C&C3 altered for German consumption
by Richard Mitchell 
{ Mar 14th 2007 at 2:45PM }
We love it when a violent game is making its way to Germany. Why? Because we inevitably get to type out the name of Germany's ratings board: Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK). Say that three times fast. According to CVG, EA will be altering Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars so that it is suitable for Germany's impressionable youth. It seems the game's suicide bombers will no longer actually commit suicide. Instead, these more risk averse almost-suicide bombers will remove their deadly explosive payload and run away. EA notes that this is only an animation change and that it will not affect the game balance in any way.
This isn't the first game to fall under the USK's ratings hammer. Other 360 titles, including Dead Rising and Gears of War, have been banned from the country outright. Of course, smart gamers know that they can pick up an Austrian copy. At any rate, Command & Conquer 3 for the PC debuts this month, with the 360 version following soon after.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mnemo @ Mar 14th 2007 3:28PM
Here we go again... Dead Rising and Gears of War are NOT banned in Germany, they are "indiziert", meaning they may not be advertised, displayed and sold to minors. Every one of legal age (and that is 18 and above) may order and buy the game at retailers carrying the games as imports (mostly from Austria where a German version was published). Microsoft chose not to publish the games directly in Germany because they have a policy of not publishing any game that is denied a rating by the USK.
Richard Mitchell @ Mar 14th 2007 3:35PM
mnemo,
Potato/Po-tah-to. From a publisher's stand point, no advertisement might as well be a ban. How can you sell a product that's illegal to advertise?
mnemo @ Mar 14th 2007 3:44PM
Gears of War is probably one of the most bought games in Germany, at least everyone I know has a copy. It's also probably a bit of an exception, since it was initially available as an import even at large electronics retail chains until it was "indiziert" (there's just no perfect English translation yet). So it IS possible to sell a game without advertising for it.
Dead Rising on the other hand is surely less well known, but also has an user base over here.
Also there's always the Internet for spreading the word. It's just a shame that the great GoW commercial couldn't be shown here officially.
What I'm saying is just that the games are not banned. That IS possible ("Beschlagnahmung" = confiscation), though, but has not happened to retail videogames in the last few years, as far as I know. So there is a difference.
Javier @ Mar 14th 2007 3:49PM
You can sell a game thats not advertised at all, imagine that GTA IV would be illegal to advertise, the game would still sell an enormous ammount of copies, because it is a great and very recognised franchise, and the hype is building, and in marketing, mouth to mouth is the most sttong selling strategy.
Richard Mitchell @ Mar 14th 2007 3:55PM
mnemo,
Fair enough. I didn't realize a game could actually be officially banned by the USK. So, if a game is "indiziert," do you have to buy or order it from a store outside German borders? Or, can German stores carry it as an import?
Benny the Cow @ Mar 14th 2007 4:42PM
But that edits worse, it just makes those ultra impressionable german kids smarter terrorists. I mean, if they saw the suicide bomber dies, they wouldnt think it was such a great idea. And since when were kids that stupid, being 6 months a way from being a freshmen in highschool, I can say most kids are not that dumb.
What we really need to worry about, is incredibly stupid and low brow tv and movies. AKA cartoons and the movie Borat. Most kids can handle violence and are capable from telling the difference from reality and the game. And as my gripe with stupid movies is that you don't get anything from it, all they (the annoying kids in my class) do is sit there and quote Borat. Ok, maybe its a good movie. But after hearing anti Jewish jokes 24/7 in a crappy middle eastern accent, you start to really hate that movie.
Video Games make you think about your actions, most games even punish you for being evil. Just making the suicide bombers drop their bombs and run is going to do is just make it look like suicide bombing dosen't kill you. Which it does, hence the name SUICIDE bombing.
mnemo @ Mar 14th 2007 4:56PM
Richard,
it's (of course) more complicated than that. The USK is just a private ratings board, probably like the ESRB, and not federal - sponsored in part by the games publishers, I think - that's why it's a "self control" (Selbstkontrolle) institution.
The "Indizierung" or banning is done by the "Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien" ("Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons" - officially taken from their webpage!).
Media that is only "indiziert" CAN be bought at retailers or online shops in the country, though it's mostly by mail order since unspecialised stores don't stock the stuff (mostly only for a few weeks after it's released). Selling it by mail wasn't possible until a few years ago when the regulation of mailing such media was loosened. Now it is legal to sell via mail when the age of the recipient was verified by the postal service or by mailing in a scanned copy of the id card to the online store.
See the official webpage of the BPjM for more information:
http://www.bundespruefstelle.de/bpjm/information-in-english.html
blueGrassTubb @ Mar 14th 2007 6:54PM
No wonderEuropean taxes are so high. Someone has to pay the nanny.