According to this Kotaku post, Fallout 3 is to be censored in Japan before its December release. From the piece:
The side-quest The Power of the Atom has been changed. Non-playable-character Mr. Burke has been taken out of this side-quest, removing the option of detonating the nuclear bomb. That’s not all, the name of a weapon was changed as it was deemed “inappropriate” for Japan. Smart money says the weapon is mini-nuke launcher “Fat Man” for obvious reasons.
Those wacky Japanese. More through there.








BillyBatts said:
Kind of utterly misses the point somewhat? A bit like censoring a zombie from Dawn of the Dead?
mart said:
It does miss the point a bit, but it’s not entirely surprising.
JPickford said:
What point does it miss? They’ve removed the ability for the player to activate nuclear weapons. Hardly central to the game.
Whizzo said:
It’s rather central to the first town quest lines.
JPickford said:
It’s a tiny part of the game.
Footlockers are reasonably significant part of the ‘box & container’ element of the game but it wouldn’t exactly ‘miss the point’ of the game if they were removed.
BillyBatts said:
I was referring more to the idea of taking out the option of detonating a nuclear weapon in a video game entirely based on a world which has been devastated by… nuclear weapons. Bit of a drop in the ocean.
Surely those who would be offended by that quest would find the whole game abhorrent? Quite funny really
Freek said:
Changing the name of the weapon is understandable, but why censor that quest???? Japanese anime is full of nuclear blasts and cities being wiped out.
Besides ofcourse the previously mentioned point about the entire game being about nuclear destruction.
JPickford said:
Good point. Perhaps its the American connection?
I would say the entire game is about survival. The aftermath of Nuclear destruction.