"Neil: Age of Machinery" producer Yosuke Saito and Supervisor Taro Yoko deny that his character design was ever restricted by Western audiences.
The reason why developers were forced to respond was because a mistranslation of Japanese and English subtitles implied that "Neil: Age of Mechanical" was asked by Square Enix to review to meet global standards.
During the interview, Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida asked about the development team's design philosophy.
“Our core concept is always ‘doing something different’. For example, if Neil: The Pretender features a teenager, Neil: The Mechanical Age uses girls; if Western science fiction is filled with Marine-like soldiers, we might do the opposite, such as Gothlorita costumes,” Yokoo Taro said. “We tend to go against the line.”
Yosuke Saito added to the subtitles: "Of course, some designs are inappropriate at the ethical or moral level - even if it's just an element of the character. We'll draw the line by setting acceptable and unacceptable rules.
‘Certain content that is allowed in Japan can cause problems in specific areas overseas, and even the role itself can become a point of controversy.We usually try to avoid this.Therefore, in fact, some countries have not officially released "Neil: Mechanical Age".’”
The remarks immediately caused concern to players, but the media pointed out that "even for advanced Japanese users, this translation may be ambiguity."
When asked directly about the allegations, Taro Yoko denied on social media: "I have never heard of this." Yosuke Saito said that he believed that the content he mentioned was mistranslated and would be clarified in future live broadcasts.
In the same interview, former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida called Neil: Age of Machinery a "game that changes everything" because it revitalized the Japanese gaming industry after the release.In a recent interview, he mentioned that Japanese game sales in the PS3 era declined, and more and more studios began to pursue "overseas flavors".
And the 2017 PS4 platform "Neil: Age of Mechanism" changed this situation."I think Yokoo Taro didn't consider overseas sales at all when he created it, but it was a big success," said Yoshida Shuhei.