Nintendo Addresses Censorship Controversy Over Black Boxes in Switch Game
Nintendo has addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding enforced censorship in the game Dispatch for the Switch platform. The issue arose when it was found that the Nintendo Switch version of Dispatch had its ‘Visual Censorship’ setting activated by default, preventing players from toggling it on or off, unlike versions on other platforms.
Nintendo’s Response to the Censorship Debate
The developers at AdHoc Studio acknowledged the platform-specific adjustments made to Dispatch, citing various content criteria across different gaming platforms. They stated that working with Nintendo was essential for compliance.
A Nintendo spokesperson confirmed that all games must adhere to guidelines provided by independent rating organizations. Furthermore, they clarified, “Nintendo requires all games on its platforms to receive ratings and meet our established content and platform guidelines.” This indicates that Nintendo flags titles not meeting their standards but does not alter the content itself.
Details about Dispatch’s Censorship Features
- Dispatch is a workplace comedy game with superhero characters.
- The game features adult humor and scenes depicting full frontal male and female nudity.
- The censorship modifies nudity with black boxes and mutes sexual sounds.
- Offensive gestures, such as characters flipping the bird, are also obscured.
The online gaming community has actively discussed this censorship, highlighting discrepancies with other Switch titles featuring nudity, such as The Witcher 3. Fans have also raised questions about the Japanese version of Cyberpunk 2077, which was altered to exclude nudity and violent content, suggesting that the Japanese ratings board CERO might have influenced the decision regarding Dispatch.
The developers now face a choice: create a distinct version specifically for Japan or apply uniform censorship globally. As of now, without further comments from either Nintendo or AdHoc Studio, this remains mere speculation.
