In a turn of events that feels rather sad, Sony Japan has officially cancelled a Japanese release of the PS3 racing game Motorstorm: Apocalypse, which had earlier been placed on indefinite suspension.
Sony gave no specific reason as to the cause of the cancellation, but the motivations are fairly obvious. After all, the game features players racing through a city as it is being actively destroyed by a devastating earthquake and tsunami. Plus, Motorstorm Apocalypse was mere days from release at the time of March 11's great Tohoku earthquake and the subsequent tsunami.
This decision most certainly smacks of over-sensitivity, similar to the over-sensitivity that axed the development of Irem's Disaster Report 4. Personally I'd think Americans should be more sensitive about Motorstorm's destructive aesthetic than Japanese. The city being destroyed bears an uncanny, almost disturbing resemblance to San Francisco. Driving under a collapsing Coit Tower or over falling ruins of the Golden Gate bridge, or past a doomed building that's obviously the Transamerica pyramid (even though they're never named as such in-game) might feel a bit off for some over-sensitive San Franciscans.
Unless, of course, Americans hate San Francisco now, in which case they might be happy.
That said, I can hardly blame Sony for making the call. People can get offended over the most trivial things, and playing it safe in this case was a fairly harmless option. Besides, Japanese players slavering for the ability to rock San Francisco to its foundations (and below) can always import the game, seeing as the PS3 is region-free.
Motorstorm 3 cancelled in Japan [andriasang via Japanator]
Contest:
9:17 PM on 06.09.2011 | 
I want my god damn Happy Meal to have a toy in it you over-protective fucks. Stop screwing things up for the rest of the state. 90% of the shitty legislation in this state comes from SF.
*I love you SanFran. Even if you're a bitch sometimes.
I don't think it's over-sensitivity at all, I think it's respectful not to release a game about disaster right after multiple disasters hit a country and kill thousands of people. Would you have wanted a game about planes flying into towers to surface right after 9/11? Even if no one is directly offended, it's just not in good taste to essentially ignore the suffering of people just to make money.
Also, screw California in general. That state is destroying itself from the inside out anyway, so this game isn't that far off. It's a surprise they're even still able to keep afloat the way they piss away money and resources on completely insane and worthless reasons.
Even if Japan had outright freedom of speech like the U.S (which they do not), freedom of speech usually means that a government agency can't limit speech, not private entities. Beside, is it right that Sony would be forced to put out an offensive product because of 'freedom of speech'? No. It's their right to say nothing.
Then again, Japan has constantly made references to all of their disasters, natural or man made, in all of their media, so it still doesn't make much sense in that respect.