Metroid Prime Trilogy 'damn'-ed by silly censorship
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Aug 31st 2009 at 7:00PM }
In the video after the break, which appears to be authentic, an innocent "damn" found in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was altered to a "no." We'll be gosh darned if that ain't the most golly gee willikers silly-faced thing we'd ever done seen. We're following up with Nintendo and Retro Studios to find out the reason for the change.
[Via Go Nintendo]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nathan-DTS [Anti-Planeteer - Power of Anti-ness] @ Aug 31st 2009 7:06PM
Nintendo must think ALL their target audience are about 4.
Shoyz @ Aug 31st 2009 7:07PM
I never thought Sonic the Hedgehog was more mature than Metroid Prime, and Shadow said Damn every 5 seconds in his game.
Pikalover @ Aug 31st 2009 8:37PM
THIS.
My mom makes my brother turn the volume down whenever he's playing Shadow the Hedgehog cause he swears every. Single. Time. He gets hit with something. It's ridiculous.
If Sega can get away with doing that, Nintendo should at least be able to let one little minor swear word in. Geez, it's not even that bad of a swear word.
Snake Robot Podium @ Sep 1st 2009 11:15AM
Lol, I had to go through the same in No More Heroes. Fuckhead! Fuckhead! Fuckhead!
wii60dsgamer @ Aug 31st 2009 7:08PM
DAMN!
I mean, NO!
Reuben @ Aug 31st 2009 7:14PM
Metroid Prime and its two sequels are all rated T, when last I checked meant Teen.
I think they can handle a "damn" here and there.
Snake Robot Podium @ Sep 1st 2009 11:19AM
Even the ESRB doesn't care. The website says "Animated Blood, Violence".
I think the tag would have been "Mild Lyrics", at most.
pasta @ Aug 31st 2009 7:18PM
Well I'll be no'd
Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 1st 2009 2:12PM
That's all the funnier with the Steven Seagal avie....
CBAkiba25 @ Aug 31st 2009 7:24PM
Bit bummed they took it out. We're mature, right? Then again, as long as it doesn't ruin the gameplay, then I'm good!
Hoopla @ Aug 31st 2009 7:38PM
It's not that they are censoring The trilogy, it's that the Trilogy uses the PAL versions of each game, witch we're censeored from the beggining.
MRLN the Amazing @ Aug 31st 2009 7:44PM
They didn't even bother to put the "No" text in.
Are we upset because we feel Nintendo is not respecting the type of gamer that will be playing this?
Hardy @ Aug 31st 2009 7:46PM
God No'it! Why does NIntendo have to do these stupid no things.
.... no...
nintendo1889 @ Aug 31st 2009 7:48PM
Well, all swearing is is a lack of proper vocabulary; I use to have a REALLY bad habit of doing it when I was a teenager. I mean, sure some may use it as an excuse to "express" oneself, but in the end, you make yourself look like a retard. Take the f-word, for example, that has got to be the dumbest word to use. That and the c-word; thank goodness no game has ever use THAT one. My point is, who cares if they took it out? Megaman 7 had that word, and so did Breath of Fire 2. Final Fantasy games, one the other hand, are victims of unnecessary censorship (mostly) such as "Holy" to "Pearl", "Priest" to "Healer" or something stupid like that. Final Fantasy V (PSX version, 1999), NEVER had censorship in it's graphics (such as some of the boss sprites), but Final Fantasy III (US) did. Gee, I wonder why? Sure, I'm going on a rant, but so what? Censorship can be good or bad.
Reuben @ Aug 31st 2009 7:52PM
If this is censorship, and a reader above me broached the point that it may not be, it certainly has nothing to do with a lack of articulate writers. what it has to with is someone making the decision that the use of that word is inappropriate for the target audience, which should be teen and above.
Reuben @ Aug 31st 2009 7:56PM
To add to my post: I use swear words to express my emotions and when I'm fooling around. I'm also an English Major, so I'm a little put off by you saying it's because of a lack of vocabulary.
S. Tiger @ Aug 31st 2009 8:07PM
Amen, Reuben.
SoshiKitai @ Aug 31st 2009 9:20PM
I think what's sad is that most youngin's these days aren't that creative with their cussing.
Cussing is a form of art that has long been abused and misused. It only limits the vocabulary because they've limited cussing. Be creative with cussing, and you're quite the minstrel.
bongoes (is back) @ Aug 31st 2009 10:30PM
@SoshiKitai
Yeah it's sad at school to hear some kids cursing with no creativity. If you're going to curse throw in big word to confuse people, or at least use them in a combination we haven't heard before.
isotrex @ Aug 31st 2009 8:06PM
LOL. This type of things reminds me of some cartoon episodes like south park and family guy where they talked about censorship or putting some counters on how many "shits" were spoken. ROFL. Well anyway, not that it matters... I thought they cut a scene on this one. And I hoped they didn't. Maybe they should put some flowers gushing out instead of blood on some games. haha. j/k
Again, it's just a minor censorship. But damn... i mean no... that sucks... i mean balls... i mean socks... LMAO. That sucks monkey balls. haha
Snake Robot Podium @ Sep 1st 2009 11:26AM
i remember how big a deal that was at the time, and now I hear "shit" on Comedy Central all the time, though it may be limited to after 10PM.
Mr. Fister @ Aug 31st 2009 8:20PM
That "Damn!" kinda surprised me when I first heard it. I'm not used to hearing or reading curse words in a Nintendo game, even though I've now heard/read them in 3 games (Metroid Prime 3, Hotel Dusk, Mother 3 (most likely due to translation issues)). To be honest, I actually prefer not hearing them in Nintendo games (except for Hotel Dusk). At least one company out there's gotta maintain a family-friendly image (Reggie kicking ass and taking names aside), and it's hard to do that when you've got curse words in your games.
bongoes (is back) @ Aug 31st 2009 10:33PM
Mother 3 was translation issues, I think the fan translators said not many kids would download a ROM and patch it to play the sequel to a game they've most likely never heard of, so they didn't censor.
KaBob799 @ Aug 31st 2009 9:25PM
If you don't need to have swear words in your game then why use them, its just gonna annoy people who don't like hearing them. Unless its necessary for the characters/mood of the game I don't see why it matters.
RoboSheep @ Aug 31st 2009 9:58PM
Excuse me but Why the hell was someone talking in a metroid game in the first place? (It's been years since prime 2 and I'm still pissed)
Covarr @ Aug 31st 2009 10:28PM
1. BIG WHOOP. It does not significantly alter the tone of the game, or even the scene. It's a very minor change.
2. Somebody out there has an overprotective parent who would freak out at damn. This has made their life a lot easier.
chriscanberg @ Aug 31st 2009 10:35PM
Admiral Dane should've just said 'fuck'.
pman1225 @ Aug 31st 2009 11:45PM
I don't give a no that they changed it, but it does seem insignificant. Here I was thinking Nintendo had given this absurd censorship crap up.
Atlantis1982 @ Sep 1st 2009 12:43AM
>.> Damn is hardly a cuss word, more like curse, but the point is was the censorship really that necessary with a T-rating game? its not like it's E-10. -.-
Mayne @ Sep 1st 2009 1:39PM
You know "cuss" and "curse" are pretty much the same thing... "Cuss" is just lazy-tongued slang for "curse". They're synonyms. And "damn" is pretty much the epitome of cursing, seeing as how your are "cursing" something to "damnation"...
But I do hardly think a "damn" was anything for Nintendo to sweat about, no matter what region. Heck, if this is the PAL version anyway, I'm even more surprised.
But at the same time, I don't think it's anything for fans to make a big deal out of either...
jasonahill7-entertainment @ Sep 1st 2009 2:06AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84jTW9FZyW0
What can i say, Sex sells.
BPMOmega [GT,Steam] @ Sep 1st 2009 2:27AM
That's kinda silly and pointless. But not a big deal. I was more interested in the Trilogy for the New Play Control versions of the first two, since I already owned Corruption.
Rocketboy @ Sep 1st 2009 7:31AM
Hell, it even changes the meaning of the damn sentence.
Damn.
Mr Khan @ Sep 1st 2009 12:20PM
I love how everyone jumps to the assumption that this is Nintendo's doing. The word in question was unnecessary for the tone of the scene, so maybe Retro thought it would go better otherwise. They do consider Trilogy to be their "ultimate director's cut" as it were.
TX2 @ Sep 1st 2009 1:20PM
Well, we can't have any implications that the Metroid world has any gods they can damn things at, now can we.
Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 1st 2009 2:13PM
Well now I feel that this week's Joyswag contest is a little lacking.
I demand vulgarity with my Metroid!