Germany Set to Ban Clive Barker's Jericho

[Andy Chalk]

Germany Set to Ban Clive Barker's Jericho

German videogame rating agency Clive Barker's Jericho [http://www.usk.de/].

According to a report on the German website Federal Verification Office for Youth-Endangering Media [http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heise.de%2Fnewsticker%2Fmeldung%2F96452&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8] to place the game on an index of banned games. Placement on the index would result in a complete ban of the game, making it illegal to advertise, sell or import into Germany; currently, the refusal of the USK to issue a rating means the game is available for purchase only to people 18 years of age or older.

Even if the game isn't banned entirely, Jericho publisher Clive Barker's [http://www.codemasters.com] "artistic vision," a Codemasters representative said the cuts and changes required to earn a USK rating would have been too extreme.

Germany is known for being particularly enthusiastic about banning videogames, particularly those which feature graphic violence or Nazi imagery. Most recently, Grand Theft Auto [http://www.gearsofwar.com/], are localized for German release through the removal of objectionable content.

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[Redfeather]

Demo is apparently available this Thursday (9/27) here [http://www.codemasters.co.uk/jericho/community/downloads.php].

 

[Andy Chalk]

I am on that shit.

 

[Redfeather]

I am on that shit.

Did you play Undying? If not...pick it up. It's one of the scariest games I've ever played. I'm not really an FPS fan, but the story really attracted me to the game and didn't disappoint.

 

[werepossum]

Evidently violent video games interfere with the serious business of taking over Europe.

I played Undying, but never finished it. I'm a huge FPS fan, but found Undying silly rather than scary. At one point I was wondering around some sort of crypt being continuously attacked by skeletons. I think my character died of boredom. I know I almost did.

I'm going to try the "Jericho" demo, although it seemed to me to be rather silly as well. Frankly the only video game that really scared me was F.E.A.R. - that naked 15-year-old skittering around on all fours freaked me out. Then again, ANY naked 15-year-old freaks me out.

 

[Andy Chalk]

I played Undying a long time ago, a year or so after it came out, and I was surprised by how good it was. I thought it was spooky as hell too, but unfortunately it hasn't aged well. I reinstalled it earlier this year and couldn't make much progress with it. The graphics were horribly dated, the level design didn't hold up (arbitrarily locked and unlocked doors throughout the great mansion really drove me nuts) and in the back of my mind I knew that once I got through the first "phase" of the game (the vampire chick), things would be going downhill in a hurry. Some games are great, and some games are great once.

On the other hand, Undying is the main reason I've got my eyes on Jericho. Given how badly Undying tanked, I'm a bit surprised they're letting Clive step back up to the plate (even though it was quite a few years ago), but since he is I'd really like to see him have some more success this time.

 

[Arbre]

This game can turn you into a Nazi. Word. I'm 200% behind the german government.
Swinging between extremes...

 

[bue519]

Well the germans just need to come to terms with what happened during world war 2 and they need to stop banning everything that has a Nazi reference, hell thats probably why return to castle wolfenstein was banned

 

[Arbre]

I'm not even sure Jericho has any reference to the Third Reich. There's been countless films which had and made it through.

Indiana Jones. That was banned?

 

[Katana314]

I've played it on Gametap, and you do go back in time and meet up with a british WW2 squadron that calls the enemies "jerries".
The game is just so bloody it's ridiculous, not even scary. It's like every texture has an 80% red hue, and shine to it. One of the enemies hangs himself from the ceiling by driving a chain into his flesh, then rains his guts on you by pulling his chest open. (If THAT doesn't kill him, what are your bullets supposed to do?)

I would be pissed at an act against free speech, but I think most people can agree Jericho just tries to be excessive. At a certain point the gore feels so commonplace that nothing SCARES you anymore.
"I know! Let's make the entire floor of the next room out of decaying corpses!"
Well, yeah, but...after seeing an enemy that basically breathes steaming blood, I'm not exactly gonna bat an eyelid at anything...