Nintendo Will Remove Smash Bros. Ultimate's Offensive Depiction Of Native Americans

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It was not offensive at all. People are getting way too PC about stuff.

I have an idea, why don't we just ask a bunch of native Americans what they think instead of just being offended for them?

I don't have any real issue with its dis-inclusion in and of itself, except for the fact that, once a company capitulates to outside demand for censorship, it'll just keep getting worse because those forces will smell blood in the water.

This is ridiculous! Nintendo was just being historically accurate with past game and watch games! Calm down people! But, it doesn't hurt anyone to remove the feather.

I don't think they removed it b/c of Native Americans, I think they removed it b/c it looked like he had an uncircumcised thing growing out of his head.

Oh dear. Now that is not good at all. They should remove it because it really isn't causing any good by being in. It'll only cause controversy.

I'm ok with this. Nintendo is a worldwide company and if this offends a group of people they should remove it. It doesn't hurt the game at all and is not like Nintendo is changing history. This period in where Native Americans dressed like that is still in history books and museums so everything is fine.

This is ridiculous. What a bloody joke 🤦🏽‍♂️

@Sharks I'm with you, it doesn't hurt anything at all to remove it. So whatever, due to the absurd backlash, I guess I agree they should have removed it. No reason to fight over something so miniscule.

However... I am quite sick of this ridiculous culture where everything is deemed offensive. And worse than that, everything has to be turned into a huge ordeal. How on Earth did something so tiny get blown up to a degree that required Nintendo to make a formal statement and modify their game? It's not necessarily this solo incident that bothers me, but a culmination of many small incidents that have turned into huge ordeals, and I think it sets a bad precedent to cater to the vocal minority on every little issue.

The thing is that there have been complaints about it already, so they had to make a move.

I agree with a poster above: it seems foolish to bemoan a change so tiny and insignificant to the gameplay. I support the removal. On the other hand, I do agree that some small things like this are significantly blown out of proportion in today's connected society.

Edit: To clarify that last sentence, that's not to say that I don't believe it truly wasn't offensive in some way. I just feel like the internet makes mountains out of molehills in situations like this. Why roar about a change when it should just be a quiet, respectful squeak instead?

I really do fear for the future of mankind in the face of all this nonsense.
I would hazard a guess that less than 1% of people are actually 'offended' by this.
The only problem is these people are given a platform by the MSM.

@Kalmaro Are you Native American?

there was feature about a certain game on the front page earlier today, now I can't find it!! this always happens on this website....???

@JJ286 well at least Nintendo didn't have the game and watch dude show up with a hatchet in his hand a g-string up his butt

@Sharks It didn't hurt anyone when it was in either. I fail to see what's "offensive" about a feather. And why being "offended" matters anyway.

It's times like this where I miss the times when people would have thicker skins as to not complain about something like this. Or at the very least, I was expecting a bit more leniency and understanding than this.

I'm italian, Mario offends me because... it's obvious, no?
Please remove Mario.

Seems pretty logic this too

What? Really? Why?

I don’t have strong opinions either way. I’m not sure many people would have noticed if this wasn’t explicitly stated.

How is it offensive? A feather? I don't see this any different from ninjas and samurai; but I've never heard anyone have an issue with portrayals of those either. And maybe I'm completely in the dark about this issue, and if so, could someone explain it to me?

"This depiction is seen as offensive by many" who?

Native Americans don't even care about this, it's mostly White people complaining just for the sake of complaining.

The worst part about this is that Nintendo has actually given in to their bs, you let them accuse you of racist and they'll start doing it to everyone else.

We should get rid of the Chef's hat too because it's offensive to Italians. And not the Italian-accented plumber whose voiced by a white caucasian.

I'm confused as to what is even racially offensive anymore. I get annoyed when American's impersonation of a British man is a cockney-accent, tea drinking man in a suit and top hat. I don't see anyone confronting that stereotype.

"This depiction is seen as offensive by many"

The psychopaths on the resetera forums are fortunately not many.

Why are people so offended at genocide and ongoing marginalization and disenfranchisement? Get over it! PC culture at its worst!

why is it offensive? it is not good when people give in to the pressure of a few people who scream the loudest. this is the start of censorship

Well done Nintendo.

Why do so many people not understand what racism is? Why is it OK for a whole population to feel painfully ridiculed for a bunch of idiots’ amusement? Shouldn’t they be able to play the game without feeling that? It’s truly creepy to see so many people with zero skin in the game trying to dictate the terms of other people’s grievances.

Good to hear. Natives in the US have been fighting for a while to put an end to this sort of disrespect. If only sports teams would have the same decency.

@turntSNACO I'm a white, heterosexual, middle class American. I'm married and have two kids. Served in the Army for 8 years, with two combat deployments. I'm the epitome of stereotypical white privilege in the United States.

I think the founding of our country was an atrocity against native Americans. Despite serving in the army, think police brutality and US war crimes (And warmongering in general) is absolutely despicable. I would considering myself a self-defense only pacifist. I believe our country, and religious institutions in particular, have done severe damage to LGBTQ community with years of hate and prejudice.

All that to say... why on Earth does it matter if he's native or not? I'm sick of our culture acting as if no one has any right to have an opinion on a matter unless they are the demographic affected. I am fully capable of being white, while acknowledging social injustice exists and despising how our country was founded - even though we were pretty much taught in school that we were the "good guys". You don't need to be a Native American to have a stance on the topic.

Good on Nintendo for being proactive about it and doing the right thing. They explained clearly and have taken sensible action.

they had already changed it previously by the way: https://www.mariowiki.com/Fire_Attack

Well guys, I just want to go back to the 90's now.

Remove all depictions of cowboys, army troops, pirates, and whatever historical fill-in-the-blank you can think of. I find it offensive. Those depictions do not represent my people.

See how easy that was? Please bring back common sense.

@Ryu_Niiyama

Disrespect in what way?
Are you trying to make out that native Indians never wore feathers in their hair?

It's like the world like.... THAT NEVER HAPPENED. It had happened. It's what it is and stop being in denial. Stop putting away the truth. This is why we didn't get the proper version of Ocarina Time fire Temple. The world is thinking for the people who might get hurt.. i'm like it did happened. It's all open in the history but they can't put in a game? really? A kid playing a game like this will never look it at that way. We play games and we're killing animals or monsters.. and thats ok?

@roadrunner343 I wish more people had your attitude. Well said.

Okay. Doesn't add or remove anything relevant in Ultimate, so I'm not concerned about the change. It's not hurting anyone by the change, and it's not the first time Nintendo changed this sprite.

Good for.Nintendo.

Change?! To my Nostalgia?! D:<

...wait, which one had a feather on it? I don't even remember that...was it always there? I seriously never noticed that before...

@turntSNACO are you? What's your point?i hope you're not saying that the only way you can know if something is offensive is if you are a certain race. That's absurd.

Why not just remove it quietly without making a scene?

Mark another victory to the modern day Puritans over at Resetera whos entire existence is to moan about videogames.

I suspect if you polled people that identify as native american gamers, less than 5% would find this objectionable.

By removing the reference, Nintendo have clearly agreed with whomever found it offensive. I say that's all good and fair enough.

@nofriendo This is a great point as well. Everything is "racist" currently, even when it makes absolutely no sense. I don't think anyone is getting any sort of "Racist" message from this. Sure, you could argue it is a stereotype, but in no way would you ever come to the conclusion that Native Americans are somehow inferior to any other race.

@Ryu_Niiyama I agree with you to an extent. I do think that using Native American's as sport teams mascots could be offensive - especially given that most other teams used animals. I don't think that's what is going on here at all - it's simply a cartoon caricature - I don't really see how that is offensive.

@Kalmaro The few Native Americans I've seen comment on this are against it. Why are you deciding for them that it's not offensive to them?

@manu0 The same people who were offended by Mario wearing a Mexican sombero and poncho, white liberals.

Talk about being way too sensitive. Jesus Christ.......

@nofriendo Love, love, love, love, love this. White people need to start realising the damage caused by our caracatures of marginalised and oppressed people.

This is not even worth spending an article on.

Ah god, its just the "Friends" stupidity all over again.

I wonder who was actually offended. I keep seeing examples of rich who’re people being offended on behalf of other groups. I guess it’s what happens when you have the time.

On the other hand there are non orgs that claim to represent certain groups and they exist to be offended because that is how they shoe their legitimacy.

Painful

@Bunkerneath Kramer and his racist shanannigans

@Yosher Please, if you want overly sensitive, you need look no further than the outrageously toxic element of the Smash fanbase.

As long as this doesn’t stop further releases of Fire Attack (or G&WG4), I don’t care.

@proof21 Hey genius - it's not a "Total walking contradiction" when I specifically addressed it in my post. Am I proud I served 2 combat tours in Iraq for a cause I no longer believe in? Of course not. Should early 30's me constantly be chained down by what I now believe was a stupid decision when I was 17? Also, of course not. Don't be ridiculous. I was also a registered republican when I was 18. I'm proud that I am not so close minded that I am unable to learn and change my views and opinions based on my life experiences. I've made mistakes. It seems the only difference between me and you, is I have tried to be open and honest about my past behaviors / mistakes and have made adjustments to beliefs and moral convictions.

@SegaBlueSky Tagging you here simply because he responded you to attack me in cowardly fashion without actually directly addressing me... or reading my post, apparently =)

@Kalmaro you do realise though that you don't have to be native American to be offended by it, right?

This is stupid...

@roadrunner343 I was about to say something but you said it much more eloquently than I could have. Someone that takes their life experiences and impartially judges the good and bad to be a better person is someone to be commended.

Feathers are offensive but humiliating scam is not.
Many thanks to Nintendo for the respect they show to native americans. A bit more respect for their customers too would be much appreciated.

A few years back I became a raging racist because of the Mr Game & Watch costume. Now this representation is gone I can start loving everybody !

I appreciate Nintendo is taking that out of the game. It's outdated and insensitive, and it's great that they caught it and aren't wasting any time getting rid of it.

@SegaBlueSky It's definitely not even limited to Smash. Anytime something related to blackface or native americans pops up, people are going to take offense. Jynx for the Pokémon series, having gotten purple skin instead of black because people were complaining it was racist. Or the Majini in Resident Evil 5 being all black, despite most (if not all) zombies in the series thus far having been white, and that was okay??? Among many other examples of course. I'm all for keeping people happy, regardless of skin color, religion or nationality, but people can be so overly, stupidly offended over the dumbest things.

@Tilde a few native americans do not represent the majority, and I don't see that big of a push for this censor.

Struggling to understand why so many people are angry about the feather being removed...! What's the problem? Nintendo agreed with whomever found it offensive and are therefore removing it. How's that a bad or stupid thing? Why do we care who found it offensive? Why does whomever found it offensive have to justify their opinion? If Nintendo agrees with their opinion, then that's end of story, surely?!

@Kalmaro Does "a bunch" speak for all?

@nocdaes Remember this is the internet we are talking about here

Can Nintendo please remove Mario from this game. He is an offensive over-exaggeration of Italian-Americans and actively mocks how they act what they like.

im from italy , pls remove mario as it offends me deeply. crazy stupid

Funny thing is some will cite this as censorship, which, it really, really isn't.

@Wolfgabe Haha well that's true. An endless expanse of knowledge at people's fingertips, yet ignorance reigns supreme. Go figure.

So we're just gonna forget about Wild Gunman?

I'm all for cultural sensitivity, but if this is Nintendo's stance, they have a lot of older titles to amend

as a war refugee I demand all games depicting war be removed. they also can't contain any bullets or weapons or any amount of powdered milk

I cant believe this is a thing...what has happen to us...for them to change it because of...Wow... I can't even...

I just have a question for anyone about to say "ugh, everyone's so offended all the time! stop making an issue over everything!" Before you comment, please just entertain this one question:

Do you think you know more or less about the issues of redface and the native American experience than the people offended? If you know nothing about them, can you really know for sure that you disagree with the people who might have very legitimate reasons for their offense; the people who Nintendo agree with on this issue?

That's it. You're free to have whatever opinion you want. I just want you to consider that first.

But some quick context: The first person to complain about this on Twitter was, in fact, native.

Beyond a joke.

English stereotypes are everywhere...

Every type of person is attached to a stereotype....

Offensive ones should be challenged - challenge non offensive ones and it loses impact

@Kalmaro It is however consistent. They made this change originally 16 years ago with Fire Attack. None of the Game & Watch depictions from that point on (including Smash Bros) have had this version.

If anything, it seems weirder for them to have created it like that in the first place. More likely an oversight (or if you want the conspiracy theory...it's a way of drumming up sales as there's no such thing as bad press).

@nofriendo From Wikipedia, "Racism is the belief in the superiority of one race over another, which often results in discrimination and prejudice towards people based on their race or ethnicity".

What most people don't see is how this design of Mr. Game & Watch is showing that another group is superior to Native Americans?
This seems very similar to when some people complained that having Mario wear a Mexican sombero and poncho in Odyssey was offense to Mexican people. It isn't portraiting Mexicans in a
negative light; it's referencing and trying to pay homage to another culture.

I understand that this version of Mr. GnW's design was based on a stereotypic depiction of Native Americans, and why someone could find this offensive. But censoring older works like this is often used by certain groups to cover up/ignore the fact the racism existed in the past, and to hide the ebbs of racism that currently lies in the system.

I am not sure if people realize with Fire Attack that the Indians in fact were altered in later releases from what I hear so it still is historically accurate

This is like the Killer Instinct on Xbox, where IMO they ruined Chief Thunder by making him more "accurate". I do not know if native americans actually are offended by this, if so, then all the power to you, but I just feel it's a shame that we have to erase or re-write history for this.

@stache13 It's extremely complicated, and you have to listen to the experiences and opinions of different cultures to come close to understanding it. As far as I can tell, Mexicans were pretty happy with Mario's outfit and saw it as positive representation. But Native Americans just DO NOT like redface. At all. It's understandable imo, they have different experiences with depictions of their culture.

@TheWorkingDead, No it does not. I am of Native American heritage and in no way does it offend me. Nintendo removing the feather does not offend me either. I say move along nothing to see, next. In my opinion this is why racism is still so prevalent people fight the wrong battles.

@Equinox are you seriously saying people will boycott smash because they chose not to offend native Americans?

Pre order canceled/s

I’m offended at the lack of butt on Snake. Your move Nintendo.

The feather is an accurate historical depection of "Native Americans ". When I was a kid, we called them Indians. Hell, that's what they referred to themselves as for that matter. I said White, black. You say Caucasian and African American. Is there really a need to correct me? Not really. It's not racist. It boils down to a bunch of people who have no life and want to start drama. I wish our world wasn't turning into a bunch of sensitive babies. Too bad common senc

Nintendo...Nintendo of America...N of A...NA...Native Americans...also NA... feather...game and watch....watch the feather game..feather game...tickling balls with feather...

Ok, makes sense to remove the feather. Everyone can go about their day now.

Sad that nintendo has to do this, as if sakurai isnt overworked as if.

Keep politics out of art is my motto

Games, movies, music, paintings and other forms of expressions should not be scrutinised for 'racism'

Here's an idea lets change everything made in past and present so no one should feel offended anymore

Lets make every character in entertainment a lbgtq black white man woman character, it doesnt make sense but so is this recent trend of sjw people just marching on along

Probably the same sensitive little snowflakes that find Looney Tunes offensive...

I wonder if Native Americans were actually offended by this?

@Tilde I won't argue with you - It is a good thought exercise, and I would like to think we all attempt to empathize with the other side before taking a stance. I would just like to repeat what I said in post 37 - I don't think we need to be directly impacted to be able to speak out on an issue, regardless of what side you fall on with this issue. So even though it seems like we disagree on this being an issue, I respect and agree with your response that we need to consider both sides.

@Tilde That will totally happen. Never underestimate the power of people that feel their "right" to be offensive to others (so long as it isn't them! because then words are violence and horrible) is being infringed upon. It won't make a significant impact though. I think the overlap between bigots and people obsessed enough with gaming culture to follow what happened isn't that big...just loud. Always loud.

@Kalmaro That's why I'm not speaking for the majority. but neither should you.

@SmaggTheSmug That was my point. People are getting offended at anything remotely possible to be offensive nowdays.

It's really not that big of a deal.

@Ryu_Niiyama just curious, are you Native American? Because I have family members that are and my understanding is that white people "fighting for them", aka using them, to make themselves feel better about the atrocities that were committed isn't a good thing. Also they'd prefer images of their culture in media because they don't view it as being made fun of. No more than a white person finds it offensive when there's a knight in armor depicted in a game.

@Sharks I'd argue that people always found things offensive, but it's only now, through social media and the internet that they have an audible platform to actually tell people they are offended and that it's not acceptable. Failing to see how that's a bad thing...

Keep yer damn filthy hands off SMASH!

@Ernest_The_Crab I would have just kept it in and waited to see if there was a significant backlash from native American groups before doing anything.

At the moment, I'm hearing more secondary offended responses than from actual native Americans.

@Rika_Yoshitake This is truly ironic, considering how much certain camps hem and haw whenever a dev or publisher has the audacity to take peoples' grievances/concerns into consideration.

If you look at this comment section alone, you can already see a fair amount of folks arguing in bad faith, taking this to absurd levels, and complaining about "PC Culture" and SJWs while admitting that they dont see how the feather is offensive and/or that it's inconsequential.

@Kalmaro Exactly! ...armchair activists: addicted to outrage.

@Kalmaro Nah, I'm white as they come. As such, I don't think it's my place to say definitively what is and isn't offensive to members of groups I'm not a part of. And I am saying that it is easier to find something inoffensive when it isn't about you. We all have our blind spots (see Megyn Kelly).

I’m not affected by its inclusion, and I’m not affected by its exclusion. I can understand why Nintendo included it, and I can understand why they’re taking it out. Let’s not make a bigger mountain out of a molehill.

@Yorumi probably the most important response here. It's sad that people will use other races just to make a name for themselves, or to make themselves feel better... Because their fighting for "a weaker race that can't fight for themselves". No they can fight for themselves but they actually like to share their culture. And personally it's pretty offensive to view them as a weaker race.

@roadrunner343 caricatures in general are reductionist and they just like stereotypes are never meant to respect a person or peoples. They are designed to reduce people into traits that can be laughed at or vilified. Just because it is in a video game or a cartoon doesn't change that intent. People like to use the argument that it was "acceptable in the past" to cite that they are being censured when the fact is it was always offensive but the impacted parties people didn't have the means to be heard or to express their dismay safely. People forget that violence tends to make people really quiet. Not only that people all people hopefully are slowly getting to a point that we stop reducing people to "other" and us vs them. but it is REALLY slow going.

@Yorumi

Hi,
I loved reading your reply and found it very informative.
Just goes to highlight what a real problem we jointly have with political correctness.
Cheers, John

@Kalmaro This is my biggest complaint, and concern with our culture in general. Again, Nintendo received backlash and they removed what was considered offensive. No issues from me there.

What I do take issue with, is all of the people that pretend to be "offended" on someone else's behalf. 99% of the people posting and stating this is offensive are not offended. They're white knighting for a theoretical someone that they most likely don't even know. That's the culture I'm against. If a group truly is offended, I feel for them, and I'm glad Nintendo took action against it in that case - but that does not seem to apply to any of the responses I've seen so far.

@Yosher the funny thing about Jinx is that she is based on Yama-uba a traditional Japanese yōkai. She had nothing to do with blackface, but people we're forcing their own ideals onto the character to make her racist. Which shows their own underlying racism.

I'm glad Nintendo is doing the right thing by owning this and correcting it. And lol at all the non-Native people talking about how it's not offensive!

I find it ironic that many of the same people who adamantly denounce censorship just as adamantly demand the removal of anything offensive to themselves. And let's be brutally honest here; it's not about offending just anyone, but always the same, certain groups. Such bias has enabled political correctness to become a devastatingly effective tool for dividing the citizenry, which was its original purpose all along.

The people who complained about this need to grow the f up and focus on more important things

@Ryu_Niiyama I'm not saying caricatures can't be offensive - simply that I think it's fine in many cases. They are stereotypical and reductionist in nature - that's how the art style works. Let's face it - if features/traits of a person weren't exaggerated in a cartoon, 99% of the people would not even recognize what we being references. Exaggerated traits is not inherently offensive. Caricatures exist for every type of person, every race, every nationality, etc... but that does not make them racist. Like any medium, of course they can be used in a racist manner, but there is no way I believe this Game & Watch character as racist.

Not too long ago, there was a big push by snowflakes to say the Washington Redskins football team name was offensive and they pushed to have the name changed. This lasted until one of the newspapers pushing for the change finally did a poll of Native Americans to see what they thought. The results? The vast majority did not care. This made up issue died right after that.

@bluesdance Considering all the ad revenue potentially generated from these "controversial" articles, and considering next to no work is really needed to produce it, I imagine NL's staff secretly prays for stuff like this to happen.

Sounds like Nintendo is trying to win over the PC gamer. See what I did there?

Now if only the Cleveland Indians would change their name/logo.

Edit: Oh, seems like their ditching the mascot/logo next year.

@Kalmaro Honestly? I just thought it was a strange growth on his head. It looks so weird without some kind of white zigzag line on the feather or a headband of some sort to emphasize that it's a feather.

Even after this article, it still looks really weird. I'd have removed it simply cause it doesn't feel like it meshes well design wise.

@roadrunner343 I get where you're coming from. I'm not trying to say that all non-affected people should shut up completely (here I am running my mouth off after all). But I do think the opinions of Native Americans should be weighed higher than mine or yours when it comes to questions like this.

In surveys on race relations in the U.S., white people always think that racism isn't as big of a problem as black people do. Are both opinions equally valuable in assessing reality, or do we accept that black people might have a little more info re: the black experience? That's sorta where I'm coming from on this.

I understand why Nintendo removed it. It would not have been so offensive if a character was just randomly using Native American clothing, but in this case the source material game is kinda awkward with a cowboy fighting off an endless stream of indians.

@Arehexes I agree. I didn't even know this was in the game until today.

@turntSNACO I think that, while we may not know what offends people, we can still learn. There's been no significant outcry from native Americans that I'm aware of. In America, I've noticed that it's popular to be offended for someone else. Regardless of if the other person even cares.

@Tilde

I think I know more, because here's the thing. The people who are offended are not Native Americans. They are rich, entitled college kids who know little to nothing about Native Americans. They think Elizabeth Warren is a Native American.

This video sums it up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT2UH74ksJ4

Can we stop catering to the pansy politically correct people now? Because most of the time it’s SJW white people who think they need to defend other races. Thanks

@brimat you can't denounce people for getting upset about something by getting upset yourself about them being upset. Bye though.

@Kenology when did being an indian become offensive? are indians not proud of their heratige (rhetorical, i know they are). if this is offensive shouldn’t we remove all imagery depicting indians? given a large enough cohort you’re guaranteed to find someone that finds offensive with just about anything so the ultimate end to this is no videos, images, games, or speech/art of any kind to avoid an possible offensive. this is obviously unsustainable

@Atariboy and what's your point. Shouldn't matter if 0% of gamers identify themselves as Native Americans.

@stache13 "The dark skin could be attributed to the tendency in Noh theater to play the Yama-uba character in blackface." (According to Wikipedia regarding Yuma-Uba and the inspiration behind Jynx)

Even more interesting is that you look up artistic depictions of Yuma-Uba and she may have varying skin colors, but never any that reach "Black as night".

So I'd chalk that up to a culture clash at best. To say that folks who saw Jynx's original version as racist makes them the "real" racists is a stretch.

@Ernest_The_Crab I actually like it. Let's be honest, how much representation do Indians even get in games made from Japan? I know I get all interested when I see a black person in a Japanese game.

(Rodin is black in my eyes and hes awesome, even if he's a demon or whatever.)

Are you kidding me?

@DTFaux I see that a lot when I see white people upset when anyone even mentions the word monkey and suddenly they blow up "You're talking about black people!"

Now hold on... Why were African Americans the first thing you thought of when someone says monkey? 🤔

I want a refund now! 😉

@GothicZM Bruh, out of all the sources you could possibly use, PragerU is possibly one of the worst ones.

This video sums up why:
https://youtu.be/EM7BgrddY18

I don't really understand why people need to argue about these kind of changes. The change doesn't affect your enjoyment of the game in any way. No one would have even noticed unless they still play their old Game & Watch.

@Yorumi Context is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
We occasionally have folks in our town complain about the mascot at Georgia Southern University. It’s a bald eagle (different ones over the years, obviously), yo represent the GSU Eagles. Once in awhile, a group will complain that allowing the Eagle to do a stadium swoop and flyover is demeaning and harmful to the animal. The context is that our county area has a large population of eagles (nicknamed “eagle country), and GSU has built a wildlife sanctuary on campus that everyone has access to. It is also a rehabilitation center for injured eagles and hawks, and our county proportions sales tax from sporting goods and GSU game sales to the forestry funds. So by allowing folks to see and appreciate these resilient birds, we’re actually able to do more for them.

I don't get the issue . What exactly is wrong?

@DownRightSam Censorship for the sake of censorship really.

@kobashi100 Huh?

@turntSNACO Again, I don't disagree. That is the stance I try to take as well. For example, I do weigh the black community's outcry far higher than the opinions of some of my friends and family that would say "Racism isn't a big issue" anymore. I don't agree with them, so I understand where you're coming from.

The big difference to me between this, and that situation, is that I've yet to see much, if anything, from the Native American community regarding this. 99% of the complaints are from people feigning offense on someone else's behalf. Of course the gravity of this particular situation is far less than systemic racism against black people in the United States, so my response is very different.

@Kalmaro The problem I have with it, is it didn't look good in its current state. Compared to Game & Watch's other moves it doesn't look as distinctive. That's why I suggested that it would have looked better with a headband or a zigzag on the feather (like on the cape feather).

At this stage though, it'd probably be easier to just remove it than to update the model with more details.

@nocdaes I think many people are tired from hearing about people being offended by seemingly unsubstantial issues. Also a lot of this censorship is used to cover up the fact that racism existed not to actually address the issues.

Mr. Game & Watch is a bad example because this costume is based on a stereotypic depiction of Native Americans. Which these depictions are considered by Native Americans to be offensive. It's not Mr. G&W, it's that this design is a part of a bigger problem. People that aren't aware of this see it as another issue of people complaining over nothing.

A better example of example of people complaining over nothing, would be Mario wearing a Mexican sombero and poncho in Odyssey. Some people were creating problems about this claiming that it was racist, cultural misappropriation, etc. When in reality it wasn't portraiting Mexicans in a negative light; it was a simply reference to another culture.

This is why Gamergate happened.

@Octane There has been a genocide in the Americas against Native Americans/First Nations people's. They have strongly requested white people stop appropriating their cultures and stop propping up tired old racist myths. The Washington Redskins are named after actual skins of human beings that used to be sold to the U.S. government for cash as part of the genocide. Other representation of Native Americans are also considered offensive to many Natives. People on this comments section have propped up at least one of the racist myths, "the drunk Indian". Anyways, I'm glad Nintendo didn't cave to the racist snowflakes who can't handle white supremacy being undermined.

@Kalmaro We're in agreement that Native folks should be the ones driving the conversation. For white people, the desire to be an ally to minority groups is a good thing. But as you alluded to, that desire can drown out the voices of the actual stake-holders in a conversation.

@Cheez Not enough for it to matter no. (Paternal great grandfather was Cherokee) I am predominantly a different minority and well aware of how racism negatively impacts people. However I would like to hope that even if I was white that I would try to treat others with respect and empathy. Not being a jerk shouldn't be restricted to race, we are all the same species after all. But that's just me. I'm sure you'll take that however you want. SJW, snowflake or whatever the catchphrase of the day is.

Either way it doesn't really matter does it? Nintendo felt that the game and watch sprite was not in line with their company values today and they have the final word. A bunch of gamers getting up in arms about those that agree with them is meaningless. Have a nice day.

Edit: I also find it odd that a random stranger has no qualms asking personal identifying information such as race over the internet.

Are we gonna lose T. Hawk now?

@Ernest_The_Crab I can make it out just fine but perhaps I'm biased now since I didn't even notice until peopl3 brought it up. I actually like the look, it's cool seeing G&W have eyes.

@Kalmaro It honestly depends on the context in how the word "monkey" was used. Historical context also plays a part, as "apes" and "monkeys" were used to denigrate black folks not too long ago. Heck, it's STILL being used (though not as frequently). No matter how much one wants to believe Racism is Over(tm), it's just... not.

For example, in the recent Florida Governor's race, one of the candidates said "We cant monkey this up" in regards to the possibility of his opponent getting elected. Considering the fact that his opponent was black, and "Monkey this up" isnt a common term (compared to 'Screw/mess this up'), it was bad optics at the best and a dog whistle at worst.

This, coming from a black dude.

It's amazing how many people feel offended by the idea of other people being offended.

Despite this not changing my getting the game or the fact it doesn't change the game in any meaningful way, I find the decision to be a poor one. Give someone an inch and they'll take a mile. I wouldn't doubt if Mario was next for "misinterpreting Italians" or something like that.

"Offensive"

The true scourge of the earth.

@Tilde I agree with you there is no short answer to this issues; the issues themselves are long and complicated. My comment was in response to nofriendo asking why people don't understand what racism is. When you look at his stereotypical design it doesn't seem as offensive, and it isn't racist, By Itself. It's only when you look back at the larger picture that you see the racism underlying it all.

please stop with the mario is an italian stereotype comparisons

italians are not disenfranchised in north american government, culture and society like native people are to this day. and they certainly weren't victims of mass genocide.

i can think of a group of people who need to "get over it" and it's certainly not the people who found this racist.

This comment section is garbage. Shows the true colors of some gamers on this site. I’m surrounded by racists and it just makes me sad.

Stop believing in the idea that anyone who stands up for marginalized people groups are all SJW extremists. Those few (or many) are bitter and hateful and have lost their souls in the midst of trying to silence white men. Don’t be like them! But also maybe consider that at the root of it, sjw’s are just defending minority groups that don’t have a lot of power or a voice to speak up for themselves. If you were in their position, wouldn’t you want to be heard or have someone stand up for you? Bottom line, just love others. Native people have been asking for these depictions to be taken away for so long so don’t try to silence them. There’s plenty of other things to be upset about.

I wonder how the Native Americans who actually appreciated the reference would take this news...

@DTFaux Also speaking as a black dude, I question anyone who sees everything as racists against black people before it even occurs to me.

OH COME ON.

Either it represents your values, or it doesn't.

Don't tell me you want to pay homage to these games, but that it was a long time ago, and that things have changed, and then also remove a design relic and pretend it didn't happen.

I certainly don't hope a mandatory update that "removes offensive material" takes up any noticable amount of system storage. Because that wouldn't be a welcoming and fun experience for me.

More people being offended on behalf of others so they can feel good about themselves.

@stache13 Hrmm but the Mario Odyssey hat example surely isn't comparable because Nintendo didn't agree with the complaints nor remove the hat from their game. In the case of the feather, Nintendo have agreed with those claiming offence and have removed it from their game.

also for those of you who don’t know, Nintendo changed depictions of this Game & Watch reference when it was released on the GBA before. this is nothing new.

it really does not impact your experience of Smash Bros. Ultimate whatsoever with it gone. people saying “i wouldn’t have even noticed if there wasn't a big deal made about it” should not be this bothered that something they didn’t even notice or know about was removed for the final release.

it’s paradoxical. choose one or the other.

Good on Nintendo for removing it.

y'all defending racism isn't a good look.

@roadrunner343 I'm basically with you. My intended purpose here was never to state whether or not the headdress is offensive, since I feel unqualified to say. I truly think that most of people "feigning offense" have their hearts in the right place, but perhaps don't know when to use their own voice and when to amplify someone else's instead.

I didn't complain when Mario wore a sombrero, maracas, and a poncho in Super Mario Odyssey (I'm Mexican). Why should Native Americans be offended by this? It is ridiculous to be offended by something like this, get a life...

@Kalmaro And you're well within your right to question it.

The gatekeeper thing is an interesting issue, because I feel the immediate demographic an issue relates to has a higher authority on the matter than those outside the demo. But those within it might also disagree.

At that point, it would come down to the majority. But unfortunately, many folks (inside and outside of the demo) love to use the first person they see who's not bothered by something as representative of everyone in that demo.

@DTFaux When you look at Jinx's Pokedex descriptions they all reference dance, combined that with her ice type it fits well into the idea that her inspiration was Yama-uba.
Cultural clash would probably be a better way to describe it, but I was trying to point out the fact that only looking through your own cultural lens and not through others is inherently racist. It's basically saying that your culture is the one that is worth looking through (hence superior) to another's.

@Kalmaro Right? I’m wondering how many legit Native Americans actually complained, or if this is just the PC crowd white-knighting them. How sensitive are we that we can’t witness a feather?! Lmao!!

@nocdaes Good point. And again, your missing my point! It is a terrible thing! And I feel like its growing more and more and I'm really sick of it!

@gloom The majority is general ignorance, which whilst it truly isn't great (nor a valid excuse in this day and age of knowledge sharing), it's also not an entirely sinister thing either.

@bluesdance If you silence discussion, you’re being fascist. You have to allow all voices to be heard to have an adequate discussion, otherwise you fall in line with evil. Don’t squelch people, especially the ones you disagree with, as they are the ones that you can learn from, the most.

@DTFaux one last question, where is your profile pic from? XD

@emaan Are you suggesting that if you wanted Mr. Game and Watch to be depicted with his Indian feather, that those people are defending racism?

@60frames-please Most of what you are saying is over exaggerated nonsense.

@Late It’s important to have these discussions, as its the only way to move human thought forward. Silence can be a killer.

Ok let's stop it with the offensive and/ot US politics comments please.

So they removed it becauss a "feather" was sticking out of his head.

Causing Nintendo to make up a new move and program it, causing more work.

God dang it, this was more work for a simple thing!

@SamuraiPanda,

Always the case,the minorities themselves rarely take offence,it's always somebody offended on their behalf.

The world has gone mad.

@Yosheel,

Who made you the thread moderator buddy?.

Obviously NL does not think it's correctness gone mad since they have included the photo here. I guess there are plenty of Native Americans that have a Switch and can give their view here.

The Eagle feather is sacred to many Native Americans, but other nationality wear feathers as well. It is PC gone mad if people are taking offence on behalf of Native Americans. But if it is intended to represent a Native American then maybe it shouldn't.

@johnvboy the site administrators.

So please comply.

@Sharks Ahh OK I see what you mean now. Well, there's a spectrum on these things for sure... but it's not going away anytime soon. What percentage of the world's population has a mobile and a Facebook account today?! Also, one person's minor issue is another person's major issue... but, those can change through time. People used to wear fur coats, for example.

@Yosheel Yeah, that's probably not going to happen, but your efforts to get people to chill is appreciated. I agree with people needing to stop with the insults but this is a topic that is inherently political so getting people to stop talking about politics will be difficult.

The context here is that Nintendo has a long history of stereotyping just about everyone, just see the complete Punch-Out roster. But if it offends a group like Native Americans, glad they are doing the right thing. Not a big deal.

Im sick and tired of the people who have never experienced loss of privilege or who have never faced oppression or blatant racism to whine about being PC.

Just because the entire world has been your personal safe space doesn't mean that it should stay the exact way you want it to stay.

Have some fruiting empathy people. If you are incapable of that then at least deal with the criticism like you expect every person to deal with the insults and segregation every day. Shut the hell up about it.

@bluedogrulez That's just it though. How many native Americans were actually offended?

@Kalmaro by politic stuff I mostly meant people attacking each other for their political stance/party. Mostly literal political banter, not discussion about political correctness.

@Kalmaro Only like, one oversensitive crybaby on Twitter got butthurt.

They all need to grow up and stop being salty babies.

@Kalmaro I'm failing to see your logic by asking that question.

If you're in a room with 100 people and you insult 1 of those people by using a derogatory term aimed solely at them, your question implies that that scenario would be perfectly OK.

Or am I missing something?

@Kalmaro
I see your point of view from your original comment. I happen to be Native American and it does not offend me in the least, and I can speak for many others that it wouldn't also. I can see Nintendo moving quickly on their part to avoid heavy backlash, best thing for them to do. It is crazy how, like many others have said on here, that people jump on it so quickly when it does not directly affect them. It seems like too many people are trying to find things to be offended about right now. But I do agree that Nintendo was right by quickly addressing it once it was brought to light.

@Yosheel That's fair, that's for expanding on that.

@Kalmaro There is a very strong sentiment here in the States against such portrayals with sports teams, and some teams are moving away from them. Nintendo appears to be using good judgment here.

@rdrunner1178 I don't understand this logic either, sorry. If I'm on a bus to school and an individual is being bullied by everybody else on the bus... why on Earth shouldn't somebody, anybody be allowed to step in and be on their side?!

@rdrunner1178 I feel like they should have kept it but I'm stubborn. There's no denying that they made the best decision financially. No point in them trying to make a statement here I guess.

@bluedogrulez Is there? I've heard a few getting upset but I haven't seen the numbers.

I'm from the U.S. and there was a similar issue with the NFL team name and logo for the Washington Redskins. Some native americans found the team name and logo (which was established in 1971) offensive. The name and logo remain the same to this day, despite the controversy. Goes to show that you can't please everyone, so why not just leave things the way they are? These days, everyone gets all butt hurt for no reason. smh.

Last I checked, this doesn't affect gameplay, so I honestly don't care either way. People are so divided on every single little thing these days that people are going to be mad no matter what Nintendo would have done here. I'm just going to enjoy the game, no matter what form it takes, and judge it on how well it plays. If that makes me sound like a self-centered jerk, then so be it. Normally, I don't even bother commenting on stuff likr this, but my morbid curiosity got the best of me, and I see a bunch of people getting into a super heated argument about two frames of animation on a character and what Nintendo wanted to do to save face. That's all I'm going to say on the subject, best of luck to you all.

Offended by a feather. Oh what a time to be alive.

It's fine either way. As I understand it, the original game & watch game didn't depict the actual genocide, it just depicted defending a fort. But if people don't want it and Nintendo removes it, that's fine as well.

@Kalmaro Hang on a minute... On the one hand you're implying no-one was offended (comment 202), but now on the other hand you're claiming it's a financially sound decision (comment 212)? How does that make sense...?!

EDIT: That's not meant to be pointing fingers by the way, I'm just confused that's all.

@nocdaes Even if no one was genuinely offended, the negative publicity would not be a good thing.

@turntSNACO Nothing further to add. Thanks for the thoughtful, civil discussion.

@Wesbert It's deeper than that. Some people are offended, at other people being offended, on behalf of others who are not offended.

@emaan There's more to the world than North America. Especially since this game wasn't even developed in North America. Further, there WAS racism against Italians in North America. Unless you would also argue you can only be offended once the number of people impacted crosses a certain threshold.

Everything is fine as long as Nintendo makes changes that make sense. Sure, some people are offended by that G&W move that refer to a really dark period of time that, really, has no place in Smash Bros. Just change it. It's okay.

The moment Nintendo starts listening to random morons that complain about absurd stuff, then we'll have real problems.

(Just in case, if that happens.... psst Nintendo, I'm kinda offended. You see, I liked a lot the Stage Builder mode in the previous Smash titles and now is gone. That's Mode Racism, sooo... pls fix or else)

@roadrunner343 OK, I see. How can you have negative publicity if no-one is genuinely offended though?

Whether you agree that is should be removed or not, it won't affect the gameplay.
Me personally, not a fan of racist depictions in my videogames, so the removal gets a thumbs up from me.
This toxic comment section however? Thumbs down. People using the term sjw unironically is almost laughable.
Also shame on you NintendoLife for not taking a stance on something like this and allowing such vitriol in the comments.

@johnvboy "All this power is going to your head"... by politely requesting people refrain from offensive, political attacks? Hardly seems "power hungry" to me

@Yosheel I genuinely lol'd when he asked who made you the thread moderator. Props to you for a calm and polite response.

@stache13 It's a rough tear, because just because some cultural thing might be native to another country/region doesnt always mean it's OK by default. That said, it also doesnt inherently mean it's not OK either.

As our world continues to get smaller (and companies try to reach into foreign markets), discussions will continue to crop up over a myriad of circumstances in different parts of the world Some concessions will have to be made, while others will stand their ground and push through the noise.

The important thing to remember is that finding something offensive isnt unique to the US, nor is it simply "PC Culture" (not saying you said it, but calling out the general audience). Every country has a camp that holds a different bar/standard for what's acceptable to depict. Sometimes we bend our knee to them, sometimes we dont.

@Yosher In Resident Evil 5 case it was problematic that a white man killed a bunch of Africans in Africa. In the other games it didn’t matter because it was mostly white on white and in America.

@nocdaes I didn't say anything at 202. At 201 I asked how many were actually offended. I don't believe that many were.

That said, it's still probably for the best that they just do away with it rather than make a statement. That's not their style.

@nocdaes Well, let's separate one thing up front in order to answer your question. First, I've already mentioned in this thread that I genuinely believe the vast majority of people "offended" by this are not actually offended, they are simply feigning offense on someone else's behalf. Now, at least for the sake of answering your questions, let's assume that is the case. I'm open to discussing otherwise, I just don't want to get hung up on mine or your personal view of this situation when discussing the business impact.

So, given a hypothetical situation in which there is a ton of backlash of a seemingly miniscule detail, and there is a vast majority of people publicly defaming the game over it - it makes perfect sense to remove the "offensive" content. Even if not a single one of those people were truly offended, you still run the risk of losing sales. Those who believe they are taking a stand on someone else's behalf may decide not to purchase due to the offense.

Another aspect of the situation, is that once it blows up into a situation as large of the current one, is that you run the risk of offending more people by not removing it. For example, someone may not have been offended in the first place, or even noticed that it existed. However, after gaining so much publicity, if Nintendo decided to completely ignore the public outcry, it would be highly likely that a second wave of people that could not have cared less about the initial controversy, would become offended because Nintendo is willingly choosing to ignore others that were offended initially. At least, that would be their perception. Either way, the negative publicity will not be good for business, even if the complaint is completed unfounded.

Sorry to ramble a bit, hope that made it more clear. I used extremes for examples here. To anyone reading this post, read my others before attacking me for positions I don't necessarily hold.

Everything is offensive. Nothing is PC. Everything must be neutral.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xJ_y037BONk/hqdefault.jpg

This is freakin ridiculous. Everything is is offensive now adays. If Nintendo wants I could do a survey this weekend at the reservation. I’ll be there for a funeral 😥

@bezerker99 You're more than free to have an opinion on the matter, but please leave those kinds of terms in the cesspool they belong in.

It's doesnt have much to do with being offensive. It's just childish that a particular camp feels so inclined to have to appropriate yet another term to insult people they dont like.

@roadrunner343 Hrmm OK. Personally, I'm not convinced, but it's a fair argument you make. I don't think this whole "bandwagon" and people "moaning for the sake of moaning" or on "behalf of others for no reason" (not your quotes, just a summary of the comments section) being some awful thing carries any weight at all to be honest with you... Sticking up for people is a good thing. Period.

It seems to me that if that scenario was true (and I know you've exaggerated it here(!), but that general angle), then the quote Nintendo has sent out would be hollow? As it's being implied Nintendo are changing it for the sake of it. The quote they've provided actually reads, to me at least, like they genuinely feel they included an outdated (I'd argue it was never appropriate, but alas I know times do change) stereotypical icon within their game that they believe should have been removed.

"Nintendo has been planning to distribute an update for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that removes the feather from the silhouette of Mr. Game & Watch. The original game on which this depiction of the character is based was released more than three decades ago and does not represent our company values today."

"We sincerely apologize that this change was not noticed in our marketing material and are continuing our work to make Super Smash Bros. Ultimate an experience that is both welcoming and fun for everyone."

This neck testicle creature was rather offended. I'm glad they removed it. Unless there's a significant ballsac hanging from your neck, you don't know what it's like. You have to live with this cultural appropriation all day. The offense is maddening.

Luckily, I can now focus on the completely idiotic use of hats. Everybody knows they are the mark of the oppressive gangsters of the 30's! Nintendo should make their characters work hatless. I can't believe they got away with Cappy! We need a revolution. Impeach iwata!

@brandonbwii "In Resident Evil 5 case it was problematic that a white man killed a bunch of Africans that were already zombies.

Fixed it for you.

"In the other games it didn’t matter because it was mostly white on white (who were also zombies, but whatever)"
So does that imply that white-on-white violence in video games is okay, but not white-on-black, especially since the "victims" in this case are already dead (and as such race should not even come into question)? I don't get it. We tell ourselves that race shouldn't matter but yet we try to shoehorn matters of race into situations where it shouldn't even exist.

@nocdaes
I said Nintendo was right in immediately addressing the issue? No matter who brought it to their attention. I was merely stating that there seems to be many people who are actively looking for things to make an issue out of and call out someone for, just for the sake of it.

@Kalmaro I actually made this profile pic myself~

This character (Bunny Bass) isnt "from" anything yet, but hopefully one day!

@Vee_Flames stop making sense. This is the internet.

@DTFaux Curses, well it looks nice!

@nocdaes I would argue Nintendo had to respond that way. Whether they feel that way or not, they are responding to a group that has vocalized that they are offended. Nintendo's only real choice, should they decide to make a choice rather than ignoring it (Which has its own problems) is to apologize to the affected group.

As for sticking up for other people - yes, absolutely. That's a great thing. Like all great things, I think it can be abused. I'm not going to argue that we should ever ignore people in need of help. I am suggesting, that similar to what @rdrunner1178 just said, there are people actively looking for "issues" to make a fuss over, make a name for themselves, feel better about themselves, etc... Regardless of whether this issue stems from that or not, I've yet to see a single person say they were personally offended by this - it's all been posts of people offended on behalf of someone else. That's why I've sided with I don't think is a big deal at all, I think people are grossly over-reacting, but the removal also does not bother me at all and I think Nintendo made the right call. I simply worry for our culture in general where everyone has to walk on eggshells anytime we do anything, because someone will always be offended by something.

Now, what will they be doing about Kirby's headdress? Mario is offensive to Italian-Americans, he should be removed from Nintendo's lineup. Peach is a stereotype of damsels in distress and must be removed to ensure girls have positive self-image. Capturing Pokemon represents animal cruelty. Pokemon should be removed.

This is getting to be absurd. A silhouette of an LCD guy with a setup that I would not know is a feather and a hatchet were I not told is now offensive. Even if it were, how is it now offensive to portray these tribes accurately even within a cartoonized fashion? There were a few peaceful tribes, the Iroquois, etc. There were also warrior tribes, such as the Apache, etc. Many of the tribesmen were warriors in tribes built around warfare, at war with neighboring tribes, as is common in all tribal societies. While some tribes were displaced and destroyed by the arrival of Europeans, not all were unwelcoming or naieve. Some welcomed the invaders and their firearms, for the opportunity to trade for said firearms to gain advantage against their enemies. Why are we rewriting history to show the native peoples as maize farming buffalo herders when some were that, and others were building their territory through warfare, not unlike the European invaders themselves? The French and Indian War wasn't France coming in and laying siege to all natives as a pacification program. Warrior tribes were allying with the French to lay siege to their enemies. Of course they got bit in the end, but they were willing participants of their own destruction much like the former nations that tried to ally with the Nazis in a misguided attempt to bolster their own advantage. The new rewrite that all tribes were like the Iroquois is as much a work of fiction as 1950's cowboys & Indians stereotypes. Different peoples, different "nations", different values, and policies. There's no homogeneous "Native American." There were many different groups of people, who all got screwed in the long run, but some got screwed pacifistically, and some were war mongers that sold themselves down the river foolishly with misguided war alliances.

Being offended at portraying the native population of NA as warriors is like being offended at portraying ancient Japanese as Samurai, ancient Europeans as Knights, Crusaders, or Vikings. Of all the things to make into a political correctness issue, how is that even a thing? Yes, not everyone was a warrior. Some tribes had no warriors. Just as not all Europeans were Knights and Vikings and not all Japanese were Samurai. But these are iconic roles in their traditional societies.

I want to see outrage the next time someone displays a Brit in armor with a sword, running someone through.

@rdrunner1178 OK, but who says it's "just for the sake of it"? I mean, sure, comment posts, tweets, profile statuses and forum posts can be seen as casual throw away things (just look at snapchat), but just because the medium has that perception, doesn't mean the things people say count for less...?

@roadrunner343 It's a good point, and I know what you mean. I believe it's a phenomenon being driven by the world being an ever smaller, busier place that's all connected. Ultimately, the egg shell reference is a valid concern, but I'd hope that it becomes irrelevant and everyone just gets treated the same.

I understand the offense but why wait for an update to remove it when they could just remove it now and let the game be as complete as it is?

As long as it only removes the feather and ends like the Game & Watch Gallery 4 rerelease I'm ok.

Still, how is this a racist depiction? Is it only for the connection between the original game (which does indeed seems a bad portrayal)?

@retro_player_22 the game is probably already shipped to be produced in cartriadges.

Could use more context and preferably someone of Native American descent chiming in. There's a difference between a stereotype and a reference, and from what I've looked up (http://indians.org/articles/feathers.html), feathers themselves hardly sound like an offensive detail to reference. Or did someone interpret their presence in a torch-wielding attack (provided it's a torch and not a hatchet) as a callback to the old "injun savages burning whites at a stake" trend?

Or did someone more knowledgeable about the culture estimate that the kind of attack in question doesn't rank up to earning a feather and thus disrespectfully misrepresent the tradition?

Or, I dunno, something else, but still more WORDED and ARGUMENTED than "offensive to x"?

And on a side note, changed values make sense in reinventing character moves, but if it's a blatant callback to the 80s, I say let them be. Change values, not the past - preserving the memory of the past is among the very catalysts of changing values, be it savage bonfires, blackfaces, servant centaurs or the we-wouldn't-get-done-by-tomorrow list of hijinks in Tex Avery's legacy. Try to whitewash this past for audience comfort or whatnot, and you'll risk going Comstock's way about it in the long run. Current deeds and works should testify to lessons learned, not edits of the old ones.

@Gridatttack Yep, exactly right. They'd have started around late September / early October.

@Ryu_Niiyama I definitely agree with you for the most part. We need to help people that need help, and respect people. I just don't think taking out cultural references is wrong unless the people of that cultural say it's wrong. I feel like the general case is white people getting upset in behalf of poc and pretending that makes them more righteous because they care. Although many times the poc actually appreciate that they were included in the artistic medium. TV, videogames, whatever. I think there's a difference in simply having someone dressed up as a native American, Indian, Samurai and just getting included in entertainment and having people, videogames characters in such appearances and then mocking them. Honestly I don't know what was the plan for these Indian game and watch people but I didn't notice anywhere that they were mocked. If that was the case then I think it's great that it was changed.

I'm surprised they still haven't done anything about the fact that one of the dungeons in Zelda 1 is shaped like a swastika.

This comments section, with its "PC run amok" thread? That's the reason I'm profoundly embarrassed to be a gamer.

If they want to be considerate and self correct that's their decision. If you disagree so much that you're this mad, then maybe just vote with your wallet and stay away. You can use the money you'll save purchasing an Atari VCS and copy of Custer's Revenge to while away the hours lamenting the better times of yesteryear, when none of us had to worry about silly things like being PC or having mutual respect.

@Kalmaro They said they weren't. These are just PC Idiots that feel they have to be offended by EVERYTHING.

They're only ruining culture when they do this sort of stuff. Companies need to tell them to screw off.

@Euler because it isn't

Are people getting offended by this too now? Typical NoA statement.

@Bristingr I do wish Nintendo wouldn't cave, or feel that they need to.

@TheDanslator I think you're missing the point here. The issue is that people are complaining about being offended when they aren't even the ones who are 'supposed' to be offended. They just want to be offended for the sake of being outraged regardless of if this has anything to do with them... And a lot of people are fed up with it.

@SmaggTheSmug the feather isn't the problem. The original game portrays native Americans as violent thugs trying to burn down a building. Historical accuracy doesn't justify referencing an offensive racial caricature

For those who don't know, it's not the feather that's deemed offensive, it was the game it was from. The game depicted Native Americans as a bunch of savages trying to burn down a frontier village, and you whacked them with a hammer. If it was just a regular native american depiction, it wouldn't be seen as racist, but considering it's directly referencing this game, it's best to remove it to avoid more complaints. Why is everyone so worked up over its removal anyway. It's a feather, it doesn't even affect the gameplay. All it does is distance Nintendo from its more racist past, because of course it doesn't want to associate itself with that era of history. You may not find it offensive, but even a small minority of people who are offended by this reference could become a major PR disaster for Nintendo in the future. It's just business.

@Kalmaro I find this happens too often. People outside of a group getting offended for that group while that group is totally apathetic toward the supposed offense.

@SinnohGeek @PhazonEnhanced Before we call this racists, first we have to ask ourselves, did the native Americans actually attack people?

If so, then is it wrong to reference that part of history? I don't recall Nintendo saying all native Americans were like that, and certainly no one here is suggesting that, so where's the controversy?

Pre-order CANCELLED

Pc agenda already invaded nearly every tv show and it sad because now even if they didnt wanna change it they have to to appease small percentage of people. Its a game and. Game n watch takes different forms . can we just ay games to escape ? How long before mario has a white guilt level? Even though he is italian

@goggles789 I hear you. I think I kind of understated things. When Natives in North Dakota tried to stand up for their territorial integrity and to protect their water about 40 different police agencies came in to harrass, intimidate, spy, and block them from protecting their land and water. The genocide continues in many awful ways...

It seems they used the wrong artwork as this was “updated” in Game & Watch 4 but Nintendo seems to forget that game and franchise exists.

@citizen_zane

Yes you will now. T HAWK is double plus bad and Capcom will be taken to room 101 and all reference to T Hawk will be placed in the memory hole.

In other news Hate Week preparations are ongoing and we have always been at war with Eurasia.

The context of the original game is understandably offensive and there is a spirit within Super Smash Bros Ultimate of the game which depicts a cowboy hitting an angry native american with a hammer. I can understand why that's offensive.

What I DON'T understand is why THE FEATHER is what people are upset about. Or the loincloth, etc for that matter. This is historically accurate. Native Americans wore loincloths and feathers. So if you're offended by that, then you seem to be ashamed of your own heritage.

On the bright side, this change doesn't make the Game & Watch game reference ENTIRELY inaccurate, as in Game & Watch Gallery 4 (Game & Watch Gallery Advance in PAL regions), the Game & Watch version of "Fire Attack" depicted the Native Americans with this same change. No feathers or clothing.
https://assets.boundingintocomics.com/content/uploads/2018/11/fbafeat1.png

Nintendo Life you need to point out they edited the character model way back in 2002. People are acting like this has been brought about by modern sensitivity and offense culture, snowflakes and PC liberals. It's just not true.

Put it this way, Smash Bros is a celebration of Nintendo's history. To reference a game such as Fire Attack, which is offensive, is to celebrate it. That is the reason for editing the character model. The feather is not about being historically accurate, it's choosing to celebrate a game that would not be appropriate today. Removing it acknowledges this.

What was the original attack sprite anyway? I don't get why they even changed it to Fire Attack.

As much as I don't agree with the complaining about this, I think Nintendo made the right call here. The re-release of the game it came from doesn't have this, so Nintendo can still say it's from the same game, with 100% accuracy.

This is a very minor change, and while you can argue that it shouldn't change because of how small it is, I'd say I'd have problems with it if it was something bigger, say an entire costume that was an issue.

All you snowflakes crying over a removed feather. Racists.

@Baker1000 Everybody needs to read this comment. Spot on!

Now to go through the comments section and 'ignore' each and every last person who is upset by this getting removed!

@Baker1000 They changed a lot of G&W moves so the actual character looks like it did in the games where the move was used.
That's an ugly sentence.
Basically, in previous games G&W would just use the frying pan. In ultimate, G&W's sprite also changes to match the game the frying pan was from.

Political correctness gone mad!

I’m surprised the feminists haven’t gone ape about the tile yet demanding it be called “Smash Sisters” lol

@Mykillvee The Cleveland Indians are phasing out Chief Wahoo. The Redskins continue to be a sore sources for some Native Americans. It is not cool to continue to offend Native Americans, even if it is a small percentage of that group. It's about using good judgment and showing an ounce of empathy. Kudos, Nintendo.

Oh look, more PC BS and company's pandering to this nonsense. Gosh I despise this generation.

[AN AVERAGE GAMER, FROTHING AT THE MOUTH] why wont they let me be racist

@bluedogrulez only a small portion of native Americans hate the mascot?

@nofriendo So... being okay with a character having a feather on its head means I'm okay with genocide? C’mon dude, nobody is thinking that. By that logic Nintendo should remove all characters that have a skin color ranging from bright white to dark black because all races on that specteum have been enslaved and marginalized at some point in history.

I miss the good old days when we could wear blackface with pride and pretend that white people were attacked by natives instead of the other way around.

Sounds kinda silly to care about something so small one way or the other.

As long as they don't have to delay the game to change it.

What you are seing is a huge symptom of the complete breakdown of civilization in the united states. This country is gone and will never be back. The complete colapse of a empire following every footstep of Rhome. I just hope you all love your newfound slavery. Be proud ye servants of the new world order.

Bravo Nintendo.
I say If the depiction is (understandably) getting complaints from a marginalized group, then edit it.
I'd say also that it's disturbing that so many people here lack the insight and empathy to have such a problem with this.
Mr Game & Watch cosplaying a feather headdress and attacking with a torch or tomahawk perpetuates a stereotype, no matter what you or I think. Some Native Americans find that offensive.
He's not a full-time Navajo warrior character, fighting honorably and representing Native Americans respectfully.
He's just appropriating a culture for comedy and entertainment.
Calling it redface is not a stretch.
Lose the feather, problem solved, move on...

Why is there so many comments about this??? Offensive or not it's going to be changed move on!

@Vee_Flames I didn’t say I agree as I have no problem with Resi 5 myself. I was just trying to see where others might be coming from.

@Totaldude911 No need to pretend, they were attacked by native Americans, and the opposite is also true.

That said, history is written by the victors, so it's only natural that this side of history is what is often being showed.

Think I'm going to add a Switch username called "G&W Headdress," and only play as G&W on that account.

I mostly came for the comment section. All the information in the article was pretty much summed up in just the title, so there was little point in reading it. People were offended, they complained, and Nintendo removed the "controversial" content.

As many have said already, I don't really care. It was fairly inconsequential content. I don't consider it offensive, and I doubt many do, but I also doubt many, if any, will miss it. My greatest worry here is that this could be the beginning of a dangerous trend for Nintendo. If they feel the need to cater to an undoubtedly tiny group over something so inconsequential, what does that mean for more substantial content that people take issue with? Or will they just take these people into consideration before creating new works, allowing their poisonous influence into Nintendo's creative process?

Or maybe it doesn't mean that. Hopefully not.

And to all the people who used the word "genocide" here: Please stop. The vast, vast majority of Native Americans (some estimates say 90%) died from disease. Much of the native population died before even coming into contact with settlers, because it spread through the natives themselves. This was not genocide. This was a series of epidemics.

@Yosheel Remind me to do something nice fore you after this.

@roadrunner343,

When I am wrong fella I will admit it,I did not have a clue the guy was a moderator.

Sorry for any offence.

Ok let's calm down.

@johnvboy lol... well that certainly explains much of the confusion =) That is why I thought it was hilarious when you asked "Who made you a moderator". Regardless, no worries, and no offence taken here.

@roadrunner343 @johnvboy just so you know I've removed most of your discussion, mostly because it was getting a bit rowdy for a second there, and it was very off topic.

However, it's good to see you're on better terms now.

Why, oh why, did I go through and read all 300+ comments? I was going to say something cheeky about Game&Watch mains, but I think I'm good.

@roadrunner343,

My initial post was a very light hearted swipe at somebody I believed to be a self appointed moderator,which was why I carried on with it with the power going to his head comment.

I guess I saw you get involved and wrongly had a go at you,for which I am sorry,thanks for being so understanding.

@Yosheel,

What makes you think that,and anyway who do you think you are,some kind of moderator?.

@Yosheel It is though. It’s not meant to be a reference to Third Reich propaganda, and the symbol has different meaning in Japan than in the West, but you would still have to be pretty stupid to wear that symbol in a synagogue.

The whole point of Game and Watch is that he's a time capsule of ancient gaming. Personally, I think it's generally kinda lame to remove a relatively tame animation from his set if it's a reference to some old Game and Watch game, but I'm not heartbroken over it.

That said, I am Italian. I want the Mario Brothers removed. They do not represent the company's values of today.

@Euler no it isn't. Both symbols are physically different.

@Octane Here's what I read up when they did changes on Bravely Second:

Apparantley, depicting Native Americans with a feather like that is a cliché and associated with the (wrong) depiction of Native Americans by Hollywood or cartoons. E.g. showing them as war-mongering, wild savages. Some consider it as hurtful as the depiction of african people with thick lips and with ape-like proportions in old Disney or Warner Bros. Cartoons. One also has to consider that this is not just "an outfit" but also connected to a cultural identity.

Nintendos G&W Game "Fire Attack" would fit into that trope, as the antagonists were pyromanic Native Americans. Of course this was normal 30 years ago and Japanese Nintendo didn't know better, but adding the artwork nowadays (it wasn't in SSB4 as far as I know) is a weird idea in that regard.

However, I'm no american, so this vague stuff here is all I know and care about the issue. If I ever meet an actual native American I might change my mind.

The SJWs being offended by a brief attack animation are probably the ones that wont buy Smash Bros Ultimate.

As a lesbian woman of mixed heritage (including, but not limited to Filipino, Native American, Australian Aboriginal, Martian, African American and Martian American), I am deeply offended by the changes they've made.

@MH4 A rational comment on the internet? Outrageous!

One thing I've just noticed in this article is that we now have the option to downvote comments, but the counter won't show any number above 5. What's the point then?

How in God's name is this offensive!?

Erm...wouldn't they need to erase literally every reference to Punch Out in this case as well? That game is rife with the broadest of stereotypes...I don't get the distinction.

Eh, what do I know? It's possible Nintendo got a specific nasty letter from one single person, and removed the feather because of that. I guess it's 'removal upon complaint,' then.

@NEStalgia

Knights gotta knight, crusaders gotta crusade.

Just how it is, y'know?

DEUS VULT!

@tjhiphop

Nothing like blocking out any opposition to your opinions to prove yourself right huh?

I just checked the markets: Stock on feathers is down over 20%!

Really? A feather?...Shouldn't they be complaining about him being black instead?

Boooooooo!!

Nintendo!!

@Kalmaro it’s from what I have read most native Americans are offended that they are removing it.
And indeed think this is dumb.

@turntSNACO yes and this is bs they should keep it in!

Accept the first nonsense demand from SJW, wait for the neverending next demands. Good Luck.

I think we shouldn’t let Nintendo change it cause white people got offended for naitive Americans.
And most comments from natives are upset about its removal me included. I think we should tweet them hard over this.

I can weigh in here since not only did I do something aligned to this as my minor, but I’m also a queer person of colour (not Native American), so I have an idea of how to respond.

It’s... less appropriate the remove the figure. There’s very little in the way of “stereotyping” going on with the depiction, and really is nothing more than cosplaying rather than something perpetuating the suppression of a culture. Think of something how blackface mocks people of colour whilst simultaneously removing their voice from the media. Or, more appropriately, how the Redskins have a racist slur embedded into their team name. This isn’t that.

What this leads to is a phenomenon called a structuring absence, where for whatever reason, a representation is removed from a text. This means diverse representation is overturned and creates a vacuum in which only the dominant culture (in this case: straight white men) is given prominent representation.

It’s proven that diversity in media has led to greater equality in society. I’m not sure this was the right decision on Nintendo’s part. I wonder if they consulted with Native American councils on this decision? If there are any Native American people here I’d love to hear your perpective!

Sorry for the long post! Hopefully it doesn’t get buried in the comments

I'm offended, that you people are offended, by someone/group that was offended by this.

@citizen_zane nah fool. He is Mexican.

@Rexx my grandpa is 100% native and I find removing this is dumb. In that case remove Mario or The entire assasins creed 3 game trash that as well!

This is a good thing... in America.

@Yosheel no point in fighting the comments, it'll fan itself out soon enough.

So... I live in Texas. The classic cartoon portrayal of cowboys alongside Indians and how they speak, behave and look is offensive if it were intended to be an accurate representation for educational and instructional purposes. But it never has been.

Every race and religion has cartoon like attributes. As we all know. The only ones you can make fun of are those related to white people. 😀. That's offensive as it's unfair to comedy and is reverse cultural misappropriation ...

So silly...

This was sensible and for anyone arguing about keeping it in I would have to question why. There is no real argument for keeping it in as it is out of date, insensitive to those affected and does not hurt anyone else by taking it out.....unless they have "issues".

My opinion of course.

@bluesdance I got sucked in.. Despite immediately liking your comment.

This is way blown out of proportion. It was unintended offense, not to belittle it. So to boil it down to its core, it wasn't done in spite or with racial intent - essentially it was innocent by ignorance/oversight. So, cool it was removed in hindsight - and if it wasn't and if it then unintentionally offends people, they can choose to respond to that how they want. Offense isn't entitlement, but that doesn't also devalue the feeling or notion. There isn't a binary rule to the matter.

For context: The offense doesn't come from the feather but to which the image the feather is associated to. A quick bit of reading tells me that the issues with depictions like this lie not in the image of a Native Americans but in the connotation of violence with the Native American image. This feathered image is of an attack animation and one that came from a game that depicts that stereotypical issue.

For the record, I am neither upset it has been removed nor would I be upset had it be included - for the reasons i opened with. If I had to have a sided opinion, I would be inclined to not expecting it to change, again because of the reasons I opened with outlined above. Keyboard warriors galore on both sides, balancing on the hypothetical.

@DarkLloyd wut?

@Yosheel lol i meant the flame will fan itself out soon, the heat on this topic will die out.

There goes my precious memory-space, because of a bs update. I remember when company's listened to the open minded majority...and not to the narrow minded minority...

As a historian, this next wave of SJW book burning is worrisome. Chrome had this topic pop into my feed, which took me to kotaku, which is a hive of sum and villiany and then to resetera, which I recently joined for the Xenoblade discussion and I just learned it's a sjw echo chamber. One thing I have noticed is that anything depicting Indians/native Americans is now racist. Maybe. This game is based on the American Indian Wars. Indians and white Europeans attacked each other. That's what happened...

On the other flip of the coin, they mentioned chief Wahoo, mascot and symbol of the Cleveland Indians, a baseball team. There appears to be an effort to erase any trace of Native Americans from US history. All due to white kids who don't leave their basement and don't actually go out into the community to make a difference.

Ridiculous Nonsense

I applaud Nintendo for removing something like this. It's not political correctness, it's simply being a decent person.

If you actually understand what Political Correctness is, you'd know it is changing a story from the facts to whatever the political class says the story should say. It's a tactic developed in dictatorial regimes like a certain former government of Germany not worthy of naming, as well as the Soviet Union and Imperial Japan.

Changing something that bothers someone, or might cause a problem is simply being a decent person or making a business choice. And I promise you 90% of the people who complain about this wouldn't have noticed or cared if it weren't pointed out in an article like this.

I don't think it's a big deal that they removed it. I also think they should have just not said anything and removed it. Honestly who would notice, nobody mains G+W

@Rexx Blackface did not remove voices from African Americans because it didn't provide them with a voice to begin with.

But Mr. Game and Watch is 1/1024th Native American. That should be good enough for a feather.

@Kalmaro I don't think that's it. The problem here is that there are people who are outsiders to the population in question, who are getting offended on their behalf, when nobody asked them to.

That doesn't change the stereotypical nature of the depiction, mind you, nor does it change it's inherent offensiveness.

However, if you asks actual Native Americans what they think and they end up not being bothered by it, it kinda sends the message that this is entirely overblown.

This is a game I know when the line is crossed and unless that depicts an actual Native American group that is something to far here. So does this mean any games with any resemblances to someone or a cultural group needs to be censored? This small character is far from the evils of NA film portraying Native Americans and yet no one is asking to censor those?

@Baker1000 That's because the attack itself has always been a reference to the Fire Attack Game and Watch handheld.

The reason they changed it to Fire Attack for the "Sprite" is because that's legit what the original sprite from 1982 looked like, and Sakurai and co, are trying to make Game and Watch a literal time capsule of gaming by making all his animations for his moveset for Ultimate change his appearance to match those of which the moves originated.

For example his Neutral B now changes him to resemble the "Chef" seen in previous incarnations of his Game and Watch stage.

Ironically removing this type of stuff leads to a loss of culture for the native Americans. Future generations will now longer have any idea of the uniqueness of Native American culture through out history because all “stereotypes” of their people have been removed. If I were a Native American I would be proud of the feather and happy to see it incorporated into popular culture. Greivence against such things as a feather are often highjacked for political motivations.

@Petriebird Why would a culture entrust random entertainment companies dealing in negative stereotypes to preserve their history and culture?

My perception is that, like many minorities groups, Native Americans who care about preserving their culture have found a variety of ways to take on the responsibility themselves. For some, this includes trying to fight against shallow perpetuated imagery and negative stereotypes that are popular, but do not represent the realities of their culture.

As someone removed from the social politics of America, I do not see these images of feathers etc as negative of shallow but have always found them powerful and colorful symbols. Speaking honestly, for me personally these and other symbols of Native Americans have always given me the impression of a peoples who are graceful, wise, refined, in deep understanding of nature and strong in battle. It never occurred to me that anything negative or derogatory could be applied to them.

@60frames-please That’s terrible! Wow...

What’s more offensive is the decimated state of the Native American. I suppose we should go ahead and forget them completely?

...the social plight and atrocities against native american should be known and brought to light..... but identity politics shouldn't tarnish images such as the feather as being representative of these injustices.

@Petriebird That’s a beautiful way to turn a negative into a positive. Feathers have a very deep and meaningful spiritual significance to me, so I’ll take your words as a message from the universe. Thanks!!

@goggles789 you're welcome buddy, I too love feathers and nature deeply. As well as Mario Kart 8

What ever happened to racism just being idiots wearing white bed sheets & other crap. Now it just seems like just about everything is racist or politically inncorrect these days.

Racism's wrong, but him having a feather doesn't make Mr. Game & Watch &/or Nintendo racist.

Those that forget the past are doomed to repeat it people. Political correctness is poisonous & it's just as bad as racism. Don't like it, tough."Oh but I'm triggered now, eeeehhhh!"

Ffs. Enough with the high horse crap already. The people that have an actual legitimate reason to be offended aren't offended so why should you.

Wow. The bigots are certainly out in force in this thread.....

@MegaVel91 That's the main point in making. Actually native Americans don't seem to care, but other people are being offended for them.

If the people who are 'supposed' to be offended aren't offended, the is it really offensive?

@Petriebird lmfao!!! Haha, I’m more of a Mario 64 guy, but to each their own!!

People these days are crybabies. Political Correctness will become the downfall of the planet.

@Rocketjay8 People such as myself play video games as an escape from the real world. We don't want real world problems in video games.

Resetera is an echo chamber. If you like hearing only your opinion (and if that opinion is to "help" minorities without actually helping them by becoming engaged in the community), then by all means.

seem the people who making the accusations about game and watch feather being racist most of not seen tomahawk man from megaman 6 and somehow that wasnt racist to them seriously some people need to stop being sensitive these days and lets not forget there football teams named after indians and somehow indian tribes dont mind it at all.

@PrincessBowsette Racism is everywhere; that's the problem. The way you fix it is by addressing it where you're at.

Society is in its death throes.

As a partial Native American myself, I am offended by the people who think this is offensive. Probably SJWs living in their parents' basement, no?

@Kriven

I don't remember calling you by the name.

But as they say, if the shoe fits...

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Hold up, why are both of my comments gone? What's going on NintendoLife?

@SuperWeird,

I think it's more peoples own personal perception of racism,not the fact racism is everywhere.

@imananjidesuka,

Exactly,it's very easy for a person to say they are offended by someting,but in reality it has no real substance outside of their own personal offence,you are offended something...so what.

@Heavyarms55 ,

I don't think Nintendo should be applauded for needlessly censoring their game.

We sure spend a lot of time being offended these days. Look at all the real-world problems we’re solving by being offended over trivial details in trivial entertainment mediums! If we all become offended just enough, then racism, persecution, intolerance etc. will cease to exist! Yay internet. Yay first-world problems.

@SuperWeird So the simple act of depicting a certain culture is racist/means that “racism is everywhere”? Good to know. I guess Nintendo should retire Mario, since he’s basically a walking parody of Italian immigrants.

@Rocketjay8 I removed the back and forth between you and the other person. Because you would look silly fighting nothing.

The most hilarious part of these comments are the people throwing tantrums about others being too sensitive, without any hint of self-awareness.

Why not just censor the NTSC version? Rest of the world finds that completely normal.

Who is getting offended by this? I have an affinity with Native American history, and like to read up on it and even go to a local annual Powwow event. They have been treated like crap and still are, but a cartoon depiction from an older game causing offence is total nonsense.
If this is the future of gaming then its not looking good. If I had this on preorder I would cancel too, this PC stuff is going too far.

Super Smash Bros 7th December 2018 release has been delayed. The dev team along with 30 of Nintendo's lawyers and various other pressure groups are painstakingly going through every character, every stage, every costume and piece of music to make sure that nobody anywhere is or is likely to be in the future offended in any possible way. Super Smash Persons & Otherkins will release sometime in 2021.

Nobody finds this stuff offensive. I think it's just trolls on the internet that find stuff to complain about seeking a response.

To prove my point I'm going to tweet to Sega that I want Samba De Amigo to be redesigned so that there is no cultural appropriation with Mexicans. I don't think Mexicans would find it offensive but I'm going to imply that it could.

Watch this space.

While we are at it can we get the game renamed as Smash People as I find that the name isn't inclusive to sisters or anyone inbetween.

@Equinox
Yup, seeing these overly-sensitive self-loathing types ruin three of my favorite forums in the past 10 years with their absurd demands and constant complaints has earned nothing but my contempt for them.

Kinda sucks to hate other liberals as a liberal but it is what it is; I hate political correctness and censorship with a passion. Seeing that Sony censorship stuff happening is bringing the 90s (and Wii U days) back and not in a good way.

One good thing about this news article is that I get to finally exercise the ignore button!

I wonder how long before Nintendo makes Mario blonde. Nice bait Reset Era link there, by the way, Nintendo Life. Great job.

Nothing wrong with it at all... We are going to history, items, TV shows etc because of all this new age tripe

@JJ286 plus people are tired of being someone else's caricature of a Costume for a day and then forgotten otherwise (like the Maui costume in Moana that Disney pulled). Boston tea party must piss them off too.

Though sadly a tradition of mockery still exists with the Cleveland Indians chief wahoo and Washington football being a slur, Redskins.

@60frames-please thank you. This whole comment section looks like a parody on r/gamingcirclejerk. I guess I should expect no different from a site where people were calling a writer a ‘soy boy’ (basically beta Male garbage) on another article for suggesting that ‘fanservice’ (sexual pandering to straight men) is not for everyone.

@Yoshinator because people love to spout about how unbothered they are while also spouting about how much they hate 'SJWs' and how much they hate society and how much they totally aren't racist and on and on and on while complaining that 'SJWs' are triggered. But they totally aren't bothered and they really don't care though.

@turntSNACO I agree we all have blind spots to what we find offensive. If there were significant negative backlash then I could see this removed from the game. Some Smash Bros. characters have had censoring like this before. Like Captain Falcon (Blood Hawk outfit) from brawl had the word "Hell" in it so they removed it for the international version of the game.

Well, if they just remove the feather so ... Whatever, it's not such a big deal at least, I know Nintendo is really careful about these things, I remember about the islamic song in Ocarina of Time, it was really disturbing so I'm glad to see that they decided to change that. So who knows, maybe somebody became upset because of this little feather, even if it's just a little thing, it can have a huge sense for some people. Censor is indulgent chocolate pudding, we should always ask if it's really offensive for some people or not, but from a company perspective, it's better to just avoid these kind of risks.

@Peterjr1

I love reading your comments Peterjr1.

So woke. 😍

A bit silly this. I don’t see any racism in the original game. Natives did attack the immigrants at certain points. What is the problem? If they didn’t, it still isn’t a problem. The game in no way states that that burning down fortresses is all they do, not even that it is wrong to do so.

I'm naked right now and Nipple Mario offends me.

@Cero But Italians don’t insist on their self worth stemming from their group and characterisations of one person is not taken to necessarily describe how they in general are. Italians are individuals, and thus do not get offensded by one Italian character bahaving in a way they would not. I don’t think native Americans do either for that matter, but I think a bunch of people imagine that they do, and want to protect them from it.

Nintendo inadvertently included a Native American stick figure in one of their modern games. This was a mistake. Native American stick figures can’t appear in modern culture without reminding everyone of the past. Ignore the past!

Okay.
But the Mexican stereotype in Mario Odyssey was okay?

Why not implement that into a new company policy instead of just fixing it for one game?

isn't mr g&w in blackface too? best to remove the character altogether.

Mario & Luigi are offensive to my Italian heritage. Please remove them from all games

@MegaVel91 it's good they're doing that, but it should've been noted by someone that the sprite was edited in a re-release and edited for a good reason. I guess it's just one of those "how did it get this far with no one questioning the decision" kind of things.

@HaNks you definitely don't understand what blackface is

@Kalmaro maybe if the portrayal was more correct you wouldn’t feel the same way? Let’s be a little more accurate with history. Keep the angry Native American fighting the whites that were coming over and taking their land, riches, and spreading diseases. See that’s the real problem with the portrayal of Native American, white washing history.

@darthllama how so? I’ve never seen Mario portrayed in a negative light? I mean he’s video game royalty, more recognizable than Mickey Mouse.

i like the original design more but yall gotta remember that nintendo is a BUSINESS, they don't want to alienate potential customers even if it's silly that they get offended by something like this

this does not affect the game itself in the slightest, carry on

@Baker1000 nor do you understand humour or irony my friend. better go back to being offended on others behalf.

When I read this headline I thought to myself "this is an odd time for an April fools joke." Can't believe this is real, since when was Mr Game and Watch supposed to be representing anyone, especially ethnic groups? I thought his whole thing was being some video game character with no defining characteristics outside of being a silhouette.

@imananjidesuka Being offended is honestly it's own culture these days. No matter what you will always encounter some people who can manage to get offended by just about anything. If we stopped everything that someone found offensive we would be left with nothing. At the end of the day I think it is just people lacking a sense of humor or taking themselves and everything around them far too seriously.

"offensive to many" is how many exactly? I live in an area where Native Americans are not a rarity and none of them I know had ever said anything about this. I'm pretty sure this is just a very loud vocal minority, the kind of people who probably aren't even going to buy the game anyway.

This outrage society is getting really old. That said, it's a pretty minor change and it does not rustle my jimmies in the slightest either way.

@Peterjr1 you're welcome. Yeah, sounds like fanservice is a euphemism for even more destruction of both men's and women's dignity. It's always crucial for all of us to keep building our capacity for compassion.

@HaNks Hahaha it says a lot about a person when they aren't offended by racism and oppression. Don't worry, your mate Nigel will be back in politics soon I bet.

@JohnG I would reckon that less than one percent of people are offended as Natives are only 1 percent of America's population, down from being 25% of the entire world's population from before mallot-weilding cowboys came into play.

@amiiboacid Exactly my thoughts. That's what makes one a minority, and also why the majority population says things like, "Pish posh! Nobody's offended at this!" It's easy to say it's just a bit of fun when you are the power holder.

I did not find any thing offensive about the feather in spite of my having been a native of an American country.

@roadrunner343 Resetera mate... Almost every outrage starts there and gaming companies listen, even though it's white liberals being offended for others.

@Elthesensai That is factually incorrect. The people coming over had almost no knowledge of germs or even that their diseases would cause the damage it did.

In fact, they tried to do what they could to help those who got sick.

Somebody obviously cut history class. What they taught in kindergarten about thanksgiving isn’t true, but your comment is exactly why so many Native Americans have issues with the way they’re portrayed.

SMH, political correctness is stupid. You just know this was a Nintendo of America call.

@Kalmaro maybe ask an Native American. I mean if they had a black character chucking chicken and water melons or a character in black face I think black folks would feel some type of way

@Neofan99 What makes you think I haven't? Some have even posted in here and said this didn't bug them. It's another example of people looking for an excuse to be bullies.

As a black person, if there was a character that legit chunked chicken and watermelons at people, I'd find it hilarious.

Also, there is nothing wrong with black face. Nor is there anything wrong with watermelon or chicken. It's about how you use it.

nice to see that my comment was deleted. this site has gone byebye, egon.

Three decades and we're all suddenly offended.

Next step: getting Nightwolf out of Mortal Kombat. Or something.

Look, I'm offended by adult humor too at times, but Family Guy thinking a forklift eviscerating a whale would be a fun gag is one thing, a black silhouette having a feather is quite another. Political correctness has to stop somewhere.

Then again, given I'm against PC, I guess the same five people who downvoted everyone I agree with in the comments will do the same with my post too.

This is utter BS.

So native americans never wore feathers?

@Ralizah not true - they kept the sombrero for Mario after ppl were complaining. Native American imagery has a history (in media) of revisionism in America, so like yeah self censoring like this in specific instances is absolutely ok.

I dont want all my stuff PC, but i do think there are instances where certain cultural sensitivites should be considered. In this case take out the stereotypw, but when ppl complained about Marios sombrero, i thought those ppl where being ridiculous, and Nintendo still kept it in the game. As far as general censorship...I mean on this site I cant even $h!t p!$$ f**k d!#k around without getting threatened to be banned. To me that's where than Nintendo going "this literally effects nothing in game, and does seem a little old and dusty to help perpetrate such an old and boring stereotype."

@Kalmaro I mean, because we stole their land. Id have attacked us too.

@Totaldude911 if that's the car then there's nothing inherently racist, it's historically accurate.

That said, not all attacks were because we took land from them.

@bluesdance Yeah they’re as bad as I expected.

yes it doesn't effect game-play and yes it doesn't hurt anyone to have it taken out...but ill say this i am so sick of the politically correct police telling people what they can and cannot say. i will say what ever i want to say when i say it and if i hurt your feelings in the process as long as i wasn't doing it on purpose or in a derogatory manor then you can either get over it or move to California where they want to stifle free speech more then anywhere else in this country....im shocked they havent gone after peach and mario saying it perpetuates the male and female stereotype roles.. or some bs like that

@JJ286 A lot of die-hard Pokemon fans got offended by Let's Go, so... Nintendo shouldn't have released the game?

Granted, I'm okay either way and will buy Smash. But pandering to people who most likely wouldn't buy the game in the first place sets a bad precedent for future demands by the same people.

Im native american and this doesnt offend me at all, but the change doesnt bother me either. What does bother me is the fact so many people get bothered by such a small detail and that nintendo listens to a bunch of people that wont even buy their game.

@Octane Yo, ninjas aren't a group of people who suffered genocide. There also is not a pattern of depicting Ninjas poorly. Perhaps they are "fetishized" (for lack of a better word), but Native Americans are frequently maligned. Fire Attack is a retelling of a period of time where Native Americans were intentionally targeted with genocide, while the game depicts them as the antagonists.