I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Nintendo is totally fine without this game.

That said, the one platform I'd be likely to play it on would be the 3DS or another handheld. So poo, I guess. Though it's still the most unpleasant looking god damn thing I can think of spending money on.

I might actually now get this game due to this, Thanks Nintendo for netting them a sale.

Please let it through Nintendo. One of my top 10 2011, would love to have it more places.

To my mind, this strikes me as an overreaction to fears of creating negative publicity from religious groups. I mean, the game is still available and playable elsewhere so it's not as much of a big deal. Disappointing nonetheless

@crusader8463 said:

Censorship wins again! I will never understand why people find the concept of not buying things that offend them so hard to grasp.

This is exactly the opposite of censorship. No governmental, parental, or administrative organization blocked the release, but the platform designer itself. It's no different than a consumer refusing to purchase a product for its content.

@djaoni said:

All religious people need to be shot.

And this (albiet hyperbolical) statement shows exactly why religious and anti-religious people are equally irrational.

I think Nintendo is fine with something tasteless/obscene as long as it doesn't directly reference their own products. They're specifically trying to avoid being associated with filth that tries to look like Zelda.

What a shame. This game is fantastic, and it could work really well for commuters.

I think Nintendo is fine with something tasteless/obscene as long as it doesn't directly reference their own products. They're specifically trying to avoid being associated with filth that tries to look like Zelda.

I was surprised when they even made Nintendo an offer. I'm not surprised by Nintendo's answer, though. I think the important thing is that this game is out, and it's great! Also, Darksiders was excellent. Bayonetta and Darksiders in the same month! What a month that was. :)

One of the reasons I am a supporter of Steam as a digital platform, is that they put the onus on the consumer to know what they want or don't want, instead of making arbitrary decisions about what might be successful or not. As a digital storefront, Steam isn't chained to its platform the way the consoles are....bad publicity (say from some mainstream news organization trying to fill space) won't tie a violent PC game to the fact that it was purchased on Steam, for example. But if it's on a 3DS, Nintendo immediately gets all the flak, even if a game is developed and released by a third party.

Of course, console makers are shrewd devils, and they also take a cut from every game sold using the certification process. Blame Nintendo, they forced a monopoly on cartridge production, taking much more per game than anyone else, which is why they took so long to go to optical discs. $3 per cartridge instead of $ .25 per disc, essentially. Though I expect Sony made up the difference selling memory cards.

Business deals aside, I'm still glad Steam is here to provide us with great indie games. For five bucks, or $2.50 when its on sale, Isaac is a great roguelike with a ton of character, and worth checking out.

Religion? This is the internet. Not even gonna open that Pandora's Box.

Admittedly "questionable" is exactly how I would describe the religious content of Bind of Isaac.

A Zelda-inspired roguelike sounds fun, but I just hate the hello-kitty-meets-garbage-pail-kids style of this artist. That said, its a shame Nintendo is still walling off their garden to more unique textures.

This just made me wanna go play some more The Binding of Isaac.

Funny story, that game also gave me a new appreciation for the original Legend of Zelda, so I played it some on my 3DS.

The pursuit of pleasing everyone always ends up pleasing no one.

@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.

The Binding of Isaac's plot is a spinoff of the bible story with the same name. Isaac, a child, and his Mother live in a small house on a hill, both happily keeping to themselves, with Isaac drawing pictures and playing with his toys, and his mother watching Christian Broadcasts on the Television. Isaac's mother then hears "a voice from above", stating her son is corrupted with sin, and needs to be saved. It asks her to remove all that was evil from Isaac, in an attempt to save him. His mother obliges, taking away his toys, pictures, game console and even his clothes.

The voice once again speaks to Isaac's mother, stating he must be cut off from all that is evil in the world. Once again, his mother obliges, and locks Isaac inside his room.

Once more, the voice speaks to Isaac's mother. It states she has done well, but it still questions her devotion, and requests she sacrifice her son. She obliges, grabbing a kitchen knife, and walking to Isaac's room. Isaac, watching through a sizeable crack in his door, starts to panic. He finds and enters a trapdoor, just before his mother opens his bedroom door. Isaac then puts the paper he was drawing on onto his wall, which becomes the title screen.

@smellylettuce said:

The pursuit of pleasing everyone always ends up pleasing no one.

Better to piss off the tiny group of fans who wanted this then the millions of parents and religious groups.

Nintendo likes to brand themselves as the family friendly brand, having this game come out would cause a shit storm, a shit storm that isn't worth it. We (people who love this game) are below minority, we don't matter, we can be pissed all we want.

i just wish there would be an update for the mac version. the lack of cheevos unlocking is kind of a bummer.

Port it to PSN! I'm sure Sony wouldn't mind. Dante's Inferno was a much worse offender.

A move that is unfortunately to be expected from a corporation pretty much exclusively in the business of producing children's toys. Still, good to read this as a news story on GB considering how much Nintendo pays lipservice to supposedly still providing entertainment of a bigger scope and for an adult audience.

So why isnt this coming to vita or consoles?

Speaking as someone who played the game - briefly - on the PC and did find its tone offensive, I don't think it was Nintendo's right to censor it. I can choose for myself what I do & don't find offensive and make my purchases accordingly. Next time, they'll be censoring something I DON'T have a problem with.

Whatever, now they are looking over over at PS3 and/or Vita. Works out in my opinion. Sony will put it up as soon as it gets an ESRB rating, they couldn't care less what it is as long as it isn't AO.

Super bummed out but not surprised to hear this news.

Gotta say, I was more surprised that Nintendo was even considering releasing releasing BoI on the DS.

Was Super Meat Boy really going to come out for WiiWare? I am disappoint. At least I have it on PC.

Oh religion,

*badum-tish!*

Good to see not everyone uses this news article as an opportunity to take a jab at religion. 'Tis another reason to love the Giant Bomb community.
 
I'm honestly not surprised. Nintendo isn't the type of company to allow content people may consider offensive. The only surprise in this story is that McMillen thought this game would be approved by Nintendo.
 
As a Christian, I don't see any problem with the game. Would I ever play it? Probably not. But there doesn't seem to be anything offensive about it.

This isn't censorship.  This is just choosing to not be a part of something.  McMillen is free to design his game however he wants and Nintendo is free to decide whether or not they want to get involved.

@ajamafalous said:

@ArbitraryWater said:

@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.

He's probably talking about the imagery that was changed; dunno if he already replied since I'm not going more than a page deep in the comments.

Yes, I was thinking more about the symbols than the music - although the Zelda wikia tells me they had preemptively made copies with AND without alterations prior to release, the reasons for alteration not entirely explained other than PC blah blah.

http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_Temple_(Ocarina_of_Time)#Controversy

Weird, weird business going on.

Good Lord.

You know, this would actually be a perfect game to have on a portable system and I would love to have it on my 3ds (though I'm not really enamored with the style). So they've lost at least one sale right here.

So sad, this game is fantastic and a perfect handheld game. Maybe on the Vita?

I spent 5 bucks on The Binding of Isaac. I have played over 60 hours of it.

@mlarrabee: Self-censorship is still censorship bruv. And this isn't even self-censorship, this is a platform holder preventing a game from being released for no other reason than it might offend a small minority of people.

That's censorship.

@forkboy said:

@mlarrabee: Self-censorship is still censorship bruv. And this isn't even self-censorship, this is a platform holder preventing a game from being released for no other reason than it might offend a small minority of people.

That's censorship.

Self-censorship is what you and I both believe in: The right and responsibility of everyone to control their own domain, and to allow others to do the same. Nintendo is wielding control over what they directly own, and forcing no one else to follow suit. To forbid self-censorship is, in itself, censorship: Restricting others' rights to control what they produce and receive.

Shame, great little game. Music just fucking rocks. I dont really care for hand helds, but this would definitely be a game id get for it. Love the opening intro. Still havent beat that damn thing. >.>

@Djratchet said:

Whatever, now they are looking over over at PS3 and/or Vita. Works out in my opinion. Sony will put it up as soon as it gets an ESRB rating, they couldn't care less what it is as long as it isn't AO.

They may need a 3rd party to publish, or self-publish. Sony, last I checked, was simply not interested in publishing it.

@Baal_Sagoth said:

A move that is unfortunately to be expected from a corporation pretty much exclusively in the business of producing children's toys. Still, good to read this as a news story on GB considering how much Nintendo pays lipservice to supposedly still providing entertainment of a bigger scope and for an adult audience.

Exactly. Who's to say Nintendo won't insist on Wii U games being neutered this way?

@MormonWarrior said:

@Scooper said:

Nintendo is just making sure they keep their 'Family Friendly' appearance, and selling a few thousand copies of this game on 3DS is not worth the crazy headlines and stories that they KNOW will happen that will sour their brand in the eyes of some portion of the American consumers (an incredibly worrying portion if you ask me) that take the word of the Bible literally (mentals). Some several thousand dollars is simply not worth the sensationalist twaddle that would end up happening.

It's mental for somebody to believe what the Bible says? That sure is compartmentalizing millions upon millions of people with varied belief systems and lifestyles.

I haven't checked out this game (even though I love Meat Boy) because it looks hideous and boring. The weird pseudo-religious junk in the game is nearly meaningless...I just thought it looked like a garbage game. Nothing I've seen or heard has convinced me otherwise.

Yes it is mental to take the bible literally.

@YukoAsho: Well, yeah. But I don't think they will have a problem finding a publisher. Maybe I'm crazy, though.

@Djratchet said:

@YukoAsho: Well, yeah. But I don't think they will have a problem finding a publisher. Maybe I'm crazy, though.

It'll be interesting either way.

@MrKlorox said:

@princess_zelda said:

I think Nintendo is fine with something tasteless/obscene as long as it doesn't directly reference their own products. They're specifically trying to avoid being associated with filth that tries to look like Zelda.

The Darksiders series is way closer to a Zelda game than Binding of Isaac. Something tells me you haven't played this game.

I would disagree with that myself. Ignoring the whole religious concerns thing, I feel like I'm the only one who's ever played The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, every single time I see BoI brought up. It's always mentioned as "closely resembling" an unnamed Zelda game but the two games are actually similar to an extreme degree.

Just watch the trailer for the Binding of Isaac and compare and layouts of rooms and movements of enemies to those in some of the dungeons and areas in A Link to the Past.

Monstro's jumping nearly mirrors the Armos Knight's, Scolex is pretty much just the Lanmola fight, the Duke of Flies acts similar to an Octoballoon, Fistula splits like a Biri; so on so forth.

So while I'm not saying that the Binding of Isaac doesn't have a completely new story, that's totally unrelated to the Zelda storyline, and I'm also not saying that it's a carbon copy or that it isn't a fun game but there is definitely no game closer to ALttP than BoI that I can think of.

While I can understand Nintendo's stance to protect their family friendly image, it is sad that in this age, systems condoning slavery, homophobia, incest, omnipotent deities impregnating 13 year olds, murdering 'impure' brides/siblings and generally treating women as second class citezens are held as the right choice for Nintendo.

@MrKlorox: your comment about Darksiders being more like Zelda than Binding of Issac isn't relevant to this because Darksiders never came out on a Nintendo platform.

That's ridiculous. Why don't we boycott God of War because it offends Greek mythology? This is so silly.

After Super Meat Boy's reaction and this, I think McMillen should realize Nintendo is not a healthy environment for indie developers. I think his insistence is mostly fan loyalty.

Its ok, though. He can always come to PSN. I am sure we will welcome SMB and BOI properly...

@MrKlorox: your comment about Darksiders being more like Zelda than Binding of Issac isn't relevant to this because Darksiders never came out on a Nintendo platform.

A company like Nintendo is free to publish what they want on their products, and there is no censorship about it. It isn't their first denial gaff either. Just talk to Robert Pelloni of 'Bob's Game'. Here in America people tend to think they have a right to not be offended ever, and whiile that's not the case, Nintendo does have the right to steer their organization however they please, even if it's right into the ground.

I'm curious to the ones complaining... would you feel the same if Nintendo blocked a game for it's gay bashing? If that's somehow different, then you need to check your hypocrisy.

One more chance I have to say that The Binding of Isaac is awesome and you should definitely play it.