By now you should all be aware of Suda 51's latest cel-shaded gore-fest, No More Heroes. While completely outrageous violence and showers of blood have made up the vast majority of the game's promotional material, it seems that only America is getting what has been advertised -- if you live in Europe (like I do until I get off this stinkin' rock) then you can enjoy the Japanese, censored version.

Yes, censored. Following the BBFC's rejection of Manhunt 2, publisher Rising Star Games seems to have become frightened and decided that a "black spray" should replace blood for those of us in the PAL territories. It's not surprising, since the most logical fear in the wake of Manhunt 2's banning was that a worrying new precedent of media censorship had been set in the UK. With that in mind, it seems Rising Star intends to take no chances.

As usual, European gamers get a raw deal, though I wonder if this censorship was needed. I still maintain that a lot of Manhunt 2's banning was fuelled by politics and the mainstream attention that Rockstar's games get. Everybody knows that similar violence can get under the radar provided the mainstream media doesn't know about it, and No More Heroes is pretty obscure in that regard. At least this demonstrates what I always said -- the BBFC debacle has far wider reaching effects than just the banning of Manhunt 2.

Either way, this game was one of the few on the Wii that I truly cared about, and even though it's a little thing, the replacement of blood with something so utterly stupid seriously takes my estimation down. Oh well, yet more proof that owning a Wii in Europe just doesn't pay.