After the Japanese censorship rolled back, the Callisto protocol won’t make its way to Japanese consoles and screens in December after all.
The Computer Entertainment Ratings Organization (CERO) has named The Callisto Protocol horror game – with its… Radiant eyeballs And viscera plentiful – too bloody and violent for public consumption, refuse to rate it unless Striking Distance Studios agrees to a controlled mod for the area. Due to ZERO’s strict procedures, Japanese developers are accustomed to making this compromise, using Capcom tones down Resident Evil games (Opens in a new tab) for their releases on their land.
US-based Striking Distance Studios has refused to release a modified version of Callisto’s protocol, saying this will create a bad experience for players, and instead they will return all pre-orders from the area.
Feeling or silly?
This isn’t the first time rating teams have rejected a game, and it’s certainly not a Japanese issue at all.
Censorship of films, media and the Internet is nothing new. so called “The Great Firewall of China (Opens in a new tab)“Since the mid-nineties to control the distribution of information, you will be hard-pressed to find an unblocked video game Nudity, violence, or seditious behavior (Opens in a new tab) In places like Saudi Arabia.
But the West has had its fair share of video game censorship, too, especially when it comes to violence.
When Manhunt 2 was released in 2007, it stumbled upon the UK rating agency’s snag. British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) Refuse to be evaluated or approved for releaseand US boards gave it an adult-only rating, effectively blocking it from distribution.
The game, which depicts an amnesiac man being directed by a psychopathic killer, eventually saw an American release after Rockstar agreed to modify the game, reducing depictions of violence.
Even with an M rating from the US itself, BBFC once again rejected the censored version of Manhunt 2 until Their decision was eventually appealedgiving the released version Class 18.
Games in Germany are governed by the criminal law known as Strafgesetzbuch. This symbol has the ultimate authority with which texts or media can be distributed to the German public, and has banned several titles for depicting graphic violence, including Original Dying LightSilent Hill: Homecoming, The Convict: Criminal Origins. After a 17-year ban in the country, however, the German players The original Doom can finally be purchased.
All of this proves that violence in video games is pretty much a global concern and not just a problem in a particular corner of it.
Japanese horror fans can breathe a sigh of relief; It’s 2022, after all. You can buy just about anything online, except for the original Manhunt 2 – that version is still pretty much banned in most places.