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Since May 2014 (which was the year that we launched our homepage) we have been covering censorship in the games industry, and it´s been one hell of a ride with I have to say. As the censorship madness has just gotten worse and worse over the years, and I think it´s safe to say that “Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors” is a perfect example of that. Because as you might remember, I´ve written two posts about CG2 and its censorship in the West just recently (“NIS America appears to have censored half of the motivation images for Criminal Girls 2” and “Criminal Girls 2 gets censored in the West – A take on Nis America´s CG2 post“). Well, for once I actually have some good news to share when it comes to censorship in the world of games.

Tons of respect and props to Censored Gaming for doing this.

You see. Censored Gaming has kicked-off a petition for an uncensored Steam version of “Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors” via change.org:

“The dungeon crawling RPG Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors has had various alterations made to its PlayStation Vita release, due to advice from the ESRB that, without edits, the title would be likely to receive an Adults Only rating. These changes include the censorship of more than half of the Motivation artwork and the removal of all Motivation voices. Steam titles do not require ESRB ratings, which makes an uncensored release of the upcoming Steam port a possibility. However, the publisher NIS America has previously stated that releasing unrated games goes against company policy. Despite their current company policy, Prinny Supervisor, a localisation team member from NIS America’s official forum, has expressed interest in gauging fan demand for an uncensored release. They have specifically mentioned petitions, rather than forum comments, as the kind on quantitative data that they want to see, and have explicitly stated that there is still hope for an uncensored release” – Censored Gaming, via change.org

release criminal girls 2 party favors uncensored on steam

Will NIS America care though?

That´s a really great thing with no doubt. However, it´s a totally different story if NIS America will pay any attention at all to Censored Gaming´s CG2 petition. Nevertheless, I still think that it was a good call by Censored Gaming. As games on Steam don´t require ESRB ratings, and that means that NIS America could indeed release the uncensored version of CG2 via Steam if they wanted to (if the demand is high enough for a PC-version of that kind). I mean, Degica Games listened to their fans in the case with “Eternal Destiny” (players can now choice to play the game 100% uncensored). So it shouldn´t be impossible for NIS America to do the very same thing. Especially not since their own forum users and fans really wants to see an uncensored CG2 Steam release.

criminal girls 2 nis america four changes

“Criminal Girls 2” is heavily censored in the West.

I am of course aware that this is just a compromise solution, and not a “real” solution to the censorship of games in the West. Even so, I still think that this is a better option than importing games directly from Japan. As it´s expensive, time demanding and in most cases, it also requires that you understand Japanese fluently (my Japanese is very bad at the moment, so it´s always the last option for me). Nevertheless, I still admire and respect Censored Gaming´s CG2 petition initiative. As the petition works as a light in a games industry that´s too heavily censored for its own good.

And with that said, what´s your take on this matter? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section down below!

Credit:
Censored Gaming

Sources:
NIS America´s forum
Criminal Girls 2 on Change.org
Censored Gaming

***Disclaimer***
This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.

Robin “V-Act” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround