Japanese censors demanded panty checks for female SSB characters during development

When Super Smash Bros. Creator, Masahiro Sakurai, showcased Smash Ultimate's latest guest fighter, Terry Bogard, he brought up the fact that one of Fatal Fury's most popular characters, Mai Shiranui, would not be making an appearance in the game at all and alluded to her sexual nature as the main reason.

It turns out that Sakurai and his team had a bit of a back and forth with CERO during the development of Super Smash Bros. for Wii-U circa 2012 as the rating organization actually asked the Smash team to turn female characters upside down for panty shot angles.

[gangsta_red]

Well now it makes sense why some of the character clothes in smash Bros was changed

[Abriael]

Censors? CERO isn't a censorship organization. It's a rating board and it's no more censors than the ESRB.

They don't ask you to censor your game. They give you a rating depending on its content, no more, no less. If you want a lower rating than what you're given, that's on you.

[Teflon02]

Stop playing dumb lol.
You know Nintendo is aiming for a low board rating so they have to censor to get it based on what the board deems reason to raise it

[Abriael]

@Teflon02: I'm well aware, but that's on Nintendo. They have the freedom to keep the content intact and accept a higher rating. It doesn't make CERO into "censors" in any shape or form.

That's simply not what a rating board is. Censors dictate content. A rating board does not. It assigns a rating based on the existing content.

[TK-66]

Then that's on Nintendo, and not the ratings board.

[TK-66]

Yeah, I'm not seeing the issue with them asking to see if characters actually have underwear modeled. That would actually be reason to give the game a higher age rating. If Sakurai included them and Nintendo then removed them to achieve a lower age rating that would've made Nintendo the censors.

A rating board has every right to ask for this to accurately rate the game.

[bluefox755]

Let's be honest, a game won't be sold by retailers in the US if it has an AO rating, they have power over the industry, even if they're only a "rating board".

[Abriael]

That's completely unrelated, and the rating board still does not require any change to the content. The developer has full freedom to distribute the game via other means.

Calling a rating board "censors" couldn't be less accurate. That's simply not their job.

[annoyedgamer]

Ratings Org can shift around elements and the ratings they garner. Im not saying that was done here but it's heen done in the US feature films and the MPAA.

[tehpees3]

I hope they did not ask to check Dark Samus under that armour.

[Tross]

That would be an interesting job duty, even if it’s in the name of censorship. Someone was literally paid to do a panty check on female characters, lulz.

[Abriael]

It's not in the name of censorship. It's in the name of not giving a CERO A rating (All ages) to a game that doesn't fit its content guidelines.

[Tross]

It’s still dumb no matter what you call it. Equestria Girl dolls have panties. Are those not child-friendly? Besides, in talking about Japan, you don’t want to know what CoroCoro comics get away with. A panty shot or two might as well be CERO A.

[Abriael]

@Tross: you're comparing entirely different industries with different rules.

[ibrake4naps]

Games will show muscle men's nips, but God forbid a quick glimpse of princess Peach's vagina. Hypocrisy!!!

[contra157]

People get offended by the dumbest stuff like overly religious people . Usually the people who are making a big deal don’t even play/ watch

[CaptainObvious878]

It's actually the left that are the ones getting offended at anything sexual these days. But unlike back in the 90s, idiot companies are actually listening to them.

[contra157]

Both sides get offended at the end of the day . The right is much more religious and get very offended by a lot of things also . Both are dumb . Like I said you can be a Moron and be able to access the web

[CaptainObvious878]

The left are far more religious if you've been paying attention.

[contra157]

Lol!! Whatever you say bud

[CaptainObvious878]

lol guess you haven't been paying attention then.

There's literally thousands of examples on youtube. Try doing some research.

[contra157]

The internet has allow someone with no brains cells or very hateful or offended by everything get in the Internet now . I miss the days when those people didn’t know how to use a computer

[PhoenixUp]

Should’ve just kept going for the T rating then or whatever the equivalent is in Japan

[Kabaneri]

Hilarious how the country that makes loli porn wants to act all puritan about sex.