Why the censorship?

[matt]

Why are all US neo geo games censored, but the Japanese versions are not? I don't really understand it?

Mortal Kombat and Doom were around in the early 90's and they were games in the US. Mortal Kombat is practically responsible for the ESRB..

Yet, the Japanese versions of Mortal Kombat are censored, as well as other games that are from the US that make their way to Japan.

Does anyone know the reasoning behind this silliness?

[neogenesis]

Because some people are stupid and like to blame the ills of society on games. haha.

[rob7979]

Because big bouncy boobs do not sell well in the US......? :-)

[neogenesis]

How about censorship in movies. People having sex - X rated or Adults only. People beating up other people or killing - PG13 or R...We live in a crazy world. haha.

[matt]

It still doesn't make sense because there were other violent video games out at the time. And today violent and profane video games are everywhere and it's okay.. Was it really that much of a taboo in the mid 90's?