Dead Island Banned in Germany, But Nobody Cares

[Coldster]

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.

I don't want to sound like a total prick, but you realize that Germany has been a free country for only about two decades now? After WWII the Berlin blockade begin and the Berlin wall went up and yaddie yaddie yadda. However it only got taken down in late 1989. That really isn't that long ago. Let them have some time to adjust some more. Or not.

 

[FEichinger]

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.

Unless I am wrong, the USK has been made an official authority. And since DI was never submitted for rating to them, they gave no clearance. That, combined with it being indexed means it is effectively banned, as it can't be sold.

 

[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.

Does anyone do effective age verification?

A few retailers for physical games do, but all the download services I know of don't.

Edit:

Unless I am wrong, the USK has been made an official authority. And since DI was never submitted for rating to them, they gave no clearance. That, combined with it being indexed means it is effectively banned, as it can't be sold.

If you know German, read this http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indizierung#Rechtsfolgen_der_Indizierung.

 

[Amaror]

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?

As far as i know (I am German) Skyrim isn't censored. One good thing about skyrim is that it's just for people as old or older than 16. Oblivion was for people as old or older than 12.
Censorship in germany is really bad, but not that bad how people depict it.
As far as i know you could and can allways import a game without problems (That's why this article was kinda strange because it stated that that would be illegal).
One game that i also censored in germany is manhunt, but can you blame them for this?
On the other hand both Dead Space games are not censored, because the Necromorph don't look too much like humans.
So in general i think you should be safe.

 

[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?

A few retailers for physical games do, but all the download services I know of don't.

Edit:

Unless I am wrong, the USK has been made an official authority. And since DI was never submitted for rating to them, they gave no clearance. That, combined with it being indexed means it is effectively banned, as it can't be sold.

If you know German, read this http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indizierung#Rechtsfolgen_der_Indizierung.

You do realize it is really easy to obtain a fake ID in this day and age. Or they can have their adult friend buy the game for them. The whole damn thing is such a farce.

 

[Amaror]

Unless I am wrong, the USK has been made an official authority. And since DI was never submitted for rating to them, they gave no clearance. That, combined with it being indexed means it is effectively banned, as it can't be sold.

And if you cannot read german, the wikipedia article translates to:
The Media cannot be advertised, this includes putting it into a shelf in a store BUT it can be sold if it's secured that the person buying the game if over 18 years old.

 

[Yopaz]

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

Its been out for months now, seen it in a local gamestop.

And you're not German so I am guessing you haven't stopped by any German GameStops.

OT: Seeing as no-one really cared a lot for this game I don't see people raging too much over this, it's stupid however. If they just made it illegal for those under 18 to buy games rated mature they wouldn't have to see such hysteria over games like this.

 

[FEichinger]

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?

A few retailers for physical games do, but all the download services I know of don't.

Edit:

Unless I am wrong, the USK has been made an official authority. And since DI was never submitted for rating to them, they gave no clearance. That, combined with it being indexed means it is effectively banned, as it can't be sold.

If you know German, read this http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indizierung#Rechtsfolgen_der_Indizierung.

Unless I am wrong, the USK has been made an official authority. And since DI was never submitted for rating to them, they gave no clearance. That, combined with it being indexed means it is effectively banned, as it can't be sold.

And if you cannot read german, the wikipedia article translates to:
The Media cannot be advertised, this includes putting it into a shelf in a store BUT it can be sold if it's secured that the person buying the game if over 18 years old.

Very well aware of the German index, and I can read German

Point still stands that it hasn't even been officially rated, as it wasn't submitted, in turn - unless the USK / former FSK isn't an official authority yet (which is the one thing I wasn't following up on during the past years and honestly cba to check back right now).
If it is an official authority, no rating means no sale, regardless of index status.

 

[Tommeh Brownleh]

and people wonder why piracy is such a problem.

 

[AarinSwift]

ou do realize it is really easy to obtain a fake ID in this day and age. Or they can have their adult friend buy the game for them. The whole damn thing is such a farce.

German IDs? That would be news to me. Basically there are two ways to sell it online.

1. Use PostIdent to identify the person. (You go to the post office, and show them your ID.)
2. Use a webcam and check the ID yourself.
3. Use a special postal service that confirms the receiver is 18 or up on delivery.

In cases 1 and 2 a usual registered package does it.

 

[spectrenihlus]

ou do realize it is really easy to obtain a fake ID in this day and age. Or they can have their adult friend buy the game for them. The whole damn thing is such a farce.

German IDs? That would be news to me. Basically there are two ways to sell it online.

1. Use PostIdent to identify the person. (You go to the post office, and show them your ID.)
2. Use a webcam and check the ID yourself.
3. Use a special postal service that confirms the receiver is 18 or up on delivery.

In cases 1 and 2 a usual registered package does it.

Thought you were talking about brick and mortar retail shops.

 

[KeyMaster45]

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.

I don't want to sound like a total prick, but you realize that Germany has been a free country for only about two decades now? After WWII the Berlin blockade begin and the Berlin wall went up and yaddie yaddie yadda. However it only got taken down in late 1989. That really isn't that long ago. Let them have some time to adjust some more. Or not.

Yes, I took basic world history in high school so the whole east/west Germany schism chunk of history was not lost on me.

If adjustment is what they need then dialing back the heavy censorship on forms of media is part of the adjustment. It's hardly a radical change to go from an outright ban to age restricted sales like everywhere else.

 

[Sonicron]

Feh. Article blows this whole thing way out of proportion; as has been stated correctly by a few of my countrymen, the game may still be sold under the counter, as long as the buyer provides irrefutable proof that they're age 18+.
Come on, everybody, do your research before you start waving your arms in dismay and pulling a Godwyn.

 

[silasbufu]

Well I'm sorry for you guys, I got this game on the autumn sale in Steam and it's pretty amazing. The co-op is great.

There must be a loop-hole or something. Gifts on Steam, I don't know.

 

[spectrenihlus]

The real victims in this story are the German retailers who can't make an honest profit because the government says so. The consumers can just go through other channels to get what they want as one of you posted already.

 

[saxxon.de]

Still I bet the nazis win in some films.
Like.
Um.
Huh I guess they dont.

They don't.

Sorry, but watch the post above this one

I thought imnotparanoid meant to say the nazis win in some german films. You know, because this post was the follow-up to his previous, which was related to WWII-Videogames in germany.

Either way, I'm tired of the whole nazi topic always rising when germany is mentioned somewhere else in the world. I always read and hear from people that have been here or are currently in germany they like the country, and that people have changed and are really friendly. That's true and those people usually don't even come up with a nazi related topic, but as soon as you talk to someone that hasn't been to germany, you constantly get to hear the same old shit.

I mean, look at this thread. It's about a Videogame not beeing sold in germany due to the depiction of gore. You know, because germans don't like violence. But what are we talking about?

Right.

 

[VoEC]

Crazy Germans... Family Guy seems to have a pretty accurate depiction.

http://video.adultswim.com/family-guy/check-with-poland.html

Now that's some irony.

I can't watch the video because I live in Germany and it is blocked here...

 

[draythefingerless]

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.

That is unfortunately, the cross your country will bear for some time now...also Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen. Dont worry thou. itll fade off. as all events in history have.