8 Strangest Examples Of Censorship In Video Games
Taking the "sense" out of censorship.
Since the early days of Night Trap and Mortal Kombat, video games and censorship have never really seen eye to eye.
Lots of developers seem to enjoy pushing the boundaries in their games and, ever since the formation of the ESRB, video games have a long standing history of self-censorship. Publishers want their games accessible to as many people as possible, so go out of their way to alter their products for different age groups and nationalities in a bid to please everyone at once.
From a financial standpoint, it makes a lot of sense.
However, sometimes censoring a game can result in a black void of sorts that leaves nonsensical plot-holes and confusing blank spaces in its wake. Sometimes, censoring a game for oddly contrived reasons results in the game being left in a state that only serves to confuse and bewilder the player. Sometimes, the reason behind the censorship is far less interesting than the way the localisation team goes about censoring it.
...and sometimes a publisher accidentally puts a fully rendered vagina in their game. What a time to be alive.
8. Final Fantasy Legends II
In the West, the Final Fantasy Legends series for the Game Boy is actually part of a completely different franchise in Japan. The "SaGa" series had its first three entries ported under the Final Fantasy label, most likely in a bid to boost it's popularity in the West.
However, the title for Final Fantasy Legends II wasn't the only thing altered for it's Western release.
In the Western version, you can come across a quest in which the local villagers are upset with some ne'er-do-wells over their "secret" banana trading. For the Japanese release, the villains in question are actually trading, erm, heroin. That's quite the alteration.
Why exactly the localisation team decided to swap heroin for bananas is still up for debate, but some smartypants on the internet have theorised it could have something to do with the import restrictions in Japan during the time period the game is set in.
Deciding to remove the reference to heroin is a little more clear cut, as Nintendo are a family-friendly brand, and heroin is most definitely not family-friendly.