BTW, is Sega legally liable to comply with this character assassination? Or they do it because they don't want to be the guys who supported an actor with cocaine in his system?
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Gematsu: Sega halts sales of Judgement (JP) after actor Pierre Taki arrested on cocaine charges
- Thread starter Jintor
- Start date
It's standard procedure for Japanese companies who deal with these issues. They probably do this because they feel that it's the right thing a company should do. It does not matter whether they support him or not, they have to show that it's so abhorrent that they have to cut all ties with this person, at the expense of losing money. It's basically a PR thing. Whether the Japanese society at large thinks this is necessary is something that I cannot comment on but would be interested in finding out.
This isn't character assassination. Drug use is a massive taboo in Japan. Yes, people can point out the hypocrisy of it compared to social responses of other crimes, but when a celebrity in Japan is caught doing drugs, their careers are effectively over, and it can affect productions that they were involved with in the past.
None of the companies that represented Taki want anything to do anymore so they're scrubbing his face from everywhere. Why would they be legally liable?
I guess now you have to delete her from your life, and restage all your family photos with a look-alike actor.
I still find it super weird how actors getting caught with drugs effectively wipes them from the industry. Especially with the other stuff that goes on.
I was looking forward to Judgement, especially with the level of effort they're putting in for the West. I feel bad for the localisation crew on this.
I was looking forward to Judgement, especially with the level of effort they're putting in for the West. I feel bad for the localisation crew on this.
From the perspective of a culture that doesn't view drug use in the same way, yes.
But from the perspective of Japan, this is the normal. I agree that it shouldn't be, but this is the way things are now.
Where do you live that the used prices for games at Book Off aren't near criminal?
That really sucks for everybody involved. I'm sure they will, but I hope they don't delay the western release for this.
For some reason there's this idea that everyone that uses drugs is an addict.
Not everyone who eats a greasy cheeseburger or gets wasted once in a blue moon is an obese food addict or alcoholic and not everyone who does a line of coke is snorting daily.
Not everyone who eats a greasy cheeseburger or gets wasted once in a blue moon is an obese food addict or alcoholic and not everyone who does a line of coke is snorting daily.
I'm going out on a limb here, but cocaine is at least slightly more of an addictive substance than a greasy cheeseburger or alcohol.
Rodrigo Duterte is littering the streets of the Philippines with bloody corpses and the public cheers for it because they believe it's necessary to stop the cartels. They know innocents are caught in the crossfire but still support him because to them more bad people are slaughtered than good, and they're more concerned with making sure they themselves aren't the next ones killed.
I'm not entirely sure how it ties to the rest of Asia but it seems like it's cut from a very similar cloth.
No need to mince words. Character assassination is character assassination, regardless of how the public feels on it.
Amazing that they view some dude using coke on his free time as more blasphemous than a guy admitting to having child porn.
I am a clinician and I recall studies in graduate school that show that alcohol is actually more addictive than cocaine. I will try to find some scholarly links but phone posting makes that difficult
It's 100% coming over. It's just a question of when and how they're changing it.
It's certainly hard to measure how addictive any substance is but indicators such as levels of dependence and withdrawal symptoms would indicate that alcohol on the whole will develop more addicts than cocaine.
Nicotine is more addictive than any of the 3, is harmful, and is perfectly legal.
Nicotine is more addictive than any of the 3, is harmful, and is perfectly legal.
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There have been various studies that kind of all flip flop on which substance is more addictive between alcohol and cocaine. Nicotine is up there too. Let's just say they're on par in terms of how addictive they are cause that's extremely hard to measure.
All 3 are in the top 5 most addictive substances known on earth according to pretty much every study and they're all terrible for you but only one is illegal and that's really the only difference.
Just personally, out of my own dealings, nicotine is easily the most addictive of the 3, even if I didn't bring it up in my earlier post. Cause pretty much everyone I've ever met that smokes, does it consistently. They almost never smoke once in a while/recreationally
I'm glad somebody else said it. Japan should take up a similar view in other ethically grey areas.
Anyway, hopefully the character model will be re-cast, but all the animation, localization etc. shouldn't be effected.
Lotta casual racism going on here...
SEGA are obliged to do this because that is what you do in Japanese culture. You publicly distance yourself from drug use (though it is pretty ironic in this case, considering that this is basically a Yakuza game!). SEGA conform to their own national culture, just as US companies would in the US or British companies would do in Britain, and whether or not you think it's wrong, or an overreaction, is irrelevant. In Japan, it is a BIG DEAL, and as a game publisher, they need to act, fast.
It's like how companies publicly distance themselves from sexual harassment and child pornography here in the west... well... at least outside of the fucked up video game industry anyway!
Little from Column A and a little from Column B. Plus Asian nations have historically had quite conservative attitudes in general, so it dovetails nicely into their current stance on drugs. Also add on the heavy implications with the Yakuza and their sheer, overwhelming presence throughout Japan (both historically and currently) and its not terribly surprising.
SEGA are obliged to do this because that is what you do in Japanese culture. You publicly distance yourself from drug use (though it is pretty ironic in this case, considering that this is basically a Yakuza game!). SEGA conform to their own national culture, just as US companies would in the US or British companies would do in Britain, and whether or not you think it's wrong, or an overreaction, is irrelevant. In Japan, it is a BIG DEAL, and as a game publisher, they need to act, fast.
It's like how companies publicly distance themselves from sexual harassment and child pornography here in the west... well... at least outside of the fucked up video game industry anyway!
Little from Column A and a little from Column B. Plus Asian nations have historically had quite conservative attitudes in general, so it dovetails nicely into their current stance on drugs. Also add on the heavy implications with the Yakuza and their sheer, overwhelming presence throughout Japan (both historically and currently) and its not terribly surprising.
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I think the big problem is that drugs are pretty much synonymous with Yakuza in Japan, and Japanese police even mention it as an important source of funding for many Yakuza group.
So in terms of public perception, Japanese businesses want to be as far away as possible from anything drug related.
Here's an interesting interview article with Nagoshi from 2012 where he mentions several self-imposed rule when developing Yakuza games, one of which is that there will be no depiction of drugs in the game (other ones he mentioned is no child death and no attacking without provocation) in order to protect the game's identity.
So in terms of public perception, Japanese businesses want to be as far away as possible from anything drug related.
Here's an interesting interview article with Nagoshi from 2012 where he mentions several self-imposed rule when developing Yakuza games, one of which is that there will be no depiction of drugs in the game (other ones he mentioned is no child death and no attacking without provocation) in order to protect the game's identity.
Ironically they guzzle alcohol like it's no man's business.
(Not that cocaine is something to sniff at.)
(Not that cocaine is something to sniff at.)
It's racist to say Japan cares more about recreational drug use than sexual assault and pedophilia?
Welp, maybe we'll actually get those Yakuza 3-5 HD releases in the meantime. Hopefilly this comes back, unless they dont mind selling the title in the West
Malaysian here.
In general, even among the youth of the country who has no experience with the roots of the opium war's influence and the post-WW2 factors, I'd say that our upbringing that's rooted from those factors continue to be a facet of everyday Asian life.
Ever since I was a child, we were ingrained culturally, in education/family/etc - that drugs trafficking/usage are the among the greatest of sins one can commit. By the way, it's capital punishment here if you were caught owning or trafficking drugs. Mandatory death by hanging.
Seems like it will be a long time if ever before those attitudes change. Shame. The US drug laws are finally going in the right direction, slowly but surely.
Lol it is kinda hypocritical that the Collector's Edition of Yakuza 6 included whiskey stones and that is a-OK to be associated with.
The lines we humans draw as society are so damn arbitrary and weird
I'm not agreeing with Japan's stance on drug use and possession, but whiskey is legal. Cocaine isn't. Even in America. You wouldn't see a compact mirror, razor blade and rolled up dollar bill included as part of a LE set.
Right? I don't think anybody would think it is racist to point out all of the ass-backwards type of laws and societal norms that we have in the US.
I get that, my point is it's abitrary everywhere, more or less.
I totally get where you're coming from on this, but it's not hypocritical at all. You can disagree but can't equate a legal thing with an illegal thing and say it's hypocritical, even if they both cause negative effects to an individual. If they were both illegal or legal vices you'd have stronger footing (like smoking and drinking).
So the game is going to be pulled from shelves and altered to comply with moral/legal standards.
And the usual video game censorship crowd is......nowhere to be found as soon as the issue stops being about sex tits.
And the usual video game censorship crowd is......nowhere to be found as soon as the issue stops being about sex tits.
And his characters ended up in that big anime game crossover Jump Force too and never got wiped out or canceled.
So apparently a pretty famous (in Japan) synth pop artist/actor gets caught doing coke (shocker) and that's somehow worse? What the heck, Japan?
I can't imagine if this was the stance towards artists and media in America, so much stuff would be wiped out.
No one's gonna argue that Japan doesn't have draconian drug laws, and the legal system has lacked awareness on child abuse and sexual assault (although this is changing for the better in recent years.) But "Japan cares more about drugs than sexual assault and pedophilia" could easily mean "Japan (and the people that make it up) is backwards," which is reductive and ethnocentric. Japanese sexual assault survivors certainly care. Japanese caretakers of children certainly care.
One may simply be referring to the Japanese government or those in power when they say such things, but I've also heard these same arguments being used about other countries by people who want to put up a thin veneer of social consciousness, but really just wanna dunk on people different than them.