10 Genius Ways Video Games Got Past The Censors

Easily my favourite entry in this list and not just because I love the game so much. Fallout 3 has two very interesting workarounds to censorship. With a rendition of Washington DC ravaged by atomic bombs, you could expect Japan would have something to say about all the nuclear references. Oh and of course, Australia demanded changes to the game.

Fallout 3 definitely has its reasons to be censored. You can legitimately cut someone’s head off, put it in a toilet and then eat it to gain health. Yet, Australia picked up on it because it allowed the player to use morphine. In response, Bethesda racked their brains and thus, Med-X was born. A quick and easy workaround to Australia’s hatred for drug glorification in video games.

What did Japan not like, then? Firstly, no Fat Man. No, not literal obesity, the Fat Man is a gun that launches miniaturised nuclear warheads. It’s also a direct reference to one of the bombs used on Japan in World War 2. Renaming the Fat Man the Nuka Launcher wasn’t the only change. They also cut the quest The Power of the Atom in half. Mr Burke, the encourager of the player’s choice to detonate the nuclear bomb of Megaton, was removed from Japanese versions of the game and the player’s only option is defusal.