Binding of Isaac Denied 3DS Release Over Religious Concerns

We won’t be seeing Edmund McMillen’s The Binding of Isaac on 3DS, unfortunately. McMillen revealed over Twitter that Nintendo has denied the game’s possible port over religious concerns.

“Attention: After a long internal debate Nintendo has decided NOT to allow the Binding of Isaac on the 3ds. :(“ said the designer. “As many assumed the reasons were due to the games "questionable religious content". Thank GOD Steam exists!”

The Binding of Isaac is not the next game from Team Meat, McMillen’s other outfit that produced 2010’s Super Meat Boy. Team Meat is working on another project, and McMillen made The Binding of Isaac as a post-release breather. The game’s best described as, well, a Zelda-inspired roguelike.

You should really play it.

Such a shame

Well, thanks Nintendo. Shoot yourself in the foot why don't you?

Another notch on the "Nintendo hates money" totem.

Not surprising - disappointing but not unsurprising. Hell, go look back at the Ocarina of Time debacle.

Disappointing, but not surprising. This is Nintendo after all.

Well, it doesn't really fit very well with their whole family friendly motif. So I can see why they would decline, but the game itself would certainly be fun to have on the go.

Fuck's sake Nintendo!

@BBQBram: I think Nintendo's boots are just riddled with bullet holes by now.

It's a bummer, but Binding is a pretty dark game. There's something about the horrors that it is implying that are much more disturbing than most games that go out of their way to tout the gruesome (Silent Hill, etc.).

I imagine also not being rated by the ESRB might be part of the problem as well.

@JakeLogan said:

Not surprising - disappointing but not unsurprising. Hell, go look back at the Ocarina of Time debacle.

To be fair, that fire temple music does sound a hell of a lot like Muslim prayer chanting.

But, of course Resident Evil is totally chill, right? Zombies and zombie violence are totally not a religious issue.

The game is pretty hard on christianity. I guess Nintendo doesn't want to be the hot topic at Fox News.

Isn't there parental controls on the 3ds?

Wait, what? This game is religious or anti-religious or something...hmm, weird, I didnt even think it really had a story or anything.

Really, Nintendo? I thought you stopped doing this shit in 1994.

whelp, no reason not to sell my 3DS anymore then.

Seems pretty dumb. I mean, if it'll get an ESRB rating of M or lower (which it would do), it seems pretty stupid of Nintendo to refuse to license it on their system.

Color me unsurprised. There is some seriously mature content in the game, not to mention there is no age check on the eShop. (And it's fucked up in a way that even RE isn't)

No interest in Meat Boy, but night I bought Binding of Isaac I played it for something like 3 hours straight. Lots of fun. 3DS or not, it's worth checking out, especially if it's on sale.

@DoctorWelch said:

Wait, what? This game is religious or anti-religious or something...hmm, weird, I didnt even think it really had a story or anything.

There is tons of religious underpinnings in this game. Even the name refers to a story in the Old Testament of the Bible. Many of the items have a basis in biblical names or terms or stories.

I don't know how the story parallels the biblical one, but I don't think they are very close.

Aw man.

It has an anti religious message? I'll go buy a copy on steam for everyone I know.

Another opportunity missed.

@Springfart said:

whelp, no reason not to sell my 3DS anymore then.

what really? you kept your 3DS only for an indie game that's been out on PC for half a year?

How would they have ported a Flash game to the 3DS in the first place?

I happen to think it's a shitty, unfun, unpleasant game, and it's possible that Nintendo does, too. Religious imagery just seems like a good excuse. For example, I doubt they'll stop Ubisoft from putting out Assassin's Creed 3 for the WiiU, and that will have plenty of religious imagery in it. I think Nintendo just used religion as an excuse to not carry this game, and that's fine by me. Sorry for anyone who wanted this game on the 3DS, I guess. I certainly didn't.

@monkeystick said:

How would they have ported a Flash game to the 3DS in the first place?

@mnzy: I hate to blow your mind duder, but Fox News (and other outlets) routinely trot out video games as the evil villain of society.

Nintendo has some weird filtering going on if it won't let this game on, but will allow other games with "questionable religious content" on their platforms...why bother even putting M games on Nintendo systems then? Hell, Eternal Darkness has so many demonic allusions and they still put that out.

@monkeystick: I think they would rewrite it in C. Pretty sure Super Meat Boy was flash as well until it started getting popular.

As mentioned above, it probably didn't help that the game has no ESRB rating. Still, I can't imagine the rating to be higher than an M rating. While there's some messed up stuff in The Binding of Isaac, the art style sort of veils it.

I remember when this port got announced. My first thought was "yeah, not gonna happen."

I was about to post as much in the comments, and found that I'd been beaten to the punch. Not surprised at all is what I'm sayin'

To be fair, the 3DS shop hasn't been utter garbage this time around. But yeah, they need to loosen up if they want to stay competitive, especially if they have to compete against iOS games.

From my days on the OT forums, a very small number of you will remember my staunch, atheistic recognition (i.e., recognizing that god is a conceptual contradiction), having said that, this decision of Nontendo's is not the protection of children from disturbing religious imagery, but protecting their brand from unwelcome PR. And from that standpoint, cowardly as it is, is well within their rights as platform holders.

And thank the goodness and diversity of man, for seeking profits in similar but ideologically-distinct ways so that the freedom to express ideas can create wealth for those with the guts to promote said ideas. That is to say, thank the ingenuity of the people behind Steam for providing an outlet for game's like The Binding of Isaac.

Considering it portrays Christians as child-murdering psychopaths, it's not super surprising their doing this. Somebody would give them shit over a game like this, and for the money Binding of Isaac would generate it wouldn't be worth it. That's just the world we live in right now.

This is bullshit, through and through. Team Meat KNEW it wouldn't happen. They are just doing this stuff for controversy's sake at this point.

As religious person who loves freedom of information and speech, I find it more offensive that Nintendo blocked the game. I played the game and it's a lot of fun. The story was more poking fun at people who sit around watching Christian TV and listen to whatever they say without thought or reason. I didn't find it offensive. The point is, even if it did offend me, that doesn't mean Nintendo shouldn't allow the game to come out because it might offend me...

Wait, is anyone actually surprised by this? I can't imagine why they would have wasted their time trying to accomplish this, Nintendo wouldn't publish a game depicting Christians as zealous murderers any more than they would publish a game in which you play a Christian tasked with going and converting the heathen Jews and Muslims to the one true faith. Come on, McMillen, use your head.

Nintendo keeping it clean as usual.

You know?

Another poorly written Patrick Klepek news article. At least this one was short.

@DeF: yep. got the 3DS just for OoT, only kept it due to the possibility of Isaac being released for it, as it would be beyond perfect for a handhold. and I've just about finished it on steam, would love another reason to play it again as its one of the games I've played the most lately.

@Rayeth said:

@DoctorWelch said:

Wait, what? This game is religious or anti-religious or something...hmm, weird, I didnt even think it really had a story or anything.

There is tons of religious underpinnings in this game. Even the name refers to a story in the Old Testament of the Bible. Many of the items have a basis in biblical names or terms or stories.

I don't know how the story parallels the biblical one, but I don't think they are very close.

Not really. In the Bible story, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son. At the last minute, an angel comes and tells Abraham to stop, that it was clear that Abraham feared God. There was a ram nearby and Isaac sacrificed it instead.

Meanwhile, I always thought the name of this game was The BLinding of Isaac and not the Binding.

That stinks, the 3DS seems like a great way to enjoy this game.

If I'm not mistaken, Nintendo wouldn't allow it on the eShop. They could still go for a retail release if they chose to (which they won't, and I totally understand that), and Nintendo wouldn't reject it. This is simply them not wanting to sell it in their own store, which is their right.

This isn't Nintendo taking a stance against mature content. This is Nintendo looking at a thing and saying, "We don't want to sell this in our store."

Granted, this sucks, but what're ya gonna do?

Aww, man. This would've been perfect on the go!

Oh well. At least they considered it. I actually expected it to be a flat out no as soon as it was brought up.

SO Resident Evil is OK, but not this game?

@Deusoma said:

...any more than they would publish a game in which you play a Christian tasked with going and converting the heathen Jews and Muslims to the one true faith.

you've obviously never played a Mario game. I mean... really played one.

Damn I was hoping for a portable version, would be great. At least got the DLC to look forward to.