Itagaki supports censorship in video games

Tomonobu Itagaki, head of Tecmo‘s Team Ninja and known for video games with babes and blood as seen in his Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series, said in an interview that he doesn’t feel censored by rating bodies like the ESRB and PEGI. He believes these organizations are actually good to the gaming industry.

“Entertainment shouldn’t include things that make people feel uncomfortable or extremely upset,” Itagaki said after pointing out that game developers are there to create entertainment. One of the reasons why he’s all for rating game content was “it’s very difficult to classify what people find offensive or what people find to be too violent only in words.”

Itagaki also didn’t want to be classified with people who “create something that is very far removed from societal norms and the moral sensibilities of the general public.” He continued, “I think it’s good that there are organizations out there in different countries that are trying to quantify – to say – ‘this is considered to be more violent than that.'”

Team Ninja’s boss also noted that the Japanese rating system is “a little bit backwards.” According to him, a specific guideline is yet to be set for developers to know how far they can take violence in their games. Japan, however, is quite different from how other parts of the world see decapitations. Apparently, in the land of the rising sun, a quick kill is not that bad compared to a slow and painful death via belly slit.

There are other interesting things Itagaki mentioned in the interview, like how he enjoys love stories and that Kasumi could’ve been the star in Team Ninja’s Nintendo DS offering. While we wait for Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword‘s scheduled winter 2007 release, we’re also hoping Kasumi gets some touch action in the future.

Tomonobu Itagaki, head of Tecmo‘s Team Ninja and known for video games with babes and blood as seen in his Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series, said in an interview that he doesn’t feel censored by rating bodies like the ESRB and PEGI. He believes these organizations are actually good to the gaming industry.

“Entertainment shouldn’t include things that make people feel uncomfortable or extremely upset,” Itagaki said after pointing out that game developers are there to create entertainment. One of the reasons why he’s all for rating game content was “it’s very difficult to classify what people find offensive or what people find to be too violent only in words.”

Itagaki also didn’t want to be classified with people who “create something that is very far removed from societal norms and the moral sensibilities of the general public.” He continued, “I think it’s good that there are organizations out there in different countries that are trying to quantify – to say – ‘this is considered to be more violent than that.'”

Team Ninja’s boss also noted that the Japanese rating system is “a little bit backwards.” According to him, a specific guideline is yet to be set for developers to know how far they can take violence in their games. Japan, however, is quite different from how other parts of the world see decapitations. Apparently, in the land of the rising sun, a quick kill is not that bad compared to a slow and painful death via belly slit.

There are other interesting things Itagaki mentioned in the interview, like how he enjoys love stories and that Kasumi could’ve been the star in Team Ninja’s Nintendo DS offering. While we wait for Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword‘s scheduled winter 2007 release, we’re also hoping Kasumi gets some touch action in the future.