Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni Publisher Explains Why it’ll Be Uncensored; Will Have Japanese Voices

DualShockers reported a couple of days ago that PQube will release Marvelous’ Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni for PS Vita without cutting any content, despite the game’s certainly titillating nature.

DualShockers reached out to PQube’s PR Executive Peter Nathaniel Fury in order to get more information, and he provided a certainly interesting explanation on the reasons behind the decision and on the challenges brought by this kind of approach, on top of confirming that the game will be released with Japanese voice overs with English subtitles.

[cleft5]

This is a really interesting read and explains why a lot of publishers end up censoring games and why a lot of SJWs have more sway than they should despite their not buying the games they influence no matter what.

Because these publishing companies are negotiating with an older generation or people that are just out of touch, they can be easily influenced by that loud vocal minority that is saying a product is sexist because of the way it portrays women. A place like Target or Walmart isnt necessarily going to want to associate themselves with a product like that because a lot of their goods are geared towards the female audience, particular house wives. So if you get these extremist SJW groups actively lobbying against a game by going to these major retailers and spreading lies about the game being sexist against women.

We know this happens because their have been stories in the past about this exact sort of behavior. Also, retailers have decided not to stock GTA 5 on the grounds that it was sexist towards women. So it seems like the real issue isnt the ratings but negotiating with retailers to stock the game.Very interesting and all the more reason to buy this game to support their efforts.

[Eamon]

Which retailers decided not to stock GTA V? I feel you've written mere speculation. SJW have influence because publishers themselves want to become more "politically correct" or "progressive" while misunderstanding the definitions of those words.

To be fair, I sympathise a little with the SJW even though I acknowledge they've gone way too wacko. It is true that most female characters portrayed in videogames aren't portrayed justly. However at the same time, developers brainwashed by SJWs create completely bland female characters that are almost a carbon copy of the archetypical male homicidal protagonist. I point to the recent Tomb Raider as an example.

[cleft5]

Here you go, the retailer was Target and this article explains why they removed the game http://www.cinemablend.com/...

The problem with SJWs isnt that they are fighting for equal rights and fair treatment of women. The problem with them is that they are actually not fighting for equal rights and fair treatment of women. What a lot of them is calling for is nothing short of sexist against men and women. If anyone, male or female, disagrees with them they are deemed sexist or something else offensive. They actually serve more to hurt gender issues in the long term than help them. Oh and they give feminism a very bad name. Feminism is actually a good thing, but the rhetoric these SJWs are spouting has nothing to do with actual feminism. The same way the rhetoric people like Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson spout end up hurting minority issues.

[blackblades]

Best way to sell stuff like this is online imo. Amazon is best for them, then psn for digital and gamestop because it's gamestop.

[rainslacker]

Interesting indeed. I mean, selling a game to a retailer is kind of important, and this shows that it goes beyond the typical distribution chain that we are familiar with. I knew retailers negotiated prices, particularly the bigger ones, but it never occurred to me that they weren't stocking them due to perceived lack of interest, but rather, what kind of perception stocking such a product would bring to their own brand.

I think you are right that the SJW aren't helping the situation, but at the same time, this would have been going on long before they took over social media to actually apply pressure, and it goes a long way to explain why a lot of these more niche games don't show up in more mainstream channels outside of gaming stores....although I'm sure some of that is the niche factor of it.

I think outside the GTA5 example though, any game with significant interest among the consumer doesn't have to go through this kind of stuff as much, or at all, as it's pretty commonly accepted that certain things are in video games, and that it's OK to sell them. GTA, IMO, is kind of a singular example due to it's extreme popularity....although I'm sure other examples exist which may have the same trouble. Bigger publishers likely don't have this kind of problem, or have to go through it as much though, as they have closer relations with the bigger chains, and outside that, will simply sell through 3rd party distribution channels so people come to them...so to speak.

@Eamon

Some want to be more progressive, or feel that these criticisms have enough merit to start changing things up. but more often than not, it's about not getting the negative PR. This article even expresses that that negative PR can be bad for when the publisher goes to sell their game, and it's not always a matter that the stores are lining up to stock their games, but they have to take a much more active role in getting them into stores. The more negative press a game is receiving, the less bargaining power the publishers have when selling the game, thus the less money they make.

[etebitan]

Great!!! Bring on the boobage

[SaveFerris]

It is a shame that other Japanese titles have been censored in order to be released in the West.