My response

Forgive me if I'm stepping out of line in replying to you in this manner, as I'm sure you're probably sick of reading about people complaining about censorship, based on your article, but I believe you misunderstand why it is people complain about these changes to begin with. Furthermore, I think your mentioning of Nintendo being known for these kinds of changes way back when is being a bit shortsighted. Please give me the time of day, if you're willing.

When people complain about the censorship of video games or complain about how a game is localized, and again, most of these changes are sexual oriented oftentimes, though not always, people aren't complaining because they necessarily care about the sexual content. Its moreso out of a sense of morality; people are upset by changes in localization and censorship because it harms video games as an art form and is somewhat disrespectful to those who first created these games. This is not to say that such changes are done without permission from the original developers. However, if the original developers desired their games to be released in a certain matter thinking such is an improvement, such changes would have been done in the Japanese releases of these games as well. And because these changes are done not because the developers, or rather, the artists, wanted such changes to occur, but because they were asked to allow such changes to occur, it is disrespectful to the original developers work. It is localization companies essentially saying "We know better than you", which I'm sure you can understand why people might take offense to such. Even if you don't see it that way, surely you could at least understand why people who would see it that way would be upset by such. It is disrespectful to the original developers, forcing them to lose their own artistic freedom and limiting their ability to explore taboo subjects.

However, that's not the only issue; Because of this limitation placed on some games that get brought over to the West, it is in turn harming the video game industry as a whole. Artists are seeing their works being watered down, and this in turn can be demoralizing and make content creators feel as if they should self-censor, that they are not allowed to explore the taboo if they so desire. This in turn limits the freedom of artists and makes it harder for them to make what they really want, which, in the world of art, a medium that allows you to explore endless possibilities without having a tangible effect on the real world, is a crime. If content creators cannot pursue what they want, developers will be less likely to want to take risks.

This sort of localization process also sets a precedent for other companies to follow. One my look at a company's game and say "Well they got away with this, so we can do this!". People are worried about there being a sort of slippery slope. Whether one actually exists or not one might argue about, but it is a concern that people have, and one of the reasons people make such complaints. You might see most of these localization changes as creepy fanservice, but if the slippery slope that people fear is an actual legitimate thing, that would mean that truly challenging and fantastic artistic works could get cut in the same way far into the future. I'd argue that some examples of this already exist. I would point to Square Enix's localization of the original Drakengard as an example, which depicted a terribly cruel and twisted world full of tragedy. When brought to the West, this title had references to incest and pedophilia removed, traits essential to some of the characters of the game, helping to show how twisted and screwed up the characters were and the state of the world. By removing this, the game was watered down in a sense; the tone of the game was lightened for the sake of Western sensibilities. A more recent relevant title, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, which I'm sure you're familiar with, had a character's story and dungeon changed to avoid referencing some of the less friendly aspects of idol culture within Japan. The game itself is entirely about idol culture; removing content that references these bits in turn weakens the existence of at least one of the characters, who is almost indifferentiable from the rest of the cast after these changes, since her modeling isn't much different from the idol culture the main characters participate in. The intended story premise was weakened. Do you not think that directly inhibits an artist's intentions, and is perhaps on par with some forms of book censorship that took place in the past? And if not, could you at least understand why someone might see it that way?

I suppose another point is that people feel somewhat belittled by changes and censorship made during the localization process; companies are changing content, determining what they think is offensive rather than allowing audiences to determine for themselves what they deem appropriate and what they don't. They feel as if they are being treated as children when these sorts of changes as made, and so people are upset by this. You as an adult would want to be treated as one, right?

Anyways, to backtrack a bit, I mentioned that I thought your bringing up of censorship in the past to be a bit shortsighted. What I mean by this is that something having always been a thing doesn't necessarily mean it was ever a good thing. It existed, and because it was before the internet, it was difficult for consumers to become informed about such practices, and it was difficult for consumers to find a voice to speak out about it. However, now, in the information age, neither of these are an issue. Its not necessarily that it was ever okay. Its just that now people are taking notice and want to do something about it for the aforementioned reasons I presented in this comment.

I suppose if you don't see video games as an art form, or if you believe only certain types of content are art while others aren't, you might have a hard time agreeing with some or even all of my points! However I ask that even if you don't agree, try to understand the mindset of those who would complain. Maybe people see all created content as art that ought to be protected. Maybe people feel belittled. And so on. I understand if you find the complaining that people do to be annoying, especially if you don't personally care about these changes or think they are a good thing. But please don't complain about those who do complain. They (and myself, really) have legitimate reasons for their complaints that go far beyond any perversion that you think these people may have. Please take the time to understand the mindset that goes into these complaints. I would hope that you'd come to appreciate and respect them, even if you don't agree.