.S. (I know I wa

  • A consistent theme with the posts here has been, "if its ok on MTV or Network primetime, why isnt it ok it a videogame". Personally, for me, it is ok. And for nearly all of us its ok. The issue is when Mrs. Betty SoccerMom comes home and finds little timmy (who is 9 or 10) playing a game with blood spatters, sucking chest wounds and humongous bouncing titties that would impress even Tim Sr.

    You can claim the ratings system will prevent this, but we all know it wont. Most of the time Mom herselft bought
    • Little Timmy should not be playing a game called "King of Fighters". Little Timmy probably also watches a lot of MTV. If we have to worry about Little Timmy when we want to have games meant for adults, does that mean that we have to think about Little Timmy when we want R rated movies? Or porn? "Hey Tina, when Dirk is pounding you from behind, try not to have your boobs bounce so much, Little Timmy might be watching." It is not the responsibility of game companies, or the movie industry, or the porn in

  • Why do they censor it? (Score:3, Funny)

    by haraldm ( 643017 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @01:53PM (#7711587)
    I mean the best content as far as blood and guns is available on CNN anyway.

  • $20 says they're fake. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Mmm coffee ( 679570 ) on Saturday December 13, 2003 @02:58PM (#7711909) Journal
    Mai's bouncing [lycos.fr], in case any non-gamers want to see the offending material. SFW, slightly hypnotizing.
  • There's a long history of censorship in the video game market. I think the blood and gore is a small part of it. There's a lot of politically-incorrect content that never makes it to the states. A good example was the Nintendo shooter game Parodious, which, among other things, featured a red-white-and-blue Eagle that you had to shoot until its feathers flew off, and a collection of Vegas showgirls that spread their legs for you to fly between. Great game.
  • KoF has been censored in the Stateside releases for nearly a decade.

    All.

    All.

    Arcade releases and home releases for eh game default with no blod, guns and freely jiggling.. talent..
  • DOA is known for "bouncy" girls, so I don't see why SNK feels the need to censor Mai's bounciness since they are letting DOA one up them.

    Oh well, it is all crazily dumb fanservice anyways. I'm just kind of surprised that they're doing this nowadays since Mai is practically PG nowadays compared to DOA.
  • The reason why this is frustrating is because: Who is going to be buying KOF for PS2? Is it going to be the average kid, or the hardcore fan? (If you said "hardcore fan," you win the solid gold cupi doll.)

    The hardcore fan is the one who will be most disturbed by stupid, pointless, Ninja Gaiden Trilogy style censorship, but for some reason he's the one who usually has to put up with it. I don't remember whether Tecmo had brought out Ninja Gaiden Trilogy for the SNES (terrible port, don't buy it, they a

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