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NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:57:01 +0000
From: Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: PC Gamers Are Too Vulgar To Get A "Code Violet" Port
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2025 11:56:59 -0500
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I don't really know anything about "Code Violet". It's an upcoming
game that supposedly is the 'spiritual successor' to the PS1-era game,
"Dino Crisis" (itself a game I barely remember; it was a mediocre
"Resident Evil" clone from what I recall). "Code Violet" is being
released sometime in 2025, on PS5... and unlike many other Playstation
games, it's not getting a port to PC. Why? 

The 'artistic vision' about a sci-fi game where you run around as a
femme-fatale in a tight leather costume bloodily shooting
space-dinosaurs into gibbets might be spoiled by modders who might
make the already-sexualized character... even more sexualized.

     "For those asking us about a PC version of Code Violet� 
      the reason we are not bringing it to PC is we do not want 
      anyone modding vulgar versions of the main characters as 
      well as other characters in the game. We hold our voice
      actresses and actors with high regard, as well as our 
      artistic vision for the game and story and reject any 
      form of destroying that with sexual mods. Making a joke 
      out of our art and possibly tarnishing the reputation 
      of our voice actresses and actors is not worth the 
      extra money we can make."


Which, I mean, fine; it's their choice to make and I can't entirely
disagree with the IDEA behind it. Frankly, the entire nude-mod thing
is entirely cringe, as far as I'm concerned. It's just pathetically
shallow and immature, but teenage boys will be teenage boys so it's
going to happen. But taking this sort of stand over the 'artistic
vision' of an equally sophomoric game is a level of pretension that
deserves ridicule. All the more so since Japanese games are infamous
for the hyper-sexual designs of their female characters anyway, and
(from what little we've seen of "Code Violet"), this newest game isn't
straying too far from expectations. 

But it also reflects the odd (to Western eyes, anyway) and very
proprietary stance Japanese corporations have on how an audience is
expected to interact with their products. "You will take it as we give
it, and not change it in any way" runs counter to the more open
expectations of the west. It's a whole 'respect your betters' thing;
an underlying idea that the developers Know Best(tm) and that any
challenge to their idea of How The Game Is To Be Played is
fundamentally wrong. "Don't mod the game, it's perfect already", they
are saying. "We are the Artists, you are merely the audience, hoi
polloi who do not know any better". It's an attitude that does not sit
well with Western gamers. 

In fairness, the Japanese publishers do (sometimes) allow their
artists and developers more resources and freedom to create a product
that can stand on its own merits, rather than chasing after the latest
fad. You do get a certain degree of quality from games developed in
Japan that you often don't see in Western products. That doesn't make
the products -or the developers- infallible, though, and while some
mods may be distasteful, others can often improve even the best
Japanese-developed game. Rather than fearing them, Japanese publishers
should be embracing mods; learning from them to make their own games
better. But instead they prefer to stick their heads in the sand. It's
sad, and it definitely is one of the reasons Japanese titles no longer
have quite the cachet (or sales!) they once did.

In the end, I don't really have a hat in the ring. "Code Violet"
wasn't one of those games I was anticipating (or even heard of!), and
if it ever ended up in my library, it would probably only be because
it was a freebie or part of a bundle (or really, really cheap! ;-). So
I don't really care if it makes it to PC or not. But it does sadden me
that Japanese developers are so afraid that their 'vision' might be
tarnished that they can't open themselves up to new ideas.