Germany Passes on Painkiller: Hell and Damnation

[Piorn]

It's just silly, really. Some games get banned, some not. Shooting people is ok, as long as the blood is grey? Blood and Gore is fine, as long as the humans have been mutated after death?

Also, Protecting children is alright, but if you start protecting kids from things they aren't even allowed to see in the first place, just so they don't get flustered when they accidentally come in contact with it.

And everyone who wants the games can just order them from germany's little brother Austria. In german, even. So I don't really care anymore.

 

[Skeleon]

Huh, HD. Yeah, I think I can see it. I hope (and expect) that they won't just remake everything down to the last crate. I'd like to see (a few) new weapons and (many) new monsters and levels, actually.

As for the USK/BPJM? Yeah, odd. To my knowledge, banning/not giving an age rating/putting it on the index happened a lot less with games these past couple of years. Strange to see them do it now and for this, a game which is the exact opposite of realistic. Not that it matters to any of us who are actually old enough to shop at amazon.co.uk or similar, of course. And the younger players will simply pirate it, I'd imagine.

 

[Meight08]

Did they forget to disband the censors or something after nazi germany fell?
*I'm not saying all germans are nazi's so chill out*

 

[KINGBeerZ]

Strange, it normally seems that sexual references are more likely to get most things banned than violence is, but maybe all countries have their own pet peeves.

 

[Airon]

Not every game you buy outside of Germany and activate on Steam from inside Germany is automatically censored. Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 are ok for example. Team Fortress 2 is another example. In the German version, party mode is always on.

A fundamental problem is that Steam and Microsoft have never bothered to make an age verification system.

You could sell games on the "Index" to people if you could verify their age. When a game is on the index it must not be made available or advertised in any shape or form so that a minor can have access to it. You could sell them pornographic games or whatever else you like.

But neither Steam nor Microsoft have any age verification the qualifies. It's probably not worth it to them, or perhaps they're don't want to risk anything by selling a game not certified by the USK in Germany.

Nobody applauds any of these organizations and their members for that.

 

[Ishigami]

The game is also not banned at this point, only the BPjM (an actual German federal agency) has the power to do that. It just can't be legally sold because it has no rating.

That is not true!

Games which do not receive a USK 18 rating can still be bought, if your are 18 or older.
The difference between USK 18+ and no rating is that a game without rating can be set on the index by the BPJM while a game with rating can't be set on the index.

Being on the index does not mean you can't buy the game either!
There are two index list. One list for games that violate German laws (e.g. showing the Swastika) and one list for games that do not comply with restrictions by the BPJM.

Games which violate German law are completely banned (yet already owning them is not! However there are severe limitation to what you can do with them), as it should be. These cases are rare and most commonly revolves around including the Swastika in any form (WW2 shooter and stuff like that)

Games which do not comply with regulation of the BPJM (most cases) can still be bought if you are over the age of 18.
However these games may not be advertised (this includes shop exhibits) or sold thru mail order.

Get your facts strait Escapist!