Translation Censorship
It seems that Pokemon is a good article topic these days, due to its Earthbound parallels. Well, the other day, I found pics from a website on Pokemon that featured an episode unreleased in the US. It featured, in a nutshell, a swimsuit contest and Team Rocket using inflatable, well, use your imagination. Unreleased here, of course.
This has happened in EB too. I remind you, EB Zero is NOT Mother 1. It is Nintendo's translated version, scheduled to be released here. Obviously, some things are different in EB0. Grandpa George's gravesite was originally in Japan a wooden cross, not a XXX Tombstone. Check out 'Mother 2 to Earthbound and Back Again' for other such examples in EB/Mother 2.
My question is: Why? Why are things changed so drastically in a translation? Are the American and Japanese societies THAT different? I don't think so. These things don't seem to drastically affect Japanese gamers, so why should it be any different for us Americans. Final Fantasy 4 is my favorite example: Brought here as FF2, things like swearing, violence, and sex were removed. I can deal with those things in the game? Why do they alter the games in a translation? If someone could help me out and answer my question, I would appreciate it.
It seems that Pokemon is a good article topic these days, due to its Earthbound parallels. Well, the other day, I found pics from a website on Pokemon that featured an episode unreleased in the US. It featured, in a nutshell, a swimsuit contest and Team Rocket using inflatable, well, use your imagination. Unreleased here, of course.
This has happened in EB too. I remind you, EB Zero is NOT Mother 1. It is Nintendo's translated version, scheduled to be released here. Obviously, some things are different in EB0. Grandpa George's gravesite was originally in Japan a wooden cross, not a XXX Tombstone. Check out 'Mother 2 to Earthbound and Back Again' for other such examples in EB/Mother 2.
My question is: Why? Why are things changed so drastically in a translation? Are the American and Japanese societies THAT different? I don't think so. These things don't seem to drastically affect Japanese gamers, so why should it be any different for us Americans. Final Fantasy 4 is my favorite example: Brought here as FF2, things like swearing, violence, and sex were removed. I can deal with those things in the game? Why do they alter the games in a translation? If someone could help me out and answer my question, I would appreciate it.
