Karadalis said:
NPC009 said:
Karadalis said:
Soooooo... where are the outcries of "cultural apropiation" and "white washing"?
Oh right... censorship is okay when the perpetual outraged give it their thumbs up so i guess cutting away more options/content wont matter anymore... the game has allready been cut to toe the party line anyways...
The more and more i read about this game the less and less enticing does it get, because of stupid US insecurities means that we in the EU get the trashed handmedowns.
So, eh, you do know that's very common in many countries, including Japan, to dub American movies and not show subtitled versions in theatres? How is this different?
Oh i know that, im from germany, we dub everything... our "version" of Arnold Schwarzenegger actually has an intimidating voice.. go figure.
That wasnt the point i tried to make however.
Point is usually the league of social justice warriors will jump into action imidiantly and cry "cultural apropiation" as soon as something from another culture is used/changed to fit another culture.. you know.. cultural apropiation? Like white people eating mexican food! Or dressing up as native americans for halloween! Highly problematic i tell ye...
That is not what cultural appropriation is. Cultural appropriation means taking elements from a culture and adding them to your own. This may be as harmless as giving your own twist to foreign foods, or as questionable or even harmful as stripping important objects/customs from all context and meaning. For instance, I imagine many Christians will be atleast a little weirded out when they see teenage Japanese girls wearing crosses and rosaries as cool and fashionable accessories.
What Nintendo is doing is exporting entertainment. They are deliberately changing their product (or giving others permission to do so) so that it has a chance of selling outside of Japan. More often than not, games (and anime) are dubbed because the company wants people to have the same experience as Japanese users: a game that's playable in the player's native language. It's not uncommon for Japanese creators to say they'd rather have Americans watch/play their anime/game in English, because they fear part of the anime/game is lost if the viewer/player can't understand it.
However when the thing used/changed initially goes against their narrative its okay to use/change it as long as the outcome fits their narrative. (bravely seconds native american outfit to cowboy outfit change anyone? Cant offend those native americans by using their culture now can we?)
I think you're reading too much into it... And imagining a grand narrative that just isn't there.
There is nothing wrong with being critical towards entertainment or even art. Just because someone created it, does not mean it's sacred. It's perfectly fine to ask if this or that was such a great idea. Sometimes, the creator agrees. Sometimes the creator decides to change it even before someone speaks up, because they realise it was a bad idea in hindsight. In Bravely Second's case, Square Enix gave permission to change that outfit, either by agreeing to such changes beforehand or approving of it during localisation.
See the "controversial" content that was cut from the game, wich was so japanese that to a normal westerner without the context of how japanese culture works makes no fucking sense... but since it offended the twitter/tumbler crowd it was cut... not because of the actual customers.. but those that shit on the customers and could care less about them aslong as the game is scrubbed of any "problematic" content, because they are a very loud annoying bunch and have alot of friends in the gaming press.
Don't you think it's kind of insulting to conflate otaku pandering with Japanese culture as a whole? Even Japanese players thought the petting thing was silly and out of place! And as for actual customers that aren't Japanese, many of the western complaints seem to be coming from longtime fans of the series. You know, people actually buying the games?
I guess "artistic integrity" only counts when the games from a AAA western developer backed by mad cash... *cough*ME3*cough*
You use that word, but I'm not sure you know what it means. Especially not in the context of games. Most games are created by teams of over a dozen people, with a handful of them leaving the biggest mark. Yet even the biggest creative contributors don't always have the final say. For instance: the writer writes, but if the director or producer disagrees with what the writer wrote, the write will probably have to rewrite part of his writing. Heck, the publisher might but in and demand some changes. The final product is only very rarely exactly what the creators envisioned when they started. So, whose or what artistic intergrity are we talking about?
