And now an entry all about video games! Or one game.
I've been playing through Zeruda no Densetsu: Yume o Miru Shima (a.k.a., Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening) when I have free time, like on car trips. To my shock, there are actually edits in the American version! I'm surprised because 1) The translations have been pretty accurate otherwise, and 2) I didn't think they'd edit a Zelda game. But they did.
I've taken note of only two big edits so far. (There's some IMDb trivia that says some plot is changed, but as far as I've played I see no evidence of this.) The first was in the animal village, in the painter's house. In the American version, there's this hippo lady who yells "Go away!" if you talk to her. When you first enter, she's standing, but the instant you walk in she sits down and keeps her back to you. I thought she was a rude anti-social hippo before and wondered what her deal was for the longest time. Well, now I know: She's a nude model for the painter. In the Japanese version, you enter to see her Barbie doll-like cleavage and when you walk in she covers herself up with a blanket. And yells "イヤアアアン!" ("eeeek!" or "nooo!") when you talk to her. Now it all makes sense.
Edit #2! The mermaid in the item trading sequence. In the American version, she has lost a necklace. If you dive underwater around her, she says... I think it was "I've already looked around here," and swims away. Since I wasn't particularly confused by this (although it makes little sense, when I think about it), I wasn't expecting a change in dialogue when I talked to her in the Japanese version. I was utterly confused when the words "wave" and "swimsuit" were in her speech box... until I dived under water and she yelled "PERVERT!" and swam away. She didn't lose a necklace. She lost her swimsuit top.
I can't help but feel that the game was dumbed down because of these changes. I think as a child I would have found the original concepts nothing more than amusing, as I'm sure they were meant to be, and not remotely offensive or disturbing or whatever the hell they think nudity does to American kids. In fact, I'm now very bitter that my confusion over the seemingly rude hippo was all based on a poor edit.
I've taken note of only two big edits so far. (There's some IMDb trivia that says some plot is changed, but as far as I've played I see no evidence of this.) The first was in the animal village, in the painter's house. In the American version, there's this hippo lady who yells "Go away!" if you talk to her. When you first enter, she's standing, but the instant you walk in she sits down and keeps her back to you. I thought she was a rude anti-social hippo before and wondered what her deal was for the longest time. Well, now I know: She's a nude model for the painter. In the Japanese version, you enter to see her Barbie doll-like cleavage and when you walk in she covers herself up with a blanket. And yells "イヤアアアン!" ("eeeek!" or "nooo!") when you talk to her. Now it all makes sense.
Edit #2! The mermaid in the item trading sequence. In the American version, she has lost a necklace. If you dive underwater around her, she says... I think it was "I've already looked around here," and swims away. Since I wasn't particularly confused by this (although it makes little sense, when I think about it), I wasn't expecting a change in dialogue when I talked to her in the Japanese version. I was utterly confused when the words "wave" and "swimsuit" were in her speech box... until I dived under water and she yelled "PERVERT!" and swam away. She didn't lose a necklace. She lost her swimsuit top.
I can't help but feel that the game was dumbed down because of these changes. I think as a child I would have found the original concepts nothing more than amusing, as I'm sure they were meant to be, and not remotely offensive or disturbing or whatever the hell they think nudity does to American kids. In fact, I'm now very bitter that my confusion over the seemingly rude hippo was all based on a poor edit.