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Anyone else confused?
at the end of the day this was on AdHoc for trying to cut corners. Whether that was to save costs is anyone's guess. Japan has their own rating system called CERO. Games in Japan are almost always censored in many ways in order to be approved and allowed for sale. AdHoc released a censored PS5 version of Dispatch for Japan and an uncensored version for sale in the rest of the world. When it came to the Switch 1 / 2 versions of the game, they did no such thing. They created one version that adhered to the guidelines of CERO meaning that the censored Japanese version was the only one they released for sale.
This has nothing to do with Nintendo. CDPR released a censored version of Cyberpunk 2077 in Japan and a regular version for sale globally, which is why we see nudity and other "adult" themes with no problems on the Nintendo console. This isn't about being buddies or Nintendo picking and choosing what they allow.
Had AdHoc released 2 versions of their game, this would have been avoided altogether. The backlash is there and now they are scrambling to backtrack saying they are working with Nintendo now to figure some things out.
My guess is we will eventually see an "uncensored" version that will magically pop up for sale in markets outside of Japan with a "We're sorry, it was a mistake" post.
"While we inform partners when their titles don’t meet our guidelines, Nintendo does not make changes to partner content."
We didn't make the changes, we just told them it couldn't be on our platform unless they did.
"AdHoc Studio is thrilled to announce that its critically acclaimed superhero comedy, Dispatch, is now available on both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. " - AdHoc Studio.
Although there was initially speculation about Dispatch being censored on Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch, it’s now confirmed that this is indeed the case. In the PC and PS5 versions, the game featured a “Visual Censorship” setting. This is gone on Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch, so you’re always getting the censored experience.
I mean a grown adult can enjoy something that is clearly targeted to children, younger audiences, and family friendly audiences. Grown women have been known to collect Barbie. Grown men have been know to collect action figures. And yes, Grown people have been know to play the Switch even if its child like proportions hurt people with adult sized hands.
They released a censored PS5 version of the game in Japan along with Switch and Switch 2.
“Lame. Still treating the platform like it’s not for adults.”
Well that’s how the platform owners want it 🤷🏿
Don’t blame the public for treating them how they want to be treated 😩.
If Nintendo don’t want to be treated like a kids console they should stop their CENSORSHIP shenanigans like turtle neck to cover a minor shown of breast skin
Edit
Prove me wrong don’t hide behind the disagree button
It really makes you wonder what the rating system is even for. Censoring content I thought was about protecting people who are not old enough to see it. If that’s the case, are these games supposed to be for kids? It’s confusing why Nintendo or any publisher feels the need to act like a mom and cover the eyes of adults playing a game that’s essentially R rated.
It’s 2026, can we please get past this bull sh*t?
They fear cancel culture and twitter X warriors whom make it their sole and only purpose to bash and look for things to be appalled by .
Oh you mean the internet where there is always someone upset about something. As you can see you will get just as much hate for censoring something as for not censoring something. There is no escape.
No, Nintendo is geared towards children and most parents will assume that they can get their kid a Nintendo and it should be good for their kids. This is of course an incorrect assumption, but Nintendo profits off that family friendly image.
Shouldn't adults gamers know this though and avoid purchasing mature rated games on the Switch?
You bring up a great point about censoring an age restricted game but I have an analogy that might help:
Nintendo is like Network TV in America and Playstation is like HBO. They can both show the same movies but the network TV version will bleep out language and censor nudity.
@Crimson
Thats another great question and although I don't know the answer for sure, I assume its because the developer/publisher is the one doing the censoring and not the platform holder. Thats another reason why this who topic is kinda pointless because it really seems like its based on the game publisher. Five different companies may make 5 different decisions and it should be their right to do so. I think a while back thre was this thing about Sony censoring games and it clearly wasn't them... I mean look at games like The Last of Us 2. Perhaps some publishers will look at some research into the average age of users on a particuar platform and then make their decisons based on that.
I believe it's less about Nintendo and more about AdHoc, the developer, and CERO – the japanese rating system. CERO's code of ethics prohibits nudity:
'According to CERO’s Code of Ethics, expressions of genitals and sexual intercourse are prohibited. While high-rated games (D and Z) may contain sexual content, they typically require censorship to remove explicit nudity, such as female nipples or full-frontal nudity, to comply with these standards.'
Witcher 3, Cyberpunk and the now just released japanese PS5 version of Dispatch are all cencored in Japan.
I think it's plausible that AdHoc ported the japanese version of Dispatch to Switch. And because they are a small studio they didn't want to invest in making two seperate Switch versions – one for JP and one for the rest of the world.
@stupidusername - that is exactly the issue. Cyberpunk had separate versions for each region, thus allowing all the uncensored stuff to exist. AdHoc released a Japanese PS5 version that was censored to meet the CERO guidelines and then an uncensored version to be sold around the rest of the world. They did not do the same thing with their Switch 1 and 2 versions.
It's possible we could see an updated "uncensored" version for sale that would only be suitable for regions outside of Japan. But to put the blame on Nintendo like so many people in the comments section are doing, it's just flat out ridiculous.
The Devs said it was due to Nintendo Content Guidelines. Even they seem somewhat baffled that they had to make changes but Witcher and Cyberpunk did not have to be censored.
AdHoc: "As Nintendo states, any game that’s going to be on the Nintendo platform needs to ‘meet [Nintendo’s] established content and platform guidelines.’ This is the key point. Nintendo has content guidelines. Our game didn’t meet those guidelines, so we made changes that would allow us to release on their platform. That’s what happened here. Honestly we thought this would be obvious since we’re the devs that released the fully uncensored version of the game on other platforms.
We initially assumed, like some of you, that because games like Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk are on the platform with similar types of uncensored mature content, Dispatch would be allowed to do the same... "
The same "censored" game was released on PS5 in Japan together with Switch and Switch 2.
so since nobody seems to understand the issue, I will share.
It seems the devs failed to do what they did for the other platforms. On the PS5 for example, the devs created a CERO approved version which is censored for the Japanese audiences and a separate version that releases around the world which was uncensored.
For the Switch 1 & 2 versions, they did no such thing, offering only a single version for sale which means it has to be met with the same restrictions everywhere. Had they just done what they did for the PS5, this issue would have been avoided altogether.
With Cyberpunk 2077, it's censored in Japan because CDPR released a separate version that is catered to that market. That's why the Global release has nudity and other things without issue.
Funny that everyone blames Nintendo here when they don't even understand the actual issue at hand.
Yes, this is a publisher issue, not a Nintendo issue. Haters.....As long as it's negative news, do we always have to blame Nintendo? If you check the Nintendo E-shop, there are so many games with adult contents.
Before you guys blame Nintendo again...They already responded to the issue.
Nintendo: "Nintendo requires all games on its platforms to receive ratings from independent organizations and to meet our established content and platform guidelines. While we inform partners when their titles don’t meet our guidelines, Nintendo does not make changes to partner content. We also do not discuss specific content or the criteria used in making these determinations."
