Slashdot Mirror
Different Country, Different Game Content
Thanks to EvilAvatar for finding a registration-not-required (via NPR) version of a LA Times article about changing game content for different cultures. As the article describes, "Red blood in a game sold in the United States turns green in Australia. A topless character in a European title acquires a bikini in the U.S. Human enemies in a U.S. game morph into robots in Germany. Violent sex scenes in a Japanese game disappear in the American version." There's also discussion of localizing for cultural reasons, citing Animal Crossing, which has added "..folding lawn chairs, inflatable wading pools, tiki torches and pink flamingos" for the US version.
IIRC, the whole Wolfenstein series was banned.
Certain symbols and insignia which are illegal in Germany were removed. The soldiers, less the symbols, stayed in, though.
In addition they removed the gory effects, namely the blood. This is done in all games, unless only aliens of obviously non-human form spill the blood. In half-life the soldiers were removed with robots which claimed to "lose gear oil" when hit.
I remember that the initial RTCW batch could not be sold because some illegal symbols were overlooked in the manual, and they had to re-print them before it went on shelf.
For the Xbox RTCW:Tides of War they obviously did not want to repeat the exercise, as there is no German market version. As a result, you cannot buy it here and it is illegal to import it due to NS symbols.
The first SNES game I worked on though, we had to do a 'green blood' version for the European release, so it could be sold in Germany. It was just a case of making the absolute minimum change that would get around the law. But we were allowed to keep the guy bursting into flames when hit with a flame thrower.
Wolfenstein 3D and Kz-manager are NOT INDEXED!
,a non govermental institution, that tests games, and gives out age recommendations ranging from "educational/no age limit" to "not below 18".
read on...
The indexing practice here in germany actually is a bit more fine grained than they discribed in that article.
At first, there are two institutions. The USK (Unterhaltungssoftwareselbstkontrolle/Voluntary gamesself control) USK
The second institute is the "Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefÃhrdende schriften/ federal control comission of Youth endangering media" or BPJS, the federal organ.
The functioning of these 2 institutions have been changed a bit recently. Before, the USK was allowed to test any game they saw fit, but was only able to issue recommendations, while the BPJS was able to index or ban games (more on that later), but was only allowed to test games when an official complaint has been filed with them.
The new law basically says, that every game, that is not tested and rated by the USK has to be treated like it has an USK18 (not below 18) tag.
The rest of the system still stands.
The BPJS need to get an complaint about the contents of a certain game (which requires that game to be sold in Germany first), then test it for some weeks (in which the game still is beeing sold) and then decides it the game is left alone as USK18, gets indexed, or gets "eingezogen".
To clear up the terms.
USK18 means, the game may not be sold to minors, but can be displayed and advertised.
Indexed means, it may not be shown in public or be advertised, but still can be sold to adults. (in effect, its even possible to display and offer the game, but only in the classical "smut corner" that is inacessible to minors, most stores shun that. Big retailers won't sell these games, gameshops usually have a small stack behind the counter where so you have to ask to get them.
Eingezogen is in effect banned.
Ownership in general is still allowed, but any form of distribution, even in private, is forbidden. This usually only applies to heavy Racial/Nazi content. (Mein kampf, Kzmanager and Wolfenstein3D all are Banned and NOT indexed).
Hope that clears it up.. i stopped counting just how often i wrote this in various threads on god-know-how-many newspages, since i yet have to come about one single american article about the german jugendschutz (youth protection) that atlest gets the basic facts right.