Certain words in games that are borderline swears and how they affect age rating

[Dragoncat]

Was just playing BotW and had the carpenter dudes add a bed to Link's house, and the leader said "Are we studs of stud work? Of course we are!" Got me thinking about how innuendos and language seem to be in a lot of T rated games these days. Other examples of this particular word are both in FE. Python calls Lukas a "ginger stud" and Sylvain laments that he doesn't want to be a "studhorse". The word stud can mean a small piece of metal in a wall, but it mostly means either a male animal used for breeding purposes or an attractive man who's thought to be good in bed.

I recall some remakes of older E rated games took out words and phrases like this to keep an E rating. Spyro Reignited took out a line about "frivolous fauns at Fracture Hills" and renamed Bombo the Flagkeeper Bob the Flagkeeper. I don't want to picture hot dragon on faun action, but I wouldn't have minded if it stayed, but renaming Bombo is just ridiculous imo. It's like "bomb" is a swear now.

Yet some older E rated games have things that are downright terrifying for kids under their teens, Zelda OoT and MM became T rated with their remakes because of their scary enemies.

I guess the discussion topic here is, do you have any more examples of this and insight?

[Acacia Sgt]

50 minutes ago, Dragoncat said:

but renaming Bombo is just ridiculous imo. It's like "bomb" is a swear now.

It's not that "bomb" is a swear word. Keep in mind Scorch is Middle East inspired. So having a local from such a place, even if it's fantasy, associated with explosives in today's world is... yeah. Its off to the censors.

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For the topic in general, it's pretty much a combination of things changing with time... and different standards to different things. To use one of the examples you gave: Spyro, at least when it comes to the original trilogy, was always aimed with the intent that kids will play them. However, since things today aren't like things twenty years ago, then even though Reignited keeps an E rating, at least when it comes to the ESRB, things that were fine as E long ago but aren't today, get changed. Like the line about the fauns.

[Dragoncat]

11 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

It's not that "bomb" is a swear word. Keep in mind Scorch is Middle East inspired. So having a local from such a place, even if it's fantasy, associated with explosives in today's world is... yeah. Its off to the censors.

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For the topic in general, it's pretty much a combination of things changing with time... and different standards to different things. To use one of the examples you gave: Spyro, at least when it comes to the original trilogy, was always aimed with the intent that kids will play them. However, since things today aren't like things twenty years ago, then even though Reignited keeps an E rating, at least when it comes to the ESRB, things that were fine as E long ago but aren't today, get changed. Like the line about the fauns.

Yeah, Scorch does have some Middle East inspiration, but it's also a basic desert level. I can see why they'd want to be safe though. They also changed the machine guns in Twilight Harbor to goo guns like you'd see in Splatoon, which to me is too much being safe.

Edited January 14, 2020 by Dragoncat

[Elephantus]

3 hours ago, Dragoncat said:

Python calls Lukas a "ginger stud" and Sylvain laments that he doesn't want to be a "studhorse".

While I don't remember that line from Python, I do remember falling off my chair laughing when Mae called Boey a boob, wondering how they actually slipped that in.

(and yes, I reckon the word probably has a second meaning, but all I could think of was that Mae just called Boey a tittie)

Edited January 14, 2020 by Elephantus

[Espurrhoodie]

1 hour ago, Dragoncat said:

Yet some older E rated games have things that are downright terrifying for kids under their teens, Zelda OoT and MM became T rated with their remakes because of their scary enemies.

Correction: they're E10. I think you're thinking of Earthbound since that was re-rated to T when it was re-released on Virtual Console.

Of course, it's not like all E or E10 rated games that came out in the last decade are squeaky clean. Pokemon Gen 5 had the immense psychological abuse of a child as part of the plot. Kid Icarus Uprising had quite a few sexual innuendos (fully voice acted, mind you), and the only reason Project Mirai DX was E10 (although it was apparently rated 3+ in Europe) was because none of the songs were translated into English and this was despite the fact the ESRB looked up the translations for some of the songs iirc.

More on topic to the title: the T rated Project Diva X does have subs! AND MANAGED TO SNEAK IN THE WORD ORGASMNATION! I laugh at the day the full version of Gigantic OTN gets in.

[Dragoncat]

9 hours ago, Elephantus said:

While I don't remember that line from Python, I do remember falling off my chair laughing when Mae called Boey a boob, wondering how they actually slipped that in.

(and yes, I reckon the word probably has a second meaning, but all I could think of was that Mae just called Boey a tittie)

I missed that one! Lol that's great. Course, the best Boey moment will always be that scream about the necrodragons.

29 minutes ago, Espurrhoodie said:

Pokemon Gen 5 had the immense psychological abuse of a child as part of the plot.

Yeah, N had it rough. Also, Guzma was physically abused. Highly implied his dad whacked him with golf clubs.