240°

Xenoblade Chronicles X: The line between Censorship and Good taste

Some believe it to be censorship while others think that it’s simply done in good taste. The Fatal Frame discussion, which was a raging inferno a few days ago, has burned down to a few flickering embers with most people having made their choice to either support or boycott the game. It is, however, time to raise the flame shield again as those embers are going to ignite into some burning hot controversy once again.

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geeklynewsgazette.net
Big_Game_Hunters3463d ago

Well at least this game is going to get some publicity from all this, since Nintendo doesn't want to market it properly themselves.

Yi-Long3463d ago

The fact is that this is completely unnecessary self-censorship which changes the original character/costume design, ONLY out of FEAR what SOME critics MIGHT say.

Do I care about a 13 year old in a bikini? No I don't. Apart from the fact the girl has a face like a Pug Dog, my mind doesn't automatically jump straight to 'SEX!' when I see a kid in a bathing suit or dressed in skimpy summer clothing.

The criticism from me here is that once again Western standards are forced upon a foreign product, and like so many Asian games and movies, instead of just accepting those differences in attitude about maturity, dress-code, design, whatever, they just go in and change it.

Would I have dressed the girl in a bikini in the game? No I wouldn't, cause it looks silly to go into battle like that.

Do I feel they should sensor it because -I- think it looks silly, or someone else might think it's 'sexual'!?

No I don't.

If there had been a 80 year old skinny guy in a red Speedo running around in the game, and that gets cancelled, I would be annoyed as well. And trust me when I tell you that's not because I have a big sexual interest in old farts in red Speedos. (I'm more into 90 year old fat guys in yellow speedos; everyone knows that!)

Just like I don't like it whenever they censor violence, or change a soundtrack, or replace the original voices, or whatever. I want a movie, a video game, a comic, a manga, a cartoon/anime, to be left in it's original form. In it's original design, as envisioned by the creators.

Not to be changed because they fear SOME people might get upset about whatever.

Let SOME people get upset, shrug your shoulders, and just move on. Don't like it!? Don't buy it.

Bansai3463d ago

I probably wouldn't even have equipped those costumes, but it still doesn't mean I deserve to have that choice taken from me.

Guess it's time to sell Wii U, I don't like being treated like a child, first Fatal Frame, now this...

wonderfulmonkeyman3463d ago (Edited 3463d ago )

What's being changed here is literally so inconsequential that it's stupid to skip the game, let alone sell one's console, due to it.

You don't like the censored costumes?
Why not just ignore them the same way you'd have ignored the old ones?
It won't affect the quality of the game, and it certainly won't make you feel as if you've been treated like a child when you're riding around in a team of mechs fighting off shit twice your size.

This is being made into too big a deal; it's being blown out of proportion for the sake of satisfying indignation, and the game doesn't deserve to be judged, or skipped over, due to something as pathetically non-essential as a couple of "censored" bikinis on a 13 year old girl.

Rachel_Alucard3463d ago

@wonderfulmonkeyman

Because ignoring something that you have personal qualms with does not help against it in any way, and regardless of the nature of it, it's still something that can affect a purchase of a game or not. The arguments can be made about season passes and many other problems with today's gaming despite how serious they are in comparison. Sure I can ignore all that other stuff, but it won't go away until people start giving them flak for it. It worked for online passes, paid mods, and many other problems, the same can be said here.

Ck1x3463d ago (Edited 3463d ago )

So you know this to be self censorship because of what? What if the game was going to get a different rating in the US strictly for that content? You have no knowledge whatsoever of this information...

People like you complaining about this are just like the people sitting outside of abortion clinics picketing "Pro-life" but are okay with sending young men and women to war to die. Things aren't just as black and white as you would like to see them as and when people say Nintendo always does this.

They released one of the most over sexual games last year in Bayonetta 2 and changed nothing. Binding of Isaac on Nintendo platforms didn't get censored and if I remember correctly there was recently a indie game on both Sony and Nintendo platforms where Sony actually censored the title to be changed, but Nintendo didn't. The game is Bombing Bastards on WiiU and changed to Bombing Busters on Playstation systems.

So most of us recognize this for what it is and it has nothing to do with content being changed and everything to do with the platform the game is on. You people need to get several lives that are bringing pitchforks to the blogs on this subject.

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goldwyncq3463d ago

News flash: 13 year olds wear bikinis in real life too. Persona 4 depicted a 15 year old wearing a bikini in an overtly sexual way and no one complained.

Yi-Long3463d ago

Not to mention the USA has beauty pageants featuring young children dressing provocatively and acting seductively in order to woo the judges into giving them a prize for their looks and behaviour.

acekaze3463d ago

Journalism: The line between good articles and clickbait articles.

pompombrum3463d ago

So basically the very few games which contain anything even remotely resembling mature themes get censored.. don't Nintendo realize gamers HATE censorship? They're so out of touch it's unreal. If they have a Major Nelsen size switch, it's high time they flip it because going into 2016, I can't say I'm all that optimistic about Nintendo's future in the west.

Jdoki3463d ago

As far as I recall Nintendo didn't ask for any changes in Bayonetta 1 and 2.

It's just what they deem appropriate in each specific game. A girl character aged 13 (in JP) or 15 (in Western version) in a skimpy bikini that has zero impact on story or gameplay just seems pointless to me.

The new outfits look better in my opinion because they fit in better with the game world.

Ck1x3463d ago (Edited 3463d ago )

Agreed!

wonderfulmonkeyman3463d ago (Edited 3463d ago )

Using the change to less skimpy costumes as a reason to skip the game, is just as stupid as skipping the game due to the former costumes somehow being offensive.

Both sides of this debate need to take a step back from their moral podiums and high horses, and judge whether or not the game is worth getting for something other than a couple of changed costumes.

Unlike most people here, I honestly like the changes made to the costumes.
A little more coverage all around makes sense for armor, especially on a planet as dangerous as Mira.
However, even if that had not been the case, I wouldn't have complained about the old ones; I just would have found something different to use. Probably something with higher stats.

I wouldn't have spent time turning this into such a huge flame war over it, because it's really not worth it.

To all the people yelling "censorship", take the advice that you gave to those that were complaining about the old costumes;

Don't like them, don't use them.

Quit letting them influence whether or not you'll like or get the game.

If those opposed to the former bikinis would have been expected to ignore them for the sake of enjoying the game had they not been changed in the state-side version, by those who wanted the bikinis to stay, then the people who wanted the bikinis to stay can follow their own creed, and ignore what's replaced them just as easily as the other side ignores the old stuff.

In either case, it's silly for people to complain to the point where they want to turn Nintendo into a bad guy for either decision.

They won't affect your enjoyment of the game in the long run.

Learn to live with the changes; you'll probably end up having so much fun with the game that it won't even occur to you to remember what was changed once you've found costumes you like better.

Yi-Long3463d ago

You're defending (self-)censorship, which only exists because of fear for a possible reaction, so they go in and change the original designs.

I think that's a very slippery slope.

There wasn't anything wrong with the original designs to begin with. Now there IS something wrong with them, cause they're purely there as a result of censorship.

wonderfulmonkeyman3463d ago (Edited 3463d ago )

You've got me wrong.
I'm not defending the censorship; I'm apathetic/neutral towards it.
And I never said there was anything wrong with the former costumes.
It's just that I quite simply don't give a damn about how they were changed.
I'm not offended by it; it's just a couple of bikinis.*shrug*

I'm fine with either costume; I literally have no f***s to give about whether or not they were kept skimpy or made more practical because I like both variations, especially since regardless of how these were changed, I'll probably end up with something far more bulky and stat-loaded by the end of it anyways.

What I'm defending >against<, is the decision to skip the game over this issue; a decision that some people are making as a knee-jerk reaction.

The game deserves a much fairer chance than that.

Both sides of this debate should be ignoring the costumes that they aren't going to be using, instead of turning this into some sort of SJW anti-vs-pro-censorship crusade, that does nothing more than harm the sales of a perfectly good game for no good reason.

I know that this is going to be off-the-scale on the cliche meter, but...

For the sake of the game.
Can't we all just...get along?

@ Rachel

Tagging this down to "principles" when it's such an inconsequential part of the game is exactly what I meant when I said it's gotten ridiculous.

The way this is going, the game would have suffered from negative press and reduced sales regardless of which side of this SJW debate one lands on.

Don't you get it?
Both sides are harming the sales of this game by refusing to give it a chance due to these costumes being or not being changed.

The "principles" and how people feel offended over this one tiny, insignificant little bit of data, is ruining the games chances of reaching the sales it deserves, and both sides of the debate are guilty of causing it that harm because NEITHER SIDE IS WILLING TO LET THE ISSUE DROP AND GIVE THE GAME THE SALES IT DESERVES FOR EVERYTHING ELSE IT HAS GOING FOR IT.

I can promise you, I can GUARANTEE YOU, that these costumes being changed will NOT have ANY impact on your overall enjoyment of the game in the long term.
The moment you find a bad-ass armor suit that fits your tastes, that has stats you like, you're going to forget about the changed costumes entirely.

The game deserves to be given the chance to impress us regardless of the changes to the costumes.
THAT, is my point.
One that I HOPE the ones in here with a bit more sense, and a bit less easily-offended principles or pride, will choose to take and run with.

Yi-Long3463d ago

They'll be offering an edited, censored, and quite frankly incomplete release of the game, 6-8 months late, and it isn't a big deal!?

I disagree.

I feel we already could (and should) have had this game, uncut, uncensored, with the original voices and English subs, 6 months ago.

Yet they go on and change the age of one character, apparently self-censor some costumes, and they TAKE OUT the original Japanese voices and replace them with an English dub I personally have absolutely ZERO interest in.

Yes, that is quite a big deal.

Rachel_Alucard3463d ago (Edited 3463d ago )

@wonderfulmonkeyman

Like I said, Nintendo has done this stuff for years. It adds nothings game changing and its very minor in-game, but it removes content and alters the original release in some way. People are tired of this, want a change, and this is just more fuel after the BD, FE:A, and Fatal Frame censorships. Its all unimportant game-wise, its whenever it keeps happening with Nintendo specifically and not Sony nor Microsoft, each new censorship will cause more contoversey each time. If this thing greatly hurts its sales theres nothing that anyone could do to save it.

Expect SMT X FE to be the next victim of censorship.

Big_Game_Hunters3463d ago (Edited 3463d ago )

There is no "Possible reaction" The reaction already happened and would get worse if something wasn't done.

I would rather the game sell more because NOA changed somthing so small as opposed to the game selling less because of something that small.

What we should be getting mad about is how long its taking them to localize.

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Rachel_Alucard3463d ago

The costume being removed is not the problem, it's the principle behind it. For many years Nintendo has censored games for showing things you would find in a T rated game, yet out of some image reputation or out of fear they keep censoring even the most minuscule of things and people are sick and tired of being told that "they can't have this thing because these other people might not like it."

You also have to be pretty naive to try and apply realism to defend the costumes changes. It's not a matter of "making sense" it's a matter of principles again and clearly Nintendo is still clinging onto that family friendly image in the US despite market data showing a large majority of the playerbase is over 18.

Regardless, of what people say this game is pretty niche and when you apply any form of censorship to a niche title you're just lighting a fire. It gets picked up on articles after article and more people become aware of the movement and the bad parts of the game, rather then the good, so sales tend to dwindle as a result.

Yi-Long3463d ago

Not to mention that I don't think it's very family-friendly at all to send a message that it's NOT OK to wear a skimpy outfit to young girls, basically slut-shaming (or perv-shaming) anyone who does or thinks otherwise.

Wear whatever you like. If you want to wear a bikini? Fine. If you want to wear a Burqa or head-scarf? Fine. If you're a boy who wants to wear a skirt and lip-stick? Fine.

Be free.

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90°

9 Reasons to Play Xenoblade Chronicles X

The ill-fated Wii U sold very few units, so it is understandable if you missed out on Xenoblade Chronicles X, here are 9 reasons why you should play the Definitive Edition.

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nerd-talk.com
franwex5d ago

Reason number 1 why I haven’t played yet:
Cannot commit the time. :/

GotGame8184d ago

The nice thing about X is you have a Follow Ball. If you haven't played for a few days it will help you jump right back in! Fantastic game! You should at least have 5 initial hours over 2 days or so to invest. I also suggest grinding to at least level 14 before chapter 3.

Zeldafan644d ago

It's nice that definitive edition makes level grinding easier. Quite a bit quicker than the original release.

PRIMORDUS4d ago

I bought it thinking it was like the trilogy and expansion on Switch. I played it for 15 or so hours and stopped. Couldn't get into it, the gameplay was not like the previous ones, it was not what I expected.😕

Dhika4d ago

I bought it on the Wii U years ago and couldn’t get into it too 🙁

PRIMORDUS4d ago

I feel ya, sucks cause I wanted to like it, I tried.

TFdwnunder4d ago

Greatest RPG ever except end game makes it impossible to complete for anyone who focused on mech battles. Do not focus on mechs or you will be disappointed

80°

Are The Xenoblade Games Connected?

Netto's Game Room explains how the Xenoblade titles are connected to each other; from Xenoblade Chronicles, to the newly released Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition, and even Xenogears and Xenosaga.

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nettosgameroom.com
Zeldafan6431d ago

1 - 3 are connected. Idk if X is connected since I haven't beaten the epilogue in X yet. X will probably be connected.

110°

With Chronicles Done, It's Time to Make Xenoblade X: Definitive Edition

With Chronicles finished, it's time to return to the mechs and mysteries of Mira

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dualshockers.com
jznrpg676d ago (Edited 676d ago )

Yea. I own it but don’t want to pull out the Wii U

Zeldafan64676d ago

I never unplugged my Wii U. Still play it almost daily but a definitive edition of X would be appreciated.

jznrpg676d ago (Edited 676d ago )

It’s one of the systems I have the least games for . Though there are some really good games on it. I have systems from Atari’s , Nintendo’s, Segas , TurboGrafx 16 , PS’s etc etc so I put a few in my game storage room. I do pull it out from time to time and I have a new one in a box but won’t open that .
But I’d really like to have a Chronicles X but not on Switch whatever the next console is preferably so they can add more quality to it .

Zeldafan64675d ago

Lucky, you didn't need to explain that.

Zeldafan64676d ago (Edited 676d ago )

Playing X at 1080/60 would be great so waiting for the Switch successor would be ideal but it wouldn't be smart to make it a launch game. It would suck waiting til 2025 to get X definitive edition but I think that's what will happen.

I know people say Wii U has no games but I've got over 100 games for it.

luckytrouble675d ago

I mean, when people say a system has "no games" they aren't saying the system literally had no games released on it. They're more commenting on the state of games that make the system worth owning. For many the Wii U never had a game that made the system worth owning, or if it did, it has a Switch port or successor at this point anyways so they were effectively proven correct to have never purchased a Wii U in the first place.

Yes, depending on the individual the Wii U remains worth owning for the handful of games still locked to it, but for many they'd rather just wait to see what else gets ported in the future at this point. There is exceptionally little you can only play on a Wii U these days though, especially with the eShop dead so anything that may have existed only on it is no longer of consequence to non-Wii U owners.

chaos999676d ago

They said it cost too much time to remap controls unfortunately

luckytrouble675d ago

In all fairness, that's probably a reason they're passing on a few of the still Wii U locked games. Starfox Zero, among the reasons you may not want to port it, would need its entire control scheme reworked from the ground up. Chronicles X may not be as extreme of a case (I don't know, I've never played or watched gameplay), but often unless a game is going to sell really well, it can be hard to convince a company to do more than the basic expected remaster work. Heck, a lot of people figure the only reason we got Galaxy 1 in the 3D All Stars collection for example is because they had already done the work for the Nvidia Shield port for China, which subsequently is likely the major reason they didn't include Galaxy 2. They simply did not want to remap the game controls. It may sound silly since it sounds so simple just by the words, but you have to figure more goes into it than you're probably thinking if it's that much of a sticking point.

DefaultComment676d ago

Yes, I agree. We definitely need to retake Xenoblade Chronicles X which btw it left us on a cliffhanger suggesting there wiull be a XCX2 .... and im up for it.

isarai676d ago (Edited 676d ago )

I put so many hours into X, just please ad a music volume setting was going crazy walking around base and hearing

"UH UH... YEAH!.. YEAH!...YEAHYEAHYEEEEAAAAH!..U H UH!"

FinalFantasyFanatic675d ago

I can't believe they haven't done it yet, it's the Xenoblade game I'm most excited for, I would buy it in a heart beat.