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Rumor: Nintendo removed Tharja trophy from SSB to avoid a higher age rating

H

-Horizon-

Member
zruben said:
It's not a figurine! it's an Amiibo.

tpaM7GU.jpg


NeoGaf ---> Internet ---> NeoGaf
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lol
 
J

Joqu

Member
From the looks of it all the other Awakening characters got trophies no? I don't care about Tharja but I do care about consistency. Should've covered her up. :l
 
T

Technoweirdo

Member
As consolation to FE:A fans, Nintendo stealth-patched in a Kellam trophy.
Good luck finding him.

But seriously now, this sucks. You can't have Robin without Tharja. :( ESRB angle doesn't make much sense though when all three versions don't have her and when other, more risque trophies exist. That leaves potential DLC 'cause giving away trophies for playable characters doesn't make sense and there certainly are a few empty spots to fill, but I don't recall Sakurai being open to DLC. It's also a strange last-second move.
 
M

Marcel

Member
thecharrr said:
Nobody must had unlocked it yet as they aren't lewd enough
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I think the Tharja fans should prove their lewdness by doing some Tharja poetry, in the vein of that Lightning poetry thread that was on GAF a while back. Not participating makes you a bad fan and makes Tharja even more weird and sad than she already is. Wait, that will only titillate them more. Shit.
 
S

SA Louisgod

Banned
Shmuely Bully said:
Isn't this more of a 'that's stupid and arbitrary' instead of an 'HOW DARE YOU!?' or have I just not read enough of the thread? It's more sad/amusing to me that Nintendo cares about whether a game gets E10+ or T than that there isn't a specific trophy/character in the game.
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ah yes, how dare Nintendo focus on a component of the game that may affect sales than put in a trophy of an anime in a thong to satiate people that somehow are offended that a meaningless trophy showing a anime character's ass cheeks was removed. Truly a crippling decision.

if you are offended by the exclusion of the trophy, please post your picture.
 
S

Shmuely Bully

Member
SA Louisgod said:
ah yes, how dare Nintendo focus on a component of the game that may affect sales than put in a trophy of an anime in a thong to satiate people that somehow are offended that a meaningless trophy showing a anime character's ass cheeks was removed. Truly a crippling decision.

if you are offended by the exclusion of the trophy, please post your picture.
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I'm sincerely of the belief that a T rating has an effectively nil result on sales figures of a game, both since fewer people pay attention to games ratings than movie ratings in my experience, and since there are no restrictions on sales like there are with tickets for R-rated movies for instance.

Thanks for the deliberate misrepresentation of my view and character assassination though, assuming any or all of that was directed towards me. I've already stated I don't particularly care here, but don't let that stop your self-righteous pronouncements.
 
R

RagnarokX

Member
Shmuely Bully said:
Isn't this more of a 'that's stupid and arbitrary' instead of an 'HOW DARE YOU!?' or have I just not read enough of the thread? It's more sad/amusing to me that Nintendo cares about whether a game gets E10+ or T than that there isn't a specific trophy/character in the game.
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Smash Bros is Nintendo's killer game of the holiday season and it's kicking off Amiibo support, which is a big deal. It is absolutely crucial that they are able to advertise these games to kids.

I find it really silly that people still act like Nintendo is the crazy censorship police they were in the '80s and '90s. They made 3rd parties censor games and threw gratuitous violence under the bus in the courts, but once ESRB was formed they pretty much don't care anymore. The only time they censor anything is to obtain a desired rating from the ESRB just like any other developer, yet some people hold Nintendo and other developers to the fire instead of ESRB (remember when Square censored Bravery Default?). Nintendo even allowed BMX XXX to be published on GCN in all of its topless breast glory while that game got censored on PS2.

Shmuely Bully said:
I'm sincerely of the belief that a T rating has an effectively nil result on sales figures of a game, both since fewer people pay attention to games ratings than movie ratings in my experience, and since there are no restrictions on sales like there are with tickets for R-rated movies for instance.

Thanks for the deliberate misrepresentation of my view and character assassination though, assuming any or all of that was directed towards me. I've already stated I don't particularly care here, but don't let that stop your self-righteous pronouncements.
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I'm pretty sure it affects when and where they are able to advertise the games, and that would absolutely affect sales. If they can put their ads on throughout the day on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network and other stations they will surely increase demand by some degree.
 
B

BeatResetsTheWorld

Banned
RagnarokX said:
Smash Bros is Nintendo's killer game of the holiday season and it's kicking off Amiibo support, which is a big deal. It is absolutely crucial that they are able to advertise these games to kids.
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I'm not understanding why a T rated game can't be advertised to kids, especially when the previous TWO iterations were T rated and presumably were able to be. There's a lot of speculation in here that I think more misses the point

I believe rating was not the issue, but the fact that it would have probably included a sexual descriptor (like crude humor or suggestive themes), that worried Nintendo. Same reason Peaches bloomers were replaced

Nintendo doesn't care about it getting a T rating. This isn't Pokemon, or Kirby, or a game that actually has been traditionally marketed at kids.

Also, look at the ESRB summary for it. Even with the ommission, they still point out
During the course of the game, players can unlock/obtain character trophies that depict female characters in revealing outfits (e.g., short skirts, moderate amounts of cleavage).
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R

RagnarokX

Member
BeatResetsTheWorld said:
I'm not understanding why a T rated game can't be advertised to kids, especially when the previous TWO iterations were T rated and presumably were able to be. There's a lot of speculation in here that I think more misses the point

I believe rating was not the issue, but the fact that it would have probably included a sexual descriptor, that worried Nintendo. Same reason Peaches bloomers were replaced

Nintendo doesn't care about it getting a T rating. This isn't Pokemon, or Kirby, or a game that actually has been traditionally marketed at kids
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The situation is different from before. Mobile phone games weren't prevalent back then. They need to fight harder for the market that doesn't control their own money. They need little Billy to be screaming about the cool Mario game and toy he saw while watching cartoons to convince his parents who are content with 99 cent apps. Especially since they are trying to get people to buy 1 $40 game, 1 $50 game, and 12+ $15 figurines plus the consoles to play them on and the controllers to play them with if they don't already have them.
 
B

BeatResetsTheWorld

Banned
RagnarokX said:
The situation is different from before. Mobile phone games weren't prevalent back then. They need to fight harder for the market that doesn't control their own money. They need little Billy to be screaming about the cool Mario game and toy he saw while watching cartoons to convince his parents who are content with 99 cent apps. Especially since they are trying to get people to buy 1 $40 game, 1 $50 game, and 12+ $15 figurines plus the consoles to play them on and the controllers to play them with if they don't already have them.
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Yeah, but my point is I doubt any parents give a shit about a T rating. It's literally the same as PG-13 nowadays, and I strongly doubt many parents see that as "too mature" for kids. They're more likely to base it on what they know about it (that it's Nintendo and colorful) than that it has a T on it
 
Z

zruben

Banned
BeatResetsTheWorld said:
Yeah, but my point is I doubt any parents give a shit about a T rating. It's literally the same as PG-13 nowadays, and I strongly doubt many parents see that as "too mature" for kids. They're more likely to base it on what they know about it (that it's Nintendo and colorful) than that it has a T on it
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as some other user pointed out, maybe it has to do with the places/channels/schedules they can advertise the game on TV.
 
S

Shmuely Bully

Member
BeatResetsTheWorld said:
Yeah, but my point is I doubt any parents give a shit about a T rating. It's literally the same as PG-13 nowadays, and I strongly doubt many parents see that as "too mature" for kids. They're more likely to base it on what they know about it (that it's Nintendo and colorful) than that it has a T on it
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It's not the equivalent of a PG13, or at least it isn't necessarily equivalent. The line between PG-13 and R movies can be pretty narrow and based more on the quantity rather than the quality of the material (e.g. certain forms of nudity are permissible in PG-13 flicks IIRC).

You're not going to see full-blown nudity in any game you can buy in stores that I know of and certainly not one marked T. The advertising issue is potentially problematic, but who says you can't advertise a T game on Nick or Cartoon Network? That's the first I've heard of something like that and the latter in particular is not only watched by kids.
 
R

RagnarokX

Member
BeatResetsTheWorld said:
Yeah, but my point is I doubt any parents give a shit about a T rating. It's literally the same as PG-13 nowadays, and I strongly doubt many parents see that as "too mature" for kids. They're more likely to base it on what they know about it (that it's Nintendo and colorful) than that it has a T on it
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I agree that most parents don't care; but some do. Maybe enough to be a significant concern to Nintendo. We don't exactly have any figures to go on but Nintendo probably does. My point was that avoiding the T rating is most likely more about being able to advertise more thoroughly. It won't matter if the parent doesn't care about the letter on the box if the kid and the parent never see the game in the first place.
 
B

BeatResetsTheWorld

Banned
zruben said:
as some other user pointed out, maybe it has to do with the places/channels/schedules they can advertise the game on TV.
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Ehh, doubtful. The Legend of Korra is rated T and if Nick can show commercials for it, then CN definitely can (I think we can all agree CN is lest strict than Nick is)

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/synopsis.jsp?Certificate=33610&Title=The%20Legend%20of%20Korra™&searchkeyword=legend%20of%20korra

This is why I contend it has to do with avoiding some of the vague sexual content descriptors more than anything
 
Z

zruben

Banned
BeatResetsTheWorld said:
Ehh, doubtful. The Legend of Korra is rated T and if Nick can show commercials for it, then CN definitely can (I think we can all agree CN is lest strict than Nick is)

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/synopsis.jsp?Certificate=33610&Title=The%20Legend%20of%20Korra™&searchkeyword=legend%20of%20korra

This is why I contend it has to do with avoiding some of the vague sexual content descriptors more than anything
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well, but Legend of Korra is a Nick production, they can advertise it however they want in their own channel.

Nintendo don't have that kind of control in CN, Nick, Disney Channel, etc...
again, this is just speculation, but it sounds reasonable to me.
 
S

SA Louisgod

Banned
Shmuely Bully said:
I'm sincerely of the belief that a T rating has an effectively nil result on sales figures of a game, both since fewer people pay attention to games ratings than movie ratings in my experience, and since there are no restrictions on sales like there are with tickets for R-rated movies for instance.

Thanks for the deliberate misrepresentation of my view and character assassination though, assuming any or all of that was directed towards me. I've already stated I don't particularly care here, but don't let that stop your self-righteous pronouncements.
Click to expand...

you are welcome, and glad to know you are just basing your ideas of how ratings affect business and revenue on some sort of unsubstantiated belief. Here, I created a basic questionnaire to help with this:

1. Is the company Nintendo, a historically conservative company when it comes to mitigating controversy by trying to appeal to all demographics by making games everybody can enjoy without weird sexual undertones?
2. If yes, is it possible that a game's rating may affect or potentially have an effect on the game's sales, regardless of how minute?

Personally, if I were Nintendo, I don't think I'd risk any potential loss of revenue from something as stupid as a rating but what do I know
 
S

Shmuely Bully

Member
SA Louisgod said:
you are welcome, and glad to know you are just basing your ideas of how ratings affect business and revenue on some sort of unsubstantiated belief. Here, I created a basic questionnaire to help with this:

1. Is the company Nintendo, a historically conservative company when it comes to mitigating controversy by trying to appeal to all demographics by making games everybody can enjoy without weird sexual undertones?
2. If yes, is it possible that a game's rating may affect or potentially have an effect on the game's sales, regardless of how minute?

Personally, if I were Nintendo, I don't think I'd risk any potential loss of revenue from something as stupid as a rating but what do I know
Click to expand...

The whole thing that makes it sad and amusing to me is that Nintendo is so ridiculously conservative as a company here, but doesn't mind throwing caution to the wind in other areas in a seemingly much less calculated manner.

This same company that is so afraid of a T rating also released the NES Satellite, Virtualboy, Gameboy Camera, 64DD, and Wii U on the more 'What were they thinking?' side of things. They've had a number that turned out well too, but things like this make their corporate culture seem eccentric almost to the point of self-parody.
 
M

Marcel

Member
Shmuely Bully said:
The whole thing that makes it sad and amusing to me is that Nintendo is so ridiculously conservative as a company here, but doesn't mind throwing caution to the wind in other areas in a seemingly much less calculated manner.

This same company that is so afraid of a T rating also released the NES Satellite, Virtualboy, Gameboy Camera, 64DD, and Wii U on the more 'What were they thinking?' side of things. They've had a number that turned out well too, but things like this make their corporate culture seem eccentric almost to the point of self-parody.
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I don't see how the exclusion of Ms. Tharja Buttcheeks is comparable to any of those consumer product things you mentioned. You're really grasping now.
 
M

Marcel

Member
Shmuely Bully said:
Simple. Nintendo is worried about minor almost-nothings like this (assuming the OP's premise is correct), but doesn't mind taking enormously larger risks in other areas.

It's inconsistent.
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Things left on the cutting room floor happens all the time. The NintendoLife article even says the potential reasons are "unconfirmed speculation". Like I said, you're just poorly connecting topics that have no real bearing on this discussion. The Virtual Boy being a thing that happened is not connected to Tharja's butt. Period. I'm not even sure why another human being has to tell you this.
 
T

TheBaronOfNA

Banned
Dudes, I like Tharja... but the reason why is not there has little to do with Social Justice and more with Nintendo trying to appeal everyone with his premier franchise.
 
S

SA Louisgod

Banned
Shmuely Bully said:
The whole thing that makes it sad and amusing to me is that Nintendo is so ridiculously conservative as a company here, but doesn't mind throwing caution to the wind in other areas in a seemingly much less calculated manner.

This same company that is so afraid of a T rating also released the NES Satellite, Virtualboy, Gameboy Camera, 64DD, and Wii U on the more 'What were they thinking?' side of things. They've had a number that turned out well too, but things like this make their corporate culture seem eccentric almost to the point of self-parody.
Click to expand...

Are you comparing an anime character's ass to hardware releases that literally take years of R&D, testing, QA, production contracts and marketing to release and then calling them eccentric and a self-parody? Is so, that's Really Cool and I love it
 
I

Izcarielo

Banned
Zonic said:
ESRB almost never plays the game. Companies have to send them a video with gameplay & such in order for the ESRB to decide what rating to give the game based on the content the company has shown them. You can read a more detailed explanation here on the ESRB's site.

& I doubt I'll get an actual answer from Nintendo (expecting "we don't comment on rumors"), but figured it was worth a shot to ask them about this.
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And did Nintendo have to send them specifically a gameplay showing them that trophy?
I mean, they could have showed them another one or just some random battle and thats that.
Its like they wanted the ESRB to tell them to remove it in order to get the desired rating.
 
D

Deleted member 13876

Unconfirmed Member
Izcarielo said:
And did Nintendo have to send them specifically a gameplay showing them that trophy?
I mean, they could have showed them another one or just some random battle and thats that.
Its like they wanted the ESRB to tell them to remove it in order to get the desired rating.
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That, or the standard operating practice is to send them everything that could be deemed risky lest they get in trouble later on.
 
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