Before I say anything else, let me first thank all of you who frequent this site, whether you contribute reader reviews or not. I am grateful for your support, and I hope that it will continue. I don't want any of you to remove your reviews, especially because reviews are the lifeblood of this community and clearly the primary component that makes it great (with the other component being the discussion that reviews promote, so perhaps you can see why I consider reviews so vital).

With that said, I'd also like to remind you that when you submit a reader review and it is posted on the site, you can remove it at any time you like, without any need to contact site staff. If you don't like the way it looks, if you've become a better writer and/or it no longer reflects your opinions on the game, you can take it down without involving any third party. Just head to your blog and you'll find a list of your reviews. It's easy to proceed from there, and the site is designed that way for a reason.

Site staff and freelancers don't have the same option once content is posted, because that content more directly represents the site and removing it later creates a variety of issues.

I'm writing this note now because I just received an HG Mail contact from a former contributor/reader who wrote to let me know that he no longer wants his content featured on a site that includes the "Hitler Exploded" avatar, which is available on the site and used by one of our site staff members. The person contacting me asked me to remove his reviews (which I have done) and noted that he will not be logging into the site again, even to check whether or not I have removed the content as requested.

Of course I removed the content. I don't want anyone's content hosted here against his or her will. I want you all to be proud of what you've written and happy to see it offered on the site alongside great content from other contributors. I'm sorry that this particular contributor felt the site had crossed an unacceptable line.

One note: he had submitted two reviews, one of them being a review for another extremely violent Capcom title. As you might realize, the Hitler Exploded avatar is taken from Bionic Commando. Like the reader, I don't endorse violence against any group of people or individuals. However, an avatar taken from a classic 8-bit NES game doesn't feel to me like something that should be pointed to as anyone on this site crossing a line. Violence and video games have been inextricably woven together since very nearly the dawn of the medium. Most people--gamers in particular--realize that making, talking about, and enjoying games is not the same thing as advocating violence or even accepting it as reasonable in the real world.

If you ever have a problem with content featured on this site and you'd like to talk about it, I hope you'll feel comfortable contacting me before you nuke your reviews or ask for them to be taken down on your behalf. Give me a chance to make it right, or to explain my position in the event that I can't. You are important and so are your contributions, but freedom of speech and expression--within reasonable bounds--are and always will be hallmarks of this site.