Why are there no vowels on the password screen?

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David
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Why are there no vowels on the password screen?

Post by David »

PoP1 for the SNES has two versions: one for Japan, and another for Europe and the USA.
One difference between the two versions is the passwords.

Not only the generated passwords are different, but the available characters are also different:
SNES_PoP_comparison.png
The question is: Why are the vowels (A,E,I,O,U) missing from the Europe/USA version?

I have read that cars' license plates in some countries don't allow vowels, to avoid swear words.
For example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_the_Netherlands wrote:Nowadays the letters used do not include vowels, so as to avoid profane or obscene language.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Spain wrote:while two-letter combinations ending in the vowels A, E, I and O were also forbidden, apparently to avoid the forming of potentially offensive Spanish words when combined with some province codes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Chile wrote:Vowels are not used in order to prevent profanity,
Can this also be the reason behind the difference in PoP?

(Although, to be honest, some digits can be used instead of letters, as in L33T SP34K...)

I also know of a few other games that do this.
I can post screenshots of them if someone is interested.
realXCV
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Re: Why are there no vowels on the password screen?

Post by realXCV »

Still no replies?

Well, apparently, it's a requirement by Nintendo of America that games must not contain vowels in their password system to be approved.
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Norbert
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Re: Why are there no vowels on the password screen?

Post by Norbert »

realXCV wrote: June 20th, 2020, 7:21 amWell, apparently, it's a requirement by Nintendo of America that games must not contain vowels in their password system to be approved.
That makes sense, at least if passwords are generated randomly.
I can imagine they don't want e.g. profanity showing up.
I know that, for this - or a related - reason, vowels are (or were) not allowed on Dutch license plates.

[Edit:]
Here's a possible source, a "Self-Evaluation for All Software Submissions".
http://n64devkit.square7.ch/info/submis ... 01-02.html
At the bottom is a Nintendo of America copyright statement.
Under the Common Problems heading, it says: "Vowels in the passwords or password entry-system."
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