Controversial Rising Sun Design Removed From Street Fighter II's Re-Release

Good! new design looks fine to me

@Darlinfan For a lot of East Asia, it would be like having a massive Swastika on the wall.

Why not just have the sun design from Street Fighter V in the port? The wall looks so empty in that Street Fighter 2 re-release.

Edit: I also wonder how the animation has been changed, or if the wall stays blank even then.

Ah yes, the real issues are being addressed thanks woke capcom.

At least you can still buy the collection.

I would have bought Street Fighter V for Switch if possible.

I probably never get the sensibility towards stuff like that.
Sure, there's no need to glorify regimes and their iconography specifically, i get that.
But instances like that, where it's simply an iconic style element found in a plethora of classic Japanese art, i really don't see the inherent connection to the navi.

It's a bit like we Germans banning/altering pictures of Buddhist temples sporting a manji because it was later misused by the 3rd reich.

I think what's bothering me is that context seems to become more and more irrelevant.

@Darlinfan if half of your family had been slaughter at the time of the Japanese invasion you would think differently. And im sure they want something like Street Fighter to reach as many people as possible.

The rising sun imagery was also removed from Takuma's stage in ACA NEOGEO Art of Fighting 2.

@Rika_Yoshitake It's understandable that a big entertainment company like Capcom is trying to maximize their bottom line and cover every base. Do you want an online mob and boycott coming after you?

@Darlinfan "Either way it doesn't affect me."

Probably why you can take comfort in your passivity.

Has the sun been brought up ever in the last 30 years? Like back when it was more relevant? WW2 is pushing 100 years ago...

Unless they wanted to depict E. Honda as an imperialistic nationalist (and in turn Japanese imperialism as a neutral ideology) it was a good decision to remove the rising sun.

Gotta love the absolutely pointless censorship. It's becoming censorship for censorship's sake at this point.

@AtlanteanMan ....left-wing fascists. Do you know how much of a massive oxymoron that is?

You didn't want to defend against censorship years ago with Xenoblade X and the weeb stuff so this is your reward. Enjoy.

2021: The Sun is now a trigger.

I always defend against censorship. Censorship of ANY kind is wrong. I'm not saying that people should be free of the consequences but their opinions should never be silenced regardless.

That's quite sad, the background in this level was pretty iconic. It was NEVER meant to be associated with politics or anything, it was just an old japanese painting.

@Darlinfan I think there is a distinction to be made when Nazis (in your examples) are central to a story or plot. Just as Imperial Japan and its flag has been shown in numerous fictional accounts before.

Removing this one detail from a video game, where it adds no real value or is not central to anything...please explain why that is suddenly critical to keep?

The bemoaners of this type "censorship" see everything in false equivalent terms.

It's censorship because it's been changed in an effort to not offend people.

Here's an option: how about Capcom simply including an option to turn the "offensive" imagery on or off and allow each user the freedom to decide for themselves? I could name a few other examples that could benefit from that approach, and if all else fails and something bothers you enough, just exercise your own freedom not to partake of it and let others do what they will. The real hate and anger right now are being fueled by SJWs taking those decisions out of everyone else's hands. Nobody should have that kind of power over everyone else.

Absolutely ridiculous.

@RupeeClock,

So basically you could take any symbol of flag, from any race or culture, as they all have done bad things at some point in time, a lot, and now years later state it's offensive and should be removed.

These symbols or flags should be kept as a reminder that the human race was not always perfect and there are still things to do, they should educate people going forward, so the same mistakes do not keep happening, just simply removing every instance is not the way to do it.

Any chance they're going to ban the Imperial butcher's apron ???🤣🤣🤣

No well this should be left alone

Is it really censorship when the developer is making the decision themselves?

@cdmac
Because you should be free to say what you wanna say, regardless of whether you hurt someone feelings or not. It's called free speech.

Why do people talk like making "an effort not to offend people" is a bad idea? If you can easily choose, without compromising anything important, why would you pick the version that upsets people?

It's not like its otherwise a important part of E Honda's character that he's a flag waving Japanese imperialist.

@cdmac,

This is the issue between offence and offended, for example I may be personally offended by something, this does not mean it's offensive, it just means I find it offensive on a personal level.

I just feel simply cancelling every symbol of flag from the past is not the right way to go about it. Nobody is suggesting we should let people go around offending people in the name of free speech.

@cdmac
No, I did. I stand by what I said.

Hopefully they erased the sprites of drunken Russians in the background in Zangief's stage as that promotes a harmful stereotype!!!

@nessisonett It is not an oxymoron, fascism is an Italian socialist political movement from the beginning of the last century.
The manifesto published in 1919 contains points as:
Voting for women
A minimum wage
A strong progressive tax on capital
And many more topics that we today find 'progressive' or have since implemented in modern society.
Ofcourse the practice and reality of the movement was different from this as we so often see with idealistic movements be they 'left' or 'right' wing in nature.
Marx did not invent nor had a monopoly on socialism and it's ideas.

On the Topic, I like the SF V rework better because it just has a sun using that empty space well, in the re-release it just looks like an unfinished mural.

@cdmac
If I feel like I have something to say, yeah. I don't care whether my opinion on a matter offends someone or not.

@nessisonett Do your research into the methodology of the Nazi Party beside that of the left over the past 15 years or so, from infiltrating the education system to control of and use of the media as a propaganda machine to the use of violence and intimidation to coerce compliance. Or the constant repetition of slogans and rhetoric that's directly from Hitler's own writings on propaganda and its application to the masses.

Evil isn't the sole domain of the "far right". And saying "left-wing fascists" is not nearly the oxymoron you think it is.

@cdmac,

Never said people can't be offended, but I still feel cancelling everything is not the answer.

Not saying what is offensive, just stating that somebody being offended by something, does not make it offensive.

@cdmac So I live in a country invaded by the Germans 80 years ago, my grandfather worked in a German work camp, did this earn me the rights to be offended by swastikas?

Should of replaced it with a shining full moon.

@cdmac

I bet you're fun at parties

I think people who still use that phrase don't get invited to parties either

@Darlinfan whilst your comparison between the regimes has some validity, I think there are vast cultural differences between Germany and Japan, and Japanese culture may be a lot less passive about this than German. And since Capcom is a Japanese company, I trust they have an idea what they speak of - though it does beg the question of why they didn’t think about it in the last 30 years of SF2.

Personally, I prefer the SF5 sun version. More balanced and less glaring than a plain brick wall.

Didn't know Nintendo Life had so many Japanese imperialism apologists, lol. Good luck!

@cdmac Instead of refuting my claim with information you assume I am right wing? I find that kind of offensive tbh...

@Tedikuma

Yeah at the end of the day it's their work, they can do what they want.

The game was originally released in the 90's, was there uproar then?

I think in general folks need to to take a step back and chill about stuff like this. There are plenty of things to take a stand on, if you take a stand on every little thing, the important stuff gets diluted. It's a bit like the boy who cried wolf.

@cdmac
I don't go to parties. Besides, don't act like you're better than me. You're the kind of person that isn't friends with someone because they hold a different opinion to your own. I don't bemoan people just because they have different views to my own.

@Darlinfan TBH It’s never bothered me because I think it’s a cool flag design, but I was never subjugated to Imperial Japanese boots on my neck so I don’t think my vote carries more weight than a Korean’s - however I would also hope Koreans have an issue with the American flag in there, too, after the horrific atrocities that the US committed over there.

@Darlinfan Personally, yeah I'm okay with denigrating Nazis and everything they stand for. I don;t really see the need to portray them in a good light.

@khululy Hahahaha yeah, I wrote a paper on early Italian fascism and its ties to the futurist and vorticist art scene and you’re talking absolute bollocks. Fascism is by definition right wing, early fascists were not socialists by any meaning of the word as they positioned themselves as the ruling class, an ‘organised minority’ ruling over the ‘disorganised majority’. They literally weren’t socialist, that’s a stone cold fact.

@Darlinfan

Do you ever get offending because someone is proudly displaying the flag of the guy who abused your mother to death after she got too old to be a sex toy for solders and tossed your baby brother on a spear when he was 3 months old?

No? Cool. Then take your white privilege, understand you have no idea what it's like seeing a symbol of oppression because you've never been oppressed, and shut up.

@johnvboy Yep, killing millions of people under the swastika will have that effect.

@RupeeClock,

You have me confused here, as I never stated any of these things were right, I simply feel just trying to erase history, good or bad is not a very progressive thing to do.

I don't even know what the terms " right wing" and "left wing" mean. Politics is a plague.

@AtlanteanMan

A) Fascism is specifically and factually “right-wing”

B) Who the heck is learning their history from Street Fighter II?

C) Look into the words “empathy” and “sympathy” - your comment is “we shouldn’t remove things because people are offended” but ALSO “we should keep things because their removal offends ME”

D) actually, Capcom DOES owe their customers “something” as a result of their business transaction. If the customers want the flag gone and they elect to take it out, it’s LITERALLY <b> not your business </b>

Well this comment section is going about as expected

@Aya-chan further left means democratization of power, further right means consolidation of power into smaller groups

@Rika_Yoshitake Capcom is a Japanese company, so they should be free to choose how they represent their culture to the world in their own game. If Guile's base was draped in Confederate flags, that would definitely be seen as a real issue in the US.

@HeHateMii,

Still does not change the original intention or significance of the symbol, so now we are saying any group can take a normal symbol and it can never be seen again.

@johnvboy I don't think anyone is suggesting we erase history. I think history is safe.

What actually happened was a background image was removed from a video game, not history books.

I hope you're proud of what you have brought, Kate.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ee/2e/31/ee2e31f222a341cc04dc91bd5b0308bc.gif

Sigh, brave move Capcom. Honestly, like @AtlanteanMan said, if it really is a big deal for these companies to bend over backwards to do stuff like this, at least give players the option. I bet their analytics team would find out most people would play with "offensive material" on.

@Aya-chan if you’re ok with being friends with someone who thinks other humans deserve to be ethnic cleansed and somebody else isn’t, that is not the damning insult to the other person you think it is.

@cdmac
I'm alright, having an interest in politics clearly makes you a snowflake that gets offended by everything.

@Rika_Yoshitake "Ah yes, the real issues are being addressed thanks woke capcom."

Yeah, because that Capcom pixel artist could have spent that 20 minutes solving world hunger and passing universal healthcare instead. You're on a video game news website.

@Wargoose actually in the 90’s my conservative dad and grandfather were extremely pissed when they saw me playing in that room and I had to hear an entire discussion at my 5 year old brain about how Japan bombed pearl harbor and we changed their flag and deposed their empire etc etc etc etc etc so don’t be acting like nobody cared then. Bootlickers just didn’t have comment sections.

@TryToBeHopeful I am bothered by HOW the art was changed, now why.

@GannonBanned
It's more that I dislike people in general so it doesn't really matter either way. I've had family members that have been involved in some horrible things but I still don't think references to past events should be ripped out of media.

@WoomyNNYes I'd rather put my money on Ultra Street Fighter IV. Definitely the better game of the two, and should in theory be a simple enough port. Out of all the games we've seen ports of from Capcom, it eludes me why that one hasn't made the cut.

@KillerBOB Those are Buddhist symbols in Asia. The meaning changes with the context.

@johnvboy

Hey, you can rest assured that even if you remove this hateful symbols from a video game, people in Korea are still going to "remember" the history of their grandmothers or mothers being forced into sex slavery, and they will "remember" how they are missing a generation after the Japanese tossed all their infants onto spears.

We have history books to teach history, and the stories of the people who's lives were destroyed. Statues and symbols have never been part of teaching history.

@Darlinfan Google “Japanese war crimes rising sun” and you’ll learn some dark history.

I cannot approve this.

@cdmac
Privilege? No, I'm not comfortable at all. Quite the opposite.

@Darlinfan sure man, other games have been censored in other countries as well...

Can we not all just agree that taking a sun out of a picture in a video game is bloody stupid?

@RupeeClock,

So if I play Wolfenstein and there is a Swastika flag on display, I am really a secret Natzi supporter.

Sounds like a balanced way to look at things.

@GannonBanned

https://news.yahoo.com/biden-confusion-talk-genocide-212650519.html

Are you okay with having a president who refers to a Chinese run genocide as "different cultural norms"??

I guess I'm okay with its removal, although I prefer the change in SFV. The painting in SFII just looks empty now.

Doesn't the military/navy of Japan still use the "imperial" flag?

This is getting way too heated. I'm going to leave. Apologies to any and all I've offended.

@HeadPirate,

So things you see everyday can't be a reminder of bad things, not getting you there.

@Jakiboy Kate didn’t change the in-game graphic.
Don't shoot the messenger

@khululy uh yeah I’d probably not be super tight about swastikas if I were you

Does the game play the same? Then nothing of value was lost.

It’s not only about offense (which people have a right to their pain and to not tolerate someone trivializing it) but people also have to realize culture updates how it views itself. WW2 had a lasting impact on all sides, including the citizens that usually (some people are just monsters of course) are just following what their leaders tell them and are trying to survive. The Japanese may be choosing to abandon imagery associated with the past and they have every right to do that.

Either way at the end of the day, Capcom is trying to release a global product and that means tailoring that product for as many consumers in a market as they can. Don’t agree? I’m sure that one can procure an original Japanese cabinet if one is that bothered.

@BloodNinja in these trying times we need a silent assassin like you to bring us together

@Darlinfan I mean, I think this is a broader cultural discussion about artistic works appropriating history successfully and unsuccessfully. You're right that other works can trivialize serious subject matter, but those are usually bad or unsuccessful artworks. Others do a better job.

The point here specifically, is that the flag removal (which as far as I know, no mob was demanding, but was removed by the developers) doesn't have a strong case for its narrative-inclusion, does not impact the quality of the game whatsoever, and yet removes a symbol that is painful for other cultures. To me, the net "good" here wins out.

@cdmac Most statues are not erected because the people were slave owners, that was merely a side of them, they were erected because of their percieved impact on society.

@BloodNinja
No, but she reported it, giving us many lols in the comment section.

@GannonBanned I think I talk too much LOL

NINJA APPROVED (I can approve that)

Funny how people get massively triggered because they disagree with a simple design decision capcom made that doesn't even affect them in the slightest...

@Jakiboy I get where you are coming from. I just wouldn’t pin it on Kate. She’s not responsible for the “lols” in the comments.

NINJA APPROVED

@KillerBOB nope! I heartily and readily condemn the Chinese totalitarian government and the US military-industrial oligarchy.

I condemn Biden also for not supporting Medicare 4 All, a $15 minimum wage, authoring the crime bill, defending segregationists, and belittling the choices of black voters.

I’m a Christian Socialist, I condemn the governments of each nation on Earth throughout history as I don’t recognize the sovereignty of governments.

Kate Grey kicking back right now counting the ad revenue

@khululy actually most of these statues were erected during racial turmoil to send a message, this is easily verifiable and widely reported

@KillerBOB it’s kate grAy

“Do your homework” - KRS-One

@HeadPirate not all white people are American @GannonBanned hehe I honestly don't care for them I am not shocked or enamoured by them it's just a symbol from the past. In that same light most Europeans should react the same to Roman imagery but I think the Goths got over it.

@TryToBeHopeful well then I withdraw my comment.

Does that make the Wolfenstein games illegal in Germany, or are they censored?

@KillerBOB,

They know what they are doing, just waiting for the right time to close the comments section.

Not a pleasant flag to look at, so it's fine with me that Capcom has voluntarily edited it out.

@nessisonett must you have an opinion on literally every subject? You can add ‘World War 2 historian’ to your ever-growing CV.

@Aya-chan if I was a member of the UK Empire I’d probably try and be more sensitive to how imperial ambitions can trigger other cultures

...What a shock, the comments section is a total bloodbath.

@KillerBOB
She made a whopping $1.99, which she then has to share with the rest of NL staff.

@cdmac I know exactly what I'm talking about. If the methodology is the same, the left or right of it is irrelevant. Seriously, look around you at what is happening; our public statues, monuments, even cemeteries are being vandalized, desecrated, destroyed, or simply removed. Brand labels and imagery are being replaced or removed. It's no different from the book-burnings that occurred in 1930s Germany. And who are the vast majority of the mobs behind it? Teens and twenty somethings who've been radicalized by what laughingly passes for our education system. Do the riots, the violence, the media's duplicity when it concerns their "narrative", and Big Corporate backing ring a bell? Does the targeting of certain groups (conservatives, Christians, Jews, law enforcement) for hate, or the witch-hunting and destruction of anyone who offends the "wrong" groups?

It's the same. You can try to put fascism in a nice, neat little box and place it solely on the "right of center" all you like, but at the end of the day you're arguing semantics. As the old saying goes "If it acts like a duck, looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck". The ideologies may be different, the faces behind them may be different, but they're all exactly the same in their hate and in how they operate.

I just want to say, I think it’s great that Capcom made the change. We don’t need imagery like this in a video game. It’s not censorship. Some of you folks are fighting for the equivalent of keeping a Swastika on a wall. There is nothing ok with this symbol, please familiarize yourself with its history. Google is easy to use, and we are not required to do the work for you. Please seek the knowledge that will help you understand.

NINJA APPROVED

@johnvboy Yes. If, under a swastika, a 6 million jews were systematically killed and burned (forbidden under judaism), and many more jews were abused, displaced, publicly humiliated, and tattooed (also forbidden) and almost an entire continent of people were killed, abused and plundered ... people are going to see the negative. It's not "funny." It's a fact and it makes perfect sense.

Maybe after a few generations we can be more philosophical regarding the origin of the swastika. Though the now-negative connotations regarding the swastika is the least of problems stemming from Nazi legacy.

@PessitheMystic Nah I’m not a WW2 historian, I just studied the Italian Futurist movement and artists like Umberto Boccioni in detail back in school which led to writing about Italian fascism. They’re intrinsically linked and anybody who’s ever written an art history paper can tell you that the social and political background is just as important as the actual paintings.

@Atariboy

But the flag moved and flashed when you won the round 😓

@Aya-chan the frustrating thing is that things have ALWAYS been ripped out of the media, it was just formerly things like heresy, homosexuality, black people, communism, etc - and Freeze Peach Activists on the right were silent.

Now people are like “let’s take out imperialism” and it’s suddenly CANCEL CULTURE.

I, personally, think cancel culture was more HUAC, Hayes Code, Comics Code, ETC

@GannonBanned I have never seen a comments section like this. It will likely get closed, but I’m shocked at the number of people fighting so hard to support that crazy flag.

Sorry, can’t approve this. Against regulations.

@nessisonett I like video games.

@cdmac I have. I actually minored in History, by the way. But it's obvious that either what I'm saying is going over your head or you're deliberately choosing to ignore it for whatever reason.

Sometimes you need to look beyond the nice, neat definitions your teacher or professor taught you to see how and why history is repeating itself right under your nose.

@Jakiboy

That would still be too much

@PessitheMystic So do I but I also like to respect victims of genocide.

@BloodNinja i’m trying to do my part as a bleeding heart SJW but these boyos with hate in their heart have me vastly outnumbered.

If I fall, please leave a shuriken on my grave.

This is getting quite aggressive in these comments.

@cdmac Do not put others down for the sake of your own arrogance. Show the world kindness, please.

@khululy

Yeah but the fact that I didn't include examples about how the rest of the white world has similar laws doesn't mean they are not there. You can't mention the Boar concentration camps in schools the UK, even though they cover the Boar war. In Russia ... I mean you teach a state written text book that leaves out the whole "Stalin killed more people then 3 Hitlers" part.

White isn't a race. There are no races, scientifically. But being white is a sign that you are descendent from European colonialists, and they are the one who have been re-writing history for 100s of years. We are the reason the oppression of billions has been erased from history. We are the only ones who own that, and it makes it just plan evil when we try and tell people it's wrong for them to not want to look at the symbols we used to oppress them because history is scared or something. If some other color people had won all the wars, they would have done the same. But they didn't ... we did.

France and Germany get a pass. They both teach of the atrocities they have committed by simultaneously making it illegal to glorify them.

@GannonBanned YOU WILL NOT FALL

I GOT YOUR BACK

For what it’s worth! LOL

NINJA APPROVED

@TryToBeHopeful I can love everyone and still think maybe they shouldn’t have a platform to vocalize hate.

I would hug a racist and ask him to repent, but I’d also place my hand over his mouth or my body in front of his fists if he was harming others.

@cdmac you're insane if you think Stalin wasn't a ruthless committer of genocide

@cdmac Thank you, I appreciate that. I live in the US, and while I have my complaints about the system of education we use here, it still manages to turn out some brilliantly intelligent individuals, despite its flaws.

Remember, it’s not what you’ve got, it’s how you use it, that counts!

NINJA APPROVED

MORE LOVE AND KINDNESS PEOPLE SEE THIS GUY DID IT SO CAN YOU

@doctorhino not all leftists are tankies, homeboy.

I can support marxist idealism without thinking Mao and Stalin were very good boys.

@cdmac you need me to teach you history to believe a man who sent everyone to Syberia and has countless historical records of him damning entire towns to death?

@GannonBanned It is always interesting to see what people "go to bat" over.

To be offended at the removal MORE than what it represents to others, just because it means nothing to them personally, just speaks a lot to the ignorance and twisted misuse of concepts of "censorship" and "free speech" ( and is it not free speech for the developer to choose to do this of their own volition?)

@TryToBeHopeful i had a feeling we were but wanted to expand my emotions outwardly in case I was giving you the wrong impression

@Darlinfan Since you're obviously not getting it. I'll spell it out: the iconography and symbols have meaning to people who are still alive today, many with negative connotations. Just because it doesn't affect you doesn't mean it's no big deal. It's a completely selfish way of thinking. Realizing that forcing people to be okay with the continued existence of symbols of those regimes is wrong, is an act of sympathy and compassion.

Actually take yourself and imagine being a victim of those regimes, how would you feel to see people proudly parading those symbols and icons around? It's not hard to figure out how you'd probably feel about that.

@AtlanteanMan So symbols of people who espoused hate, tried to enslave or kill people, and used their religion among other things as excuses to do the aforementioned, should be allowed to stand in public as symbols of power of a failed regime? For someone who minored in history, you seem to have very little understanding of what that means to let them continue to stand. It says their view of the world, the one that allowed slavery and mistreatment of fellow human beings to stand for hundreds of years, will be tolerated and allowed to continue to exist, for no reason other than "Freedom of Speech"

Which, by the way, I feel the need to inform you, is not how it works. The First Amendment keeps the government from jailing you for things you've said (the kind of thing you could've had happen to you in Colonial England). It does not however protect you from the consequences of your own words. To use a phrase: "Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose."

@Mallow I can just never wrap my head around people screaming and crying about how they’re NOT offended, darn it!!!!!

@TryToBeHopeful

I said they teach it. I said they don't teach about the fact that they ran concentration camps and committed genocide when they teach it.

Honestly, I apricate the comment and debate, but if you care enough to comment, care enough to read closely please.

I really get why the image of the rising sun would be removed entirely. It was something bought into concern for those that were planning on making faithful cosplays of characters from Kimetsu no Yaiba.

But leaving the wall so empty? A simple sun would make the wall faithful to the original design without being of offense for those that were affected by the actions of Imperial Japan.

And people should really learn to differentiate the Buddhist manji from the Nazi swastika. The swastika is a mirrored manji, at many times rotated 45°. It should be noted that the Wolfenstein games have you fighting Nazis, except in the German versions, we're anything Nazi is banned by law.

Lastly, a General Lee car without the Confederate flag isn't a General Lee. For pop culture references, that's the only acceptable use of the flag. Otherwise, it's considered a hate symbol.

@cdmac He killed countless people. Now if you want to bicker over numbers idk where to meet you in the middle. I think he is easily accountable for well over a million deaths due to forced starvation, enslavement and moving people to areas that are uninhabitable because he didn't like them.

He wasn't even a communist, he followed more of the ideals of a fascist or a dictator figure. He did not represent his people in a way that made them equals. He tore them apart.

@RupeeClock,

So you can keep things if it's a negative, but any symbol or flag that could show something in a positive light is right to be removed.

No issues with this, but who set the rules, and how do we gauge any possible offence?.

@doctorhino oh boy, wait until you hear about this Andrew Jackson character if you think deaths and starvation are bad!

Believe it or not, we have a TON of statues of him where I live, and boy I wish we didn’t!

It's Capcom's game and if they want to tone down the antiquated nationalism on display in E. Honda's bathhouse, then that's their prerogative.

I certainly have no problem with it - I think the only time I saw the old battle flag in Japan over the years was on the extreme right-wing propagandists' black vans, and on some of the tricked-out deco-trucks.

@GannonBanned I don't get it, are you sticking up for Stalin?

@khululy i feel like that analogy would carry more weight if the abused and battered surviving romans were still alive and having to see the iconography

@doctorhino no, I actually even specifically said in an earlier comment with you tagged that I didn’t support Stalin.

I just find it extremely sus that you pop up ex nihilo slamming the Soviet Union when you could be talking about the horrors of Japanese Imperialism? Or being nice to people?

Feels like you’re sliming in on a bad faith right wing sales pitch, so I’m asking you:

Friend or foe? Are you cool?

@Teksetter There is no room for this kind of logic and sense here, sir.

@GannonBanned Because someone was talking about the Soviet Union and this is a forum. We respond to each other. If you think saying Stalin is evil and committed genocide is right wing I think you're horribly confused.

So I was not being nice to people reciting a historical fact? I offend all the Russians who are still Stalinists. Spoiler alert, they don't exist anymore.

@doctorhino the question was, are you cool?

Next topic: Abortion....

@cdmac tankies deserve equal rights just like all other human beans, but I reserve the right to tell them to stop giving me copies of Bob Avakian’s Dream Journal

@GannonBanned Anyone ever told you that you look like Jared from Subway.

@cdmac You know Stalin was dead for 25 years before the start of the cold war, was Churchill's and the UK strongest and most trusted ally in the war, and Roosevelt called him a hero and perhaps the greater leader of all time right? If it was up to the US, we have have nationally holidays to celebrate Stalin.

We know about Stalin's atrocities for one reason and one reason only ... he bragged about them. A lot. When Roosevelt called his army brave he replied with "In my army, it takes more courage to retreat then to advance". This guy was NOT hiding what he was.

Oh you didn't know that? Why are you talking then?

@DenimDemon I'm a Belarusian, we have no genealogical trees not scarred by the Nazi invasion to various extent. How do I manage to play Wolfenstein games and not have a stroke?

I understand the emotions behind this logic, but that doesn't make the logic any less perverse. And if attempts to avoid insulting people come with the necessity of insulting Fiction, one can shove these attempts high up as far as I'm concerned.

People who are "affected by the iconography" are always welcome to steer clear of the products containing this iconography. But much of this "censorship" stems from the publishers going on a ghost hunt after these people's wallets as well, rarely realizing that most folks maintaining the sentiment in question will never bother with or so much as ever LEARN about the product in question. This practice does little but fuel the idea of condemning a once explicitly hijacked and misused symbol with conscious disregard for context. Which is an obscenity both within and outside the realm of fiction studies.

@Darlinfan Welcome to the world governed by politically correctness BS we live in. Just breathing feels like walking on thermonuclear eggshells because someone might sue you if they get offended by the way you breath.

I don't blame the devs for playing it extra safe, but I do blame most of the world for using the "offended" excuse to veto/sue everyone and everything.

@nessisonett Most people don't even know about the religious symbol (which is mirrored for the Nazi symbol) and would get offended by peaceful Hindus. Everything is potentially offending and this is why I value respect over modern politically correctness BS.

@TryToBeHopeful It doesn't take much effort to turn that "law" on its head. After all, if the comparisons are accurate and relevant to the discussion (and they are), then quoting it is an obvious attempt to deflect the truth, most likely to cover for one's own approval of leftist ideology and the protection of "the narrative". There's a reason history repeats itself; people like Godwin know how to distract others from what's really pertinent. Hey, the media's been doing it for years now.

@doctorhino not really, I have short, straight hair, a beard, and am 6’1” in skinny jeans and commie t shirts.

I do get told I look like Scott Disick all the time, and once at a Dave & Buster’s in Austin, TX a group of Puerto Rican women on a business trip were convinced I was him and took a group photo with me even as I assured them they were incorrect.

Time for ninja to go poof

smoke

chopped log

NINJA APPROVED

I mean they could just remove it in East Asia?

@Rhaoulos if “don’t be sexist, homophobic or racist” feels like a nuclear landmine to you.....you might want to re-evaluate your moral values.

Its always fun coming in late to the comments section, and getting all riled up to post some long tangent, then after scrolling through 200+ comments, realizing everything's been covered, and there's nothing more to add to the conversation.

Not that this comment ended up adding anything to the conversation in the end. Oh well.

@AtlanteanMan @TryToBeHopeful wow, if you have a pre-existing grudge against Godwin you might want to revisit what forums you’re hanging out in

@Desrever hey I think you matter <3

@BloodNinja

We’re not sad because you left.

We’re happy because you came.

“Sail Ah Vee, friendo”

I understand why people would find this offensive but if this is removed from stuff shouldn't the Union Jack also get the same treatment?

@TryToBeHopeful sorry king/queen/non-binary royalty - I was responding to a response to you because I thought their claim was so outlandish I chipped in my two cents.

Mea culpa for any confusion

@Rhaoulos If a Japanese developer chooses to remove something related to Japanese history/culture from their own artwork, can you enlighten us over how this is political correctness run amok?

There is a lot of needless extrapolating here. This is not a case of "modern woke (insert prejoratives)" BS. Many here have bent over backwards to try and retrofit this into being an example of something it is not.

It is not censorship...a government or powerful entity has not forced Capcom to do this.

@cdmac

BAHAHAHahahahahahahhaha

No sorry, wait ...

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

Ok, ok, I can do this ...

ha ... ha ... You know Stalin wasn't a communist right?

That he actively opposed to communist party, renamed Lenongrade to Stalingrade to erase the father of communism from history? Called Marx a traitor and censored all pro-communist writings as Marxist propaganda right?

Honestly man, this is the most I've laughed scene the pandemic started. I can not thank you enough.

At least the flag was still there in the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection to those who miss it. Not sure about Ultra SF2 though.

I always thought E. Honda’s name was offensive. I always imagined people driving him. Seriously though. I had a rising sun bandana years ago I bought from a Japanese shop downtown in Mooresville NC. I walked into a coffee shop for veterans and got the “you got a target on your head, boy.” joke. Hence... WW2 and all that... I bought it because it looked cool and it reminded me of stuff I’d seen in movies, and the Loudness album cover. A few years later I joined the USAF. Not there anymore as that was years ago. However, I wouldn’t wear another flag but an American one now. Still love Japanese stuff, but I can see where people outside of Japan aren’t fond of that flag.

@GannonBanned What a perfect illustration of being offended by everything. You are comparing breathing to being sexist, homophobic or racist. It's like comparing being PC and being brain damaged

@TryToBeHopeful yes, leftist media like the WaPo, run by Comrade Bezos.

Mike Godwin is a lawyer who said if you argue long enough on the internet, Hitler always gets brought up.

That got turned into a “Law” where whoever says “Hitler” first is ruled out by the invisible debate umpire.

I'm likely only picking up volume one of the stadium arcade collection. I've been having fun with it. Rewind is a life saver for these very, very tough games.

I already have Ultra Street Fighter II, so not sure I need four more versions of pretty much the same game.

As for the level edit, not the hill I'm going to die on, unlike some of the commenters here.

@Mallow

Is it "censorship" when Disney removes a black guy from a Star Wars poster to appease the racist Chinese?

@Rhaoulos hey, that’s a good point! I have mental health issues and am a Social Justice Wario.

You did it, you cracked the code

To me as long as it doesn't the context of the game then it really doesn't bother me.

If I remember correctly it was either apple or google that started removing apps and games from their service that contained the confederate flag. The problem is that this included civil war games.

If it just a background piece then I don't care but if they are trying to remove something that was part of a historical event then that would be an issue to me as I see it trying to change history.

Makes sense... as games are more and more often being released officially in China... you probably wanted this out before the game got into Nanking.

@cdmac I always apologise when there is a reason for it. If I say something confusing that could be interpreted differently, I'll always correct it.

The problem is people being offended on purpose for whatever reason. There needs to be a limit to what "being offended" means, or would spend 70% of our lives apologising following your logic.

Also I was offended by your comment. Apologise at once!

Some of you need to read for context

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50285383

@TryToBeHopeful oh, as for that part, he received a giant grant from the Commie Corporation to discredit people who are “not a racist but just asking questions” so feel free to make sure you offend the “right” kind of people and then you can censor away!

@KillerBOB They reduced the size of Boyega on the poster, they didn't remove him...so that isn't censorship...more like an appalling appeasement of racism.

@ResoluteGP ah yes, the distant past of a 30 year old game.

I have my OG copy of SFII for SNES, I see this flag all the time.

However, Nintendo has not yet made Zombies At My Neighbors available on the SNES Online, so Konami, Nintendo, and LucasArts are collaborating to erase history!!!

@GannonBanned I'll give it to you, the "Social justice Wario" made me laugh (don't forget Waluigi or people will ask for him as a DLC!). I thought your previous comment was serious but you were obviously just pulling my leg.

Please, anyone who supports this, and the people who actually approved it--get the **** out of my face.

PS. And, to respond to the question at the end of the article, I prefer the original, by far.

Just finished reading through this whole comment section.

Welp, that's enough internet for today!

@Rhaoulos yes and no - I was being hyperbolic because at the end of the day this is NintendoLife, not the Hague or a UN Summit on equality, but also I am a bleeding heart pinko commie SJW and make no apologies for it either.

But I like to have fun and joke and pal around, and being born and raised in the South in an extremely “being PC is for <gay slurs>” family I’ve learned to just roll with the (literal) punches.

I love everyone

@RupeeClock To be fair, the Axis powers of WWII were defeated by a world-wide cabal bent on global domination and erasing their beliefs from history (sarcasm if that isn't obvious)

@impurekind wow, yet you use a site that would censor your ability to use a curse word.

Better delete that account.

“It’s about principles” - Ralph Fiennes, In Bruges

Cancal Culture is Cancer to art and creativity! What these SJW Wokes are doing to things we like is sacrilegious.

@cdmac yeah, but your fly was down the whole time.

Me and the boys were over here laughing it up

People are so ***** sensitive. It's history. Yes, it's unfortunate that it's a symbol of a dark period in Asian history, but it is also a graphical element that depicts a specific period in time. Editing history and censoring things that people find offensive is wrong. What's next? Swastikas are going to be edited out of Wolfenstein?

Disappointing to see Capcom selling out their home country to appease foreign activists. Oh well, I'll at least get to enjoy the delicious schadenfreude when the people praising this censorship turn around and whine about western companies censoring their products to appease China.

@cdmac I certainly was... Not. I don't get offended if people have a different opinions. They're like buttholes, everyone has one. It's just that some people act like said buttholes when they can't accept it.

@nhSnork hi man. Sure. But this is not Wolfenstein. Its Saturday Morning Cartoon Street Fighter 2.

297 comments in, has anybody posted the infamous " Hill to die on " comment.

@DenimDemon,

You are correct, until this was pointed out I never even thought about anything negative about the offending sun image.

@cdmac,

Just needed to tick it off my outrage bingo card, just had to leave the forum for a while, and have some dinner.

@GannonBanned Well, you've taught me my lesson--fo sho!

I guess we should go in and censor all those thousands of classical paintings portraying the likes of violence against both men and women, acts of war, various sexual and sexually perverse acts, various naked/tortured/sexualised/etc depictions of various religious deities, and so on, that some people would find offensive too then?

Let's just delete all of history, and all works of historical significance, and all artistic creations, and so on--don't wanna upset anyone....

@TryToBeHopeful cool, thanks

@Chamver tell me everything you learned about pre-war Imperial Japan from your playthrough of Street Fighter II.

I’m curious what HISTORY is on the line

@Freak_Show actually that Japan was a different Japan

@impurekind believe it or not, I would probably have a problem if Capcom put a painting illustrating sexual torture as a prominently placed background object in a fighting game for children.

Call me a humorless scold, I suppose, since we live in a world of manichean opposites which contains absolutely no nuance or context.

@cdmac But let's....

@GannonBanned Yeah, you turned that point all around and upside down in your head, didn't you.

I can see what I'm dealing with now.

@cdmac I have seen no evidence to suggest that these foreign activists are actually customers in any significant numbers. But even if they are, Capcom is still selling out their home for (potential) money, which is disappointing.

@GannonBanned I also love everyone until people convince me individually that I should hate them instead. And I get where you come from, I'm team PC/Android in a apple fan boys family that acts like hardcore Nazis and insult you when they disagree.

But pushing the " being offended" to its limit, you'd start a petition to change the colour on our beloved NintendoLife because that exact shade of red reminds you of something related to blood, or communism, or your ex from 15 years ago. Don't you dare change that shade of red! I wouldn't be offended, but really pissed off.

@Rhaoulos Yeah, exactly: What if it reminds him of the N*zi party or communist China or communist Russia or....

Petition to change NintendoLife's colour immediately....

@ResoluteGP that all or nothing mindset is an absolutely terrible logical fallacy.

Wait until you learn that Mortal Kombat was censored for release on Super Nintendo!

Did you know that Wal Mart sells versions of CDs with the profanity removed?

Wow, we truly live in the new dark ages.

@impurekind check this out:

When they play rated R movies on TV, they remove certain profanities, drug use, and explicit sex or violence.

Now it’s happened on a video game.

This is how the world has worked for time immemorial.

@cdmac baseless speculation

@Rhaoulos yeah but that’s pretty excessive. Like, I live in America but if somebody in Nagasaki was triggered by Guile’s stage I would extend them sympathy and kindness.

@Mallow I don't speak English well enough or am not young enough to understand half your comment. But do you think they would have made this change if it wasn't to avoid PC BS?

@TryToBeHopeful these leftists and their fascism personally paid ticket money to see Captain Marvel, KNOWING it had Brie Larson in it!

My mind recoils from such horrors.

@impurekind get what? That you’re offended other people are offended and a company is choosing to use their development resources to alleviate the offense?

I flatter myself that you made it perfectly clear.

@cdmac self-proclaimed educated guess with zero evidence to back it up

wowww over 333 comments about the rising sun in honda's stage

@ResoluteGP Solomon was actually pretty dumb, but I digress....

I don’t know how to explain it to you more clearly, but:

When MK was made, it wasn’t censored.

When those artists were performing, it wasn’t censored.

Those changes were made retroactively.

For the record, Han Shot First

@jancotianno,

The moral outrage is strong with this one.

@cdmac a real leftist would know that veganism is bourgeoisie affectation!

@cdmac it this an admission that your previous statement "perhaps they are being respectful" is highly unlikely?

@TryToBeHopeful had two different jokes, couldn’t decide which to use

A) david wrote most of them, and he was a scruffy nerd herder with a slingshot. How hard could it be?

B) i have dozens in my drafts, but I’m a poor editor, I never know when to put in a selah

@ResoluteGP hey, I’m a Christian, and I say Solomon was dumb because (supposedly, in my religion) he had actual conversations with god/God and had his wish granted, but then switched teams later in life to false gods that didn’t exist.

If someone starved to death because they kept eating exclusively sand, I would feel fine questioning their wisdom

@GannonBanned Reductio ad absurdum. Push it to its limit and you see how little sense it makes. Another stupid comparison that makes sense: why is a polluting car from 1950 acceptable when a modern one needs to have far less emission? Why isn't it the same for videogames? It is perfectly acceptable in retro gaming, why shouldn't it be in a compilation.

This is just food for thoughts. I'm not saying it should be the same in every domain, but highlighting the issues of "being offended".

It's disappointing but not surprising people are offended because of a basic act of human decency.

@cdmac then we agree on that at least. But I'm not gullible to believe anything without stated evidence, so I'm still not convinced that a significant number of these foreign activists are also customers

@cdmac oh yeah, I was drawing from my memories pre-pandemic from “conversations that I drink through because it’s so dumb”.

I’m a future vegan, I haven’t been able to fully commit yet because I’d be dragging my family into it with me, but I’m definitely an ally

@Rhaoulos that’s actually still a bad example, because it’s not like Capcom is forbidding the sale of old carts, they’re just altering the current product.

If you wanted to make a car now that had 1950’s emissions, it wouldn’t be ok

@cdmac Depends on who you are asking really.

@TryToBeHopeful on man I’m jealous.

“Why can’t you tolerate my intolerance” is one of my favez

@Freak_Show i think the point you’re missing is, now that they’ve made the change, they’re hoping to court those customers

@cdmac activists aren't regular people?

@AtlanteanMan Good “Rant” 👍🏻 This idiotic cancel culture needs to end. All adults have the right to think for themselves.

@HeadPirate Miss me with that white guild, plenty 'none white' cultures and people have been guilty of erasure of history or justification of past atrocities.
There is no denying that all history is written in the blood of it's victims but no one has a monopoly of evil in this world.

@ResoluteGP have a nice day - sorry things didn’t work out between us, I tried 😞

Anyway guys, SF2 is one hell of a game isn't?
Changed the arcade and home console gaming landscape for good.

As fun as it is to stir some beehives now and then, let's all realize that having different opinions can be a healthy and interesting thing.
Most of the people here are not evil or nasty people because in my experience most people aren't, wether you like em or not.

Whatever you do, don't be like Shadaloo

At least we can all agree that we all like video games. 👍🏻

@PatrickMarioMan “love the games; hate the gamers” as the old saying goes

@khululy i was convinced as a child if I could get amazing bangs like Vega, the rest of my life would just fall into place nicely

@RupeeClock,

Fair enough, as I said I was not condoning anything, and I am not sure what people want, has to be a balance somewhere though.

For instance what if you had a statue of a historical figure that did a lot of great things, but was also part of something that was not so good, as I said there has to be a balance.

@TryToBeHopeful tell us who your main is so we can start disagreeing on something

@cdmac activist only implies vocally or physically advocating for something, which is really easy for regular people nowadays with social media

@Freak_Show you’re confusing activism with slacktivism.

Tweets don’t feed the hungry, that’s just organizing.

And if you don’t have a circle to organize, it’s just complaining.

@TryToBeHopeful Fox, Kirby, or (shudders) a Mii.

@TryToBeHopeful it’s ok tho, I play as the King of Evil, Ganondorf, who is OP if anyone is.

@cdmac Some dorks are gonna find this article in an hour or two and start the whole cycle again.

However, since it seems like only the three of us are left, I guess the good guys won!!!

@TryToBeHopeful If you really want to challenge my usage of the word activism, go ahead and link me to a definition of the word from an authoritative source and explain why my usage doesn't fit any of the definitions. I'll gladly change to a more fitting word if you can do that; otherwise I'm going to ignore this semantics debate.

@TryToBeHopeful while I appreciate a good tautology, is Dr. Mario also Mario?

@Freak_Show AUTHORITATIVE?

Buzz off, bootlicker. No gods no masters! Honor no kings!

DDFH

@TryToBeHopeful 👍🏻

@GannonBanned It propably would have... I mean those bangs...

@khululy I was cursed with thin, limp hair, alas.

Also, I lack the energy to scurry up a chainlink wall like a buff squirrel.

Oh Vega, you mensch.

@TryToBeHopeful being a plumber means using the pipes to teleport underground to a secret area with 10-30 coins in it

@GannonBanned Should we stop there? We're making the NL team work extra hours over the weekend to moderate this comment section and that's definitely not cool. Especially for a painting in the background of a video game. I did enjoy our chat though.

@Rhaoulos i’m game to lay down our arms and embrace as brothers. Have a great weekend! For real for real! <3

Thanks for your diligence, NL overlords.

@TryToBeHopeful TBH all you guys look alike

@GannonBanned I am still, am I one of the good guys now too?

@khululy all people who try their best to be good people are good people.

Everyone else is still people and people deserve love and respect.

Welcome to the circle, friend

Capcom 1991: Let's make a one on one fighting game full of stereotypical characters with exaggerated features and make sure the only female character shows her crotch after she loses a match!
Capcom 2021: Keep everything...but that sun has got to go!

@TryToBeHopeful Cool, I respect that. But obviously I'm not going to be familiar with your personal definition of activist so I see no reason to think I was misusing the word. Anyways that argument is very pointless so if you have a better word (preferably something not from urbandictionary) I'm open to suggestions.

@weelz79,

To be honest was thinking the exact same thing, but thought we already had enough to argue about .

All in all, this comment section was much more polite and open minded than previous NL comment section fiascos, not bad

@cdmac that's not true at all. All of these crazy big companies outright go after Trump supporters when they makeup half the country? Make sense, NO?! Why would you say anything and lose half of your business? I just said Trump supporters but it can go either way. I mean why companies feel the need to stick their nose into things that don't concern them is beyond me. And I have to admit I'm tired of all of the censorship. Some think that if you don't agree with them you deserve to be hurt, lose your job, beaten, your kids not eating, etc. It's ridiculous and un-American!

I don't remember anyone ever complaining about the sun being there ever. I was around when the original game released and nobody seemed to care about it then or now. It's a preemptive attempt by Capcom to avoid the cancel culture crowds baying for blood. That's the saddest part for me.

@GannonBanned,

It started off pretty fiery, but has calmed down a lot, and been pretty good overall.

@Fifth313ment please scroll the entire thread and see all of these concerns have been debunked previously. Thanks!

@__jamiie my dad and grandfather complained a LOT and were furious

@Mallow Nazi Zombies in South Park The Stick of Truth.

@GannonBanned Well they'll be absolutely ****ing delighted now then.

@__jamiie nah now they’ll be like “cancel culture!!!” even though they thought the thanksgiving day parade shouldn’t show gay people dancing Broadway because kids are watching.

@PatrickMarioMan I freaking hate video games.

Is there a reason why they can't have settings for stuff like this? How hard can it be to enable changing a few simple graphics so everyone can be happy? Or are people also upset that someone else can see what they choose? What's next? Changing Cammy's outfit or at least her suggestive win pose?

@DenimDemon a fortiori, as they say.

What's with the controversial articles? Anyway, I don't think our version in the west should be censored at all, there's no need for that. In China/Korea however who this actually affects, sure absolutely.

@Fifth313ment oh boy, so let me get this straight:

“I support a murderous imperial army” ✅

“I support boys kissing boys” 😱

@RetroNarf the article is neutral, the controversy is hurt white feelings

ok ok my turn
Guile's stage should remove all US Army References. I'm also offended with Zangief's communist symbol in the ground. You know, Dhalsim's stage has a very religious look, I'm offended. What about Blanka? A monster in Amazon stage, you know, it's offensive to relate people from amazon as monsters...

(In few weeks I'll add my two cents about Fei-Long being bruce lee and some other topics in the next street fighter re-release)

Let's cancel Street Fighter 2! Let's play something neutral, like Mortal Kombat!!!

@jancotianno you know, they actually DID make Zangief less communist after the initial release on arcade cabinets.

Funny how nobody is complaining that we have less Gorbachev in our children’s homes

@cdmac A quick fix is starting using this as the default background for all these stages:

https://img.pngio.com/street-fighter-2-codetappers-amiga-site-street-fighter-background-png-320_200.png

@GannonBanned I didn't know that. I realized they've removed communist references in later games

@cdmac somebody’s about to claim their grandpa was a kulak to try and shame you hahahaha

@jancotianno Good point, based on body count the Communist symbol is far more offensive than the Rising Sun or even the Swastika. And I would be against removing that as well.

@GannonBanned The article itself is neutral, but they know well that it will cause the comments section to get, um, "active". Not sure what it has to do with white people, but eh.

@Freak_Show that was already debunked earlier in the comment section.

@cdmac Citation needed for that evidence-free claim, but regardless I am also against removing $ from any video game, though I'm not sure it appears in SF2.

whew, 420 (450 by the time I finished typing!) comments around. the amount of people acknowledging the fact this was a capcom move (at least, as far as I can tell) and not some boogeymen is maybe 4% of that, which baffles me
if it's really a make or break thing, why are people so against getting one of the two other versions of SF2 on the switch (one of which is 4-5 versions!) which are unchanged?

@Freak_Show you don’t think American capitalism has killed people?

I mean, I can already kind of tell that empirical research isn’t a hobby of yours, since you’re making claims that have already been addressed in this very comment thread.

@somebread perfect marketing move, it will work as a new DLC for the game

Absolutely prefer the balance of SFV sun. Glad capcom chose to remove the rising sun.

I just noticed this thread being all crazy and had to look through it. Interesting stuff. Couple thoughts:

-Video games are basically toys (look in your heart, you know it to be true) so they tend to undergo lots of changes to improve marketability. I personally dont like changes being made to classic content, but likewise a first time player isnt going to know (and they wont care either).

-Censorship (and I hesitate to really call it that, but...) isn't that bad. At least in video games it isn't. Seriously. They changed a stage background. WHO CARES. I feel like decrying censorship is just a way to avoid sounding like a child.

@Fifth313ment hetero is sexual as well. If you wanna go the “kids are too young” route, you would need to strip all the heterosexual romances out of Disney movies and kids shows and E video games. I’m all for it. Had to fast forward through so much crap as a kid. People don’t become sexual at (insert legal age here).

Sure, kids shouldn’t see actual explicit sexual acts but if a child can watch Aladdin and Jasmine kiss and flirt and date, they can watch Netossa and Spinnerella or Korra and Asami do the same.

Goalposts have gotta stop being moved to fit an anti-non heterosexual narrative. If children can’t handle any type of romantic/sexual knowledge then it goes both ways. Sterilize media, cut all non platonic contact so they can’t see it, and give them sex ed when they are (insert legal age). You can’t have it both ways and try to hold a supposedly objectively moral high ground as protecting child sensibilities.

You can’t flood all media with “sex/relationships leading to sex sells” and then go “oh wait not that sex” because of same-sex. Pretending that homosexuality doesn’t exist doesn’t make it go away. It just makes it dangerous for us to live our lives and ruins relationships (familial or platonic) for everyone. Heterosexual/Bisexual parents are still gonna keep birthing homosexual kids. Actually if you wanna tone down homosexuality tell heterosexuals to have less kids. Lowers the law of averages.

@HIGHscores85
Oh yeah. There was an uproar in Korea over the one ship in One Piece having it displayed on it. Also in A Certain Scientific Railgun one character had it removed from his shirt to get ahead of any offense.

Its okay to be offended. Not everything in the world has to match up with your personal mindset, experiences and beliefs. I can see a swastika without being horrified, even though I oppose what it stands for. I would also not demand for it to be removed in entertainment.

The American flag can stand for brutal oppression to some people in some countries based on the events caused by a minuscule number of Americans, should we remove the American flag from everything?

@Bass_X0 sure, I don’t see why not

@Bass_X0,

This is the more balanced view I was talking about.

What a comment thread. Good lord.

There once was a bathhouse in Tokyo
They called the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a streetfighter
And God, I know I'm one

@blodermoder you ask the only good point: why was it here at first. If not a political statement, should not be there...

Is anyone going make a petition to Capcom to put back the Rising Sun art?

Here's the truth, no one alive in Japan today is responsible for what happened in the past. Guilt is not inherited.

These days this "offense" is little more than thinly veiled racism against Japan. Largely pushed by the Chinese government with political aims.

I am kinda disapointed in most of us here, including myself, we came together as people who enjoyed videogames but we let politics and differing perspectives get in the way of looking at what we have in common, our love for video games.
I will now go home and be a family man.

"Why is it a big deal to try and not be offensive to people?"

• I think the point is that just about everything seems to be "offensive" to a particular demographic that has become notorious for trying to "cancel" everything they don't like.

Part of the art of Street Fighter is that it is a satire on nationalism. The fighters, the stages are all over the top characterizations of the places they come from. The entire concept of the game is absurd and offensive. That's the point, it's a very silly game that we all enjoy. I can barely tolerate the first change but admit that it should have solved any perceived offenses... but now that it's a blank wall it goes to a point that's just weird.

@Heavyarms55 you might have more of a point if the atrocities committed under said flag weren't regularly downplayed/outright said to never have happened by a fair amount of japanese people (most notably regarding the Nanjing Massacre, considering the number of prominent cultural figures and/or politicians who have denied it)
to imply "don't use what's a symbol of various atrocities to various nations, not just China" is racist and pushed by China (hell, South Korea seems to be the nation with the biggest problems with it from some cursory research) is absurd, and ironically reeks of sinophobia itself

@somebread Don't give me that nonsense. I lived in Japan for 5 years and worked in a school. The general line of thought held by most Japanese people is shameful remorse for what their ancestors did during the war and a firm commitment to peace unlike almost no other nation on this planet.

While countries like the USA have spent the last 70 years in virtually nonstop war, butchering people around the globe like they are aiming for a high score, Japan has been one of the strongest sources for peaceful power in the world.

If you want to talk about the actions of a handful of fringe nutjobs and a tiny portion of political figures go back to Qanon or 4chan.

And if you want to talk about atrocities committed under a flag? How about the American flag? You know, the only country to ever willingly nuke civilians.

@cdmac I’m from Southeast Asia. The Japanese occupied our country for the majority of WWII. My grandfather joined the armed forces in the Pacific to fight the Japanese.

Fast forward several years later. My grandfather drives a Toyota, bought me a Famicom, and takes me out to eat ramen all the time (before he passed away).

I like the sun imagery. It gives it a Japanese vibe. I just think that people are overly sensitive.

@Heavyarms55 see comment #254 regarding the american flag
that's great. i never was arguing japan is currently running to imperialize/go to war with anyone, just that it has its own issues with nationalism. germany also feels great regret for the holocaust/Nazi regime, and they have a strict "get rid of swastikas" mentality, as many have mentioned in this thread. they also have their own issues with nationalist nutbags/denialism, but they've at least got that down pat--why is Japan made to be any different here?

@somebread It's not. Japan is one of the most peaceful nations on Earth and considers it's actions in the past to be the greatest mistakes they ever made.

But you can find a handful of comments from a handful of people to suggest otherwise, or you can actually look at reality.

This idea that Japan denies what happened and what people in the past did is blatantly FALSE. It's a slander and a lie. Generally pushed by people who have never been to the nation or at most, visited for a week sometime and got butt hurt because some old man didn't speak English.

Meanwhile America and Europe are held up on pedastals like they are these bastions of justice and other such lies. They are nations that have spent the last nearly 80 years in nearly constant war. They've committed atrocities far worse that anything Japan did in the past. Drone strike, invasions, illegal coups, regime change, deposing democratically elected leaders. In the middle east, south east Asia, Africa, Latin and South America. They fund terrorists and rebels all over the planet, sell weapons like candy and destroy the economies of any 3rd world country their corporate masters dictate to them.

Japan? In the last nearly 80 years has had a tiny tiny fraction of people say some less than remorseful things about the sins of their grandfathers in WW2. Japan is not a perfect nation by most metrics. But I'm not okay with people badmouthing it and turning a blind eye to the active atrocities happening right now by the so-called "free world". And in these cases, it's not the sins of their grandparents or great grandparents, it's the sins of people still in power as we speak.

@Heavyarms55 i feel as though we're arguing different things here? for one, i don't think it's good to hold any nation on a pedestal, no matter what part of the world it is. for two, i don't think all of japan, or even most of it, denies the past, there's just a vocal minority, including some prominent people, which seems to be the case in a lot of nations right now--nobody is expecting your average japanese guy to pay up for a bad flag, but given what you're saying, the average japanese guy probably won't be flying it in the first place. the disconnect i had in the first place is that sinophobia is up in "red scare" levels of ridiculousness right now (especially considering people are using the recent atrocities with Uighurs/immensely stupid COVID paranoia to push it), which is where the pushing the idea that "people of East Asia might not like the old imperialist flag" is a strictly Chinese grab for power/is a racist sentiment comes off as ridiculous. for instance, coming back to South Korea, they were concerned about it in showing up at the olympics as of last year even

@nessisonett it’s not bad to be reminded of history

@cdmac Really? MK8? C'mon...

https://dailycaller.com/2014/05/16/its-a-me-racist-does-super-mario-kart-8-push-white-privilege/

This is just a cynical corporate decision. Sad.

The rising sun is more of a New Orleans thing anyway.

@Mallow
Sorry, yes, I was late to the party and didn’t read many comments prior to posting, as I knew it’d be a bloodbath (!) in here.

Thank you for the chuckle! 😄
And that’s “mam” for me please, begging your pardon.

@Heavyarms55 hey, we killed PLENTY of civilians before and after the nukes, too!

Give us some credit, we’re pretty horrifically evil and imperial.

We’re still at it this very day!

@somebread hey! I wrote comment 254 and it doesn’t mention any flags, but I’ll chip in:

If someone from the Phillipines, Vietnam, Korea, Russia, Central America, Africa, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Palestine, etc said “jeez I don’t like romanticism of col guile and Americana” I’d definitely admit they have a valid reason to feel that way.

I don’t fly the American flag on anything, but I get drunk on the 4th of July, which is kind of patriotic?

@cdmac do a big thread on Eugene Debs vs. Lenin - those gentlemen had strong pens!

That’ll get us to five hundo

@GannonBanned might've meant 255 then--i don't know if the numbers change based on ignored users or not, but 254 is cdmac talkin' about the union jack for me

@somebread weird that’s 255 for me.

Oh well! Hope you’re having a nice day/night ☮️

Reactionaries losing their minds over stories like these never fails to disappoint. Ironic, because these are the same people who will pat themselves on the back for having sooooo much thick skin...

Side note: Pretending to be offended by things you're not actually offended by to make a point, is not the argument you think you're making. Bad faith arguments are just unnecessary noise that either reveals one's ignorance or how little stake they actually have with the topic at hand.

So... when are we cancelling the Union Jack, then?

@killerBOB: Love the cynicism. The site has exploded with subtly political articles since a certain somebody set foot on this site. I'm not sure if I'm willing to stomach it for much longer though, especially when my impartial comments often get deleted in such articles without notice, but I suppose remarks grounded in logic and reason are considered to constitute unacceptable content around here.

@erikharrison Your ****ing racism and sexism has no place here. Your comment has been Reported. I have no respect for your mindless ideologically-fuelled attacks on an identifiable group.

Not really a big deal. In fact, it's for the best.

The Doom II port on Switch had already de-Nazified its sprites and textures in the secret levels and not many seemed to mind then.

@COVIDberry To clarify, the only comment I can find from ErikH is:

"An enormous number of white men in North America complaining about "cancel culture" for a change made to keep sales up in Korea.

If you're Korean and you want to tell me that the symbols of Japan's brutal genocide aren't offensive to you, I'll listen. Maybe the rest of us can acknowledge that this change isn't about us?

Nah."

Unless I missed something, this is a reasonable comment, suggesting that unless we ourselves are part of the issue, to step aside. Did I miss something? Genuinely curious.

Also, I see that we are trying to get to 500. With my power of insomnia, I may be able to help

NINJA APPROVED

@YorkshireNed Is geopolitics a Western buzzword, too? Can we use it, in your stead?

NINJA APPROVED

@Elvie I must not have played Doom II thoroughly enough, I never saw any nazi symbols. Maybe I just never found the secret levels with them? I guess that's good, not a fan of that stuff.

NINJA, uh, I can't approve that symbol, sorry.

What surprises me more, is only a few sites like Japanese game blog はちま起稿 (Hachima) mentioning Capcom also changed Fei Long (Hong Kong)'s flag to PRC flag when reporting about this Rising Sun problem.
(Kotaku only mentioned this as a small footnote)

It used to be British Hong Kong flag but later changed to Hong Kong's regional flag in 30th Anniversary Collection, and now, the PRC flag.

Hong Kong, despite being a so-called "one country, two systems" SAR (special administrative region) for 50 years (expire in 2047), having its own flag and special SAR passport, requiring special permit for traveling to and from Hong Kong for other people, got its flag changed.
BTW, Zangief still has U.S.S.R. flag.

Seems no one remember what happened in Hong Kong since 2019...
All hail communism, and don't piss the su-POOH-reme leader off LOL

@rushiosan I can't find the credits for the background designer, but all the character designers seem to be Japanese (https://www.mobygames.com/game/arcade/street-fighter-ii-the-world-warrior/credits). I can't imagine they wouldn't know what this symbol represents.

@GannonBanned Yeah I think we can all agree some Americans have an unhealthy obsession with flags in general. Symbols only have as much power as you personally give them.

The key point to this is, the creator of the game changed the design. It's the same as George Lucas changing the original trilogy. If the artist wants to change something, they're free to do so. It's their work at the end of the day.

@Wargoose,

Of course it's their game and right to alter or remove whatever they want, but this goes beyond a simple design change for simple visual purposes, it's more of a political move than anything else.

@Heavyarms55,

So true, if you take any group of people and go back through history they would have done bad things, and they all have a lot. But you have to remember those things but also move on, the current generation can't carry the guilt of these events forever.

@GannonBanned Tell that to people put in Gulags by Soviet Union. Far Left and Far Right are united in their desire to trample on individual rights and individual freedoms in the rush to build their differing utopias. Thats why China in some ways can be both. What unites them is an intolerance for others views and finding ways to shut them down. Anyone supporting democracy should always seek to uphold the side against censorship.

@Silly_G,

The problem with the left I am afraid, quick to point out the right are not very inclusive and very closed minded, while at the same time treating everyone who does not agree with them the enemy, hypocrisy at it's finest.

@johnvboy This is very true. I remember when the right wing were pro censorship of blood and sex on the basis of christian values. And the left were truly liberal and anti censorship. Now the left are worse than the right wanting to censor things like mirandas butt in mass effect or anything that involves an offhand stereotype due to the liberal ideology. Its funny to see how things change. Overall Im always anti censorship even if i disagree with whats being portrayed.

@T0mizawa So true lol. All these so-called "awakened" companies are happy to criticise things in the west or liberal countries. As soon as it could mean passing on the china growth story though theyre quick to shutup. What company has stopped dealing with china as a result of the atrocities theyre committing in xinjiang. Just shows the absolute hypocrisy.

@Mikey_205,

Yes the left and right seem to have swapped positions on censorship, I mean the name conservative tends to make me think of censorship more.

Triggering right-wingers seems to draw lots of traffic to Nintendo Life. 500 comments this time, impressive!

Btw. Capcom should have gone with the sun from SFV instead of a blank wall. It looks so dull without one.

@TryToBeHopeful,

Well of course there will be degrees to left or right, it's not as simple as you being just one or the other.

@T0mizawa that's concerning! hope they don't do the same for Dan when he comes to SFV...

@TryToBeHopeful Your right to do that needs to be upheld and exist in law and not censored by those who disagree with you.

@erikharrison I found your comment offensive because you assumed opinions based on race and gender. You should delete it. You should have deleted it before I complained. Im thinking about deleting this comment now, and I haven't even finished writing it. Sorry if any of my good intentioned words have an unexpected negative reaction.

@TryToBeHopeful Rights can be taken away and expression of opinion can be censored. I don't want things being taken out of games because it's considered distasteful by people. I don't want blood removed from Mortal Kombat or made green for "encouraging violence", I don't want Christian symbols removed from SMT for being "blasphemous", I don't want a symbol of the sun removed for being "political" and I don't want Mirandas butt de-emphasised for being "sexist". I want games to be uncensored - because ultimately anyone can be offended by anything.

@TryToBeHopeful,

We have focused on the arguments, I was simply pointing out there is hypocrisy on both sides.

I am not here to be super helpful as you put it.

@TryToBeHopeful,

A business decision based on something that may or not cause offence, and therefore censoring it.

@TryToBeHopeful Removing a political symbol from a game for being controversial is censorship. It is pretty clear-cut even if it's a business decision. Nintendo removing blood from Mortal Kombat was also a business decision "family values" alongside being a crazen move pandering to conservative ideologies at the time about completely baseless concerns about violence in videogames.

@johnvboy well like you said, it's all a question of context, especially for the Hakenkreuz. No German will be offended by this Symbol walking through Asian temples and seeing it on Buddha's chest. Putting a Nazi Uniform in a Barbie Game just for the purpose of fun, this could offend some people as this would have absolutely no purpose for the game.

Just like here, the Symbol has no purpose for telling a story. Honda is one of the good guys according to the movie and is fighting the regime of Bison. So really , it has no purpose here. On top of that's Capcom can do with their games whatever they want

I prefer the original design but I'm not Asian so I don't know if it can really be awkward for them in spite of being pictured for centuries.

@mazzel,

Never stated Capcom can't do what they want or people can't be offended by this, but does that mean it's automatically offensive, of course not.

@TryToBeHopeful,

Or somebody agrees with your own personal point of view, can't have it both ways.

@BlueOcean,

And how many people playing these games for years now, all over the world, would have been on this stage and thought the rising sun logo was offensive in the first place.

I get why they are changing it, as why leave any chance of causing offence to anybody.

@johnvboy never said you said, that's why I put this comment separately this was my own opinion and not directly towards you 👍