Stellar Blade was the best-selling physical game in the UK last week, with its launch sales on PS5 being enough to see it top sales charts in the region. Sony and Shift Up haven't shared any official sales data just yet, but this marks a good start for the title, which holds the potential to sell well long-term. TopSpin 2K25 was another new entry in the UK sales chart last week, debuting in third place.
EA Japan Exec Criticises Rating Board for Apparent Stellar Blade Special Treatment | Push Square
24.04.2024 - 19:27 / pushsquare.com
Just yesterday, we brought you word that the upcoming PS5 exclusive, Stellar Blade, would be released in all regions entirely uncensored, including Japan, which developer ShiftUp seemed especially pleased with. An executive at Electronic Arts Japan has called out what they see as a double standard with the Japanese Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO), stating that «I find this hard to accept.»
In a post on Twitter, EA Japan general manager Shaun Noguchi addressed the rating board in a refreshingly frank fashion, outraged that Dead Space would be refused classification for depicting «cross-sections of severed body parts», amongst other things, while Stellar Blade gets off scot-free. Noguchi declared, translated by Automaton (thanks, IGN):
«What’s going on CERO? The Stellar Blade demo was really fun and absolutely action-packed. However, CERO, you denied our Dead Space a rating because it included cross-sections of severed body parts and internal organs, but here we have both cross-sections and insides on display passed off with a CERO D rating. I find this hard to accept.»
All of them
What do you think? Is the Korean-developed Stellar Blade getting some kind of special treatment from the Japanese rating board CERO? Or are the bi-sections of bodies and depictions of decapitations in Dead Space meaningfully different? Let us know in the comments section below.
Khayl Adam is Push Square's roving Australian correspondent, a reporter tasked with scouring the internet for the most succulent PlayStation stories. With five years of experience as a freelance journalist and mercenary wordsmith, RPGs are his first great love, but strategy and tactics games are a close second, genres in which he is only too happy to specialize.
CERO in general is pretty inconsistent. I can’t imagine Dead Space having decapitations and dismemberment being literally the point of gameplay went down well though.
times change, rules change. Life's not fair. What's the big deal. I'd want even less censoring. In fact I'd like the big 3 to not police the store and world without the ratings board, but we'll take what we get :3
Ratings boards have always had weird biases. Like when lootboxes were big in like the late 2010s I remember the ESRB made a statement trying to justify it in E rated sports games saying it was far from gambling despite advertisements using a lot of gambling imagery and techniques. I don’t think if the dismemberment in Stellar Blade is near Dead Space, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some kind of bias.
Dead Space goes way more heavy on the gore. That layered flesh system they had, where you peeled through the meat of limbs before dismemebering them, was some next-level stuff. And the enemies
The website gametalkz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
Top Authors
Popular Topics
pushsquare.com
28.04.2024 / 23:49
Stellar Blade PS5 Fans Irate Over Alleged Censorship | Push Square
Stellar Blade has launched to huge acclaim this weekend, but not every fan is delighted with Shift Up’s PS5 debut. Eagle-eyed players spotted some changes to a couple of costumes in the final product, prompting accusations of censorship from publisher Sony. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time the Japanese giant has requested changes in PlayStation games, as more titillating cutscenes in titles like Devil May Cry 5 were inexplicably edited on PS4 in the past. This decision was later reversed.
pushsquare.com
26.04.2024 / 10:45
Stellar Blade Half-Second Input Delay Due to 'Game's Style of Animation', Says Director | Push Square
Stellar Blade is out today, and fans can finally play the full game to see what all the fuss is about. If you didn't get a chance to try the demo or just wanted to go in fresh, it is worth knowing that the half-second input delay when parrying or dodging is a feature, not a bug, as the game's director recently explained.
pushsquare.com
24.04.2024 / 19:27
Fortnite Festival Season 3 Update Adds Support for Rock Band 4 Guitar Controllers | Push Square
Just yesterday, we learned that Billie Eilish would be headlining Season 3 of Fortnite Festival, the free-to-play music mode which has slowly but surely cornered the periphery market. With the update now live, there were a few welcome extra additions. For starters, guitar controller support for Harmonix's previous effort, Rock Band 4, is now available, meaning those dusty old axes can finally be put to good use.
gamerant.com
24.04.2024 / 18:41
Stellar Blade Update Will Remove 'Unintentional' Reference to Racist Language
Sony announced the day one patch for Stellar Blade will remove an unintentional reference to a racist slur. While initial reviews for Stellar Blade lauded Shift Up's action-adventure game, one particular image taken from a review copy highlighted a likely accidental but problematic graphic in the game.
gamerant.com
23.04.2024 / 18:01
EA Throws Shade at CERO After Stellar Blade Rating
Stellar Blade's age rating has prompted a senior Electronics Arts official to throw shade at Japan's Computer Entertainment Rating Organization. The regulator recently attached a CERO D classification to Stellar Blade, which some industry watchers found surprising.
ign.com
23.04.2024 / 10:02
EA Japan Exec Criticises Japanese Ratings Board For Allowing Stellar Blade Uncensored But Banning Dead Space
An executive of Electronic Arts Japan has criticised the Japanese video game ratings board for allowing upcoming action game Stellar Blade to be released uncensored while EA's own Dead Space was banned in the country.
gematsu.com
23.04.2024 / 09:20
This Week’s Japanese Game Releases: Stellar Blade, SAND LAND, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, SaGa Emerald Beyond, more
Stellar Blade for PlayStation 5; SAND LAND for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and PC; Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC; and SaGa Emerald Beyond for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, iOS, and Android are the highlights of this week’s Japanese video game releases.
thegamer.com
23.04.2024 / 08:19
Stellar Blade Devs Confirm It's "Uncensored" In All Regions
Stellar Blade will receive an "uncensored" release in all regions, according to developer Shift Up. This was just announced in a tweet and specifically mentions that this includes the Japanese release, meaning that all of the content in-game will be the same regardless of where you buy it from
videogameschronicle.com
23.04.2024 / 07:17
EA Japan exec criticises Japanese rating board for banning Dead Space, but passing Stellar Blade
The general manager of EA Japan has criticised the Japanese ratings board for what he believes are discrepancies in the way Dead Space and Stellar Blade have been rated.
pushsquare.com
23.04.2024 / 07:06
Fear Not, PS5 Exclusive Stellar Blade Remains Uncensored in All Regions | Push Square
If you were concerned that the PS5-exclusive Stellar Blade, out 26th April on PS5, might run afoul of Sony's censors, fear not. Developer ShiftUp is advertising that the game will remain entirely uncensored in all regions, including Japan.
videogameschronicle.com
19.04.2024 / 12:19
K-pop star Bibi releases an official Stellar Blade song
K-pop singer Bibi has released a new song for the upcoming PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade.