Something to share: Source Gaming published an article pointing out Sakurai's comments on Japan's CERO ratings and censorship in Famitsu from 2012. Here's the full excerpt provided:
Famitsu wrote:
Interviewer: As I understand it, CERO gave [Kid Icarus: Uprising] a B rating because of the sequence where Hydra’s heads get chopped off. I have to say, though, I couldn’t believe that of all things was the deciding factor.
Sakurai: It’s pretty strange, I know.
Interviewer: Seems a little oversensitive to me.
Sakurai: One of the first things they say in overseas ratings reviews is “no guns”—that I can understand. But in Japan, they immediately ask “could you show us all the female characters upside-down?”
Interviewer: Well, that’s, uh… Are they checking for panty shots?
Sakurai: Precisely. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U almost didn’t make its scheduled release date because of ratings issues. We had to revise Palutena and Wonder PANK’s models over and over again.
Interviewer: All because you might be able to see up their skirts? Seriously?
Sakurai: We had Palutena wearing shorts and made the inside of Wonder PANK’s skirt too dark to see anything. Nevertheless, CERO told us the designs were “sexually provocative.” They were being ridiculous and frankly quite juvenile.
Interviewer: Some players take great sport in finding that sort of suggestive material even where it doesn’t exist—they see what they want to see. In that sense, it seems like an exercise in futility for ratings boards to determine what is and isn’t “sexual.”
Sakurai: Underwear is just a piece of fabric. If you’re more worried about something trivial like whether you can see some cloth than whether a game includes firearms, you clearly ought to get your priorities in order.
Interviewer: Wakame-chan [from “Sazae-san”] always has her underwear showing. What rating would CERO give to “Sazae-san”?
Sakurai: Probably a B. (laughs)
Interviewer: And it sounds like that won’t change any time soon.
And the followup by SG (note: PushDustIn is the one who found the Famitsu excerpt, RandomTalkingBush is a hacker who has knowledge of Wii U file decrypting and such)
SourceGaming wrote:
After reading this over, PushDustIn contacted RandomTalkingBush on Twitter, and discovered that there was updated files for Wonder PANK’s trophy and Palutena in the Japanese version. Here’s what RandomTalkingBush found, and what he had to say:
The changes are only present in the Japanese version.
They darkened Palutena’s shorts and skirt to decrease visibility. They also extended the length of her shorts and added a little fabric to her skirt.
The team only adjusted the VBN files for Wonder PANK’s trophy, which only affect “effect planes” (no render currently available).
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