Sam & Max Save The World Remastered Changes Several Jokes That Developers “Were Uncomfortable Including in 2020”

[ChrisFratz]

Summary

The recently released remaster of the 2007 telltale game Sam & Max Save The World by Skunkape Games has been under fire from fans of the Sam & Max series for altering a few lines and jokes from the original game because the developers weren't comfortable with some of the jokes that they had originally shipped in the 2007 release. Part of the reason that fans are upset is because in the original version of the game's FAQ, the devs state that all the jokes would be the same with no reference to saying anything was changed. And when asked on steam about if there are any changes to the dialogue in the game, a member of the dev team said that only some of the camera angles and joke timings were changed while also having some extra polish added onto the game itself. They later updated the FAQ to include a section about the changed dialogue a few days after the game came out after replying to me on twitter saying that it was a mistake. But people are still angry.

 

Quotes

From the article

Quote

The recently released remake of the classic Telltale adventure game Sam & Max Save the World has had several jokes censored from its original release, with developer Skunkape games explaining that these edits were made as they were “uncomfortable including [the jokes] in a game in 2020.”

The original statement on the FAQ

Quote

Wow, that’s a lot. What didn’t you change?

The gameplay, the story, the puzzles, the writing—they’re all as you remember them. (Maybe even better than you remember!) While our team members worked on Sam & Max at Telltale, so did a lot of other people, and we were careful not to tread on their work or change too much stuff just because we felt like it. We’ve tried to strike a balance between making the game better and preserving what made us so proud of it in the first place.

Skunkape's response to me on twitter on the matter

 

My thoughts

While I didn't care about the content that was altered (as I haven't played the original version of the game), I was upset with the lack of initial transparency on the matter and the fact that they didn't take notice until the fans were yelling at them. As someone who wants as many games to be preserved and be available to purchase as possible, what worries me is that one day a remaster or port of an old game will come out with content that was censored from the original release. And while people noticed with Sam & Max, I'm sure there will be a case where no one will make a big deal out of it, which could set a precedent in the gaming industry for HD ports or remasters and allow devs to make changes to games that either destroy a game's writing, or message. And that makes me sad to think about.

 

Sources

https://boundingintocomics.com/2020/12/05/sam-max-save-the-world-remastered-changes-several-jokes-that-we-were-uncomfortable-including-in-2020/

https://skunkapegames.com/samandmax/faq/

 

[WereCatf]

Hmmh. None of the jokes in the article were so "offensive" or whatever that I would've changed any of them. Heck, they were all milder than the stuff you see in many childrens' cartoons! Besides that, the jokes were just plain bad -- both the new and the old ones.

[Drama Lama]

1 hour ago, WereCatf said:

Hmmh. None of the jokes in the article were so "offensive" or whatever that I would've changed any of them. Heck, they were all milder than the stuff you see in many childrens' cartoons! Besides that, the jokes were just plain bad -- both the new and the old ones.

If there’s a small chance of someone feeling offended or someone thinking that someone feels offended companies usually want to take the safe route and change things 

[TetraSky]

It's unfortunate they felt the need to change/remove some of their jokes, but they probably had no choice or risk getting cancelled by people on twitter who have never played the game and are only reacting to an out of context screenshot.

 

In today's cancel culture, you just can't say some things... And even things you can say now, may end up offending somebody somewhere, somehow.

 

So about 10 lines about disabled kids, underage girls (In a post-Cuties era, not surprising), gassing college students (school shootings, Trump gassing people to take pictures, etc etc), and probably something that would've come as "mocking" to transgenders... Alright then.
Would love to see the original lines to know if they really were "that offensive" in 2020.

[ChrisFratz]

2 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

It's unfortunate they felt the need to change/remove some of their jokes, but they probably had no choice or risk getting cancelled by people on twitter who have never played the game and are only reacting to an out of context screenshot.

 

In today's cancel culture, you just can't say some things... And even things you can say now, may end up offending somebody somewhere, somehow.

 

So about 10 lines about disabled kids, underage girls (In a post-Cuties era, not surprising), gassing college students (school shootings, Trump gassing people to take pictures, etc etc), and probably something that would've come as "mocking" to transgenders... Alright then.
Would love to see the original lines to know if they really were "that offensive" in 2020.

The article has a link to a reddit page where someone posted what was changed.

 

[Kisai]

17 minutes ago, Drama Lama said:

If there’s a small chance of someone feeling offended or someone thinking that someone feels offended companies usually want to take the safe route and change things 

I'd usually err on the side of "artistic integrity" but in some cases like BLM and Idiocracy-like behavior by the present US government, sometimes a joke doesn't age particularly well and when you have a game that features a deadpan cop and rather psychopathic sidekick you might make an off-color joke for "today" that wouldn't have been an issue a decade ago.

 

Like, another comparison can be made by the "new" Leisure Suit Larry games. The original games do not age well because they were all produced in the 80's/90's, and the remake of the first game kept just about everything in from the first game, while the new games by "CrazyBunch" more or less reboot the setting of the first game, but drop Larry into the present. However the original games were far more progressive than you'd think they were, when you look at what the alternatives are. The jokes might not age well, but the games have the insight to know what was wrong with doing a certain action.

 

My opinion is that a publisher is free to censor or edit a game if it improves it's marketability, but if they are "HD" remaking or localizing a previously existing game, they should offer the player to either play it with the original track/dialog/visuals, or play it with the updated audio track/dialog/visuals. Maybe a Japanese-origin game is a bit over-the-top horny for a western market, but that doesn't mean the censorship is necessary, just the rating. So if it needs to slip under a M-for-mature rating, then cut the M and A content and put that in a DLC feature or "must be purchased directly from the publisher" (which is what Japanese games do.)

 

 

In many cases, people don't even care about the missing content because they weren't aware of it in the first place. As soon as you make them aware of it, by gaffs like this, then you open a pandora's box of "what else did they change/cut"

 

 

 

[TetraSky]

16 minutes ago, ChrisFratz said:

The article has a link to a reddit page where someone posted what was changed.

Ah I see.

Here's a few from that thread:

Spoiler

Episode 1

Original dialogue:

It's the latest in BoscoTech inovation, it'll clear out a room of militant college students in no time, guaranteed.

New dialogue:

It's the latest in BoscoTech inovation, it'll clear out a room in no time, guaranteed.

 

Episode 2

Original dialogue:

Oh no, the Skinbodies are like Skinheads, but ten times worse!

New dialogue:

Oh no, the Skinbodies are like those horrible hairless cats, but ten times worse!

 

They also changed the license plate of that car parked next to the Desoto

Original: DRG DLR

New: RMS DLR

 

And, in the other episodes, when you click on some objects, Max still has the old voice from episode 1 (unlike the original).

Episode 3

Original dialogue:

You may call me, Jean-Francois Sissypants, the cowardly French anarchist.

New dialogue:

You may call me, Jean-Francois Bonde-A-Part, the new wave French anarchist.

Which doesn't make sense, considering Sam & Max still call him "Sissypants"

 

Episode 4:

I didn't notice any change in the dialogue so far, but the time estimate for the missile to hit Krypton does not show up (might be a bug).

 

Episode 5:

They changed one of Bob's line

Original dialogue:

Take our complimentary goggles designed for special-needs children so that the little ones can play along.

New Dialogue:

Take our complimentary wide-fit goggles designed for playing while bicycling or enjoying full-contact sports!

 

Original dialogue:

It's 'cause everyone on the internet has to pick an avatar, like a dwarf or an orc or an hot young fifteen-year- old girl curious about the adult world and willing to experiment.

New Dialogue:

It's cause everyone on the internet has to pick an avatar, like a dwarf or an orc or a troll... But we've got enough trolls.

 

Original dialogue:

Half-elf, foo'!

New dialogue:

Half- elf, troll!

 

Episode 6:

Original dialogue:

Max: A hundred trillion?! You crazy, foo'!

Bosco: Look man, all I know is, I keep making up the most ridiculous price I can think of, and you keep paying it! So I ask you, who's the foo'?

New dialogue:

Look man, all I know is, I keep making up the most ridiculous price I can think of, and you keep paying it! So I ask you, who's the crazy one?

Him saying "crazy" doesn't make sense, since Max called him a "fool".

 

They also removed a lot of dialogue, such as:

1-"Why the sex change"

Sam: Mind telling us how you came to be a woman?

Max: Did you use lasers, or just do it the old-fashioned way?

Bosco: Are you sassin' me? Boy I'll whup your behind so hard you won't be able to see straight!

Max: But I don't see out of my behind.

Bosco: You will after I get through with you!

 

2- "How's life as a woman?"

Sam: So how are those BoscoTech breasts holdin' up?

Bosco: Oh, these are all natural, honey.

Max: I'm not gonna lie, I like 'em bosomy.

Bosco: Oh, Max, you take after your father.

Max: Okay, you just crossed the line, pal!

Sam: Easy Max, theoretically, we have even more disturbed people to worry about right now

Source

 

Some of these, make no sense why they were removed, to me. Especially if, like it says, the other lines around it weren't modified to match it.

 

Others, yeah, in 2020, can't say that. Primarily the ones related to trans.

 

All in all, I wouldn't have played the game anyway, so my care level is pretty damn low. Just interesting to see how thing supposedly changed in the last 13 years.

[RejZoR]

1 hour ago, Drama Lama said:

If there’s a small chance of someone feeling offended or someone thinking that someone feels offended companies usually want to take the safe route and change things 

Who isn't offended by literally everything these days? The beige box paradox. Replace all playable characters, enemies and NPCs with beige boxes and surely enough, someone will get offended over them anyway somehow.

[ChrisFratz]

1 minute ago, RejZoR said:

Who isn't offended by literally everything these days? The beige box paradox. Replace all playable characters, enemies and NPCs with beige boxes and surely enough, someone will get offended over them anyway somehow.

Yeah, it's annoying to see that people get offended by the smallest things. But at the same time, it's also frustrating to see all these people going up in arms of the fact that only a small portion of a game was changed. In this situation, I feel like all sides in the situation regarding the game are at fault.

[ChrisFratz]

If you read through that twitter thread I linked, you'll see that I was being pestered because I liked the remasted and was enjoying it. Although in hindsight, I shouldn't have even responded to him in the first place. But it still sucks that people are willing to act like that to people.

[Monkey Dust]

The lack of transparency is probably just a failure of intra-company communication. The media department (or whatever wanky nonsensical thing they have decided to brand themselves this week) either didn't check, because say what you think people want to hear first, worry about its accuracy later. Or they checked with the wrong person, who didn't want to admit they didn't know. Communication between departments in some companies can be staggeringly poor.   

 

 

[Sauron]

The only problem I see with this is if they originally promised they wouldn't alter it. Other than that they're just exerting their own creative freedom, I don't find anything wrong with that.

 

I find it a little funny that some people complain about others being supposedly offended by content, but then will go on a screed over a couple dozen lines that were changed by the developers.

[SansVarnic]

-= Thread Cleaned =-

Do not devolve this topic to unacceptable bickering.

[Fatih19]

Developers need to grow a spine, smh.

[Eaglerino]

At what point is the breaking point for "offensive" speech? At what point do people stop caring because it's too much effort to keep track of what offends who?

[Trik'Stari]

25 minutes ago, Eaglerino said:

At what point is the breaking point for "offensive" speech? At what point do people stop caring because it's too much effort to keep track of what offends who?

The point when people realize that offensive speech is indeed protected and allowed speech. In fact for society to function properly it MUST be protected and allowed.

 

Being offended does not grant one special rights and privileges, nor should it.

[Brooksie359]

3 hours ago, Fatih19 said:

Developers need to grow a spine, smh.

I think its not a bad thing if a company wants to modify their own work to allow more people to enjoy the game without a poor joke ruining it for them. Obviously I think alot of the jokes they changed probably were fine but there were a few that I could see ruining the game for someone. I do think at then end of the day its their game and they can do what they want with it. 

[ChrisFratz]

2 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

I think its not a bad thing if a company wants to modify their own work to allow more people to enjoy the game without a poor joke ruining it for them. Obviously I think alot of the jokes they changed probably were fine but there were a few that I could see ruining the game for someone. I do think at then end of the day its their game and they can do what they want with it. 

Honestly, I think the best solution would have been to have an option in the settings to play with the original jokes (and what I think is the better VA for Bosco) and such, and just have a disclaimer on it saying that it was from 2006-2007 and that stuff was different back then.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

8 hours ago, TetraSky said:

It's unfortunate they felt the need to change/remove some of their jokes, but they probably had no choice or risk getting cancelled by people on twitter who have never played the game and are only reacting to an out of context screenshot.

What scares me is that, in some of the examples provided, I could not figure out what was going to offend whom in what way, yet they were singled out from many, many other lines for removal.

It's no longer about facing restrictions you may find unfair, pointless or feel unwilling to follow. it's not being able to know what restrictions are being pushed to begin with.

[RejZoR]

Someone deleting posts again. This forum is literally affected by this very topic. And no one will ever admit that. All forums are becoming this politically correct trash where you can't say anything anymore without being all sugary and friendly to a point it's revolting. Ugh.

[Vishera]

I hate it when developers do that to games!

I avoided buying a lot of remasters and remakes because of that,Resident Evil 3 Remaster and Mafia Definitive Edition were the worst in that regard,

Completely ruined it for me!,just because they think that Gen Z won't like it.

[Brooksie359]

3 hours ago, ChrisFratz said:

Honestly, I think the best solution would have been to have an option in the settings to play with the original jokes (and what I think is the better VA for Bosco) and such, and just have a disclaimer on it saying that it was from 2006-2007 and that stuff was different back then.

I disagree. If you wanted to play it as it was in the old version then just play the old version. If the jokes are bad then I don't see the point of keeping them in the new version. 

[Derangel]

24 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

Someone deleting posts again. This forum is literally affected by this very topic. And no one will ever admit that. All forums are becoming this politically correct trash where you can't say anything anymore without being all sugary and friendly to a point it's revolting. Ugh.

 

You can always leave if you don't like it. The forum has rules. They're plainly stated. Deal with it.

 

On topic: Eh. Outside of them screwing up the FAQ and not saying they were changing lines this is a whole lot of nothing. The devs weren't happy with the lines, they changed them to something they liked better. Meh. Don't see any reason to get all pissy and worked up over a few line changes when it was the original developers themselves choosing to make the change.

[Kisai]

5 hours ago, Trik'Stari said:

The point when people realize that offensive speech is indeed protected and allowed speech. In fact for society to function properly it MUST be protected and allowed.

 

Being offended does not grant one special rights and privileges, nor should it.

One has to pick their targets carefully though. If you're making a computer game that punches down on two groups who were not protected at the time, and are now, then you need to make that change. Even if the joke is maybe not quite crossing the line.

 

Like the problem, with any game that has cross-gender content of any kind now, is that you'll get burned at the stake if you make a joke that is at their expense. Period. It's further complicated because there are three conflicting groups that this can cover, and what is okay for the cross-dressing/drag community is not-ok-at-all for the others. The joke in the game doesn't make this distinction and was probably easier to just cut it and avoid taking any flack by keeping it. Not that I think the game would have gotten dragged for it, but other games, equally as old, have been, and survived.

 

Like the only free targets to punch up at are politicians, criminals, robots, and zombies. If you punch at political rivals (eg liberal vs conservative) they aren't listening to each other any way. Likewise people who lose criminal trials are free targets. Robots and AI are very good targets right now, but it's only a matter of time before they wants rights too.

 

[RejZoR]

1 hour ago, Derangel said:

 

You can always leave if you don't like it. The forum has rules. They're plainly stated. Deal with it.

 

On topic: Eh. Outside of them screwing up the FAQ and not saying they were changing lines this is a whole lot of nothing. The devs weren't happy with the lines, they changed them to something they liked better. Meh. Don't see any reason to get all pissy and worked up over a few line changes when it was the original developers themselves choosing to make the change.

Leave and go where when this cancerous political correctness and perpetual offense over everything is infecting literally every site or forum? I'm not saying everything should turn into 4chan dumpsterfire, but for god sake, society needs to pull that broomstick out of its rear...