Nintendo Switch: new Nintendo guidelines causing games to be denied release in the West

[Lite_Agent]

Update: I updated the title and replaced Nintendo eShop with Nintendo Switch as the guidelines seemingly apply to all Switch games, not just eShop titles. Apologies for the inaccuracy!

***

In the past, Nintendo used to be quite strict with what they allowed on their platforms (digital or not). For example, The Binding of Isaac was initially denied release on 3DS because of "questionable religious content". But during the Switch era, they considerably relaxed those guidelines, basically allowing anything that was legal and didn't veer into strict Adult Only category, thereby leaving it up to rating boards to determine whether a release should be blocked or not. Shuntaro Furukawa (President of Nintendo) even publicly said (to investors no less) than Nintendo wasn't interested in censoring content (a stark opposite to Steam and Sony's increasingly tough and occasionally erratic guidelines). And so, because of their extremely lax guidelines, Nintendo Switch became some sort of "haven" for certain types of games due to Nintendo seemingly allowing anything on its platform/storefront (as evidenced by the seemingless endless stream of "Hentai" games and the veritable onslaught of AI-powered garbage in recent months).

But it looks like something changed fairly recently as several games have been outright denied release in western regions (those handled by Nintendo of Europe and America specifically) according to some new, nebulous "Nintendo guidelines". This whole story started with Idea Factory International cancelling a bunch of previously announced released:

Idea Factory International has announced that planned localizations of the Hyperdimension Neptunia Rebirth trilogy of games, as well as the localization of Death End re;Quest: Code Z planned for 2025, have been cancelled. According to IFI's statement, "The 3 Neptunia titles and Death end re;Quest: Code Z for North America and Europe will no longer launch on the Nintendo Switch/Nintendo eShop due to the contents of the Re;Birth series and Death end re;Quest: Code Z not complying with the Nintendo Guidelines".

Idea Factory Cancels Four Localizations Citing Contents

www.nintendoworldreport.com

Since then, several other developers/publishers have come forward to confirm their own planned releases were blocked in EU/NA:

• The Fox Awaits Me HANA, COSEN-NET (this was announced in 2023, so may not be due to those new guidelines)
• Tokyo Clanpool, Eastasiasoft
• Amairo Chocolate, Cabbage Soft [https://dramaticcreate.com/amachoco/en/apology.html]
• REDNEG ALLSTARS SWING-BY EDITION, Outside

• Neptunia Rebirth 1-3, Idea Factory International
• Death End Re;Quest Code Z, Idea Factory International

And some other games were not released outside Japan despite their being localised:

• Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, FuRyu (available globally on PS5 and Steam)
• Bunny Garden European version, Qureate (available on the North American eShop, all other pre-Bunny Garden Qureate games are available in Europe)
• Daymare: 1984 Sandcastle, Invader Studios
• Prison Princess Trapped Allure, Qureate (Available globally on Steam, all previous Qureate games have been available globally on Switch)
• Nice to Meet Chu!, Cyberstep (Available globally on Steam, previous Cyberstep games have been available globally on Switch, with their latest, Nurse Call being just last month)
• Kanon, Prototype/VisualArts/Key (patch for JP version was released on December 5th, but game itself wasn't released on Switch outside Japan even though Prototype always does release their stuff in other regions. May just be lotcheck shenanigans!)

Credits for both initial lists go to saintsflow20 on Famiboard.

Unfortunately, as those guidelines are in all likelihood under strict NDA, there hasn't been any clear answer as to why the games were denied release (and from the looks of it, even developers/publishers themselves are in the dark with lack of communication, seemingly arbitrary decisions, releases being denied just a day before launch day). It's not clear what triggered the change, but one thing is certain: this whole affair is due to some recent(?) changed at NoA (and possibly NoE too).

So there you are, a dedicated thread to discuss that issue and any potential development, so that the Media Create thread doesn't get flooded by that particular discussion.

 

[Danny]

There has been a policy shift, i think what has happened is that due to the success of the Switch in the west, with large majority of its sales happening in NA and the EU, has led to NoA and NoE growing in importance and influence, which mean they can push Nintendo in Japan to change censorship policy.

 

[Oregano]

I'm not against the principle of storefronts having their own common sense policies about what is and isn't allowed but the throughline with PlayStation, Steam and now Nintendo has been that developers don't find out their games won't be allowed until they submit the finished product, and there's a distinct lack of consistency where some games get through and some don't.

It's a complete mess and it's a good thing Idea Factory International is being publicly honest about the situation(even if they can't elaborate), especially when Nintendo literally had their parent company listed as an example of a publisher they want to foster better relations with.

 

[Lite_Agent]

Maybe Nintendo is growing uneasy about how hard payment processors have been going after certain kinds of content in recent years and decided to act pre-emptively. Though clearly, they're overreacting as there's no reason games allowed even on platforms that used to have stricter guidelines are now being denied release (not to mention even games without sexual content like Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle are impacted). And NCL would have acted if the VISA and co. had complained about certain kinds of content.

It certainly can't be for quality reasons, as evidenced by the onslaught of AI-powered asset flips they're allowing (not to mention those that flagarantly violate copyright/trademark laws).

But regardless of the reason, the way they've been handling this is really crappy to say the least. I hope they're not using some AI-powered algorithm to automatically detects potentially dubious content...

 

[Oregano]

Maybe Nintendo is growing uneasy about how hard payment processors have been going after certain kinds of content in recent years and decided to act pre-emptively. Though clearly, they're overreacting as there's no reason games allowed even on platforms that used to have stricter guidelines are now being denied release (not to mention even games without sexual content like Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle are impacted). And NCL would have acted if the VISA and co. had complained about certain kinds of content.

It certainly can't be for quality reasons, as evidenced by the onslaught of AI-powered asset flips they're allowing (not to mention those that flagarantly violate copyright/trademark laws).

But regardless of the reason, the way they've been handling this is really crappy to say the least. I hope they're not using some AI-powered algorithm to automatically detects potentially dubious content...

One interesting caveat on that is that Nintendo stopped supporting international credit cards on their Japanese stores years ago.

 

[Nokia]

Maybe Nintendo is growing uneasy about how hard payment processors have been going after certain kinds of content in recent years and decided to act pre-emptively. Though clearly, they're overreacting as there's no reason games allowed even on platforms that used to have stricter guidelines are now being denied release (not to mention even games without sexual content like Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle are impacted).

It certainly can't be for quality reasons, as evidenced by the onslaught of AI-powered asset flips they're allowing (not to mention those that flagarantly violate copyright/trademark laws).

Those payment processors have been blocking goods directly in Japan, (EDIT: Apparently they're already blocked according to @Oregano?) where Nintendo has shown no such restrictions. Furukawa's statement apparently only applied as far as Japan I guess.

There was also another 2023 rejection by Nintendo on Christmas Massacre, another release that was blocked by Nintendo despite releasing on all PS store regions with no problem, (and even Xbox through roundabout ways.)

Very ironic to see PS now be home to some risque/violent content while NoA/NoE thinks it's too much.

 

[Oregano]

Those payment processors have been blocking goods directly in Japan, (EDIT: Apparently they're already blocked according to @Oregano?) where Nintendo has shown no such restrictions. Furukawa's statement apparently only applied as far as Japan I guess.

There was also another 2023 rejection by Nintendo on Christmas Massacre, another release that was blocked by Nintendo despite releasing on all PS store regions with no problem, (and even Xbox through roundabout ways.)

Very ironic to see PS now be home to some risque/violent content while NoA/NoE thinks it's too much.

The issue is stuff still runs into trouble on PS(see the Tsukihime artbook earlier this year) so now publishers need to worry about:

Different rating board standards
Nintendo Japan standards
PS standards
Steam standards
Nintendo of America/Europe standards(and those might not even be the same)
Xbox standards

With varying levels of strictness that you don't know about until you submit your finished product. I do not envy anyone trying to navigate that.

Also to the bolded I don't think any Japanese credit cards are blocked but since 2018 you've been unable to use a credit card from a none-Japanese provider on the JP eShop or MyNintendo Store. I assume JP credit cards that use VISA are still supported(for now).

 

[Aostia82]

them ore censorship, the worst
what stands out to me is Daymare: it is a different genre from the other "ecchi" games/contents and doesn't make much sens in this context honestly

 

[WildCard]

One interesting caveat on that is that Nintendo stopped supporting international credit cards on their Japanese stores years ago.

I do recall trying to add a Visa card on my Japanese eshop account last year, when it was about to soon reach its expiration date (so I wouldn't have to worry on security matters later), and it was flat out refused.

Nintendo Japan standards

I don't think NoJ has done anything outside of the ordinary in regards to third-parties unlike what happened again in Playstation twice this year with Seifuku Kanojo 2 and Princess Maker 2 Regeneration (both censored on Playstation but released fine on Switch). But do feel free to correct me on the matter.

 

[Nokia]

The issue is stuff still runs into trouble on PS(see the Tsukihime artbook earlier this year) so now publishers need to worry about:

Different rating board standards
Nintendo Japan standards
PS standards
Steam standards
Nintendo of America/Europe standards(and those might not even be the same)
Xbox standards

With varying levels of strictness that you don't know about until you submit your finished product. I do not envy anyone trying to navigate that.

Also to the bolded I don't think any Japanese credit cards are blocked but since 2018 you've been unable to use a credit card from a none-Japanese provider on the JP eShop or MyNintendo Store. I assume JP credit cards that use VISA are still supported(for now).

The situation like Tsukihime and even Princess Maker are true, but presumably Sony gives developers feedback on what exactly they don't want on their platform and gives them the chance to rectify it, even if it results in a delay. Nintendo America/Europe on the other hand is presumed to be taking the Steam approach, where if a game is rejected there's no chance of repeal by altering any content deemed inappropriate in their store. I do feel for devs who have to deal with this. If these companies all feel they need a custom guideline in addition to the IARC, then I personally think they should follow the IARC and have a unified agreement on what can and cannot release on their storefronts.

 

[SirArthur]

The situation reminds me of how steam sometimes handles Visual Novels, even recently with a a vn from Key. There is very little consistency.

Guidelines are suppose to help devs navigate through the publishing of their content, if its because of individuals or a automated process then these guidelines are useless because its not until you submit the work that you will get an answer.

Hopefully we get a resolution/answer soon, but we are approaching the holidays so it might be a next year thing. Also its not surprising some publishers/devs have posted about it, because these big companies tend to overlook emails/noticies and sometimes social media helps with quicker responses.

 

[Oregano]

The situation like Tsukihime and even Princess Maker are true, but presumably Sony gives developers feedback on what exactly they don't want on their platform and gives them the chance to rectify it, even if it results in a delay. Nintendo America/Europe on the other hand is presumed to be taking the Steam approach, where if a game is rejected there's no chance of repeal by altering any content deemed inappropriate in their store. I do feel for devs who have to deal with this. If these companies all feel they need a custom guideline in addition to the IARC, then I personally think they should follow the IARC and have a unified agreement on what can and cannot release on their storefronts.

Yeah possibly, although in an ironic twist of fate the entire reason Compile Heart started developing for Switch was because they couldn't release Mary Skelter 2 internationally on PlayStation...

 

[Renmazuo]

Something that really irks me is that these are all "easy targets". You know, things that wouldn't be easily noticed if banned, funnily enough Neptunia might have been too big for them to target like this, since now everyone is investigating the matter. Would love to see them go after a bigger game with these "guidelines", somehow I suspect they would be really flexible then.

 

[Lite_Agent]

One interesting caveat on that is that Nintendo stopped supporting international credit cards on their Japanese stores years ago.

This isn't really new, and I'm pretty sure it boils down to them not wanting to pay the fees to support foreign CC (and maybe even wanting a workaround to their own policy re: removal of region-locking. You can still buy stuff from the JP eShop from outside Japan, but it's not as straightforward as just entering your CC number.)

Those payment processors have been blocking goods directly in Japan, (EDIT: Apparently they're already blocked according to @Oregano?) where Nintendo has shown no such restrictions. Furukawa's statement apparently only applied as far as Japan I guess.

Yeah, and they've even gone after JP-only/centric platforms so even if payment processors weren't happy about the stuff being sold on the eShop (which is a bit of a stretch), NCL would have also changed their guidelines (which they clearly haven't). Which is why I'm sure it's NoA/E overreacting.

 

[Oregano]

This isn't really new, and I'm pretty sure it boils down to them wanting a workaround to their own policy re: removal of region-locking. You can still buy stuff from the JP eShop from outside Japan, but it's not as straightforward as just entering your CC number.

Yeah, and they've even gone after JP-only/centric platforms so even if payment processors weren't happy about the stuff being sold on the eShop (which is a bit of a stretch), NCL would have also changed their guidelines (which they clearly haven't). Which is why I'm sure it's NoA/E overreacting.

I mention it because I remember there was speculation about payment processors possibly being motivated by laws in places like Australia where some content that is legal elsewhere is illegal in Australia and they can be held responsible if that content is purchaseable from elsewhere. So there's a layer of deniability there if you can't easily make those purchases.

On that note I just remembered that Mugen Soul Z was actually banned in Australia in September last year(when it released in US/EU) so it's possible this is all an (over)reaction to that?

Of course this could all be totally not the case, we're kind of shooting in the dark because of the lack of transparency.

 

[Lite_Agent]

I mention it because I remember there was speculation about payment processors possibly being motivated by laws in places like Australia where some content that is legal elsewhere is illegal in Australia and they can be held responsible if that content is purchaseable from elsewhere.

One easy way to deal with this would be to implement geolocking à la Steam. That way they could comply with local laws without blocking users in other counties from getting certain games, and the platform would still technically be region-free.

But yeah, the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced it's just NoA/E over-reacting to payment processors/governments/agencies/etc.. This all reminds me of the super heavy-handed way they deal with age rating snafus; namely, how they take down the games without asking questions, and force devs/pubs to submit an update with corrected rating via the usual lotcheck way instead of having a special lane for rating changes (so that they don't lose weeks of sales/hype).

Really hope The Successor will bring about refreshed submission procedure for games to get rid of all the inane policies and procedures they're still carrying around.

 

[fiendcode]

It's disappointing to see because in terms of physical releases NOA had kept the hands off policy of deferring to the ESRB ratings since 1994. They've generally always been the most lenient console maker since then.

There were some weird hiccups early on with their digital platforms too (not just bespoke content denials but also even things like setting release dates and price points) but by late 3DS and Wii U they seemed to have mostly sorted that out too and just adopted their packaged publishing policies. Switch took that setup and ran with it providing 3rd parties basically the easiest console storefront to publish on.

This is a huge step backwards for Nintendo and not something we've really seen from them in 3 decades. I'm not too personally upset about any of the content itself that's been blocked so far (though I've always heard good things about Cosmo Dreamer's shmups, their visual style and theme is a turn off) but it's a slippery slope and I'm sure just a matter of time until something I'm interested in gets caught up in the net.

I also can't help but wonder if this is a response to the AI shovelware that's been flooding the eShop awhile now and an attempt at deck clearing ahead of Switch 2. Content approval seems like a poor way to approach that though and if so it appears to already be backfiring with the IFI releases being oddly high profile blocks. Hopefully the negative press makes an impact.

 

[Oregano]

One easy way to deal with this would be to implement geolocking à la Steam. That way they could comply with local laws without blocking users in other counties from getting certain games, and the platform would still technically be region-free.

But yeah, the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced it's just NoA/E over-reacting to payment processors/governments/agencies/etc.. This all reminds me of the super heavy-handed way they deal with age rating snafus; namely, how they take down the games without asking questions, and force devs/pubs to submit an update with corrected rating via the usual lotcheck way instead of having a special lane for rating changes (so that they don't lose weeks of sales/hype).

Really hope The Successor will bring about refreshed submission procedure for games to get rid of all the inane policies and procedures they're still carrying around.

This just happened with Hokkaido Serial Murders as well!

It was on sales for Black Friday but got delisted in Europe for a few weeks because PEGI decided it needs to be rated 18+ due to the Blackjack minigame(which makes total sense/s).

 

[Smelly]

This just happened with Hokkaido Serial Murders as well!

It was on sales for Black Friday but got delisted in Europe for a few weeks because PEGI decided it needs to be rated 18+ due to the Blackjack minigame(which makes total sense/s).

It makes total sense until you realize that games with lootboxes that require real money to gamble on aren't given 18+ ratings but that's pretty offtopic. Anyway it seems these guidelines only apply to smaller developers and not larger ones (as of yet anyway) which makes it feel like under-the-radar bullying on NoA/NoE's part since if they try stopping the release of say, a Koei Tecmo game or a Squareenix game Nintendo HQ will catch wind of it real quick.

 

[Lite_Agent]

I also can't help but wonder if this is a response to the AI shovelware that's been flooding the eShop awhile now and an attempt at deck clearing ahead of Switch 2. Content approval seems like a poor way to approach that though and if so it appears to already be backfiring with the IFI releases being oddly high profile blocks. Hopefully the negative press makes an impact.

If it is, it's an exceedingly poor one considering the vast majority of AI garbo doesn't feature any sexual content at all (and even those that do are still rated Teen generally).

The solution to shovelware flooding the eShop is proper curation (just one "Discover" page isn't enough*) and discoverability (better algorithm, preventing abuse of certain features like bundles and discounts, etc.). Not such overly arbitrary guidelines that are nothing short of a death sentence (at the very least, make it so they can be appealed, or impacted games patched or something).

* yes, I know they sorta do that already via the News section of Switch, but it's far from ideal.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Disappointing. Not interested in any of the games affected but it's weird that we are still having to deal with these type of restrictions or changes every other gen.

I wonder if Nintendo is trying to clean up ship because Switch 2 is gonna have improved community features in terms of sharing or streaming content, which might make things a bit more tricky for certain type of games.

Regardless of the changes, there needs to be more transparency about the process. Devs who had been working towards a release date, only learning in the final steps that there games won't be able to be released, is really lame.

Hope things get a bit more clearer as we get more information but as of now it looks and sounds bad.

 

[Aostia82]

I've reached out Daymare Italian developers for a comment.
I will keep you posted here

 

[ktpoison]

One interesting caveat on that is that Nintendo stopped supporting international credit cards on their Japanese stores years ago.

From what I know, it's not that Nintendo stopped supporting international credit cards in Japanese eshop per se, credit cards are just region (Europe, Americas, Asia) geo-blocked, unless your country does not have an active eShop (then you can buy from any region, as far as I know). Nintendo checks the credit card's country of origin and blocks it, it works the same way in European and American eshops*.

*The one exception being Argentina eShop, which credit cards are fully geo-blocked (Even among Americas) due to the economic situation of the country.

 

[saintsflow20]

Thank you for spreading my Famiboards post.

This is an image I took, of the NA eShop's "Newly Released" section, on the intended Western release day of Prison Princess Trapped Allure (I have been paying attention to this for longer than Idea Factory International's rejections), which Qureate announced for the West, but have not commented on its absence from the NA/EU eShops. On the exact same day, another "Hentai" AI game released. Now, if this was about cleaning the eShop's image, you would think "Hentai Girls" would be priority number 1, right? Of course, the content is probably extremely tame, and maybe the girls' clothing on the box art is actually all you get from this "Hentai" game, but it is these exact titles giving the eShop a dirty image in my opinion, not Neptunia of all things.

Spoiler: Image

 

[Lite_Agent]

Update: I updated the title and replaced Nintendo eShop with Nintendo Switch as the guidelines seemingly apply to all Switch games, not just eShop titles. Apologies for the inaccuracy!

From what I know, it's not that Nintendo stopped supporting international credit cards in Japanese eshop per se, credit cards are just region (Europe, Americas, Asia) geo-blocked, unless your country does not have an active eShop (then you can buy from any region, as far as I know). Nintendo checks the credit card's country of origin and blocks it, it works the same way in European and American eshops*.

*The one exception being Argentina eShop, which credit cards are fully geo-blocked (Even among Americas) due to the economic situation of the country.

Oh? I didn't even know that. Thought it was only the JP eShop that had this system in place. Yeah, that makes sense to have it work that way.

Thank you for spreading my Famiboards post.

Oooh, didn't even realise you were also on IB
The different avatar totally threw me off, ha ha.

But yeah, those "hentai" games are effectively harmless -- they're the eShop equivalent of clickbait. Personally, I kinda miss the days when it was just them polluting the new/upcoming releases sections

 

[KarlRemarx]

This is really disappointing - if stuff like this can't pass guidelines but AI generated hentai slop somehow can, then something is very wrong. I really hope Nintendo have been doing work on improving discoverability in time for Switch 2's launch, because it's becoming more and more of an issue now that it's quite easy to use generative AI to create an endless stream of assets to plug into the same basic puzzle game formula and flood the eShop with it.

 

[Faeldrin]

Extremely disappointing move from Nintendo. All the more so when it's seemingly the Steam approach - arbitrary decisions and no apparent interest in working with the devs so they could make any necessary change.

Unfortunately none of those games are big enough as to at least elicit a clarification from NoA/NoE.

Shuntaro Furukawa (President of Nintendo) even publicly said (to investors no less) than Nintendo wasn't interested in censoring content (a stark opposite to Steam and Sony's increasingly tough and occasionally erratic guidelines).

I know it's not going to happen, but hypothetically, could that be grounds for a legal action?

 

[brutaka3]

This has been a really disappointing situation, considering how Nintendo has (with some exceptions) been mostly hands off with 3rd-party content. Switch became my main platform mostly for that reason and now we are with a bunch of devs having the same issues. And the most frustrating part is how this seems just erratic and without any obvious reason.

- Afraid of payment processor? Then games would be blocked globally, including Japan, where the payment processor are being more strict than ever.
- Cleaning the eShop for the succesor release? Then why every week we still get a ton of asset flip/AI generated games with the most outrageous titles.
- Pushing policies against mature content? Then why some games do actually release and some other don't.

And if this is frustrating to us, imagine the devs, who are told one day before release (!!!!!) that their games won't be accepted. After all the work with licensing, translating and porting has already been done. I would honestly be furious. But of course, they can't just go against Nintendo because they know they need to release their other games there.

I don't have hopes for this being reverted, but I least I wish we get some explanation. For this hopefully some big sites/journos eventually consult them about this. Maybe even the same investor they told some years ago they wouldn't do this. On my side I've been writing Nintendo (not NoA) every day since the Neptunia and DErQ situation was announced, which I know 100% won't do anything, but I feel is the only thing I can do-

 

[Sorbete]

Won't do shit but I'll probably spam Nintendo about this in every survey I get

 

[AruanaRiva]

Really really disappointing to see this is the moves that Nintendo is taking especially after Furukawa saying that they won't ban any games that pass ESRB or other governing body on the game ratings.

And what's worse is all this game is not even special case of highly sexual or violent games. It is games part of series that have even released before and has no problem releasing in Japan as well.

Now, i am afraid if Nintendo have their South East Asia branch, they are going to cripple the Asia localization games as well.

 

[saintsflow20]

DERQ3 proper and that "next mainline Neptunia" that CH did insist they're working on could be games that also get rejected if these guidelines stick, or IFI will not even try to waste time and resources on getting them accepted. Nintendo West did just tell everyone "If you want to play Death End Re;Quest Code Z, you can do so on PlayStation."

It took this whole generation to get a dev like Compile Heart to embrace the Switch. All we can do is speculate on what the guidelines are, if they even exist and aren't just "vibes based guidelines" with nothing set in stone, and wonder if we see a NIS game get hit, or a Falcom game, Aquaplus, etc. Even worse for Nintendo if said games just release on PlayStation/Steam in the West with no problems.

 

[Dakota Joestar]

I feel like its worth keeping an eye on the eshop for the next couple of months. As apart me wonders if Nintendo is trying to do better at preventing those AI art generated games with Hentai in the title, from flooding the Eshop. But the games mentioned here, were simply caught in the cross fire.

 

[brutaka3]

DERQ3 proper and that "next mainline Neptunia" that CH did insist they're working on could be games that also get rejected if these guidelines stick, or IFI will not even try to waste time and resources on getting them accepted. Nintendo West did just tell everyone "If you want to play Death End Re;Quest Code Z, you can do so on PlayStation."

It took this whole generation to get a dev like Compile Heart to embrace the Switch. All we can do is speculate on what the guidelines are, if they even exist and aren't just "vibes based guidelines" with nothing set in stone, and wonder if we see a NIS game get hit, or a Falcom game, Aquaplus, etc. Even worse for Nintendo if said games just release on PlayStation/Steam in the West with no problems.

Maybe the most upsetting part of this. All those companies have slowly built up a following on Switch across almost a decade already, just for the doors to be shut down on them before the new console. I can't understand the logic behind it and I really hope Nintendo Japan realizes how damaging this is.

 

[Herb Alpert]

And Meanwhile shovelware and AI designed asset swap crap flood the Eshop without any issue...

 

[Lite_Agent]

I know it's not going to happen, but hypothetically, could that be grounds for a legal action?

Honestly got no clue
I doubt investors care much about the publishers/developers impacted by this, and it's too early to tell if the new guidelines will have notable impact in mid and long-term.

Would be nice to have an investor to ask a question about that during an upcoming investors briefing, though.

I feel like its worth keeping an eye on the eshop for the next couple of months. As apart me wonders if Nintendo is trying to do better at preventing those AI art generated games with Hentai in the title, from flooding the Eshop. But the games mentioned here, were simply caught in the cross fire.

I remain convinced this has little to do with those AI games (except maybe those with "Hentai" in the title which seems to be gone for now?). Case in point, this is releasing just this week:

Ramp Bike Racing for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Ramp Bike Racing and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Taxi Driver Simulation 2025 for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Taxi Driver Simulation 2025 and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Jigsaw Puzzle Utopia for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Jigsaw Puzzle Utopia and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Aireo FlightSimulator 2025 Edition for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Aireo FlightSimulator 2025 Edition and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Cop Officers: Police Simulator of NYPD City for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Cop Officers: Police Simulator of NYPD City and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Fighter Aces: Sky Dominance for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Fighter Aces: Sky Dominance and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Float Survival Simulator - Ocean Survivor for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Float Survival Simulator - Ocean Survivor and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

And there's still more on the way.

 

[Oregano]

Honestly got no clue
I doubt investors care much about the publishers/developers impacted by this, and it's too early to tell if the new guidelines will have notable impact in mid and long-term.

Would be nice to have an investor to ask a question about that during an upcoming investors briefing, though.

I remain convinced this has little to do with those AI games (except maybe those with "Hentai" in the title which seems to be gone for now?). Case in point, this is releasing just this week:

Ramp Bike Racing for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Ramp Bike Racing and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Taxi Driver Simulation 2025 for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Taxi Driver Simulation 2025 and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Jigsaw Puzzle Utopia for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Jigsaw Puzzle Utopia and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Aireo FlightSimulator 2025 Edition for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Aireo FlightSimulator 2025 Edition and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Cop Officers: Police Simulator of NYPD City for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Cop Officers: Police Simulator of NYPD City and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Fighter Aces: Sky Dominance for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

Buy Fighter Aces: Sky Dominance and shop other great Nintendo products online at the official My Nintendo Store.

www.nintendo.com

Float Survival Simulator - Ocean Survivor for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site

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And there's still more on the way.

There's one that just came out called Anime Girls Lovely Lolita so at most maybe they need to avoid the word Hentai but otherwise those aren't being blocked

Anime Girls: Lovely Lolita

Meet over 50 pretty anime girls in this relaxing puzzle game!

www.nintendo.com

 

[Refyref]

This is absolutely disappointing and an incredibly bad decision from Nintendo.
I guess that explains why some games I've wanted to buy recently only got released in Japan.
Hopefully this generates enough bad press to pressure them to revert this.

 

[Nokia]

There's one that just came out called Anime Girls Lovely Lolita so at most maybe they need to avoid the word Hentai but otherwise those aren't being blocked

Anime Girls: Lovely Lolita

Meet over 50 pretty anime girls in this relaxing puzzle game!

www.nintendo.com

They been alternating between Anime/Hentai/Sugoi girls for the past year, I wouldn't put any theory on the word being officially blocked yet.

 

[Renmazuo]

Just saw a youtube video with tens of thousands of views that I won't link here with the most cynical damage control imaginable. An amazing clickbait title promising the TRUTH behind these cancellations only for the video to be nothing but speculation, fairly uninformed at that, saying that these titles somehow screwed up with the rating boards and their devs are trying to save face by blaming Nintendo (essentially calling them incompetent and liars) and having the balls to suggest Nintendo is actually the good guy here by receiving the blame in their place allowing them to save face (How? We wouldn't even KNOW this is happening if people hadn't tried to contact devs about it).

Absolutely revolting but not surprising that people will default to defending this by shifting the blame on devs. Normally I wouldn't post this but I guess I want to inform of what might be the future damage control angle for this situation.

 

[SirArthur]

Just saw a youtube video with tens of thousands of views that I won't link here with the most cynical damage control imaginable. An amazing clickbait title promising the TRUTH behind these cancellations only for the video to be nothing but speculation, fairly uninformed at that, saying that these titles somehow screwed up with the rating boards and their devs are trying to save face by blaming Nintendo (essentially calling them incompetent and liars) and having the balls to suggest Nintendo is actually the good guy here by receiving the blame in their place allowing them to save face (How? We wouldn't even KNOW this is happening if people hadn't tried to contact devs about it).

Absolutely revolting but not surprising that people will default to defending this by shifting the blame on devs. Normally I wouldn't post this but I guess I want to inform of what might be the future damage control angle for this situation.

I think I know the video you are referencing. So context, the person works for a real developer/publisher (games), so he has access to the guidelines so I would not call it uniformed. Also I dont think he is defending anyone, he is just trying to give a possible explanation.

The real crux of his argument falls flat in that, so far, the game is still coming out on playstation in June (I think its the tentative date). If it is the ratings board, then we should also see it being cancelled for playstation but so far that has not happened.

 

[Refyref]

Just saw a youtube video with tens of thousands of views that I won't link here with the most cynical damage control imaginable. An amazing clickbait title promising the TRUTH behind these cancellations only for the video to be nothing but speculation, fairly uninformed at that, saying that these titles somehow screwed up with the rating boards and their devs are trying to save face by blaming Nintendo (essentially calling them incompetent and liars) and having the balls to suggest Nintendo is actually the good guy here by receiving the blame in their place allowing them to save face (How? We wouldn't even KNOW this is happening if people hadn't tried to contact devs about it).

Absolutely revolting but not surprising that people will default to defending this by shifting the blame on devs. Normally I wouldn't post this but I guess I want to inform of what might be the future damage control angle for this situation.

Assuming you are talking about the same video that I'm aware of, that's not damage control, that's a developer talking about his experience with submitting games to Nintendo. Everything he says in that video is consistent with what we've heard in the past about Nintendo content guidelines (that is, everything is up to the rating boards). The problem is that now we're hearing about some content being treated differently, suggesting perhaps that there is a new policy. Rather than attributing malice here, it would make more sense that he's simply unaware of such a new policy.
As for the video itself, as I wrote above, it is indeed consistent with what we've heard about Nintendo publishing policy for a long time. However, while it would be great if it was simply a one-off problem rather than a terrible new policy, there are too many examples recently of this happening to simply brush aside as just that. Not to matter that some had PS releases, which also demands a rating.
If I had to theorize some way as to align the two, it might be issues arising from problems related to IARC ratings and conversion of them to local ratings, or problems with games using such ratings when they had a retail release in some places. The issue with the PS comparison would then make some more sense, as, IIRC, PS does not support IARC ratings, which would eliminate such uncertainties. In such a situation, it would indeed become a matter of budget as suggested in that video.
Sadly, there appears to be too much smoke. As I posted before, I hope Nintendo stops this content blocking, it will only hurt everyone involved.

 

[brutaka3]

I think I know the video you are referencing. So context, the person works for a real developer/publisher (games), so he has access to the guidelines so I would not call it uniformed. Also I dont think he is defending anyone, he is just trying to give a possible explanation.

The real crux of his argument falls flat in that, so far, the game is still coming out on playstation in June (I think its the tentative date). If it is the ratings board, then we should also see it being cancelled for playstation but so far that has not happened.

I don't think he has access to the guidelines, considering other devs have mentioned they have no idea about the guidelines until their games are rejected and even then they don't know the exact criteria. And that's exactly the problem, he had no issue, but other had, because no one knows what's really happening-

 

[Nokia]

The issue with the PS comparison would then make some more sense, as, IIRC, PS does not support IARC ratings, which would eliminate such uncertainties.

Actually PlayStation does support the IARC, as their website shows. Here's an example of the same game I posted this thread blocked by Nintendo with an IARC rating.

 

[Refyref]

I don't think he has access to the guidelines, considering other devs have mentioned they have no idea about the guidelines until their games are rejected and even then they don't know the exact criteria. And that's exactly the problem, he had no issue, but other had, because no one knows what's really happening-

It's possible these guidelines are like PS' guidelines; not actually written out and not properly explained (and perhaps even applied unevenly). Those are the worst possible guidelines.

Actually PlayStation does support the IARC, as their website shows. Here's an example of the same game I posted this thread blocked by Nintendo with an IARC rating.

Then it seems they have started using it since I last checked. In which case there is likely not a rating board aspect to it.

 

[Renmazuo]

I think I know the video you are referencing. So context, the person works for a real developer/publisher (games), so he has access to the guidelines so I would not call it uniformed. Also I dont think he is defending anyone, he is just trying to give a possible explanation.

The real crux of his argument falls flat in that, so far, the game is still coming out on playstation in June (I think its the tentative date). If it is the ratings board, then we should also see it being cancelled for playstation but so far that has not happened.

Assuming you are talking about the same video that I'm aware of, that's not damage control, that's a developer talking about his experience with submitting games to Nintendo. Everything he says in that video is consistent with what we've heard in the past about Nintendo content guidelines (that is, everything is up to the rating boards). The problem is that now we're hearing about some content being treated differently, suggesting perhaps that there is a new policy. Rather than attributing malice here, it would make more sense that he's simply unaware of such a new policy.
As for the video itself, as I wrote above, it is indeed consistent with what we've heard about Nintendo publishing policy for a long time. However, while it would be great if it was simply a one-off problem rather than a terrible new policy, there are too many examples recently of this happening to simply brush aside as just that. Not to matter that some had PS releases, which also demands a rating.
If I had to theorize some way as to align the two, it might be issues arising from problems related to IARC ratings and conversion of them to local ratings, or problems with games using such ratings when they had a retail release in some places. The issue with the PS comparison would then make some more sense, as, IIRC, PS does not support IARC ratings, which would eliminate such uncertainties. In such a situation, it would indeed become a matter of budget as suggested in that video.
Sadly, there appears to be too much smoke. As I posted before, I hope Nintendo stops this content blocking, it will only hurt everyone involved.

While I admit I don't know his history as a developer and his speculation might not be completely uninformed, the fact remains he is trying to sell his video as "the TRUTH" when at most he is just speculating, and he is undoubtedly trying to shift blame away from Nintendo and trying to pin it on the affected publishers.
These publishers and developers (those who have talked about it at least) have been quite clear about it even if they can't elaborate due to NDAs: their games have been blocked due to contents not complying with some sort of Nintendo guidelines/regulations/restrictions. Insinuating they are lying is a very grave accusation in my eyes.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

I watched that video and it definitely is speculatory in a way that is not consistent with the information we have currently. I'd say it is not clickbait since the information that was presented was seemingly true at some point in time. But it isn't worth much either. But also, I don't know why this video matters so much. It is just one youtuber in an ocean of youtubers saying something.

We'll have to wait for more information to appear so we can figure out the full extent of the situation. I wouldn't be surprised if the Western branches of Nintendo are just reigning this stuff in again though I have no idea why they even care.

I have to wonder what is making them feel like this is worth the time and effort to address.

 

[SirArthur]

While I admit I don't know his history as a developer and his speculation might not be completely uninformed, the fact remains he is trying to sell his video as "the TRUTH" when at most he is just speculating, and he is undoubtedly trying to shift blame away from Nintendo and trying to pin it on the affected publishers.
These publishers and developers (those who have talked about it at least) have been quite clear about it even if they can't elaborate due to NDAs: their games have been blocked due to contents not complying with some sort of Nintendo guidelines/regulations/restrictions. Insinuating they are lying is a very grave accusation in my eyes.

That is the youtube beast, its not full on clickbait but they need to feed the algorithm. At this point everyone seems to have the same information so any new "video" is not really clearing thing up, its just adding opinions, so I would avoid any of those.

 

[Belthazar]

IMO Nintendo and PlayStation should drop the silly (and often racist/xenophobic) censorship and start worrying about the floodgates of shovelware being released on their storefronts daily.

The Nintendo Seal of Quality should make a comeback instead of whatever those new policies are.

 

[Lite_Agent]

The fake, AI-powered Unpacking game has been unlisted at last. (Not directly related to seemingly new guidelines, but still relevant to the discussion)

Misleading Unpacking game removed from the Nintendo Switch eShop - Vooks

Good news.

www.vooks.net

There's one that just came out called Anime Girls Lovely Lolita so at most maybe they need to avoid the word Hentai but otherwise those aren't being blocked

Anime Girls: Lovely Lolita

Meet over 50 pretty anime girls in this relaxing puzzle game!

www.nintendo.com

They been alternating between Anime/Hentai/Sugoi girls for the past year, I wouldn't put any theory on the word being officially blocked yet.

Yeah, don't think the word is banned itself, though Real Hentai 2, 3, and 4 (yuuuuup) haven't been released outside Japan yet (looks like the devs/pub stopped releasing stuff outside Japan?).

Funnily enough, in its weekly eShop posts, NCL always foregoes games with Hentai in the title (while other Mature rated games are still listed).

By the way, I just remembered a guideline Nintendo seemingly started applying last year (iirc?) about nudity in games -- basically, it was still allowed as long as it wasn't only as a gameplay reward or something. I remember Gamuzumi writing about this. Wonder if new guidelines are in any way related to that.

 

[Oregano]

The fake, AI-powered Unpacking game has been unlisted at last. (Not directly related to seemingly new guidelines, but still relevant to the discussion)

Misleading Unpacking game removed from the Nintendo Switch eShop - Vooks

Good news.

www.vooks.net

Yeah, don't think the word is banned itself, though Real Hentai 2, 3, and 4 (yuuuuup) haven't been released outside Japan yet (looks like the devs/pub stopped releasing stuff outside Japan?).

Funnily enough, in its weekly eShop posts, NCL always foregoes games with Hentai in the title (while other Mature rated games are still listed).

By the way, I just remembered a guideline Nintendo seemingly started applying last year (iirc?) about nudity in games -- basically, it was still allowed as long as it wasn't only as a gameplay reward or something. I remember Gamuzumi writing about this. Wonder if new guidelines are in any way related to that.

If that's the case then it has still be inconsistently applied because Fun Box Media/Eastasiasoft had a title a few months ago that would have definitely fallen afoul of any of these rules.