Several scenes from Obsidian Entertainment’s RPG South Park: The Stick of Truth are censored in certain regions of the world, and series creator Matt Stone – who, along with co-creator Trey Parker, worked closely with Obsidian on the game – thinks that’s a double-standard. With only one episode of the duo’s hit Comedy Central series having been censored before – for its depiction of a religious figure – Stone points to a disconnect between what’s permissible on TV versus what’s permissible in a video game, in an interview with The Guardian.
“It does feel like a double standard, a little bit. We weren’t willing to change the content, but also it doesn’t ruin the game – it’s like 40 seconds’ worth of the whole game. As long as we could make a joke out of the fact that they made us cut this, that was fine,” he said.
Stone suspects that the difference in the perception of what’s okay in the two mediums has to do with the “interactiveness” of a video game. He argues that movies and TV have an easier time tackling morally gray territory because the fixed structure gives the creator the ability to show consequences. “There are things that make people more uncomfortable in an interactive world, definitely,” Stone continues. “But that said, what we had in the game, we could have shown that on TV pretty easily, especially now.”
North America isn’t one of the regions that was impacted by the censorship, and the full game is quite good. Be sure to give it a look, and check out our guide for some tips on getting started in Obsidian’s RPG take on South Park.
