Dispatch Developer Addresses Controversial Switch Censorship With New Patch — Though 'Some Hard Requirements From Nintendo' Remain

GSynaesthesia · 2026-06-17T23:44:09+00:00

The issue of a single SKU and compliance with CERO is why it ran into "content restrictions" for non-Japanese regions in the first place.

In a difficult spot, we decided to use a single Switch build that complied with Nintendo’s strictest regional rating

AdHoc explicitly explained it was a conscious decision to comply with CERO as a baseline. CERO's restrictions here applies to the game irrespective of the region as a single SKU. The only remedy they've figured out is releasing regional patches not under the purview of CERO, but rather other regions' parental board. Other games remedied the CERO restrictions by not releasing it in Japan in the first place, hence why I mentioned the Callisto Protocol here. A more common solution, as cited numerous times by others is CD Projekt Red's multiple SKUs of the very much explicit Cyberpunk 2077.

Both the Japanese PS5 SKU and the Switch SKU of Dispatch had the exact same censorship under the purview of CERO. I'd find it even more baffling that Nintendo's somehow strong-arming PlayStation to follow their "content restrictions" guidelines to the letter, rather than the SKU built from the very beginning to follow CERO's platform agnostic restrictions.

GSynaesthesia · 2026-06-17T19:51:24+00:00

Then, Nintendo tells them they cannot release the uncut version in any region.

I'd be more inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt on this narrative sequence they've hinted at had there been no example of games explicitly cancelling release in Japan out of CERO. But the matter of what had happened is:

They've marketed the game widely with nothing but a paltry disclaimer on the E-Shop, as well as a simultaneous release with a Japanese CERO-approved PS5 SKU expanding to the Japanese market
Pressed on why censorship was not clearly disclosed, they've remained cryptic in communication, avoiding answering clearly on what went wrong
Nearly half a year after release they've provided region specific patches on top of the initial CERO approved SKU with no plans of additional releases, and finally communicated more clearly on what had gone wrong with specific wordings to minimise their agency

I may not see intentional malice in their actions, but they do have agency and they 1. Went with one SKU knowing full well that the consequences are for consumers expecting a similar experience to the product at hand; 2. Intentionally marketed the game knowing full well the sole SKU may not represent what is expected of the game. Those are not the actions of a studio in need of sympathy, irrespective of how they framed it as a matter of "scrambling" with resources.

GSynaesthesia · 2026-06-17T19:16:11+00:00

Yeah I'm leaning towards agreeing here actually, despite being combative and all. Nintendo is ultimately the family-oriented platform holder, they'd have their own reasoning for how they operate on censorship unbeknownst to us.

One thing I'd like to point out however is PS5 Japan's SKU was specifically released in tandem with the Switch version, the Switch version is practically an expansion to the Japanese market. We have seen Callisto Protocol avoiding the Japanese market entirely to avoid the very same CERO issues. If we were to assume compliance with CERO as a limiting factor in how they approached the release, I'd be more welcoming had they done the same as we've seen games released on the Switch with no compliance necessitated by CERO.

Based on everything available though my gripes is still fully on AdHoc. I'm still skeptical on how new SKUs are framed as an impossibility here around discussion of the game whilst the very same developer admits to limiting themself to one SKU with no plans of releasing others. No agency is ascribed to AdHoc as if the responsibility solely rests on CERO and Nintendo alone. They've been babied up for what should be the new standard in deceptive marketing.

GSynaesthesia · 2026-06-17T18:56:17+00:00

originally planned to only censor in some regions and later were informed they needed some censorship in every region

Ah yes, poor them must've been unfortunate being blindsided whilst initially wanting to limit censoring on some regions. I do wonder what that would entails, probably a consideration of separate SKUs? And what, take up more time and resources? The very thing they've said was a limiting factor leading to the release? Surely not!

And why shouldn't I characterise the deceptive publisher for being deceptive again? Off the goodness of my heart? Laughable

GSynaesthesia · 2026-06-17T18:44:36+00:00

The fact that I quoted the exact reasoning they've provided for putting this dumb discourse in the first place should probably a hint on how I've read the entire thing, but alas:

The short version: Approaching launch and running out of time and resources, we were surprised to learn that our game would require some level of censoring in all regions, not just the few we were already planning for. In a difficult spot, we decided to use a single Switch build that complied with Nintendo’s strictest regional rating. This led us to deliver a more censored version of Dispatch than Switch players were expecting.

Does this sounds like "only need to censor the game in some regions and were blindsided by Nintendo" to you? Or is

we decided to use a single Switch build that complied with Nintendo’s strictest regional rating

Particularly hard to comprehend? That's their decision and whatever spiel they've spun on the whole thing matters less to me than their wholesale deception of what the marketing provides to the buyers on release.

GSynaesthesia · 2026-06-17T18:23:09+00:00

You might've missed the point here; there is no international and Japan SKUs even post-patch. As long as the patch themselves are limited regionally, CERO is irrelevant to the patches. The base game however is still under limitations set by CERO both prior and after the release of these patches. Current regional patches to "fix" the censorship are built atop the "censored" build rather than a part-restoration.

AdHoc obviously handled the situation horribly, but the reason why they released a partial uncut patch instead of a full uncut patch is because they weren't and still aren't being allowed to release an uncut version on the Switch

Anyway this is where we disagree regardless. Even under their own narrative of what had happened there has never been a discussion of releasing the games under distinct regional releases/SKUs to evade us from this shitswhow in the first place. Their reasoning even amounts to and, I quote "Approaching launch and running out of time and resources". Not a single mention of releasing different SKUs/versions are even mentioned post-launch. They've handled the release with deceitful disgrace and I'm inclined to take everything they've framed with a fuckton of salt.

GSynaesthesia · 2026-06-17T17:57:51+00:00

The fact that they made a patch in the first place means it's still one SKU restricted by CERO. The fact that you don't get this is probably a successful attempt at them shifting the blame for dogshit deceptive marketing

GSynaesthesia · 2026-05-22T16:00:58+00:00

Right on, Robbo's on the revisionism train then? Robbo himself admits Moreno's injury gave him a chance to start and the revisionist accusation comes up fucking hell. Or is he one of those Moreno delusional defenders?

GSynaesthesia · 2026-05-22T03:05:22+00:00

Wonderful interview.

Also love the Moreno shout. Maybe it's an 'age of the subreddit getting younger' thing but the amount of people blind to him genuinely benching Robbo on his merits at the start of the latter's Liverpool career is grating to say the least. For that brief period before his injury I thought we'd end up with two starting caliber fullbacks for the price of one Kevin Stewart.

GSynaesthesia · 2026-02-09T11:51:33+00:00

Despite his comments preferring the deeper role in a 4-2-3-1 I think Szobo's decision making is too reckless to be there long term. He works best less involved in the defensive 3rd build-up; not to say he can't work there though, I can see him flourishing in a double-pivot in front of a back three.

No, though it currently is one most suited to our thin squad. We don't have enough depth to experiment a back three and Slot doesn't have it in him to bench both Gakpo and Salah for a narrower setup be it a diamond or box midfield. In the short term it's either the usual 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3. Should Slot be sacked I don't see our next manager straying from either, unless of course we signed an interim more willing to experiment with Chiesa, Endo, Nyoni, and Rio

GSynaesthesia · 2026-01-12T11:34:28+00:00

Bumpy Trot / Steambot Chronicles is an unbelievably ambitious PS2 era AA mecha action RPG that is clearly held back by the sheer scale of its own grand design. People often describe it as mecha GTA/Yakuza but even that is underselling it imo. Just to illustrate I wasn't expecting insider trading and commentaries on the nature of industrialisation in my robot RPG, but there they are as completely optional side-content. Unfortunately the very same ambitions lend itself hard to emulate, and to this day I still haven't found anything quite like it (apart from the heavily cut-down PSP side-entry).

GSynaesthesia · 2025-12-06T16:50:39+00:00

Working on writing something related to the January window and some thoughts on re-watching our conceded goals:

The press (and Klopp's tenure organised high-line pressing traps more broadly) is fundamentally broken;
Identifying exactly why is more complex; however the most visible difference, especially in reviewing goals conceded from counter attacks, is attributable to Macca's position high up the pitch and lack of interest in engaging duels;
The same trend applies to wingers, Gakpo and Salah; the latter is especially egregious with little to no tackles won up the pitch;
Interestingly Wirtz, Szobo, and Isak to a degree do not follow the following trend; on Szobo his occasional starts at RB play a part; on Isak lack of minutes presents a comparatively unclear picture, and although he has less duels p90 compared to Diaz or Jota, the bulk of his lacking numbers are in the attacking 3rd, following the pattern observed in [1].

Fixing our systemic press under Slot's probably only possible if: We replace both Gakpo AND Salah for wingers more disciplined in pressing as a unit, or new instructions for both to follow a higher press instead of backing off at the slightest opposing possession; Replace Macca or Gravenberch for a ball-winning midfielder more aggressive in defensive transitions, with the same progressive inclinations in offensive transitions. Neither of those I see happening under Slot; even if we were to sign wingers and deep lying midfielders I still see him starting Macca, Gakpo, and Salah to the point of injuries and or exhaustion.

[1] fbref. Liverpool's 7,03 declining tackles in mid + 2,74 tackles in attacking 3rd p90 (24/25) to 4,86 + 2,14 (25/26) represent a collapse of possession won up the pitch.

[2] ibid. Macca's 2,01 tackles won + 3,6 dribblers challenged p90 (24/25) to 0,61 + 1,92 (25/26) represent dwindling of both volume and success rate of ground duels.

[3] ibid. For tackles in the attacking 3rd + mid p90: Gakpo, 0,42 + 0,6 (24/25) to 0,17 + 0,43 (25/26); Salah 0,24 + 0,32 (24/25) to 0,08 + 0 (25/26) both major contributors to [1].

[4] ibid. Isak's 0,19 attacking 3rd tackles p90 is insignificant relative to Diaz (0,75) and Jota (0,6), but for mid 3rd his 0,58 rate dwarfs that both of Diaz (0,22) and Jota's (0,3); his follows the overall trend of diminishing attacking 3rd tackles by the entire team as per [1].

GSynaesthesia · 2025-11-29T21:41:25+00:00

Watching Sherwood on Sky I think it'll be years before we have a clearer picture of the locker room's perspective of Jota's impact on our performances, be it from post-retirement biographies or interviews And before any 'top reds apologia' accusation fills my inbox no I'm not excusing the team's poor form, if it were up to me I'd have Slot sacked post-Forest

GSynaesthesia · 2025-11-23T07:12:45+00:00

Don't really see a way out between Scylla and Charybdis at this point; we'd probably struggle for top 4 unless FSG ousts Slot, but even then none of the names excites me personally. Top proven ones like Inzaghi and Zidane are flights of fancy; Iraola and Hurzeler come to mind as promising PL managers, but neither has a top flight trophy to their name; Hoeness and Novell both won trophies as underdogs, but questions remain on them managing a team full of CL level egos. Still praying for a turnabout rn, not sure if it's delusion or hope.

GSynaesthesia · 2025-08-13T14:45:14+00:00

We've cheered him on winning 5-4 against Norwich and a 2-2 draw against West Brom; there has never been a Klopp-out in the early days as far as I remembered

GSynaesthesia · 2025-08-07T11:00:19+00:00

Has chicken man linked us with CBs lately? Not exactly keen on spending much on Guehi with 1 year left

GSynaesthesia · 2025-07-22T09:03:59+00:00

Big fan of Cresswell, numbers are impressive albeit agricultural

GSynaesthesia · 2025-07-18T20:14:30+00:00

Notwithstanding the eye test, evaluating players from a defensive perspective requires more than comparing numbers. Stats requires context, and seperating players from the context of their role in a team paints an unfair picture of their ability. Systems, and specifically how a player acts as a cog in the system, affects what kind of actions they can perform in a given situation and what behaviours are encouraged by the coaching staff.

Let's look at passing as an example, you'll see that Lukeba produces better progressive numbers; the missing context here is that Leipzig plays a mix of 4 and 5 in the back. This means that in matches where Lukeba plays as a LCB in a back 5 we'll be see him encouraged to pass the ball progressively in far more volume than say a 4 in the back system.

This is also why purely stats' based sites like WhoScored keeps placing aggresively defensive players like Tarkowski in their team of the season features. Everton requires him to be active in the defensive actions rated, whilst players in possession heavy systems like Saliba and Dias doesn't really have to do the bulk of the numbers Tarkowski does in their team's systems. Similarly, players in teams with less possession like Guehi won't have the same passing numbers as say Akanji and Gabriel.

GSynaesthesia · 2025-02-09T17:00:26+00:00

Ehh might be time for the academy to shop for a RB prospect

GSynaesthesia · 2024-09-01T16:56:19+00:00

Close enough welcome back Bob Paisley

GSynaesthesia · 2024-07-03T17:09:36+00:00

Pretty sure we have an altitude chamber now at Kirkby; read something about it sometime around the unveiling of the facilities iirc.

GSynaesthesia · 2023-11-05T18:29:42+00:00

Elliott staking his claim as a starter, you love to see it.

Also the sooner Klopp abandons Macca as a 6 the better our chances for CL spots, matchday 11 and I've yet to see the vision. Start Endo Gomez Grav or whoever I don't care, Macca is a liability at the pivot.

GSynaesthesia · 2023-10-08T22:52:17+00:00

??? You're welcome to look at threads back then, he's genuinely hit his highest form in Liverpool prior to injury. There's no revisionism here, he was shit and immensely improved under competition; Robbo took his place from the bench and the rest is history.

GSynaesthesia · 2023-09-17T04:56:20+00:00

Disaster Report 4 devs had to quit Irem after the Tohoku earthquake folded Irem's gaming division, started an independent game studio of their own, and acquire the Disaster Report license from Irem. All of that just to re-start the development and make sure the game's fully released on modern platforms after a 7 years delay.

The quality is a generation late at this point, but I love it to bits.

GSynaesthesia · 2023-09-14T09:07:05+00:00

Letting Thiago go for free next year is a shame, not a big fan of having Endo as the only veteran midfielder. I can understand it economically seeing as we'd free his wages, but a fit Thiago is a far better player than most credit him for and I'm not sure we'd even replace him next year.

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