Many video games have certain elements removed due to regional rating standards. While, in the past, games were often toned down when translated overseas, in terms of violence, religious references, profanity, drug use, etc., when compared to their Japanese counterparts , in recent years CERO

Computer Entertainment Rating Organization

The is a Japanese entertainment rating organization based in Tokyo. rating video game content in console games with levels of rating that informs the customer of the nature of the product and for what age group it is suitable...

, among other ratings organizations, have imposed harsher restrictions on violent games.

Multiplatform

• Silent Hill Homecoming - The game had difficulties in passing censors in some countries before it could go on sale. The Australian classification board, the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC), refused to classify the game, due to "impact violence and excessive blood effects". The objectionable scenes included various body parts being drilled into, as well as the bisection
  Bisection
  In geometry, bisection is the division of something into two equal or congruent parts, usually by a line, which is then called a bisector. The most often considered types of bisectors are the segment bisector and the angle bisector In geometry, bisection is the division of something into two equal...
  
   of a character by an enemy. This had the effect of banning the game for sale in the country, and representatives for publisher Atari mentioned that they would be asking Konami to tone down the violence to allow the game to receive the needed MA15+ rating for its sale to be permitted in early 2009. The German version of the game was also postponed to 2009 in order for cuts to be made to pass the German censors.
• Fallout 3
  Fallout 3
  Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game released by Bethesda Game Studios, and the third major installment in the Fallout series. The game was released in North America, Europe and Australia in October 2008, and in Japan in December 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...
  
   - In the Japanese version the player no longer has the opportunity to detonate the nuclear bomb in the centre of Megaton, this is due to the similarities between this and the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Also in the Japanese version, FatMan was renamed Nuka-Launcher also because "FatMan" was the codename of the atomic bomb that fell on Nagasaki.
• Call of Duty: World at War
  Call of Duty: World at War
  Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. It is generally considered to be the fifth mainstream game of the Call of Duty series and returns the setting to World War II. The game was...
  
   - The game had difficulties in passing censors in some countries before it could go on sale. The German and Japanese versions of game has removed the gore and gibing on shoot and explosions, the swastikas are replaced with iron cross and the Hitler in the picture is replaced with Luftwaffe officer.

PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

• Parappa the Rapper 2
  PaRappa the Rapper 2
  is a PlayStation 2 rhythm video game and the sequel to PaRappa the Rapper, although it is actually the third game in the series following UmJammer Lammy...
  
   - In stage one, "Beard Burgers", the lyrics "Tastes better than wine" were changed to "You better get in line" in the North American version. Also, in stage three, every line that referred to Guru Ant as "The lord" were changed to "The man".

PlayStation 3

PlayStation 3

The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

Some titles in the PlayStation 3 library have been censored according to the console hardware, resulting in consoles from certain regions directly altering game content, regardless of the region in which the game was produced.

• Resistance: Fall of Man
  Resistance: Fall of Man
  Resistance: Fall of Man is a first-person shooter video game for the PlayStation 3. It was developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game is set in an alternate history 1951, and follows Sgt...
  
   - Blood was removed from the game when played on Japanese consoles. Players can work around this by using an altered save file or copying save data from a North American console.
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - Blood was removed from the game when played on Japanese consoles. The trophy patch will enable blood on Japanese PlayStation 3 consoles when using the UK/European version of the game.

PC

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

• Fallout and Fallout 2
  Fallout 2
  Fallout 2 is a computer role-playing game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay in 1998. The game's story takes place in 2241, 80 years after the events of Fallout...
  
   - Children were removed from gameplay in the UK and German versions of the games. The graphical portrayal of character deaths is affected by the reduction of violence options in Game Options. Fan made patches are available to restore the European versions of the games to the same level as the uncut US version.

• Command and Conquer Generals - In the censored German version, civilians were removed from urban levels, all troops were altered to look like robots, and the "terrorist" suicide bomber was replaced with a barrel loaded with bombs on wheels. It is also banned in China.

• Left 4 Dead 2
  Left 4 Dead 2
  Left 4 Dead 2 is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It is the sequel to Valve Corporation's award-winning Left 4 Dead. The game launched on November 17, 2009, for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in the United States and November 20 in Europe; in 2010, Left 4 Dead 2 was made available to...
  
   - In Australia, the game was originally banned due to the high levels of violence in the gameplay. Valve then submitted a 'censored' version of the game, which no longer contained images of "decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail or piles of dead bodies". The game received the MA15+ rating (the highest possible rating in Australia), and was allowed to be released in the Australian Market.

The Witcher (video game) - In America the cards the player is given no longer have nudity showing.

Super Nintendo

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

• Final Fantasy IV
  Final Fantasy IV
  is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1991 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game was originally released for the Super Famicom in Japan and has since then been rereleased for many other platforms with varying modifications. An enhanced remake with 3D graphics...
  
   - In the North American version, references to Christianity were altered or removed from the game, as well as certain images. The magic spell Holy has been renamed White. All references to prayer
  Prayer
  Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
  
   are eliminated; the Tower of Prayers in Mysidia is renamed the Tower of Wishes (though the White Mage in the tower still calls it "Tower of Prayers"); and Rosa's Pray command is absent. Direct references to death are omitted, although several characters clearly die over the course of the game. Anything considered too risqué has been censored, such as bikinis on town dancers (replaced by leotards). The Programmers' Room special feature (in which the player can find a Porno Magazine) has been removed. New promotional character art was made for published previews.

• Super Castlevania IV
  Super Castlevania IV
  Super Castlevania IV, known as in Japan, is a platform game developed and published by Konami and the first Castlevania game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was originally released in 1991 and later re-released on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console in 2006...
  
  : Japan version has blood dripping on title screen. The tombstone in the opening cinematic doesn't have the cross showing in the American version.

Wii

Wii

The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...

• No More Heroes
  No More Heroes (video game)
  , is an action video game for the Wii video game system. It was directed by Goichi Suda , developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Marvelous Entertainment Inc., Ubisoft and Rising Star Games...
  
   - In the versions released in PAL territories and Japan, blood spatter is removed. Decapitation scenes are implied, but not shown. Scenes of missing body parts after having been cut-off, are replaced with the same scene, but showing the body parts fully intact.
• Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
  Resident Evil 4
  Resident Evil 4, known in Japan as , is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by multiple publishers, including Capcom, Ubisoft, Nintendo Australia, Red Ant Enterprises and THQ Asia Pacific...
  
  - In Japan, all versions of Resident Evil 4 do not show decapitations or various other portrayals of gory death.