Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars has been toned down for the German audience, Electronic Arts revealed to CVG this morning.
To abide with the ultra-strict ratings laws, the Nod suicide bombers erm, won't actually commit suicide. Instead the bomb-strapped Fanatic unit will apparently drop off his package and then scuttle off to safety, leaving the battlefield clear of limbs and nasty terrorist entrails. But that's ok.
It's not the first time violent videogames have had to be re-tinkered for the region ; '97 racer Carmageddon had its pedestrians changed to zombies and Gears of War was cancelled entirely.
C&C3's developers at EA assure us that the German censoring will have no affect on inter-version balancing and that the Fanatic switch is "purely an animation change".
Tiberium Wars is out for PC, suicides and all, on March 30. As for the 360 version, look for our hands-on impressions later this week.
Yeah, but those German idiots are pushing to get the same censorship laws rolled out all across Europe so it's pretty worrying. It means we'll miss out on games like Gears in the future if it goes through. It's frustrating that people who know nothing about/have never played games make broad generalisations, like games should be for kids and nothing more, and violent games are the reason for all of society's ills, and go out all guns blazing looking to ruin or destroy it. People need to look in their own back yard before they start throwing s**t into someone else's. parents should be reponsible for what they buy their kids and not moan when, for example, an 18 rated game they bought little Billy/Heinz/whatever turns out to have prostitutes getting kicked in after sucking your dick. They wouldn't get away with blaming the kitchen utensil manufacturing industry if they bought their 10 year old a knife and he stabbed himself or someone else.
I wouldn't worry about Germany... and besides, if anything extreme did happen, then that'd only make the grey import market as buoyant as it was in the early ninties!
I wouldn't worry about Germany... and besides, if anything extreme did happen, then that'd only make the grey import market as buoyant as it was in the early ninties!
i live in germany at the minute. sucks alright! i saw a list today of all games that were ever banned or toned down in germany and theres hundreds of them on there, some you wouldn't even think would be there!
theyre going a bit nuts really, but it doesnt stop me ordering online from UK, which is cheaper anyway, delivery and all.
i live in germany at the minute. sucks alright! i saw a list today of all games that were ever banned or toned down in germany and theres hundreds of them on there, some you wouldn't even think would be there!
theyre going a bit nuts really, but it doesnt stop me ordering online from UK, which is cheaper anyway, delivery and all.
I live in germany and its pretty bad. At the moment its rough, but ok. I can order games like Dead Rising and Gears of War, by sending a copy of my ID to a online shop and enter a 18+ area, where I can see these games (they cost about additional 10-15€, but they're german and uncut versions from switzerland and austria). Thats because Microsoft decided to not publish them overall in germany. Even Generals was changed. You cant chop off limbs in Dark Messiah and its illegal to own manhunt. Some politicians (from the conservative party CDU/CSU) want a law, that calls up to 3 years prison for selling or programming what they call "killergames". They say thing like: "We have to ban these games and stop production, to get this pieces of s**t out of our childrens rooms" Right now there is a huge respond of gamers to a tv-report that told the hot-coffee mod is about raping women and the aim of Call of Duty 2 Multiplayer is to kill as many enemys as brutal as possible.
I live in germany and its pretty bad. At the moment its rough, but ok. I can order games like Dead Rising and Gears of War, by sending a copy of my ID to a online shop and enter a 18+ area, where I can see these games (they cost about additional 10-15€, but they're german and uncut versions from switzerland and austria). Thats because Microsoft decided to not publish them overall in germany. Even Generals was changed. You cant chop off limbs in Dark Messiah and its illegal to own manhunt. Some politicians (from the conservative party CDU/CSU) want a law, that calls up to 3 years prison for selling or programming what they call "killergames". They say thing like: "We have to ban these games and stop production, to get this pieces of s**t out of our childrens rooms" Right now there is a huge respond of gamers to a tv-report that told the hot-coffee mod is about raping women and the aim of Call of Duty 2 Multiplayer is to kill as many enemys as brutal as possible.
Yeah, but those German idiots are pushing to get the same censorship laws rolled out all across Europe so it's pretty worrying.
wait just a darned minute how come this is the first time that I have heard of this? if they censor a game like this what else is going to happen, no shotgun to the head in resi, no chopping people in half with lightsabers, no smashing people over the head with blue shells? is trauma centre, a game filled with blood and peoples insides banned?
we have an uncut doom3 wich can be sold in every normal store (games like Dead Rising ar not allowed to stand in the store shelfs and be sold until you just can enter the store when you're over 18 or you specifically ask for the game. We say "They're on the Index". Here a few things that had been cut down: Saints Row, Dark Messiah, Counterstrike, XIII, UT, Unreal2, FEAR. Some that are uncut, and can be sold in normal stores (from persons over 18, but anyone can see the games standing there): Hitman BM, Doom 3, Mortal Kombat DA, Resident Evil 4 (PS2, no special missions in the GC-version o.O). Obviously the Developers decide to cut their own game, to get a rating from the USK (german pegi). Because if they dont, it means their game could get on the index. And that would mean, they will sell a many hundred copys less. For Example some games from the index: Dead Rising, Gears of War, Doom I + II, Condemned, Manhunt (confiscated from all stores).
I've often wondered how WW2 FPS like Call of Duty get received in Germany. Must be pretty horrible to have to rake over the muck of the past like that and hear people expressing joy at killing your compatriots.
I'm generally against censorship but I kind of do feel that Germany tends to have it the right way round.
For example in America there are very strick rules on swearing on network TV. In Britain we are bit squirmy on sex. Yet in both countries viloence is pretty much tolerated and one could argue the norm. It's a bad sign of life that phrases like the 'traffic was murder', 'I made a killing on the horses' are acceptable yet the words Fecking Traffic (to avoid the censor) and I'm sure you can think of many more are seen as digusting and immoral. Reason our society (with a heavy Christain element it would seem) tells us that sex is wrong but violence is fine.
In Germany they tend to be happy and open about sex in various forms of media (ignoring the exploitation of women arguement) but are pretty touchy about violence. Well if you think about it at least they have their priorities the right way round. (remember the Grandma in the US sueing Grand Theft Auto, not over the horrific violence but because it showed sex scenes admittedly which were apparantly of a violent nature).
The real issue about games and violence though is more difficult. When US and British governments blame popular culture (such as rap music) for violence in society, they forget that at the same time they are telling us not to be violent, they are arming the world, fighting deadly illegal wars and committing criminal acts of the highest level. Perhaps if they practice what they preach, people wouldn't find violent video games so enthralling.
Ok, seriously, I can't understand it. Games, films etc.. are rated. If you're not adult enough to explore certain themes on offer, then just don't touch them.
The bottom line is, I despise censorship. Why should someone else decide what I can or cannot read, see, watch or play? Especially someone who probably hasn't seen the many horrors the world has to offer that I have.
I've often wondered how WW2 FPS like Call of Duty get received in Germany. Must be pretty horrible to have to rake over the muck of the past like that and hear people expressing joy at killing your compatriots.
I dont have any problems with WW2 game, because I (and I think over 90% of the german people under 50 years) dont consider the Wehrmacht as "compatriots". In the german Versions of these games, every Nazi-signs are removed, but I dont care. It was a big argument in the tv-commentary that "every child can easily add these to the games", wich is illegal and in the CoD2-Case simply not true (besides that, its not real argument against anything, because in theory you can add those symbols to your Trackmania car even faster). I like playing these games, and dont think about the historical background (so I dont "feel" different killing german troops or viet-cong in games) even if I served 9 month at the german army . We're not pretty patriotic anyways (maybe because of the past). For example: Almost no children can sing the national anthem, or just the first line (might be better now after the Football Worldcup).
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