Nintendo blocks The Binding of Isaac from 3DS eShop
Edmund McMillen's baby game denied 3DS distribution over religious content
The Binding of Isaac creator Edmund McMillen has taken to Twitter to air his frustrations over Nintendo's refusal to publish his roguelike baby adventure because of its controversial religious overtones.
“Attention: After a long internal debate Nintendo has decided NOT to allow the Binding of Isaac on the 3ds. :(,” he posted last night, later adding, “As many assumed the reasons were due to the games 'questionable religious content'. Thank GOD Steam exists!”
The Binding of Isaac takes its name and inspiration from one of the more disturbing stories in the Hebrew Bible. It casts players as a naked baby who is forced to fight his way through a basement of horrors after discovering his mother has received orders from God to offer him as a sacrifice.
To be fair, this is fairly controversial subject matter. That said, for Nintendo to take a moral stance now after populating its 3DS library with Resident Evil (zombies!), Driver (illegal activities!), Metal Gear Solid 3D (murder! War!), and Dead or Alive Dimensions (big boobs!), seems a tad hypocritical.
Throwing his support behind other The Binding of Isaac supporters, Edmund said, “Seriously though, i gotta again publicly thank steam for fully supporting Isaac and not requiring ESRB or censoring its published games...Just one of many reasons why Steam is the top dog of digital distribution.”
What do you think of Nintendo's judgement?
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Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at 12DOVE until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries.