L4D uncut version banned in GER

[notamused81]

So the german federal inspection authority has decided to put the original uncut version of Left 4 Dead on the so called b-list, which means that after german law § 131 StGB( to make it more clear, this is for distributors, customers can still own the uncut version without problems) you must not import, create, demand, supply or offer the game if you plan the following:
-selling the game
-showing game content in public
-supplying or making the game accessible to someone minor
(EDIT: thnx to "AccessGranted" and "fuegerstef" for correcting me)

will be penalized by imprisonment ( up to 1 year) or a monetary fine.

Also it isn´t allowed to report about this game in any way by any medium, except if the story is connected to historical content or connected to events of the day.

This is the hardest ban a video game can get in germany.

The only version allowed to sell(edited this to make it clear) in Germany is a cutted one, which still is 18+ and I would like to present the general differences the german version has to the original one:

- first things first the cover has been edited, because nobody likes to scare germans to death by a zombie hand with four fingers around christmas time, so the german package shows a thumb where the original has none (maybe interesting for collectors of strange things);

- the intro has been edited: one scene has been changed to appear less gory and a zombies hand was edited to look more alive;

- If you shoot your teammates you won´t see any blood or bullet wounds at them;

- separation of body parts was removed totally;

- zombies disappear after you have killed them, zombies set on fire dissapear immediately; no ragdoll effect for dead bodies, because there are none left;

- No blood effect at your disply when you shoot zombies very close to you;

Rumor has it, the german xbox version of L4D has had more editing, as all blood has been edited to green dust, like the one that apears when you shoot a smoker;


As said above the ban is temporarily at the moment, but usually this department´s decisions don´t change in the long term.

I´ve made this posting to show people from around world that even today there is governmental censorship in some self entitled educated countries.
I´d like to hear your opinion about this and your thoughts about patronised grown ups.

I hope my post adds up to native speakers, as I am german and my english ain´t perfect

[feedtheworld]

I guess Hitler is still alive in Germany

[Inertialol]

Originally Posted by notamused81

I hope my post adds up to native speakers, as I am german and my english ain´t far from perfect

It's good.

Anyway game censorship like that sounds ridiculous.

[Rawd]

This is incredible. I knew about the altered German version, but I didn't realize that they took it this seriously. This makes me glad to be Canadian.

Anyways, what positive things could be done to change this? Were these laws voted in by elected representatives? Can you call your local member of parliment and complain? Petitions?

[PotsyWeber]

I'm sorry your government treats adults like children because of graphic cartoon violence.

Europe has some things going for it, but this type of censorship is just a HUGE fail.

Funny thing is, I've seen some really weird ♥♥♥♥ on video from Germany....but aye, it wasn't violent.

[Rakitsu]

Originally Posted by PotsyWeber

I'm sorry your government treats adults like children because of graphic cartoon violence.

Europe has some things going for it, but this type of censorship is just a HUGE fail.

Funny thing is, I've seen some really weird ♥♥♥♥ on video from Germany....but aye, it wasn't violent.

Rule 34?

Anyway I'm glad I don't live in Germany. Not to be mean or anything. This just seems ridiculous. Next thing you know, they're going to be patting all the corners around town.

[Dark-Reaper]

Poor German people...

[Rakitsu]

Originally Posted by Dark-Reaper

Poor German people...

They still got porn and beer going for them.


(please disregard that, I had to say it. Don't take it to serious, mods.)

I mean their Schooling and literature!

[ModernAutomatic]

At least you've got Oktoberfest.

[notamused81]

It´s a big problem in germany that the media shows video games very unilaterally, there has been the "killer games" discussion since some weirdo shot at schoolmates and killed himself.
There´s a coherence in germany that every time there´s elections in the provinces or in the republic the conservatives play this joker card.
When watching the media, they pick really weird people to show in their articles, so it seems every MMORPG fan is a fat, spoiled and unsocial person in real life and every FPS fan seems like a blood greedy totally disturbed young man who could kill his neighbours at any moment.

To top it all of, most times things stated in this interviews are really uncorrect, so you can see, that the reporters who made the documentation have no plan about what they are refering. Even the national TV stations have a very sensation seeking way of presenting their stuff.

There have been many petitions but the main problem in my opinion is that the politicians don´t understand a medium like computergames. Maybe they know pacman or whatever, but they didn´t grow up with video games, they don´t understand the community, their language and the way young people in society spend their leisure time.
The state being most problematic in germany ( it´s just my opinion) is bavaria, which is very conservative and catholic.
You can be quite sure, if there´s any problems related to censorship of media, most time politicians from bavaria are included.

So, to sum it up: We have media that gives people who don´t play games a very strange impression, politicians telling those people that games corrupt the youth and bring down social values.

It´s quite hard to cope with this situation, I keep talking to people a lot about this, there are even a lot of germans that do not know, that theri movies or games are cut, because there´s no regulation by law that about a necessity to inform the customer about the change of the products content. ( because then there would be a big problem with german economy);

[notamused81]

Originally Posted by ModernAutomatic

At least you've got Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest sucks if you don´t like being drunk or walking through whatever the guy vomitted in front of you

[tacc]

But Resident Evil 5 will be released uncut. As well as F.E.A.R. 2.
Not to mention Dead Space.

And Gears of War 2 has only been put on List A which is a bit less strict.

Originally Posted by ModernAutomatic

At least you've got Oktoberfest.

And as the name suggests, it mostly takes place in september.

[Alec_Trevelyan]

No shotgun blasts to the head removing the skull from the flesh and sending it flying? No bodies heaped up so much they carpet the stairs? No zombies running into and sliding down walls after behing hit with a hunting rifle?

Well that's got to suck. :P

[Undead]

Originally Posted by feedtheworld

I guess Hitler is still alive in Germany

Considering the fact that even Germans hate Hitler, I don't think so.

If you have ever talked with a German about Hitler, he would hit you.

German's get bad reputation from Hitler and hate him just as much as Jewish people do.

Just a little note I thought you should know .

[mejorquenada]

they have essen schizen videos.. but they cant have a little bit of blood in a zombie game... :|