Nintendo of America basically started the trend. NOA would censor games that were published directly by Nintendo themselves in Japan. Mother 2/Earthbound is one well-documented example.
But nowadays, Nintendo is a more global company, and so it seems that most of the newer titles they publish come pre-sanitized for a global audience to avoid the region-specific censorship they used to do.
This is a screenshot from Pom Poko (1994) Studio Ghibli. They were cool with this for kids.
I think some countries are just less prudish. Personally I let my kids watch it, better than seeing someone getting gutted or shot.
Nintendo probably started cracking down harder as they grew because of backlash from parents across the globe. Have to meet everyone’s expectations.
Nintendo of America basically started the trend. NOA would censor games that were published directly by Nintendo themselves in Japan. Mother 2/Earthbound is one well-documented example.
But nowadays, Nintendo is a more global company, and so it seems that most of the newer titles they publish come pre-sanitized for a global audience to avoid the region-specific censorship they used to do.