[DoctorEldritch]

Originally Posted by GoLLuM13

@DoctorEldritch there were stuff in a Call of Duty, a Tekken and Resident Evil 4 where they used stuff from Quran and disrespected it, and each company changed the problematic object with apologies after the offended community did some noise.

Oh yeah! I did not know about Tekken or Resident Evil 4, but when you mentioned Call of Duty I remembered that there was a story around it in Russia when they released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It has a mission called "No Russian" where you are a CIA agent and need to pretend to be an undercover agent in an airport, and there is an option to harm civilians.

But the story about it was more comical than controversial. A certain politician complained publically about the game feeling angry that it gives you an option to harm civilians in the Russian airport, claiming it was his underage son who showed the game to him, and asking for all the game profits to be confiscated from the Russian distributor.

But the funny thing is, Activision did not release that version of the game on consoles (because you can't cut out content on consoles) in Russia, and the PC version of the game had that mission removed. So the only way to see that content was to download it illegally. And the game was marketed for mature audiences, so the underage son should not have had it for that reason as well.

It did not receive much attention given how ridiculous the whole situation was, and the only thing the politician managed to achieve was to incriminate his son in 2 crimes. Goes to show how some politicians are sometimes quick to wage war on games without looking into the matter at least a little bit.

As for the Sonic, well, it has since become a meme. They even joke about it now, I remember Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers taking a go at him two years ago:

[DoctorEldritch]

Originally Posted by ramax

@DoctorEldritch I agree with what you say, Ubisoft won't be cancelling the game. But it would be nice if they could correct their scenario to avoid losing the Japanese public.

I am not sure even that is possible at this point. They'd have to redo quests and make new recordings and all. The situation with CoD I mentioned was ridiculous, but I am more sympathetic to the Japanese gamer's plight. And Japan is known to preserve their culture, so it is understandable how they would be upset if some misrepresenting game would undermine those efforts.

Then again, I never considered Assassin's Creed as a series that was historically accurate in the first place. What did you think about how they did Unity, for example? That's closer to home for you, can you relate to what Japanese gamers are feeling?

[DoctorEldritch]

Originally Posted by DracoTarot

@DoctorEldritch Sometimes I think developers don't think things through and the deadlines to release the games are leading up to some mistakes.

cough-Cyberpunk 2077-cough 😉

Originally Posted by DracoTarot

If the game has some sort of historical theme or is based on a specific culture or even religion they need to validate the script before putting it out there. I know of so many games, movies and series which failed due to this.

I think that here it may come down to the developer team. There are good indie games that are made by teams belonging to and passionate about their cultures like Tchia. But Ubisoft is a game-stamping behemoth made of, as they let us know in every AC game, "a multicultural team of various beliefs, sexual orientations and gender identities". Not sure if that ensures a deeper understanding of individual cultures.

[DoctorEldritch]

For @ramax, @DracoTarot and @GoLLuM13, it seems that the whole situation may not be swept under a carpet and may be gaining steam. There was that whole situation with Ubisoft using flags without permission, but now fans and industry workers compiled a whole dossier for the game and how it is inaccurate. For those who enjoy games about Japan ( @ZaidH and @Saka, maybe you 😉) it may be an interesting read. Here is a link.

So now even if, as @ramax said, Ubisoft may not cancel the game for Japan, the Japanese parliament may end up doing it for them and ban it in Japan, if the game receives enough public scrutiny there, it may happen. That'd be an interesting precedent.

[ZaidH]

Nioh is a game that comes to mind with a similar 'foreigner arriving in Japan' plot. The game's protagonist, William, is claimed to be a samurai. I think this game escaped scrutiny because it leaned heavily on the fictional aspect. It's important to note that the development team for this game was Japanese, so the developers themselves likely found the foreigner aspect interesting and something that the Japanese people will probably enjoy.

Ubisoft, on the other hand, seems to have shot themselves in the foot by reiterating Yasuke as the 'legendary historical samurai.' In the end, though, I think the game will be released in Japan without any major changes. All this media hubbub will just act as marketing for the game and increase its sales 😶

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH I think you're right about the fictional aspect. And the way Team Ninja did it is indeed different enough from what Ubisoft did. But also, Nioh, a decent game though it is, is somewhat niche, like the Yakuza series. Or maybe "niche" is not the best word, I mean, not as mainstream. Assassin's Creed, on the other hand, is a behemoth of a franchise with a much wider reach, so historical inaccuracies in it will make their way to more people, which is a cause for concern. Of course, AC has long since abandoned most attempts at historical realism anyway, but it sometimes pretends that it did not.

I am not sure, games being banned in Japan is not entirely unprecedented. Both 2008's Dead Space and the more recent Callisto Protocol were not released there because they did not pass Japan's CERO rating system. Granted, in those cases, it was because of graphic gore in those games, but still. Given how cautious Japan is in preserving its historical heritage (the policy I personally like), it is not entirely impossible that, if the story gains enough public resonance, CERO may include categories for historical accuracy for the games that claim to represent history. I mean, CERO has a bit about language and ideology, so it is not entirely impossible. Improbable though, yes.

[ZaidH]

I wonder how well the AC games sell in Japan 🤔 I recently read an article (unsure about its credibility) claiming that many critics of the game and petition participants are not Japanese. It's a problem when both the devs and the fans are in the wrong (imo) 😅

While I have no zero knowledge of this, I'd assume that niche games like Nioh are closely scrutinized by CERO not for their sales but because they're developed by a Japanese team. I fully support the inclusion of a historical accuracy category, but I hope it doesn't hinder games aiming for a creative fictional historical narrative.

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Hard to say. I read somewhere once (also not sure about credibility) that Ubisoft once claimed that they lost 95% of PC revenue to piracy. Which is...not impossible, but seems exaggerated. Piracy is certainly a problem, but those 95% is a bit... 😅

Technically, you do not need to be Japanese to spot historical inaccuracies. Of course, if those are in your own culture, that adds a dimension to the criticism, but even if not, there is a simple discrepancy of the "fiction vs. historical fact" argument, and that is without borders.

I am not sure, CERO is there mainly to protect minors from inappropriate material. Like PEGI counterpart. I am not sure they would put pressure on domestic teams more than foreign ones.

As for historical accuracy, I'd say it should only apply when the game claims to represent history, or actively uses real historical figures and events. If the game clearly claims it is more fictional in nature, then it should be fine.

Same as with movies or books: there are movies that claim to be historic, and then they have a bunch of experts and fans scrutinise them afterwards with claims that "in that era, that uniform had 3 buttons on its sleeves, not 2 like in the movie" or "the colours of that flag were of a different tone because paint production was not as advanced" and the like. Which, IMO, is all valid: if you claim to be a historical movie, do the work and research. But if you go the fictional route and do a homage to existing historic figures or societies, then do what you like.

[ZaidH]

Yikes, maybe this is why they have the Ubisoft+ subscription 😨 Inb4 Ubisoft made up these numbers to scare Vivendi and prevent the hostile takeover 😆

Oh definitely, anyone with legit access to these historical writings can contribute to this situation. Though based on that article I read, I was imagining a scenario where the Japanese people aren't too bothered about this, but the international fans are enraged on their behalf 😅 With so much misinformation out there though, the only thing I can say was a botch, was Ubisoft's marketing.

😂😂😂
Kinda funny that they actually get the "three buttons on the sleeve" part right sometimes (the reconstruction of the Notre-Dame cathedral for example).The marketing and writing team, however, are following the "based on a real story!" strategy used by horror movies 😂