My Thoughts: How Mr. Satan Became Hercule

Watch the Video

Dragon Ball Z is one of my all-time favorite shows. The first time I saw it was the Ocean dub with its awesome/cringeworthy “Rock the Dragon” opening. So, for a long time, my experience with Dragon Ball was censored. But on the street I started hearing rumors: That the Japanese Dragon Ball was full of violence and cursing, and this captivated my young imagination.

Of course, of all the things you could censor in Dragon Ball Z, the name “Mr. Satan” is odd. You can at least argue that violence could be imitated and people could get hurt, but this is just a name for a gag character.

Enter religion. To many people Satan is not just a religious figure, but a reality, and exposing children to a fun gag character named “Mr. Satan” is a threat not to their bodies but to something far more serious,  their eternal life.  Religion took a name and made it unusable.

Of course, there was no group that protested against a name being appropriated from a Roman god. Why is that? Well, of course most people don’t believe in the Roman Gods and even most Christians regard them as something akin to fairy tales. We still teach or children the basics of Greek and Roman myths for cultural competency and few worry that their children will be converted to classical paganism. And that is the hypocrisy: the decision is not made on an avoidance of any religious references, just those likely to upset a large subset of the population.

Why do sectarian religious views shape localization? Is it because of quantifiable harm? Or is it because certain groups have the numbers to raise a stink? Like so much censorship, the localization of Mr. Satan was driven by a desire to avoid controversy.  A bunch of angry parents writing letters and not letting their children watch the show is bad for business and that is, for many companies, far more important than artistic integrity. That is not likely to change.

What can change however is how companies view the issue. Anime is special in that fans have, and do, raise a stink about these issues, enough to make companies realize they are likely to lose more viewers for putting out a censored version. There is now public pressure to not censor anime. Imagine if people responded to censorship the way they did about EA micro-transactions. Fan demands can translate into improved industry behavior.

In any case I am happy dragon Ball Super, with all its market potential, can air uncensored in the US.

Small victories.

-Gedaemon

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My Thoughts: the Localization of Mario Kart

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 Thanks for reading. If you liked the video and like this editorial, please consider supporting my work on Patreon or Minds and follow me on twitter. Also please continue to support Censored Gaming for the important work they do.  Thanks.

Harvest Moon DS & Quest mechanics

Recently I’ve been playing Harvest Moon DS again. Why? Is it because I am a glutton for punishment?  Is it that it has lots of addicting mechanics? I am not sure. Probably because there is just so much content in the game I haven’t seen yet.

I’ve written about Harvest Moon DS before.  I was unfair then, having just got off of a play through of Harvest Moon 64 I was jaded, but I do think the game piles on needlessly complicated tasks to pad things out. The most egregious example is the quest to rescue the harvest sprites.

At the beginning of the game the harvest sprites and the harvest Goddess disappear, and through doing a variety of random or repetitive tasks, you must recue sixty of the sprites to return the Harvest Goddess to the valley. Until you do this you cannot access large parts of the game.

Quests are an indispensable part of RPG mechanics. Ideally the game gives you a goal, some in game motivation for the goal, and a reward for the player at the end. This reward could be a cut scene, a special item, or if the quest is central part of the game, plot advancement.  But there are several kinds of quests, fun quests with easy to moderate difficulty, or hard, tedious quests meant to satisfy completionist urges.

The great thing about the classic Harvest Moon games is that they are filled with both kinds of quests. As you go about building your farm and starting a life in the country side there are all sorts of weird characters, funny cut scenes and special items you can unlock by completely various tasks.  Some of these quests are obvious. Some you have to think about or just look up, some are just impossible thanks to shoddy programing or localization; something very common in Harvest Moon DS, and 64.  But the problem with the Harvest sprite quest is that it’s both tedious and central to the plot. You have to unlock the sprites or the game wont advance. And the sprites are sealed behind repetitive activities like selling three hundred bottles of milk, or upgrading a tool to max.  What if I don’t want to raise animals? What if I want to turn all my milk into cheese so I can sell at a higher price? Then good luck unlocking a good chunk of the harvest sprites, because your other options are buried behind even more difficult and tedious accomplishments.

This is a pity because there is a lot you can do in this game. It chalked full of content, but before you can access a lot of it it you have to grind, and not just the random mindless grinding of a classic RPG which could be charming it its own way. The easiest way to unlock the harvest sprites is to look at which ones you have, and look up online which you are closest to unlocking, then plan your gameplay around the mechanic.  It should be the other way around, and I think it’s clear they were going for that. Most sprites are unlocked through normal gameplay elements like watering crops or selling stuff. But the numbers involved and the nature of the quests makes this end up backwards. You end up playing the game to fulfill the quest, not fulfilling the quest by playing the game.

So what makes a quest mechanic good? A good quest mechanic is one you want to complete, not just one you have to. A good quest mechanic is fun. Of course this is highly subjective, some people get joy out of fulfilling any quest no matter how out of the way or tedious. That’s fine and I think it is good that so many games have stuff for those people who either love  getting 100% completion or just can’t get enough of an individual game. Nor am I one of those people who believes a game should necessarily be easy or purely about story progression. True, some games are designed that way, and they should minimize mechanics that get in the way of that. There are all sorts of games, but I do question the wisdom of putting a long, tedious quest at the game’s core.  I am sure there is a market for that, but when I pick up an RPG I expect some degree of complicated quests, but I expect the long drawn out ones to be secondary to the gameplay. 

-Gedaemon

Dragon Ball Super Ep. 115 Review: A Fusion of Expectation and Disappointment

That opening, what was I watching?! I’m so confused!

The episode starts right off with Goku’s continuing fight with Kefla. Even in her base state she is able to overwhelm SSG Goku. The animation here gets the point across but it also looks like they were cutting corners.

Watching this Beerus argues that the Potara are against the rules, but of course Zeno-sama likes it to it is allowed.

At the same time Vegeta is distracted by Goku’s fight and ends up getting locked by Toppo. Piccolo and Gohan also have their hands full with the Namekians. Unfortunately we only get a quick peak at either of these fights.

Back with Goku, he’s been forced to transform into SSB. He can‘t hold back against the female fusion, who also powers up to Super Saiyan’s legendary form. The fight begins relatively even, with lots of cycling animation. Kelfa uses an energy ball which forces Goku to go all in with Kaioken. Goku has already drained his power once, and Beerus observes that this will take its toll. However Kefla is also suffering from low stamina. She isn’t used to this kind of power. Goku blows away her next ki attack but she gets him with a surprise kick which knocks him back to base form.  Goku gets back up but he is suffering, however when Kelfa goes to finish him off, his ultra instinct activates and he easily dodges her follow up attacks while hardly moving.

I think the end of this episode was the only point where I felt fully committed. The title gave too much away, and even without that so much of this fight was by the numbers. That’s really a pity, because the ending of the last episode left me stunned, and after the great directing last episode I expected the quality to continue. I was sourly disappointed.

The use of looping animation was super noticeable this time around, and it didn’t help that many of the characters seemed slightly off, kind of like in early episodes of Super. Considering the importance of Goku once again reaching ultra instinct and the fact that Caulifla and Kale are popular but somewhat controversial, you would think they would be going all out for this one. Instead we have a slightly below average episode with a good ending.

It is somewhat predictable that Kefla will be the antagonist that will give Goku the insights he needs to face Jiren again, at least that is what I think is going to happen. But that is no excuse for lazy artwork or storytelling. We came into this knowing Goku is the hero. It’s all about the delivery

As for the next episode, I hope it makes up for this one, but I am not holding my breath.

-Gedaemon

The Localization of Super Mario Kart: My Thoughts

Watch the Video  

Like many children in 1992 I played Super Mario Kart. It was an amazing game, with great graphics and fun, addictive gameplay.  And while it’s been awhile since I played it or any of the sequels honestly think the original looks more enjoyable than many of them.  I wonder if my childhood would have been ruined by Japanese text and Peach drinking champagne?

There is an unwillingness among some to admit what the market is for console gaming. While many if not most children continue to play videogames, adult gamers, who play games from old style Mario to The Evil Within 2, have outnumbered them. This denial of reality is perhaps even more pronounced among regulators, who continue to hold a perspective towards video games from the 80’s and 90’s: that these are children’s games rather than works of art and that they should be treated, and regulated as such.

Adults, and even teenagers to some extent, are capable of understanding the difference between fiction and reality and understanding what it means to view a product of a different culture.  They do not require the constant handholding and protection of authority figures.

Looking back, the minor changes to things like the victory animations might seem tertiary and innocuous, but it is from such humble beginnings that we get arrive at the state of localization today, where cultural sensitivity and ratings are considered just as, if not more important than accurately translating the game. I doubt the industry will ever put artistic integrity over profit, but there can be shifts in which courses of action are perceived as profitable. If gamers demand properly translated games then developers will respond.

As for the various adjustments to art and improvements to the menu, I hold a different view. if game developers want to improve memory or adjust distorted art then that makes some sense, particularly early in a game’s life cycle. While some might object to art touch ups at all, games are an interactive experience and art upgrades can enhance this, provided they are in keeping with the creator’s intent.

Writing about the localization of these old games in interesting.  The changes are often very straightforward, and simple. It’s easy to see how the same principles that went into editing these games express themselves in bigger projects. And I enjoy getting the word out to people that these kinds of things are happening

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Thanks for reading. If you liked the video and like this editorial, please consider supporting my work on Patreon or Minds and follow me on twitter. Also please continue to support Censored Gaming for the important work they do.  Thanks.

-Gedaemon

South Park: Cartman & Heidi Explained!

Cartman and Heidi’s relationship is one of the oddest things I’ve seen from South Park in a while. Why would the sociopathic Eric Cartman want to be in a relationship? And why would anyone who knows his reputation get in a relationship with him under any circumstances?

Cartman and Heidi first started going out in season twenty. Both had left social media, Heidi because she was being harassed, and Cartman because the other boys destroyed all his electronics. They both ended up as exiles in the community, and start building a relationship. Cartman had adopted a “feminist” persona for the season in yet another attempt to coopt a movement and deflect criticism from himself. He quickly adopts the opinion that Heidi is the smartest and funniest person ever and any attempts to disagree or direct the conversation elsewhere resulted in Eric leveling personal attacks on the person in question.

Naturally this did not last as Eric developed a paranoid fear that Heidi would discover his internet history and put him in a semen farm on Mars. This never happens of course, and they stayed together. Though now Cartman secretly resented his girlfriend. Heidi and Cartman had somehow settled into a normal but unhappy relationship.

What Cartman gets out of the relationship becomes obvious by season twenty one: it’s all about him. He uses Heidi when it’s convenient but otherwise tries to break up with her. Cartman finds spending time with Heidi a living hell. He is unhappy with having to wait for her to get ready and discuss his feelings. But he is so self-centered he cannot bear the thought of breaking up with her. So instead he plots to kill her or drive her away.  When she does break up with him he can’t stand being rebuffed, so he begs Heidi to get back together with him.

But what does Heidi get out of the relationship? We finally got that answer in the last episode. She was in a bad place after leaving social media and Eric told her what she wanted to hear. She grew dependent on him and kept rationalizing his many negative traits.

This last episode Heidi once again broke up with Cartman. What does Cartman do? he went back to acting out, but once he learns that Heidi is now with Kyle he launched into an anti-Semitic fantasy which sees him and Heidi as the victims of Kyle’s machinations.

Alas, despite it being what’s best for both of them they get back together. After Heidi endured a round of humiliation from her girlfriends making fun of her relationship with Cartman, she ended up going back to Cartman. He told her it’s not her fault, He essentially poisons her with his anti-Semitic perspective, and convinced her everything is Kyle’s fault, and they end up back together.

So we see what is really at the root of their relationship: A denial of personal responsibility. Cartman is unwilling to face his selfish behavior, and Heidi is unwilling to face her bad decision in hooking up with him, so she instead buys into Cartman’s absurd world view rather than face the truth.

Cartman and Heidi have been hit and miss comedically, but this is actually a brilliant story arc that has finally paid off. South Park has long skewered people for denying responsibility and refusing to face truths that make them uncomfortable. Reading the reviews the next day it seemed many people were uncomfortable with such a dark ending. But this is important because we see both of them faced with the consequences of their actions, and unfortunately for the victim Heidi, the consequences are much worse. Of course, there is the political parallel they were drawing, which I didn’t factor in because I wanted to look at their relationship as a standalone arc. In any case I am satisfied with what they have done with the relationship so far and I want to see if they continue to peruse it.

-Gedaemon