South Park: The Stick of Truth Content Cuts Are "Lame, Ridiculous and Stupid," Says Matt Stone

South Park: The Stick of Truth Content Cuts Are "Lame, Ridiculous and Stupid," Says Matt Stone

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Lee Bradley

Matt Stone has been discussing the "censorship" of South Park: The Stick of Truth, saying that while the cut content is "not that big a deal” the reason behind it is "not cool – it’s lame, ridiculous and stupid."

Speaking to The Guardian, the South Park co-creator said, “I was told that Australia has different standards. They have their own ratings system, as does Europe. So I was told that we had to submit it for ratings and they come back and tell you this will pass, this won't. 

“Ultimately, the full version of the game is in North America, so at least that version is out there, but anywhere it's censored, we just put in little black cards explaining what has happened.

“It's not that big a deal. It doesn't change things that much, but we weren't going to change the game downwards somewhere and just not tell anybody. You'll see how ridiculous that is.”

When asked how he feels about having to replace the cut content, Stone said, “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."

However, when discussing the replacement cards with Metro, Stone said, "We wanted people to know exactly where the line was: this is what you couldn’t see but for some reason the rest of the world could and we have no idea why. It’s not cool – it’s lame, ridiculous and stupid."

Beyond this, Stone also mused on the nature of censorship in games as compared to television. In over 16 years, notes The Guardian interviewer, only one episode of South Park has had to be cut.

“There is an interactiveness that makes it different,” said Stone. “In movies and television you can do stuff that's morally grey very easily, because you get to show consequences, you get to show reward, but in a video game there's a reason why everything is a Nazi, zombie, or alien - these are pretty clear moral choices.

“There are things that make people more uncomfortable in an interactive world, definitely. But that said, what we had in the game, we could have shown that on TV pretty easily, especially now.”

South Park: The Stick of Truth launched in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australia with a number of scenes missing. These include a mini-game in which a doctor carries out an abortion, and five sections in which someone is "actively being probed".

Beyond that, the Austrian and German release of the game will have all swastika iconography removed, as it is unconstitutional.

Our very own Editor Dan discussed the cut content from the European version in his otherwise hugely positive review. Read the final verdict through here.

Comments
58
  • not buying it I will take a stand I see that shit all the time in south park I should be aloud to watch it on a game
  • Lets hope they release this on x1 so I can actually buy it and get an imported version. I don't buy censored games.
  • I still have to own this game. It looks epic!!!
  • Why didn't it get a next gen release??
  • @2 I got a censored game once never again!! L4D2 omg that pissed me off lol
  • I'll import it probably, does anyone know if different region copies stack cos if so i'll get the one over here aswell when it's on sale
  • I brought it today cus I wanna support Matt and Trey, don't give a shit about what Stupidsoft does. Besides I'll view the missing scenes on youtube eventually anyway.
  • The game is too funny to miss just because of a couple of censored parts. I'm just over a third of the way through and think it's great.
  • If you're not going to buy games because of a few censored scenes, you're playing games for the wrong reason I'm afraid. A sad fact but one you need to get into your heads
  • Wholeheartedly agree with #10, if you care that much about the censored parts, then you need to take a good hard look at yourselves. Aside from those bits, it is still an awesome game. If you don't play the game because of that,then you are the one missing out.
  • "South Park: The Stick of Truth Content Cuts Are "Lame, Ridiculous and Stupid," Says Matt Stone" Even more so when anyone can just go on to YouTube and look it up.... In fact I bet censoring has made people who weren't even getting the game, go and look it up, just to 'see what the fuss is about'.
  • I'm in America and none of my play-through was censored, but I wouldn't have minded not watching the anal probings, which I guess were the only cut-scenes that were censored, but to tell adults that they aren't allowed to watch it is just ridiculous.
  • PC version is 100% unedited in Europe. You want it uncensored, play it on PC, no Uplay required either.
  • @10 you may just play games for fun but I also play them for the story a few scenes and a mission or 2 taken out not much of a change but still I aint going to buy a censored not after L4D2 go on youtube and look at that you'll see what I mean and I'm only not buying it because I'm not going to be told I cant watch something this stupid by supporting censored games is only going to give them a reason not to stop it
  • Damn right. If we have an R rating, nothing should be censored.
  • @1. You are not buying their reasons or not buying their game? either way that's stupid. Not buying their game won't take a stand against the people censoring t. They don't care how much money the game makes. By not buying it the only people you are hurting are the people who made the game and tried to give you the game whole but were forced to censor it. Of you are saying you are not buying their reasons then I don't really see why? What reason would they have to lie? They are trying to make a statement on the state of censoring here and how they hate it and are against it but being forced too? What reason would they have to lie. None.
  • @17 I am talking about the game I understand they hate it and I love south park I have seen every episode and never really liked the look of the game but was still going to buy it to support south park but since its censored and I was already iffy about it I would not be very happy with the game after L4D4 even though it was not the people who made it who wanted it censored it killed that game for me and have not liked censored games ever since I wanted L4D2 so bad but if they make south park on the Xbox One I will port it here even if I don't get into the game
  • @10 there is no right or wrong reason buy a game. Some people have principles and choose how to spend their money as is every persons right. Saying others need to get your opinion into their heads is stupid. I fully intend to play the game just won't be buying it new. Your post is like a dick on a woman, just plain wrong.
  • @15 I think they're missing the point.You and the others, are simply saying you aren't buying it out of principal.This games Pegi 18 (our M),should cover the games target audience.However, the game has to be changed because of a few scenes of objectionable content. Do we not see worse content ON A DAYLY BASIS, from other forms of media?Here's a simple censorship concept. What if all shooters were banned and only Pegi..5(?)games were allowed?Even for adults.What if these Pegi..(5) games had a sticker that said "gunz are bad, say I love you and think nothing but happy thoughts, don't play more than an hour a day".Would you think censorship is a big deal then? You are an adult.Having such restrictions would be silly to you wouldn't it?What if all games you currenly play now were banned and the above instituted?How would you feel about that?Again, it's just a matter of principal.
  • Why was it censored in the first place? It is not like ppl in Europe are more sensitive than the Americans. There is more censorship in the states than in the Eu, but I guess Germany is to blame. They are the only country I know of that keeps getting censored games time and time again. Why not just make one version for them and another for the rest of Europe. I'm thinking they did this to make some news and get more pr for the game, because the scenes are not that bad. Having played the Pc version I can say that I have seen more explicit things in other games that have not been censored...
  • @20 no I get the point I understand everything but I as you said I'm an adult this game has R18 on the case so its for adults only I just don't want to support a censored adults game when the censored scenes are pretty stupid If the game was M or MA+ and censored I wouldn't care there trying to get underage people to buy the game but R18+ imo shouldn't be censored its for adults only
  • I got a feeling Ubisoft and PEGI will fold and add them in anyway. I mean, there's been worse in games, so I can't see any real reason why this hould be left. And if not I'll get my mate in the US to ship me the PS3 version.
  • You can buy the uncensored version in europe at the Ubisoft store, no need to import.... tbf Its really not that bad, you miss an anal probing scene and thats more or less it. Beleive me the game is still good and funny, more so than I and probably most fans expected. one of the best (my favorite) tv show-game ever. It feels like they did the show justice in every way possible. Its worth the money
  • I actually found Australia's censored screen to be funnier than the actual anal probing scene itself. You really aren't missing much with that scene anyway. I played the uncensored version and there wasn't really much in the game, save a few scenes, that wouldn't have aired on television. But I guess Stone was right; it's because it's interactive.
  • @21 no it wasn't for Germany they (and Austria) had to have swastikas removed that was the only forced censorship. The deleted scenes wasn't a ratings requirement it was solely some asshole in Ubisofts marketing team deciding they may get one or two sales more
  • @18 difference there is left 4 dead censorship ruined part of the gameplay and affected every second of the game. Censorship on this game removes 40 seconds of Visual content, which is replaced with a text description. Though If you were iffy on the game then that's understandable. I'm gonna get the game just in a while when it's a bit cheaper.
  • support the creators and developers. not buying this amazing game is only giving the conservative politicians what they want. support the game not the war:).
  • Wow some of you must have been born stupid. You call yourself South Park fans; have you ever seen the censorship episodes? Now ubisoft have voluntarily censored parts of this game, what is to stop them censoring parts of their other games in the future. Why are we not allowed to see / play / listen to things as they were intended by the creator(s)? Are we deemed not responsible enough as a society? Most of you are too young to remember the censorship shit storm of the 80s but let me tell you it wasn't pretty. Every other film was censored or banned, deemed illegal. People were loosing their businesses and bring sent to jail, handed massive fines. Videotapes were burned in the thousands just like the nazis burned books. I guarantee if this doesn't affect the sales figures for ubisoft, prepare to see a lot more censorship in the future of videogames. And you can thank yourselves for contributing. I refuse to be a part of that shit.
  • @4 Because this game was originally supposed to have come out over a year ago, so no next gen version was even in development. Another reason is that there really isn't much reason to, give the graphical style of the game, no enhancements can be made to visuals or anything of the like, so really a next gen port would just be Ubisoft and Obsidian spending more money to port the exact same game to newer consoles, and we all know how people already feel about buying "old games" on new hardware. At least until 3 to 5 years from now an we start seeing HD collections and the like again.
  • I happen to love the fact that this article ends showing Randy getting "actively probed" right at the end. Gosh that was funnier than it should've been.
  • @22 I was talking about their take on your stance.I wasn't saying YOU don't get the point...I was saying, they were missing yours.You know, the reason why you are against the censorship.My post was backing your view up.I was trying to show why you were against the censorship. You aren't against the game because of censorship per se, It's because you as an adult, hate having others decide what you can and can't see.
  • The fact that everything that's been censored in this game has already been done in the TV Show is just hilarious. Ubisoft must not be that into South Park to realise that Probing and Abortions both happened in the series and were rated 15 when aired on UK telly. I wouldn't boycott a whole game just because of 40 seconds of lost footage that you can watch on YouTube. It's all 'Press A repeatedly Mini-Games' anyway and they're as bad as QTE's.
  • @34 - Well put
  • Seriously, who doesn't play games for fun? What a bunch of idiots
  • People are actually saying that, even if the game was absolutely perfect and the greatest game ever, they would miss out because of a few censored scenes? No they wouldn't. Anyone saying otherwise is just doing it for attention on a message board
  • I just started playing this today. I got I guess the "full version" cause I live in the states, and I must say that it is beyond funny, and like I said I just started playing it.. So I'm sure it will only get more funny as I progress through the game even more. It is really lame that other countries are not able to experience the "full version"
  • Im in Australia & I got to the probing scenes, like matt stone said, its a double standard we have here. The scenes really dont add much because you can still hear Randy talking & receiving the probe, just cant see it. As much as I added to the petition for our R18 rating it does make me laugh that our board still are ignorant towards what mature aged gamers want. It seems they want to protect us adults from content, which is laughable. R18 games are clearly marked on the front cover so no parents cant use the whole "i didnt know" excuse. Anywho, with my mini rant over, im loving the game so far, the wait did suck but im glad its out. Sad to read that people are using this censorship to NOT play the game. You people are fools you're missing out.
  • such a fun game.
  • Stop bitchin' if you don't live in North America... IT'S 40 SECONDS OF THE GAME!!! Holy shit! Complain about your government not the game!!!
  • Dont support censorship, although this game is amazing, check here for my game review without spoilers, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQusNPoi1tA
  • I was allowed to fairly graphically torture someone in GTA V, but I'm not allowed to watch someone get anal probed in a comedic situation. The standards in my country are fucked.
  • This game is awesome, Sorry the governments in this article decided to censor this game. I think they really hurt the market for this title and not only that but many fans should be outraged!, if the show isn't censored why does the game need to be? I thought M for mature was free expression of adult situations lol. The people of these countries should unite and get their government to fix this game for them, yeah it's 40 secs maybe, but it still ruins the content of the game and the fun of how the show makes us all laugh with the most raunchy scenes or situations ever. I highly recommend this game to anyone who loves the show in general despite the edits.
  • A lot of you guys not buying it on principal don't seem to realize this is the fault of your government and ratings board, not Ubisoft, Obsidian Entertainment, Microsoft (or Sony) or Stone/Parker. You're not showing anyone who is boss or taking any stand that will be noticed. The government/ratings board aren't going to take some kind of hit or realize/care that you didn't buy a video game. You're doing nothing but hurting the developers and creators of South Park by not buying the game over the censorship. Literally, that's all you're doing. I don't agree with censorship either, but just realize that your boycotting is not targeting the right people.
  • There was a press release by PEGI which was also published by the guardian in response to the article of BS they printed(see above). PEGI, the Pan European Game Information rating body, claims that it assessed the uncut version of the game and found "no issue" with the content, and thus awarded it an 18 rating - essentially the European version of the ESRB's M rating. Ubisoft then edited the game, removing six 20-second scenes, after which PEGI reassessed it and once again gave it an 18 rating. That's the version that went out the door. The TV episode in the UK with alien probing is rated 16.
  • I adore this game so much. It's absolutely fantastic and I don't have a bad word to say about it but this: The censored scenes break the flow of it. Now, that's not to say that it ruins the game, because it really doesn't and the messages Parker and Stone leave are pretty funny, but it's like a sudden message out of nowhere. It does break the flow but it doesn't, in any way at all, ruin it like I feared it could do. I'm happy I bought it. I bought it to support Matt Stone and Trey Parker and all their hard work that they've put into making this epic game and believe me, it is epic. I can't really see why the EU PC version isn't affected and the EU PS3/360 is...
  • I bet they will bring out an uncut version sooner or later, so people will buy it again just to see the censored parts... It's an insult to the fans. I watch every episode when released, UNCENSORED! Fucks, shits, bitches and the regular gore or gross scenes, without censoring!
  • I know it's only a few tiny scenes cut but that's not the point. The fact that a large company like ubisoft is trying to control what we're allowed to see is why I'm not buying this game. They will only do this more often if they are successful.
  • It's not 40 seconds that was cut. It's around 3 minutes total (maybe 3.5 if a scene late in the game was also cut, but I'm not sure about that one).
  • I enjoyed the game although i found it weird that we are allowed to go up a guys ass with "white stuff" in it as well as vibrators and then perform an abortion on a computer yet not allowed to see a few anal probing scenes tbh it just seems kinda weird however the screens shown in their place do show how sad they are that the content got cut considering how the screens go
  • Its unbelievable that this game gets censored! Especially being a massive fan of the series.. I can still buy the dvds on amazon lol.. Yet if i want, i can watch someone being beheaded or some bloke fuck a donkey by tapping a couple words into google search! Makes no sense at all
  • I wonder if we would have gotten the full version, still R18, if THQ was still around & had the license. Would have also meant it wouldnt have been pushed back the last two times. Lol
  • @37 no one is trying to get attention. I had the CE pre-ordered since it was announced but after the 5th different release date announced I canceled it and not going to bother with the game. Just too much B.S. and most people don't like putting up with it.
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  • Just played through this game. I live in the US so I have the uncensored version. It is unfortunate to hear that other countries have censored versions. Hopefully it didn't take too much out of the game for others.
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