With Censorship This Inane, Criminal Girls Should Have Stayed In Japan

Somewhere beyond this eerily silent, pink-mist clogged screenshot is the "motivation" mini-game from the unabashedly risque Japanese game Criminal Girls. Stripping the sound and obscuring the action made it okay for Western release—only no it didn't.

[Rachel_Alucard]

Thanks for advertising this game. I'll be picking up 2 copies now to support this practice of localizing niche games.

Also lol kotaku article. Thank god for pastebin
http://pastebin.com/AV9qYcN...

[Lasombra]

And yet still so self-righteous and condescending that article is.

[brish]

I almost clicked on the link until I saw it was from kotaku.

That was close!

[EZMickey]

@brish Funny, I thought I was the only one who made an effort to steer clear of Kotaku.

[drizzom]

Good move with the pastebin. I shudder every time I see kotakus name underneath the title. Such a god awful website.

[recto85]

Thx for pastebin, so many clicks are lost for clickbaitaku.

[3-4-5]

kotaku " Game is too sexist"

Same game

Kotaku " Game isn't sexist enough"

I don't see the appeal of these games at all...they aren't for me, but I mean if others want to play them then they should still be made.

[drizzom]

Same here. The game ain't my cup of tea but it sure as hell has every right to exist without it being tampered with.

[IrisHeart]

I like how Kotaku is crying about censorship when they are one of the most scummiest of websites around. Although this time I agree with them. Meh.

[Remy_S]

Funny how if there wasn't censorship, they would most likely write an article claiming that the game is sexist. But I do agree there should never be censorship; I would much rather rather support a publisher like Xseed that tries to keep their games as true to the original as possible.

[rainslacker]

They were complaining that there wasn't enough censorship, so it doesn't meet their standards of what is appropriate for Americans.

According to NISA, the censorship is in the form of some of the voices being removed from the mini-game, and more steam added to scenes that "didn't have enough steam"...assuming it's because it didn't cover up enough of the naughty bits.

So at least in this case, Kotaku is remaining consistent with their, "We don't find it appropriate, so it's not acceptable" attitude.

Luckily I was able to figure this out from the description, and my own knowledge of what NISA did with the localization to not give Kotaku a click.

Anyhow, have my special edition pre-ordered. Thanks for the heads up Kotaku. Good to know that the censorship is minimal.

[IrisHeart]

"Some of them and some of you no doubt feel such a game has no business coming to North America and Europe. I agree, but not for the same reason. If NIS America wants to make a little money off the awkward pervert crowd, more power to them. Just don't insult them by taking a core game mechanic and "hiding" it behind a cloud of smoke." - Kotaku

Kinda bitch/hypocritical move by adding the label "pervert" to this game while they praise murder simulators...but they are sorta right. Censorship is still there, it defeats the whole purpose for me as a consumer to support said product.

[jambola]

Actually here's one line to show you that your wrong

"If NIS America wants to make a little money off the awkward pervert crowd, more power to them. Just don't insult them by taking a core game mechanic and "hiding" it behind a cloud of smoke"

Here's some advice for future commenting
step 1, read article
step 2, comment

Never skip step 1, at the risk of looking sill and misinformed

[rainslacker]

First of all, NISA isn't trying to make money off the awkward pervert crowd. They are trying to make money off Otaku who like any kind of niche Japanese games.

The smoke, and removing of sound effects was to placate places like Kotaku who would have called this a perverse piece of crap had they not. Guess that plan didn't work out so well did it.

Now they complain that NISA is just hiding the game mechanic. Which they aren't. Some things are being obscured, but the game mechanic stays the same. Perhaps the author, being a game journalist, should actually find out what constitutes a game mechanic, and what constitutes presentation.

That one comment does nothing to change my original thoughts on what this article would be about, it's just Kotaku trying to discredit this game based on their own moral standards which others do not adhere to, all while throwing in some insults about the people who may want to play this game.

I'm not insulted by the censorship, I'm insulted by places like Kotaku calling the people who would want to buy this game perverts, or some other derogatory term.

Kotaku has a long history of taking games like this, and finding some reason to say they are just wrong for American release. I may have been wrong about what their actual reason was this time, and I did that based on the description and their previous articles on this very game. I don't buy it for one minute though that the authors concern was that it was insulting to the player.

[IrisHeart]

"Just don't insult them by taking a core game mechanic and "hiding" it behind a cloud of smoke"

How you read it.
"It isn't censored enough!"

Actual translation
"Don't censor something esp since it is niche and is aimed at them perverts."

1. Learn how to read.
2. Or don't.

This was aimed at jambola btw. :/

[DragonKnight]

@TakoLuka: What do you think this article would be if there were absolutely no censorship involved at all? It would be filed under Kotaku's "Feminism" tag and blasted for being misogynist and sexist. Kotaku are hypocrites through and through. NISA added more censoring of aspects of the game precisely because of sites like Kraptaku and Polygone who would slam the game no matter what they did, and this just proves the point.

This disingenuous author trying to say that there shouldn't have been censorship for a game that would only appeal to a niche group (which the author insults) would be replaced by an author who thinks the game shouldn't have even made it to the NA market if there were no censorship at all, and both authors would be from Kraptaku.

We see that Kraptaku exist solely to insert their ideologies, sensibilities, and feelings into what is appropriate for the gaming industry and the consumers of gaming products. With Kraptaku, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

**EDIT** This part is directed at the author. If everyone were as Puritan as the people at Kraptaku (I'll let you all laugh at that, considering Nathan Grayson), then the human race would have never survived. Sex isn't a dirty filthy poison, but perhaps most of Kraptaku hasn't been through that part of the education process yet.

[OmegaShen]

Kind of bs games like this censor but other don't. I know it up the rating of the game, but this bs makes me just want to import it.

[Soldierone]

People were upset with this months ago when we found out it was censoring this bad.... lol

Sorry, but Kotaku is acting like pure hypocrites right now. Do I think the censorship is stupid? Yes, but if it didn't have it Kotaku would just run a story about how the game is inappropriate for other reasons and should be censored or not released yatta yatta ....

[GokuSolosAll]

It's bulls**t to censor this game at all. If I wanted porn I'd just find it so it's not that but the principal of the matter. All this murder and theft but we can't see cartoon tits or hear a moan? GTFO with this s**t. I'll but on steep discount or used if it's an option. I'd rather import.

[snarls2000]

it probably got censored to make sure it could get released in Canada. if the characters are under 18 nudity is a no-no even if its fictional.

[Snookies12]

That's where the conundrum comes into play with fictional characters... You could have a girl that looks like she's 12, but she's actually an 'immortal', or a 'demon', or something like that. And she could actually be over 20. If it's a fictional character, sometimes you can't judge based on appearances. Shoot, I know a real girl that looks like she's around 15 but she's actually 22.

[yellowgerbil]

how is this even a GAME. seriously at least xtreme beach volleyball tried, this is literally porn, and not very well done porn at that.

[SteamFrostedEgg]

The article only shows the mini game - there is an actual game to see but no news articles ever cover it apart from reviews. The actual game is more like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Sexy Girl Edition.

[SilentNegotiator]

It should have stayed in Japan because it's clearly depicting a bunch of sexualized little girls, not because the publisher didn't have the balls to keep from censoring it. You can draw a baby and say that it's actually 100 years old, but you're not fooling anyone.

ESRB gave it an M rating anyway. Some moaning wouldn't have changed that.

[SilentNegotiator]

I don't know who you guys are kidding other than yourselves; half of those characters look like they could barely pass for 13. And the minigames and poses clearly have sexual overtones as subtle as Godzilla.

http://images.pushsquare.co...

[sypher]

lol these comments and Kotaku as a whole crack me up.

They post the most racey screenshots in the game so in your mind you associate that screenshot with the entire game.

Mainstream news do it with CoD/GTA. Let's find the worst things and exploit those, spin the narrative around that one aspect - the internet cries foul.

"Those mainstream media are dinosaurs, they just need to get with the times"

Well Kotaku are doing the exact same thing :p watch playthroughs of this game. 99% of it is battling monsters and talking to people. But that wouldn't get clicks now would it.

No censorship, let people decide what they want to play. Don't like it? Vote with your wallet.

We dont need crap like this stifling discussion of the medium. People react emotionally instead of logically and we get;
http://community.eu.playsta...

[Spotie]

I'd rather they not play tease and just allow the nudity altogether, lol.

[SilentNegotiator]

I've always felt that way about those types of Japanese games. May as well go all of the way, since it's just wanking material anyway.

[Spore_777]

I think we all know what this is all about...

[donwel]

What's that old saying? "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it"?
I distinctly remember that it was Shitaku who tried to work people into a frenzy of false outrage over Dragons Crown back when that was due for release and they only ended up bringing everyone's attention to it. Because of that it ended up being Vanillawares best selling game to date.
Are these cretins actually incapable of learning?
I was going to get this game eventually anyway but now I'm going to get it on release, just to see how high we can get it in the charts and to piss off Shitaku

[upallnightgamer]

Think I might get it from PlayAsia instead of GameStop. At least Senran Kagura is relatively uncensored.

[IVIRxTOMBSTON3]

wow...just...wow. smfh

[TwilightSparkle]

I notice everyone saying this game is wrong gets alot of disagrees. I didnt buy it. Its so wrong.

[cm_]

I like how some people are calling the game characters children. how do you know they are children? if you are basing it on the pitch of their voice and the fact they look cute then its probably a false assumption to make. within japanese art and culture people frequently make women look cute and younger than they are. as for the voice, these people obviously aren't aware that it is a cultural thing in japan for women to cultivate a high pitched voice as its considered feminine.
there is a very high chance these characters are young adults.