Capcom acknowledges cultural insensitivities in Mega Man Battle Network

https://www.eurogamer.net/mega-man-legacy-collection-acknowledges-insensitive-cultural-depictions-via-in-game-disclaimer

Capcom has chosen to acknowledge "insensitive cultural depictions" in its recently-released The Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection via a warning message at the start of the game.

Fans who spotted the warning have praised Capcom for taking note of the collection's content - while also leaving it intact to preserve the games as originally released.

"Capcom values diversity and inclusivity within its games and its community," the disclaimer notes. "Please be aware the games in this collection may contain some cases of insensitive cultural depictions that are presented as originally created to preserve their authenticity."

As reported by The Gamer, ResetEra forum users have been discussing which elements of the collection have prompted Capcom's warning message, with 2001 Game Boy Advance title Mega Man Battle Network 2 throwing up some likely examples.

This game features an American city where you are quickly robbed by a Black man, and encounter another Black man at a market stall who makes a comment about praying "to my God and the chicken he provides". Another Black character - who must be beaten in a rap battle - has lines such as "Whazzat? You want summa DIS whiskey?" and "You just outta da crib, kid! Go suck your momma's milk!".

The Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection includes Mega Man Battle Network, Mega Man Battle Network 2 and both Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue and White.

Its opening message is reminiscent of content disclaimers added by TV and movie streaming services to warn viewers of content now widely deemed as offensive or outdated.

The issue of original work being edited for modern consumption has spread further, with recent examples of books by authors such as Enid Blyton and Roal Dahl edited by their publishers to remove "offensive terms".

Damn, that is pretty bad. Thoughts, SW? Should Capcom have censored the game? At least they acknowledged it.

I think a warning is fair enough thing for them to have. Personally wouldn’t have cared if they had changed it as well though.

That's the best way to deal with the issue. Historical works should be preserved as they are. It's better to add a trigger warning than whitewash history.

Other mediums reminds the user that content maybe contain content that promote negative stereotypes so I don't see the issue here.

Unsurprisingly, the Japanese version has a very different disclaimer:

They should have changed the offensive content. The fact that they acknowledged it yet did nothing about it shows the cowardliness of their actions.

I cannot stand everyone being soft as fk and need to be warned about everything. Like god damn cut your internet cable and don't go outside if you're so worried about being offended.

It is always funny when folks who claim others to be soft are offended the most.😂

@Pedro: Shh. I don’t think they realize it. 😂

Should the same apply to old Nintendo games with potentially offensive content? Or old books and movies with offensive content? Should we just whitewash history and pretend people in the past were all nice people who shared our modern values? Let's be real here.

I do not mind content disclaimers as long as they do not go overboard and decide what is offensive or not to viewers. That is up to viewers to decide for themselves.

@onesiphorus: Don’t really see how a disclaimer can go “overboard”. You’re either going to be offended by the content of the product or you’re not. If you’re offended then the disclaimer did it’s job and warned you prior. If not then no harm no foul. You’re still able to make up your mind about it. What’s next? Disclaimers about disclaimers? 😅

At least the warning preserves the content as it was. Needless to say, anti-SJW's are not happy. Screw 'em!

@Jag85: Yes, if you believe it’s wrong, then make it right before you try to resell it to a new generation. These companies need to stop being cowards.

That would mean they would have to actually do something other than overcharge for roms.

"I'm offended, but they are cowards for not changing them"

Nothing is wrong with game though. They only added it for oversensitive people like you and your ilk over at ResetEra who see racism everywhere

"The following disclaimer may contain overboard language"😂

That is a pretty classy and mature way to deal with it.

Beats Whitewashing, and while hopefully not offending people either.

@Pedro: “Warning: Some may be offended that we will forewarn that content within may offend some people” 😅

Damn, now I’m offended with that disclaimer. Disclaimer Inception!

😂

Now they gotta add disclaimers to old games so the woke white people don’t get offended by racial stereotypes? I’m starting to think ResetEra is actually one of those Russian bot farms…

I think the way they handled it was appropriate. No reason to cancel the game or delete sections of it. I’ve heard worse things and terms on BET.

But Disney and WB are already doing this on their streaming services.

@Archangel3371: Perhaps "overboard" is not the word I should use, but should have said that the disclaimer should states its message and not go beyond it. Something like: "This game contains content or language that may offend certain people. Player discretion advised."

Just a simple disclaimer and nothing more.

I don't see any problem with this. The content is (AFAIK) unchanged, there's just a warning to either steer people clear (that would be triggered by it) or prepare them for it.

Different times, different tolerances. Society changes, often for the better, what was cool back then is sometimes terrible now.

You shouldn't have to witness something upsetting to know it is there if you can avoid it in the first place. That's why warnings exist.

I understand the sentiment here--you don't want your hand held, you don't want things to be overly sensitive, etc.--but this is a smart cover-their-ass move at the very least.

I guess I just don't know MegaMan anymore. Last time I played it was sentient slinky's and helmets that could jump.

Warner Bros disclaimer for their old cartoons:

Whitewashing offensive content from old works is just an easy way for companies to avoid taking accountability for any prejudices they may have held in the past. Owning up to it is far better than pretending these prejudices never existed in the first place... Now THAT would be cowardly!

I prefer this way of doing things. Warn about the content, explain it if you must. Don't erase it.

@Jag85: No, how Capcom did it in RE4 Remake is the way to go. The offensive content is documented and still stored for history, but instead of taking the coward route, Capcom make the necessary changes to bring it out to a modern audience. Do the right thing in this world, don’t be an offensive lowlife.

Oh no, it's still in the game? Protect the old. Hide your children. Ready torches and pitchforks and let's march to the headquarters of Capcom. Grr, those blasted cowards are going to pay! Offensive lowlifes, the lot of them!

xD

Imagine being like that.

@Litchie: Imagine being ok with racial stereotypes that have oppressed a group of people for hundreds of year. Whats 1 more year of racism really in the scheme of things. We can be racist lowlifes just a little longer.

Lets just slap a sticker on the box, " Were sorry for being racist lowlifes 10 years ago, we promised weve changed and dont agree with the racist content anymore. But were too lazy and filled with cowardliness to make any changes cause that would increase the cost of this cash grab that were trying to rip fans off from. Well do better next time and not be so racist. " - Crapcom

smh. :P

“This game features an American city where you are quickly robbed by a Black man, and encounter another Black man at a market stall who makes a comment about praying "to my God and the chicken he provides". Another Black character - who must be beaten in a rap battle - has lines such as "Whazzat? You want summa DIS whiskey?" and "You just outta da crib, kid! Go suck your momma's milk!".”

That’s not oppressive. That’s lazy, insensitive writing that was still prevalent in the U.S. even in 2001. That’s probably why nobody was offended by this game back then. But has life become so easy that we have to retroactively get upset by things as silly as this? Nobody is being harmed by these lame ass jokes...

@ghostofgolden: Yeah, we ok with offensive jokes. Theyve been used on us for hundreds of years. Another day, another dollar.

“Used on us.” Not nearly as bad as the jokes used by us to this day… But when a Japanese based studio does it, we need to be outraged. A chicken joke… A black robber… There’s nothing oppressive about these jokes. And folks are wasting time, energy and outrage on nothing. Go to Japan and see first hand why such racially insensitive content made it into the game. If you think being black in America is tough, you’ll feel like an alien in Japan. Look at every black Final Fantasy character over the years. That shit is more offensive than this… Where’s that outrage?

OR, we can keep progress rolling, and fight the battles that really matter 🤷🏾‍♂️. Fighting against racism in Mega Man Battle Network isn’t gonna make the history books…

@ghostofgolden: Even the company themselves that made the jokes find them offensive. And they arent even black.

@mesome713: We really shouldn't hide history, we should learn from it. And isn't laughing to silly things like that Mega Man stuff and move on to better things more healthy and productive than more unnecessary hate?

Do you also hate Nintendo for all the stereotypes they've done and currently are doing? How far do you take this?

Because they wanna sell games in the U.S. They don’t want to outrage the habitually outraged white Americans, and decided to get out in front of this issue before ResetEra discovered it themselves.

Well this went south.

Another great contribution to a discussion from Pedro. No wonder that post count is so high 🙄

Another day when you are triggered by my simplest comment. 🤭 I am not sure why you and the other alts are so obsessed over post counts.

I mean, the 2000's was the era of edgy, even with humor considering the revival of Family Guy and popularity of South Park, even The Simpsons on several occasions tried to act like the former (like this god awful episode). Things change. At the same time, we can't revise history here.

RE4 Remake is an entirely new game, not an old re-release.

Since you're cool with whitewashing history, let's go all the way... Erase any mention of racial oppression in history. Let's just pretend none of that ever happened. Will that make you feel better?

You know Nintendo games were censored for American audiences and non-Japanese markets, right? I mean, if a copyright holder thinks something isn't going to cut it for general audiences, I might take their word for it

lolol :P

Not true. Or else Capcom would've included the same disclaimer in the local Japanese version:

Capcom added two different disclaimers for local Japanese and foreign Western audiences, because they understand that foreign Western audiences would find it offensive.

The reality is that, in Japanese culture, things like racist/sexist/homophobic stereotypes are not considered offensive down there... Hell, they rarely ever get offended by racist Asian stereotypes, let alone black stereotypes.

The "chicken" thing seems very unintentional. The character in question is shown to be a butcher. He's referring to raw chicken that he butchers and sells at a market stall, not to any kind of "fried chicken" stereotype. Also, most people outside of English-speaking countries are unaware of the "fried chicken" stereotype, even today, so I highly doubt Capcom were aware of it back in 2001. It looks like a coincidence more than anything.

@Jag85: Yeah, no shit. They havnt dealt with hundreds of years of offensive content like US has. They have no clue about offensive black stereotypes in western culture.

They should just race swap the pixel characters as a white guy who robs you and another white guy rapping and another white pixel guy who sells chicken. I find all these black people in MegaMan offensive.