Rockman: Time Rift, the Chinese localization of Mega Man X DiVE by NebulaJoy, began public testing today in preparation for its official launch. However, players were surprised to encounter a title screen noticeably different from every other version of the game.
While the Time Rift title screen features fewer characters than its English, Japanese and Taiwan counterparts, it's Alia's appearance that's raised eyebrows among testers. Not only has her original art been replaced with her in-game portrait, the character's design has been modified to include additional armor covering her chest.
This change is limited to the title screen; her in-game appearance and 3D model remain unchanged. However, since this is a test version, it's unclear if these changes will carry over to the final release. Notably, Capcom did not permit NebulaJoy to modify any existing assets, such as 3D models or artwork, for the Global Version of the game. It's likely this decision aligns with compliance requirements for China's video game regulations.
In the same way that the game's title was changed to be approved for release in China (from X DiVE to Time Rift), character designs may also require adjustments. This could explain the omission of Vile and Marino from the title screen, such as Vile's bullet casing and Marino's kunai. However, a source familiar with China's ratings board, speaking anonymously, suggests that these design changes may only be temporary. The source points to similar cases, indicating that such edits are often made to help a game pass China's approval process and are later restored in the final release. The haphazard appearance of Alia's edit adds some credibility to this idea.
We'll have to wait and see how things develop.
Literally 1984
ReplyDeleteKeep defending X DiVE people. Please.
ReplyDeleteI don’t like XDive either but I doubt fans are gonna be happy about any changes. Not like they have any reason to play this version anyway.
DeleteOkay…
Delete“Keep defending X DiVE?”
“KICK THE DEVELOPERS IN THE JIMMIES!”
NO! that’s what it sounds like Buzzcut was saying!
This has to do with the powers that be in China, not Capcom or NebulaJoy.
DeleteHail President Pooh!
DeleteAt this point you're just stirring up shit on purpose. The topic of discussion in this article is censorship, not whether the game is good or bad. We all know you have a giant hate boner for X DiVE, but it's really not that hard to just stay on topic instead of deliberately drumming up pointless arguments.
Delete@Jark Spore
DeletePooh’s president of the woods? Hahahahaha! Okay, alright. You got me on that one. But hey, next time, someone else will make a humour about Freddy Fazbear being CEO of Fazbear Entertainment.
@12:05 he has the right to express yourself and your comment is infinitely more pointless than his was. You got so triggered you wrote a 50+ word response to a 6 word comment. Chin up.
DeleteNo point in defending a dead game. I know calling Mega Man dead is cliche, but the online service shut down which means no more updates. Now the only hope Mega Man has left is for us to buy rushed merch so Capcom can make a movie before they even THINK about making a new Mega Man title that isn’t a rehash.
DeleteWith that said, if China thinks Alia is too hot, I can’t wait to see what they do to Ferham or Eratoeir.
Seems Capcom likes beating a dead horse. 5 years now? Also silly to cover Alia's nice upper body with what looks like baseball catcher attire.
Delete@4:49 PM Nice try, but no. 50 words is absolutely nothing, it was a small paragraph. 3 sentences. I'm not even "triggered" as you kids like to say these days, I'm just tired. Tired of the trolls deliberately starting shit every single opportunity they get as if they have nothing better to do with their lives. The topic of the article is Chinese censorship. It's not unreasonable to at least expect us all to TRY to stay on topic instead of drumming up a dumb, old, overdone argument about whether the game is good or not. We've been there done that and everyone is set in their own ways. Nobody is changing anyone else's minds. It's pointless to even start it.
DeleteThe only thing that could ever come out of it is a stupid back and forth where one side insists the game is trash and the other insists it's not and both sides just call each other bad people for not agreeing with them like they always do here. We've been through it every single time X DiVE is even remotely brought up around here, we don't need to go through it yet again.
And with that, I'm out. I have absolutely no interest in furthering an argument here beyond this point, which is clearly what people like you want considering you go out of your way to either start arguments for no reason or defend other people starting them as "having the right to express themselves" while actively dismissing others who just want the arguments to stop as if they don't also have the same right to express themselves.
Wouldn't quite be a rockman corner article without shrap bringing the mood down in the comments
Delete@Gary Daniel
DeleteBeating the dead horse?! That’s Jared’s thing!
@9:44 pm, you'll probably be back in a couple hours after saying you are out.
Delete@9:44 PM So hating X DiVE (Even eith reasonable criticism) is considered trolling now? Lmao
Delete1:04 AM
DeleteNot that anon (not that you would believe me), but just shut up already. I’m tiered of dirtbags deliberately stirring chaos and whitewashing it by calling trolling “criticism”. 9:44 was right. Nobody is changing anyone else's minds. Despite X Dives flaws, it filled the gap for the second Mega Man drought and had playable characters from each mainline series (not counting Xover). The online service for the global version X Dive shut down so you got what you wanted. I would tell you to go to some other site, but there’s no place on the internet for “critics” who have nothing better to do than harass the Mega Man franchise and its fans. I blame people like you for why Mega Man is “dead”.
This is too funny, made me laugh out loud when I saw the censored version
ReplyDeleteDam, I expected something’s may be altered for this release, but I didn’t expect Alia to get top surgery lol.
ReplyDelete(I suspect there might be texture changes for some skins as well but we’ll see I guess)
Looks like a turtle
ReplyDeleteMore like a Koopa Troopa
DeleteSo Alia is going full Jennika with the turtle arc
DeleteHopefully, she’s now turtley enough for the turtle club.
DeleteThis is reminding me of how Shiva was censored for the Chinese release of FFXV. China has some strange issues with "visible" boobs.
ReplyDeleteIt's bizarre considering Girls Frontline 2 is Chinese and that game has no problem with it.
Deletetbf, Shiva was changed because the ratings board doesn't like blue skinned characters because they look corpse-like. if anything, the chinese design is more provocative because she looks more human.
Delete@7:45 That's just as silly. I really don't understand their so-called standards.
Delete@ 11:08 oh, for sure. i just wanted to put the actual reason for the change out there.
DeleteGod damn, this is just funny!
ReplyDelete“Where’s Vile?” “Who do you think took your boobs?”
Kinda surprised they didn’t do anything to RiCO there, who’s a more prominent character in the graphic. Maybe since she’s (presumably) animated?
…I’d honestly be happy if they just turned her into the X5-7 design. Though there’s sooo many characters they’d have to do this with, I can understand the low quality.
The x5-x7 design sucked though.
DeleteMy penny's on slip-up with the assets. Comparing it to the original, Alia is the only character whose art was replaced altogether.
ReplyDeleteThey're just jealous.
ReplyDeleteThat's a rather... unnecessary boob removal. They weren't even that big, and no skin was showing. Kind of reminds me of what happened to Ms. Keane in PPG 2016.
ReplyDeleteAnd good fucking lord, I can only imagine the extent that this version will shame Layer. If they even let her in at all.
Layer looked terrible to start with, imho.
DeleteLayer looked great.
Delete"Shirt" position was weird to me. Would have looked better if it was coming up from the bottom instead of a crop top that barely fits over her robo-boobies. More like a low-cut shirt.
DeleteI'm saying that as a woman who doesn't really like large ones, though.
Unironically I can not wait to see all the changes they make to the game. This boob removal is really really dumb, but X DiVE was *so* horny that I have no doubts that I will like some of the changes here and there (if they decide to edit the models, that is).
ReplyDeleteShe's a robot so it's not like her breasts serve a purpose anyway.
ReplyDeleteDing ding. Stuff's weird, tbh.
DeleteThey're built-in Subtanks!
DeleteClearly, when you look at the expertises of the X8 navigators, chest size directly correlates to boss analysis. Maybe they’re some kind of long range detection instruments? :p
DeleteGood thing these things only happening in China, not in... oh wait.
ReplyDeleteKinda surprised the game isn't censored in America as well at this point.
DeleteOh please. America will cover more skin, maybe even downsize. But Alia’s are straight up gone! Vanished! Reduced to atoms!
Delete@ Jack, same thing has happened in plenty of media in America though, to deny that is basically living under a rock.
DeleteGlad her top surgery went well
ReplyDeleteSeems like China is trying to pave the wave for a new zeitgeist movement, people will use this change for several think pieces in the months to come. Unfortunate that they are using the Megaman IP to do so
ReplyDeleteI'm shocked they didn't edit Rico, her design is far more atrocious and front and center in that regard. The Layer censorship is going to be absolutely hilarious though.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they thought the tie made her *less* risqué, for whatever reason. I mean, it’s technically covering more? Also, she has more portraits than any other character, maybe it wasn’t worth the work.
Delete"Oh no! A female character has breasts, how is that possible? Press the button for the flat chest mode!"
ReplyDeleteHonestly, while I don't agree with China's decision, it's not like the West is innocent either. Dark Magician Girl from Yu-Gi-Oh! has suffered from this since the first card she was translated into English.
Yeah, here in the US, many people give a lot of lip service to free speech, but often hypocritical on that front. Many cartoons are censored too much. I'm happy I live in an age when I can torrent a sub and watch the unaltered Japanese anime. Not an option in the 90s. In the 90s, I watched Sailor Moon, but didn't comprehend it was from another country and censored or cut, even wonder why it stopped continuing the series midway through season 2, only to discover in 2009 it went on to a season 5 in Japan, but can see it online in a subbed uncensored form, and without dialog alterations or story changes and with original voices and music. Same for any Dragon Ball anime or Yugioh. I first saw Yugioh in the early 2000s on 4kids on WB32 also at the time not aware of Japanese origin until I later had more understanding. The American version of many anime shows sure likes butchering it, story and all. It's silly they mess with it so much, even changing the foods in the anime to American versions.
DeleteThe US is 100% just as bad with censorship. And like Gary was saying, especially in anime.
DeleteAl Khan, who led 4kids at the time, removed text from signs because "Kids don't read" or something silly like that. I'm not sure anyone really understands why they'd waste time removing stuff that wouldn't matter either way, but they were infamous for stupid things like that.
Delete@ RS Protoman, also completely changing dialogue, removing entire episodes.
Delete@8:25 and let's not even get into what they did with One Piece. I don't watch it anymore but HOOBOY they screwed themselves over with what they did...
DeleteAt least Dark Magician Girl still look good even with the censorship, while Alia just look hideously bad here. The "body armor" doesn't even fit with the rest of the design that well.
Delete@1:10
DeleteThat’s what I’m saying. Sure censorship isn’t good, but at least they *usually* try to make it not look like part of the character is straight up missing. This Alia edit looks a thousand times worse than changing fishnets to leather or whatever.
…which is also why it’s so damn funny to me. :U
I wonder what Layer is going to look like
ReplyDeleteProbably be edited to look like a washboard.
DeleteBedsheet ghost.
DeleteThis is hilariously bad.
ReplyDeleteIt’s sad to see censorship like this. Her breasts weren’t even obscene. Femininity isn’t a gross thing. We’re currently seeing that problem with NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. which is only hurting them. Silly stuff.
ReplyDeleteWarner Bros is constantly self destructing these days, the current CEO is terrible.
DeleteWhat's the point covering this garbage when Mods for Offline exist?
ReplyDeleteOh, God. It's the Rouge the Bat incident all over again!
ReplyDeletePlease, tell me her sacrifice wasn't in vain. Please, tell me they were donated to some small-time streamer.
But seriously. What the heck. Why didn't they "slim down" RiCO, too?
Yeah that whole thing with Sega is rather strange.
DeleteThis is sad and funny at the same time. Keep the chest and bring back her X5-X7 hairstyle instead.
ReplyDeleteNah, the X8 long hair style for her is 1,000 times better.
DeleteI mean, this is the same country that censored Mai Shiranui for the Chinese version of KOF games so it's not surprising at all
ReplyDelete