In Europe and America, Nintendo has decided to remove some of the more revealing costumes from the list of unlockable bonuses in its upcoming Fatal Frame (or Project Zero): Maiden of Black Water.
Naturally I’m not a big fan of this decision. I find censorship, be that for political or commercial reasons, to be a problem for the development and artistry of the arts, and while I fully believe that a game that is exploitative or offensive in some manner should be criticised for that (should the audience have a problem with it), I think it’s important that the material is made available as the artist intended, so that we can have that debate.
Furthermore I am again reminded that of all the very adult content in Fatal Frame – from the horror to the violence, through to the dark themes, it is the “sex” that is determined to be the problem content. To me this game represents a continued trend in the industry whereby we apply a very start double standard in how we interpret sexual content when compared to other adult content.
I am still very (very) much looking forward to the game, but I did feel it was necessary to write about the issue, because for the continued development of games as a creative medium, we do need to break down this double standard.
My good friends at Crikey agreed to publish the piece, which you can read by clicking below. Please do let me know what you think of it!
– Matt S.
Editor-in-Chief
Find me on Twitter: @digitallydownld
