SCII Censored in South Korea

Earlier this year Korea issued an AO rating for StarCraft 2. Fearing it would put a damper on the sales figures (which it probably would), Blizzard is recoloring blood and removing some foul language for the SK version to lower the rating.

Still up in the air whether both versions will be available in South Korea or just the censored one.

How do you think this effects international tournaments held in SK?

garfi3ld wrote:

I wouldn't have a problem with having the edited version here honestly.

I don't know, game-play wise it wouldn't have much of an effect, but it would still be interesting to see which version they used in sanctions. For the campaign though, I'd rather have what the writers originally intended. Besides, censoring often creates an opportunity for cheesy dialogue, though you could probably argue that for both.

I guess that's why we should be happy to live in the land of the free (at least for now)

I wonder if they have ratings like we do here, that's how the video game makers can do what they want, they just have to rate it for a more mature audience. I know it only works as good as the people buying the games for their kids, but it's something...

I don't think they have an ESRB, but they have a 'board' that decides these kind of things. For some reason, I get the feeling they make the ESRB look lenient.

The ratings are also only as good as the employees that enforce them. We were required at GameStop to card every single person who bought an M+ game, regardless of how old they looked. Whether that happened everytime, well, you can only imagine. We were also supposed to pitch a subscription, talk up upcoming focus titles for reserve, try to sell a game player's guarantee, mention trades and ask if they had any, remind them about the return policy, and try to upsell attachments. Thank god that doesn't happen on every transaction either.

I agree. It's like smoking and drinking, unless you eliminate it, kids will get their hands out it. Guess that's what Korea is going, eliminting it...

I think they have far more concerns then the which version to get when the whole Gaming Ring there were setups and people where intentionally loosing to take a cut from the pay outs. I've heard a lot of top tier Korean players have come forward and retired from the gaming circuit. Now that is some serious business.

Is there any form of intercourse in the game? Nudity? Severe drug use? I haven't played ever, but it's an RTS, I didn't think anything would be bad in it. SK is supposed to be democratic (I think), so this sounds like some aim to kill the game there, and affect it around the world.

I don't think its anything THAT vulgar, just some profanity and obviously by the cover art, tobacco use. I think Stim Paks were once considered illegal drugs too...

Either way, democracy or not you dip into a debate of censorship that rages even in the US

To put it simply, unless there is Zerg version of Hot Coffee (ew), there is no reason for it to be Adult in any rating. Teen games are allowed some vulgarity and drugs maybe. There are much worse things. Like street racing games, titled "illegal" street racing in some cases, which teens under 16 can play. Little 10 year old Jimmy steals a car and drives down the highway, politicians blame GTA. Jimmy picks up a cigarette or curses, politicians blame SC2. But no one will ever blame the parents for smoking or cursing. It's just people being ignorant, that's exactly what censorship is.

Ironic you should mention GTA...

"Here's a refreshing, if predictable dose of common sense from developers Rockstar, telling the BBC that anyone buying on of their games - like Grand Theft Auto, or Red Dead Redemption - is a "terrible parent".

"Our games are not designed for young people", Rockstar's Lazlow Jones tells the Beeb. "If you're a parent and buy one of our games for your child you're a terrible parent. We design games for adults because we're adults. There's a lot of kids games out there that we're not interested in playing. Just like you enjoy watching movies and TV shows with adult themes and language and violence that's the kind of thing we seek to produce."

kotaku.com/5545071/buy-a-rockstar-game-f...re-a-terrible-parent

Which, by the way, I have to point out:

...that anyone buying on of their games - like Grand Theft Auto...

Would you say Kotaku is a major, professional website? Probably have at least one paid, dedicated proof reader? Guess no one is perfect.

the gawker sites are great, but they put thier stuff out pretty quickly and as far as i know the writers are responsible for thier own checking. and i gurantee you that theyve been called to task for thier mispelling lol

technobear wrote:

the gawker sites are great, but they put thier stuff out pretty quickly and as far as i know the writers are responsible for thier own checking. and i gurantee you that theyve been called to task for thier mispelling lol

For the most part, they do post very quickly. But with feature articles and reviews, they have a larger window since it isn't breaking news. And author's being responsible for their work is no different than what we have here, and in fact we've got two dedicated editors who have been doing a great job proofing our work.

My little point I had to bring up is that everyone has typo's, and they're generally understandable. That typo was fixed quickly, no doubt because many many readers emailed him to bring it to his attention, which is no more than we ask.

To put the topic back on the tracks, GTA is a good example of mature content that should be kept from young minds, though I think Jones may have taken it a little far in his statement. But I agree with Leon; I have a hard time relating SC2 to that level.