Current Events > Playstation censors LISA definitive for drug/alcohol references

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://serenityforge.com/games/lisa-definitive-edition/content-changes

In a similar vein, a few more changes were made on PlayStation only in order to launch the game on that platform, but we're happy to say that none of them affect the meaning and intent of LISA. For the PlayStation version of LISA, we�ve added a notice about the protagonists at the beginning of the game. Additionally, cigarettes have been renamed to �cigarette candy,� Joy is no longer referred to as �pills,� and alcohol has been renamed as �soda� in Joyful only (characters still drink alcohol in Painful).

https://twitter.com/ZhenghuaYang/status/1681155273015300096

They really don't like indies lol

You are tearing Lisa APART, Sony!

Even JRPGs that release on PS have clear drug and alcohol references so this is freaking weird...

When did Sony become 80s-90s Nintendo?

Bet the next last of us features a scene where the burly troll MC mainlines some fent while giving a tutorial on how to grow and process tobacco

myusernameislame posted...

When did Sony become 80s-90s Nintendo?

That's the weird thing...Chained Echoes, another indie had references to at least smoking...at least Nintendo was consistent, unlike this weird sudden occurrence, this situation is honestly confusing

I'm just wondering if the game was rated M or if they needed it to be changed for a T rating

I feel like there is some missing context here.

But GTA, Red Dead, games like that are all good?

loafy013 posted...

I feel like there is some missing context here.

That's what I'm thinking...

Will_VIIII posted...

I'm just wondering if the game was rated M or if they needed it to be changed for a T rating

Looks like it's M so...yeah

Isn't that the whole point of Lisa is to be harsh.

they also changed the Work Harder song because it used a sample from shenmue and it totally sucks now

i feel bad that a lot of people are going to experience a lame version of lisa as their first time

DrizztLink posted...

You are tearing Lisa APART, Sony!

Thank you.

I've always been saying Playstation is much worse for smaller games.
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/10/another_indie_dev_suggests_sonys_denying_ps_store_sale_requests
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/playstation-buries-smaller-games-unlike-155648051.html

MabusIncarnate posted...

But GTA, Red Dead, games like that are all good?

Galerians was drug-fueled fun.

Alcohol was a go-to option as a mood stabilizer in Indigo Prophecy.

Heavy Rain featured some heavy drug use.

Half of Catherine takes place in a bar.

This is not new. And while Catherine is Atlus, it's not like it's one of the Big Studios (like Capcom or Konami) that are just going to get hand-waved by because of their AAA status.

What a mind-boggling decision.

loafy013 posted...

I feel like there is some missing context here.

The only other context is that one of the playable characters is a minor which is 4kids level shit, except 4kids targeted TV-Y media instead of rated M media.

I suspect the issue is that this is a 2D game made in RPG Maker and featuring a child protagonist, so there's concern over it appealing to kids. Stupid really.

Yeah, Sony fucking hates indie developers

that's fucking dumb

the entire point of LISA is that it's utterly deranged

The weebs were right all along

to clarify, the "soda" and "candy" is only on the easiest difficulty.

that doesn't even matter, i think that's fine actually.

i dont even remember the parts the dev is talking about, it seems you'll still be collecting porn mags and beating people to death with your fists

DnDer posted...

Galerians was drug-fueled fun.

lol that game was nuts. Wild ARMs 4 had a similar dream going on as well but it wasn't the whole game like Galerians.

One of the PCs in heavy rain also snorts drugs.

The whole thing just seems like an exercise in over-the-top edgelording, like Soft & Cuddly.

Questionmarktarius posted...

The whole thing just seems like an exercise in over-the-top edgelording, like Soft & Cuddly.

Soft & Cuddly boxart
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/2/2/AAcLcdAAEqE6.jpg
Soft & Cuddly boxart on Playstation 4/5
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/3/7/AAcLcdAAErw9.jpg

WesternMedia posted...

The only other context is that one of the playable characters is a minor which is 4kids level shit, except 4kids targeted TV-Y media instead of rated M media.

Also when it comes to underage Left Behind actually does have 14 year old Ellie and Riley drinking alcohol onscreen.

https://youtu.be/G4ytn2ZC07w?t=59

First they came for the anime tiddies now they came for the alcohol.

What's next!? Sony deserves to lose against Microsoft

02fran posted...

Also when it comes to underage Left Behind actually does have 14 year old Ellie and Riley drinking alcohol onscreen.

https://youtu.be/G4ytn2ZC07w?t=59

So basically Sony is only okay with it if Sony does it and no one else?

ultimate_reaver posted...

they also changed the Work Harder song because it used a sample from shenmue and it totally sucks now

Those bastards.

I feel like Sony has to be like Steam, where their approval process is entirely arbitrary depending on the sensibilities of the person in charge. There's simply no consistency in anything.

Remember when Sony was indie-friendly?

ultimate_reaver posted...

they also changed the Work Harder song because it used a sample from shenmue and it totally sucks now

i feel bad that a lot of people are going to experience a lame version of lisa as their first time

This is the real crime

Sony only censors indie and weeb games for some reason.

02fran posted...

Also when it comes to underage Left Behind actually does have 14 year old Ellie and Riley drinking alcohol onscreen.

https://youtu.be/G4ytn2ZC07w?t=59

Literally "Rules for thee but not for me".

Turbam posted...

The weebs were right all along

Fucking told you that the holy rays of light Sony employed in anime games would trickle to different forms of censorship, I was laughed at for muh slippery slope, but now we got games where they're censoring violence and drug/alcohol use in M rated games.

More reasons to celebrate on top of Sony's future grave.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Yes, and the main characters in both Lisa The Painful and Joyful are horrible, horrible people, where the protagonist in the former is a violent drug addict who taught his adopted daughter to kill when she was a young age, can blackmail several people so they can join your party (suppose that makes their decision to kill you at the end all the easier), and can potentially put other party members up for Russian Roulette. Joyful has the aforementioned adopted daughter as the protagonist, who is even more violent and unhinged than Brad is, and can slaughter an entire village of pacifists.

Moral of the story: play indies on XBox/Switch/Steam, don't bother with Sony. I don't understand what their motive here is with their unfair standards on indies.

switch remains easily the best console

Its funny how Sony allows a full on fucking sex scene from the Last of Us 2, but everything else that isn't a heavy hitter gets censored.

Actual hypocrites.

DarkFists posted...

Even JRPGs that release on PS have clear drug and alcohol references so this is freaking weird...

I honestly think they're farming outrage. As far as I know the only source that they're being censored for those reasons by Sony are they themselves saying they totally are for realises.

I know Sony gets censor happy with pedo shit and sexual assault shit and some people complain about that. Drugs and alcohol though? This is the first I've heard of it, plenty of games on Playstation feature drugs and alcohol.

myusernameislame posted...

When did Sony become 80s-90s Nintendo?

Am I steppin' into the Twilight Zone?
Place is a madhouse
Feels like being cloned

<_____<

Out of literally everything in that game, that is what needs to be censored?

It's very clear Sony loves censoring indie and Japanese games. Mainstream, big studio Western games get a free pass.

NeonTentacles posted...

First they came for the anime tiddies now they came for the alcohol.

What's next!? Sony deserves to lose against Microsoft

MS doesn't seem any better on the censorship front, unfortunately.
All we have left is Nintendo and PC. And Nintendo is an actual family-friendly console, so it's inevitable they'll eventually crack down on stuff again.

dancing_cactuar posted...

Literally "Rules for thee but not for me".

Fucking told you that the holy rays of light Sony employed in anime games would trickle to different forms of censorship, I was laughed at for muh slippery slope, but now we got games where they're censoring violence and drug/alcohol use in M rated games.

NeonTentacles posted...

So basically Sony is only okay with it if Sony does it and no one else?

Their "policy" is that the Japanese and indie games need to be kid-friendly, even when M-rated. Even as western AAA games and their own games have outright sex, drugs, straight up murder, and more. And they'll allow FIFA games rated E for everyone to have gambling (loot boxes).
I say "policy" in quotes because they've never released an actual official policy on censorship, they're too fucking cowardly and snakes to ever actually put out something in writing that could be examined and critiqued.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

Its funny how Sony allows a full on fucking sex scene from the Last of Us 2, but everything else that isn't a heavy hitter gets censored.

Actual hypocrites.

I remember when they started turning it into the Censorstation. There is no way to contact Sony to complain, so when they put out a video on parental controls for PS4, people took to the youtube comment section to let them have it and ask why the censorship was necessary if this exists. They kept taking the video down and re-uploading it to purge the negative comments and down votes, over and over.
That's also the first time I encountered youtube censorship, I had to say stuff like "sense of ship" to get my comment to actually post and not be shadow banned (it'd look like it would, but I'd go in private on another browser and it would not be there).
Ever since then, my youtube account seems to be perma-flagged as a spammer or something and I have to self-censor a shit load of words, including innocuous stuff like "video", "link", etc... or else it'll fake-post but not actually post.

In conclusion: fuck Sony

Enclave posted...

I honestly think they're farming outrage. As far as I know the only source that they're being censored for those reasons by Sony are they themselves saying they totally are for realises.

I know Sony gets censor happy with pedo shit and sexual assault shit and some people complain about that. Drugs and alcohol though? This is the first I've heard of it, plenty of games on Playstation feature drugs and alcohol.

Multiple devs have said Sony has required additional changes including for violence like Visage, DDLC, and Martha is Dead. People have posted about how bad Sony is with indies in this topic. You saying devs are just lying about this is basically "fake news" level of denial. Kind of bordering on Trumper/Muskrat logic here.

Thank God cigarettes are cigarette candy now, me and my children will be safe. Before, we weren't.

... Does anyone else ever feel like stuff like this is less about whatever point it's pretending to make and more about how it might get people to fight or talk about it..?

WesternMedia posted...

Kind of bordering on Trumper/Muskrat logic here.

I remember him having some Enclave-like opinions on 261. It's either a good satire gimmick, or way too on the nose honest.

I can't remember just how far on the satire spectrum thise opinions were, though...

Is the Xbox version uncensored?

dancing_cactuar posted...

Literally "Rules for thee but not for me".

Fucking told you that the holy rays of light Sony employed in anime games would trickle to different forms of censorship, I was laughed at for muh slippery slope, but now we got games where they're censoring violence and drug/alcohol use in M rated games.

In my experience, accusations of "slippery slope" turn out accurate more often than they turn out to be a fallacy. People just like to hide behind the fact that it doesn't have to mean the next step happens, as a way to ignore the possibility (and likelihood) that it will.

Foppe posted...

Remember when Sony was indie-friendly?

I/pepperridge meme remembers...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7EXlS9-XpU