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INTEREST: Atelier Meruru PS3 RPG's Age Rating Changed to 12+




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somestupidloser



Joined: 24 Oct 2010
Posts: 12
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 11:00 am Reply with quote
A 12+ rating for a game with "Sexual" content? That would immediately bring a game in the states to at least 17+
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Haterater



Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 1727
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 11:57 am Reply with quote
I'm sure it'll be rated T like the others that have released here.
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nhat



Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 922
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:00 pm Reply with quote
somestupidloser wrote:
A 12+ rating for a game with "Sexual" content? That would immediately bring a game in the states to at least 17+


Have you seen whats on TV and in magazines around here? Anyways the US is pretty strict on that but not on violence. It's like the exact opposite overseas like in the UK, France, etc.
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Cecilthedarkknight_234



Joined: 02 Apr 2011
Posts: 3820
Location: Louisville, KY
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:05 pm Reply with quote
nothing really hardcore, just playing it safe. Hell most jrpgs have sexual content in them if you know where to dig/look and this will get a T rating like all the others, if not who really cares?? Most of the people that want/buy this game are at least 17 years or older.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6253
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 3:11 pm Reply with quote
somestupidloser wrote:
A 12+ rating for a game with "Sexual" content? That would immediately bring a game in the states to at least 17+


Interesting fact: couple of our games that have T-rating ended up getting Z-rating (Japan's AO rating) in Japan. I believe Infamous (and it current sequel) is one of those few games that got rating differences, and no Infamous didn't have any content added for the Japanese version, and no they didn't add sex scene in the Japanese version to make it more appealing and to make it sell better in Japan. The Japanese version is the same version as the US version. So you see it goes both way, and don't forget most of our M-rated games get an AO rating in Japan.

Also I like to add that the re-rating of Atelier Meruru is no different from Elder Scrolls: Oblivion re-rating from ESRB. Oblivion was originally going to be rated T, but ended up getting a M-rating.
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 5:52 pm Reply with quote
mdo7 wrote:
somestupidloser wrote:
A 12+ rating for a game with "Sexual" content? That would immediately bring a game in the states to at least 17+


Interesting fact: couple of our games that have T-rating ended up getting Z-rating (Japan's AO rating) in Japan. I believe Infamous (and it current sequel) is one of those few games that got rating differences, and no Infamous didn't have any content added for the Japanese version, and no they didn't add sex scene in the Japanese version to make it more appealing and to make it sell better in Japan. The Japanese version is the same version as the US version. So you see it goes both way, and don't forget most of our M-rated games get an AO rating in Japan.

For console games, most of the US games in Japan are rated Z. That's not because of the sex, it's because of the violence or at least any level of realistic violence, which is inconsistent with all other forms of media though. Since CERO doesn't control PC games, a handful of the same on PC in Japan don't have the same "Z" type rating.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6253
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:46 pm Reply with quote
configspace wrote:
mdo7 wrote:
somestupidloser wrote:
A 12+ rating for a game with "Sexual" content? That would immediately bring a game in the states to at least 17+


Interesting fact: couple of our games that have T-rating ended up getting Z-rating (Japan's AO rating) in Japan. I believe Infamous (and it current sequel) is one of those few games that got rating differences, and no Infamous didn't have any content added for the Japanese version, and no they didn't add sex scene in the Japanese version to make it more appealing and to make it sell better in Japan. The Japanese version is the same version as the US version. So you see it goes both way, and don't forget most of our M-rated games get an AO rating in Japan.

For console games, most of the US games in Japan are rated Z. That's not because of the sex, it's because of the violence or at least any level of realistic violence, which is inconsistent with all other forms of media though. Since CERO doesn't control PC games, a handful of the same on PC in Japan don't have the same "Z" type rating.


Yes I'm aware of that. The reason I put in the "they didn't add the sex scene in the Japanese version" because most people assume and joke and stereotype around that Japanese gamer play games with sexual content. I've been studying up and researching on how each countries rate video game both local and foreign. I notice Japan rate the game differently from how US rate games from Japan. I've notice violence is the issue when it comes to rating game in Japan, and when it comes to sex US is somewhat a little startled. Anyway, I read an interesting article from Kotaku about Japan's gap between game and movie violence. I do find it odd that Japan has a issue with graphic violence in games, but yet they don't censor the same content in movie, just look at Tokyo Gore Police, Machine Girl, Suicide Club, and selected films by Takeshi Miike, they don't get censor in Japan but yet several of our games even with Z-rating get censored like COD: Black Ops. I also believe Fallout 3 was censored in Japan not only because of the nuke reference and the ability to blow up a town like Megaton for example. It was also censored because of gore/dismemberment on human according to a interview with one of the person who helped handle the Japanese localization., however ghouls and super-mutant are not censored in the JPN version.

Also I like to point out when it comes to sex, there seem to be a bit of double standard. I know we have a lot of Eroge/H-game in Japan. But when they bring the game to console, they remove the sex scene and nudity. Western game is no exception, I remember Mafia 2 had the Playboy magazine censoredand that baffle all of western gamers that are big fans of anime and Japan (and yes western fans joke around that it was censored because the girls are not 16 and not anime).

Sometime I find Japan's censorship ridiculous and hypocritical. I find graphic violence in move more disturbing then the one I seen in game.
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grooven



Joined: 16 Aug 2006
Posts: 1424
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 8:51 pm Reply with quote
When editing sex scenes to console it is Play Station or Nintendo that have to carry that as part of their image too. They would never have an eroge for a console, unless it was all age. It is their standards.

As for Japan being hypocritical that isn't fair at all to say. Movies and games are two different kinds of mediums. It has a lot I think to do with the audience of games and audience of movies, which is more of a risk for being an influence.

I also wouldn't really compare any Japanese movie's gore with American.
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DavidShallcross



Joined: 19 Feb 2008
Posts: 1008
PostPosted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:25 pm Reply with quote
somestupidloser wrote:
A 12+ rating for a game with "Sexual" content? That would immediately bring a game in the states to at least 17+

I don't think Meruru has on-screen copulation, just a bath scene with tastefully placed towels and fog, and some gainaxing on the part of downloadable characters. And perhaps some hinting about the ingredents for homunculi.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6253
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 11:21 pm Reply with quote
grooven wrote:
When editing sex scenes to console it is Play Station or Nintendo that have to carry that as part of their image too. They would never have an eroge for a console, unless it was all age. It is their standards.

As for Japan being hypocritical that isn't fair at all to say. Movies and games are two different kinds of mediums. It has a lot I think to do with the audience of games and audience of movies, which is more of a risk for being an influence.

I also wouldn't really compare any Japanese movie's gore with American.


Yeah but I find their standard contradictory, don't you. I thought all anime fans don't like censorshup in anime/manga and video game (there are some exception where censorship is OK). Even American gamers on various sites like Kotaku find Japanese censorship ridiculous and contradictory. Also, do you remember that Supreme court case involving the California video game law? Yeah, if you remember the people that wanted to pass the law said video game doesn't deserve to be protected under free speech (or first amendment). The supreme court struck down that law and said video game is no different from movie and said video game is protected under 1st amendment, I don't care if it's a different medium, violence in video game and move are no different. They censor gore in video game which doesn't look even realistic where in movie, it looks a little biy too realistic and it doesn't get censor in Japan at all. Actually I find gore in movie to be more gross and disturbing then what I've seen in video game. Also you mention gore in Japanese movie is different from American, how are they different? From watching gore in Japanese movie, it doesn't look any different from graphic violence/gore in American movie like let say Evil Dead, Saw, Hostel, or Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
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Joichiro Nishi



Joined: 21 Jul 2007
Posts: 163
PostPosted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 12:06 am Reply with quote
No idea why they'd care about the age rating from a game that only middle-aged men will play anyway.
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