3rd Birthday's shower scene is steamy

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 15 December, 2010

Japanese censors raise content rating.

The shower scene in upcoming PlayStation Portable game The 3rd Birthday is so steamy it has forced Japanese censors to raise the game's content rating.

According to producer Yoshinori Kitase, the shower scene teased last week with a solitary image "really toes the line" (we assume something was lost in translation here).

It's so provocative that CERO, Japan's game rating organisation, raised The 3rd Birthday's content rating from C to D, Japanese magazine Famitsu reports (translated by 1UP).

While Kitase now understands the benefit of showing gamers sexy starlet Aya Brea getting wet, he wasn't convinced at first.

"I think this is a great game and I'd like to get gamers of as many ages as possible to play it, so putting in a shower scene that'd up the CERO rating wasn't something I was particularly gung-ho for," he said.

"However, Aya's attractiveness is one of the most important elements of this game, so I wound up seeing the benefits of it in the end. I'm telling you, though, that scene really toes the line!"

1

The shower scene has to be unlocked by earning in-game achievements, apparently. They won't be difficult to earn.

Meanwhile, director Hajime Tabata revealed that developers deliberately designed the third-person action game to be difficult.

"I'm not sure there are a lot of games like that any longer," he said. "We wanted The 3rd Birthday to be a PSP gun-action title with some real teeth, and as a result of that, I think people who aren't really good at games may find normal mode difficult to start with. Going that way makes it more fun to work your way through the game, but if you don't have the confidence for that, you can always start on easy."

And despite the fact that the game is yet to be released, Square Enix is thinking about a home console sequel. It'll all depend, of course, on how The 3rd Birthday is received.

"If we do make another game, it's going to be on a home console," Square Enix creative mastermind Tetsuya Nomura said. "If this game was like making a TV series, I want the next one to be like making a film. I think it'd be great if we could make this series into something we can take on the worldwide shooter marketplace with in the future."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (20) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • patch #1 1 year ago

    I was actually interested in this game, but now I'm worried I'll be regarded as some dirty perv. I want it for the gameplay, honest!

  • Fur_Cough #2 1 year ago


    Presumably he doesn't mean "toes the line" but the opposite - "pushes the boundaries".

  • Asrill #3 1 year ago

    "It's so provocative that CERO, Japan's game rating organisation, raised The 3rd Birthday's content rating from C to D"

    I'm guessing that's not the only thing being raised from a C to a D, amirite?? breasts

  • Deckard1 #4 1 year ago

    I've just googled 3rd birthday steamy shower scene and some kind of warning came up and now there's two police men at my door?

  • Andrefpvs #5 1 year ago

    I'm kinda interested in this game, but what am I missing if I have never played a Parasite Eve game before?

  • RexRunti #6 1 year ago

    Nothing says mature game like a gratuitous shower scene that has nothing to do with the game and is merely a bonus for meeting certain achievements. I bet it doesn't show any of the rude bits anyway.

  • spekkeh #7 1 year ago

    A raunchy shower scene as a reward for defeating some enemies. Got to love the maturity of the Japanese game industry. What was it that Inafune said? Something about.. oh look boobs.

  • Mox #8 1 year ago

    I liked the eerie supernatural story of Parasite Eve. The ending sequence maze chase can fuck off though.

  • nooneyouknow #9 1 year ago

    wasn't this the same game that wasn't being 'intentionally erotic'..? Now the eroticism is the main selling point?!?

  • orangpelupa #10 1 year ago

    i though the shower scene will be part of the gameplay... or story (japanese anime/game sometime have shower scene that is important in story or some gameplay)

    but nooooo, it seems its just glorified "Fan service" ........

  • spekkeh #11 1 year ago

    True. The Chun Li shower scene of The Street Fighter Animated Movie, while gratuitous and obviously somewhat sexist, was actually a very good scene where the ensuing battle showed her frailty yet strength at the same time.
    Edited by spekkeh at 15/12/10 @ 13:03

  • Deckard1 #12 1 year ago

    Plus you got to see her tits

  • telboy007 #13 1 year ago

    Why can't I +100 Deckard1's comment!!!! :D

  • TheJuriel #14 1 year ago

    Oh, softcore CGI... good to see the oldie goldie marketing ploys don't go away.

  • SG #15 1 year ago

    I love how plenty of shoot 'em ups can be a 15 but a bit if nudity can raise something to an 18. Anyway I thought the modern Japanese were quite sexually open?

  • telboy007 #16 1 year ago

    Well, they're open to marrying life size dolls...

  • Kami #17 1 year ago

    Oh come on. She did this in Parasite Eve 2, talk about shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted...

    Not that I mind a bit of naked Aya Brea, but another shower scene? Puh-lease. Been there. Done that.

  • Sevens #18 1 year ago

    Yeah, they've been talking about a PS3 sequel to The 3rd Birthday pretty soon after the move to PSP. At any rate, I'm looking forward to this (PSP) game. It appears that there's an emphasis on story. While I'd prefer stronger RPG elements, a continuation of the (cinematic) series is nice either way.

    P.S.:

    "A raunchy shower scene as a reward for defeating some enemies. Got to love the maturity of the Japanese game industry. What was it that Inafune said? Something about.. oh look boobs. "

    Yeah, right. Of course that totally puts the entire rest of the game and the complete Japanese industry into question -- hell the entire country. Conversly, adding sexual elements to products is completely foreign to Western people.

    Your moronic comment aside, this is pretty nice. There's no apparent detrimental effect on the game and there's no adequate reason to complain about sexual content in video games. As a matter of fact, comparing movies, TV and video games, the latter medium still has a long way to go in this regard.
    Edited by Sevens at 16/12/10 @ 05:58

  • spekkeh #19 1 year ago

    ..no I never said I based my 'moronic' comment on just this game. In fact most of Squeenix' latest games (Final Fantasy games most notably) have the defeat-monster-get-nice-fmv-as-reward underpinnings. It's immature game design, not talking about the content per se (which does make it even less mature). And that immaturity generalizes to pretty much the entire Japanese game industry, which is a lot more anime than kabuki.

    I used to gobble Japanese games up when I was young, Squaresoft games especially. Now the only Japanese devs that I find interesting are Nintendo and Platinum games, and the latter mostly for it's interesting gameplay than the ham-fisted and cliched narratives. As an N-tard that owned every Nintendo machine, this console generation is the first time that I had to shift my paradigm westward. Japanese devs have not grown up in the way western devs have. Sure, I'll still buy Nintendoes in the future, cause I need my fix of Mario, Zelda and Metroid, but no longer as a primary console. Western games have become far more interesting.

  • Sevens #20 1 year ago

    That's a more reasonable comment.

    I disagree. It'd be interesting to hear what you consider to be "mature" game design. I assume pointless sandbox elements and "open world gameplay".