Dead Island Banned in Germany, But Nobody Cares

[Furioso]

Huh, in their attempt to aggressively show how not-evil they are they are making themselves seem evil, don't get me wrong I love Germany to death, but their censorship laws seem... well... Nazi like

Edit: Also I can't believe Australia didn't ban this, considering how violently some of the characters oppose the Aboriginal/Australian racism, which is still prevalent in places

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

Once we deal with Australia I say we turn our sights to Germany and start pestering them to unclench their sphincter a bit. WWII was a long time ago, Germany, you can chill out and join the rest of us in our violence filled entertainment. We won't judge, honest.

A lot of people will, sadly.

Upon the mention of the word "Germany," way too many people tend to respond with "NAZIS NAZIS NAZIS NAZIS!!!!" Certainly happened to me enough times when I brought up the fact that I was studying German.

 

[Amaror]

Once we deal with Australia I say we turn our sights to Germany and start pestering them to unclench their sphincter a bit. WWII was a long time ago, Germany, you can chill out and join the rest of us in our violence filled entertainment. We won't judge, honest.

Now you mention it, when the Germans play a ww2 game or watch a ww2 film, who do they want to win? I mena the nazis where shit, but it is their country!

OT: Arent they generally banned before thye are released? Or hasnt i been released there at all yet?

Are you really serious? Because if you are ,i am sorry but you are talking nonsense.
Nazi Germany doesn't equals Germany. Not a bit. Yes the land is the same, but that's like saying we should all hate jesus because we were part of the roman empire once.
And Yes, there are some people left who lived in that time, but they don't represent germany either.
Germany isn't Nazi Germany. Germany is the country with the weakest right wing in Europe. Germany is the country with the strictest laws against nationalism.
And No i am certainly not defending the stupidity of the German censorship.
I am sorry i have to say this, but the thought that Germans should vote for Nazis in Films or Games, is probably the dumbest thing i heard and very insulting too.
So please think about what you're saying before you make accusations.

Edit: I am Sorry if i am a little bit too harsh on this but i am just sick of hearing the word "NAZI" the very second the word "Germany" comes up.

 

[s0p0g]

Censoring shit and treating adults like children is definitely the best way to deal with the country's fascist past, no doubt about it.

you forgot talking about that big no-no-history-thingy in history classes, geography classes, english classes, french classes, german classes, social sciences classes, again and again and again, then over and over and over and over, and then...

not censoring educational movies like indiana jones - because nazi-symbols are not forbidden to be shown when it's for educational purposes (no, i am dead serious. if fucking FSK (the censorship office, uh, i mean, the brave people that keep filthy, filthy media clean to protect poor little kids, had denied the educational aspect of intellectual movies like indiana jones it probably would'nt be on tv until this day. or evaaaarrr, for that matter. oh well.), but smashing games like Wolfenstein with the big bad banhammer also is totally coherent. and smart. and well thought-through. and stuff.
riiiiite...

now, as some indicated above, getting a banned game isn't that hard. customs don't keep a small dvd-sized and -shaped package that's sent, say, from the US, UK, Austria, Netherlands... you name it ^^
oh and someone said customs don't open packages... yes, they do, if the guy who gets his hands on it thinks it could be something suspicious. well ok, they don't open it, but you have to open it at customs for a nice guy working there so he can check its contents.
also, no one checks if that account you created for this digital distributor is phony or for real.


so, go censorship! treat adults like little children and tell them what to watch or what to play!

 

[wooty]

Well, they're not missing much really. Save up that cash and buy something better.

 

[Xeraxis]

Upon the mention of the word "Germany," way too many people tend to respond with "NAZIS NAZIS NAZIS NAZIS!!!!" Certainly happened to me enough times when I brought up the fact that I was studying German.

This is exactly why I don't mention to people here that I'm originally from Germany. As soon as I do, they start the childish nonsense of spewing Nazi stuff, and all that crap. Really degrading.

No big deal about this though. It's a good game, but not worth something to whine over.

 

[imnot]

Once we deal with Australia I say we turn our sights to Germany and start pestering them to unclench their sphincter a bit. WWII was a long time ago, Germany, you can chill out and join the rest of us in our violence filled entertainment. We won't judge, honest.

Now you mention it, when the Germans play a ww2 game or watch a ww2 film, who do they want to win? I mena the nazis where shit, but it is their country!

OT: Arent they generally banned before thye are released? Or hasnt i been released there at all yet?

No I think I wrote that badly, I didnt mean nazis so much as Germany in particular, then I realised that they proberly agreed that the nazis sucked, but yeah sorry if I offended anyone XD
I really ought to stop writing the first thing that comes into my head!

 

[HerbertTheHamster]

It must feel pretty funny to know that 80 million people are legally banned from buying your game.

 

[BlackStar42]

Couldn't German gamers just download Steam and claim they're Austrian? I can't see why it wouldn't work, I don't think Steam checks your location.

 

[Amaror]

Couldn't German gamers just download Steam and claim they're Austrian? I can't see why it wouldn't work, I don't think Steam checks your location.

They just import it ... problem solved.
I don't really know if the article is right about the List B thing, but there are no controlls if you import from austria or Gb or somewhere else.

 

[Girl With One Eye]

Oh well, it's not like they're missing out on anything special. To be honest, I don't think anybody in Germany cares either.

 

[teebeeohh]

yeah buying games in Germany comes down to Steam on Sales and importing from the UK(which is not a proper import since the UK is part of the EU and thus are not checked)

and regarding the use if swastikas and such: they are banned for use, except for when you educate people or make movies or draw painting but for some reason games are not art enough

 

[Baresark]

There seems to be a lot of ignorance in this thread. As far as if German's hope the Nazis win: You don't watch movie about native americans getting killed and then when they fight back say to yourself, "I sure do hope these idiotic, inbred useless backwoods illiterate hicks turn this around and win".

Also, the actions of a government should never be held against it's people. It's not their fault. Like all governments, the Nazis lied to the German people and then took over. As a matter of fact, it's seems pretty well known they didn't even achieve power by honest means. And just like the with the Nazis, we should not be confused that the majority of Germans even want these measures to be taken. Like most governments, they are going to do what they feel is best for their country, regardless of what people think.

 

[FEichinger]

Once we deal with Australia I say we turn our sights to Germany and start pestering them to unclench their sphincter a bit. WWII was a long time ago, Germany, you can chill out and join the rest of us in our violence filled entertainment. We won't judge, honest.

Our precious govt. disagrees and fears repercussions, if they allow such things ... And given that our glorious MoE isn't quite too bright either ... Well ... yeh ... that would end really bad.

Hmmm, thought they only ban sales of the game, Imports usally arn't touched if i recall as they'd have to open the package... and that a big no no from what ive gathered living here.(Germans love their privacy)

Oh well, looks like a steam gift from the uk then.

Wrong. Ever since the whole nowadays-EU started, our govt. seems to love the idea of looking into all those precious private things we have just so they might find something bad ... Yeh, that's how it works -.-

Huh, in their attempt to aggressively show how not-evil they are they are making themselves seem evil, don't get me wrong I love Germany to death, but their censorship laws seem... well... Nazi like

Edit: Also I can't believe Australia didn't ban this, considering how violently some of the characters oppose the Aboriginal/Australian racism, which is still prevalent in places

Ahyup. Agreed, especially on the Australia part. This time around it's really only Germany getting insanely jizzed.


Now, before people jump me over me living in Germany ... I'm British. Don't you even dare!
And as for me and Dead Island ... Refused to buy it in the first place, because I see no point whatsoever in it ... Story was expected to be weak, ripping zombies apart is quite unlikely to pass in Germany (Go, L4D! -.-) ... So ... yeh ... No reason to buy it. And importing it? Seriously? ... Not worth the hassle.

 

[AarinSwift]

I wouldn't have expected this ḱind of garbage article from the escapist.

The game has been restricted from being sold or advertised to minors. That's all that has happened here.
You may not run public ads for the game, since minors may get exposed to it, and it may not be put on display, as minors may see it.

The game CAN be bought by adults, and it MAY be sold to adults as long as it happens "under-the-counter" (or in a 18+ section of the shop), or on a website that can only be accessed by adults, and the item itself is sent via registered mail. The problem is, that this way no publisher will sell it due to meagre profits.
Customs confiscate and destroy it is mostly due to international shops not being able to guarantee the registered mail thing.

To make this point clear again: As stupid as the whole thing is, the game has NOT been banned.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Eh. What can you even say these days?

I'd ignore it completely, but it does make me curious if I own any games that would be banned in their current form in Germany.

Not a completely pointless question, because I have some ideas going (mostly related to trains) that would require moving to Germany...

But anyway... These kind of issues happen. I mean, isn't this whole skyrim business swamping the forums right now closely related to censorship issues?

 

[spectrenihlus]

Question: Could you download banned titles from Steam or other download site? Or has the government gotten there too?

 

[AarinSwift]

Question: Could you download banned titles from Steam or other download site? Or has the government gotten there too?

Theoretically they could, but steam doesn't do effective age verification, so they may not do that.

 

[spectrenihlus]

Question: Could you download banned titles from Steam or other download site? Or has the government gotten there too?

Theoretically they could, but steam doesn't do effective age verification, so they may not do that.

Does anyone do effective age verification?