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General discussion (archive)Max Payne 1 unbanned in Germany(24 posts)(24 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 29, 2012
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Psyringe: Yep. I actually thought several minutes on how to word the thread title, but finally settled on "banned" - it's not 100% correct, but I couldn't come up with a 100% correct English description that still fit into the title. ;)

This happens often when I talk about German "game bans" in international forums. Since you're a gamer and a professional translator, do you know a better way to bring the meaning across succinctly, yet correctly?
I use "ban" for "beschlagnahmt", because the police raids confiscating them are only a part of the consequences of such a ruling. Their sale in Germany is actually banned, as is their import for commercial resale.

I use "blacklisted" for "indiziert" because non-German speakers will not have a clue what "indexed" means, and "blacklisted" is the preferred translation for my US clients anyway.
Posted February 29, 2012
Thanks! I should have met (and asked) you years ago, this would have saved me from a lot of mental acrobatics. ;)
Posted February 29, 2012
Remember those C&C cyborg armies? Yeaaah, how stupid that was. Especially when Red Alert came out. That made no sense whatsoever. That's when I started looking at imports from the UK. They didn't suffer from questionable dubbing either.
Posted February 29, 2012
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jamyskis: Surely you mean USK? FSK is for films.

As for Live Free or Die Hard - that situation is all thanks to the MPAA. Both the PG-13 and Unrated got FSK 16 here.
So that is the difference, never noticed ;-).

I found a better example than Die Hard:

Fahrenheit vs. Indigo Prophecy. This game was censored by the US publisher to avoid the AO rating. Otherwise Walmart and other important chains wouldn't have sold it.

Due to this practise in Germany, we complained that much, because the only way to get an uncut version was a costly import or piracy (at least in the time before play.com). This is also one of the reasons I like the "digital age" so much, I can just go to Gamergate and get all games there, even the oney confiscated in Germany.
Posted February 29, 2012
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mistermumbles: Remember those C&C cyborg armies? Yeaaah, how stupid that was. Especially when Red Alert came out. That made no sense whatsoever. That's when I started looking at imports from the UK. They didn't suffer from questionable dubbing either.
Those cyborg armies have become cult in the meantime. It took some getting used to playing C&C with real people.

Much like Flatout's famed crash dummies and Wolfenstein's Wolfsclan. They've become so ingrained in German gaming culture.
Post edited February 29, 2012 by jamyskis
Posted February 29, 2012
Just as an aside, this was the report of the blacklisting of a game in the 1980s (roughly translated by moi):

"...glorifies and plays down the effects of war. As the applicant correctly emphasised, the player is intended to empathise with the role of an uncompromising fighter and destroyer. This is apparent from the game's instructions. Sniper-like qualities are demanded in the game. The shooting down of enemy targets is richly rewarded. The destruction of enemy tanker trucks, helicopters, fuel dumps or jets gives up to 100 points, the destruction of an enemy bridge up to 500. The use of violent force is rewarded; whoever destroys the most targets gets the most points and has the opportunity to be awarded the title "____". The game also downplays the effects of war because the war is not depicted in an objectively sober manner; war events are presented as automated happenings brought about by technical means and therefore deprived of any moral assessment. The horrors and suffering of an offensive war are not mentioned, nor are they implied in any fashion."

Don't know what game this is?

Really, you don't?

Here you go. The most horrifically violent game of the 1980s.

(For the record, the BPjM did quietly allow the game to be removed from the index when it was included in a retro collection and was rated suitable for children aged 6 and up.)
Posted February 29, 2012
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mistermumbles: Remember those C&C cyborg armies? Yeaaah, how stupid that was. Especially when Red Alert came out. That made no sense whatsoever. That's when I started looking at imports from the UK. They didn't suffer from questionable dubbing either.
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jamyskis: Those cyborg armies have become cult in the meantime. It took some getting used to playing C&C with real people.
Well, I never got used to it. *shrug* Hence, after getting the German C&C version I got all subsequent releases in full English. Not to mention content was cut from the former and co due to self-censoring. I remember Red Alert starting out the Russian campaign with Stalin discussing the effectiveness of killing off regular people. Or the NOD missions in C&C where your directive was to kill civilians. It does change the tone of the games considerably when those almost essential parts get left out.

Though one of the most ludicrous censoring I remember was from LA's Indiana Jones 3 adventure game and its Nazi flags. I know why it was done, but it's still stupid in my mind. "Oh, yeah. See those flags in the movies? Not in the game!" At least the way they altered them was absolutely ridiculous. Blanks? Black squares? As if we didn't know what was supposed to go there? It was more of a farce than anything else.
Posted February 29, 2012
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jefequeso: Yeah, I know... we here in the US haven't been able to play Max Payne for the past decade either.
censored cards from TW1 say hello.

censorship is insane everywhere.
Posted February 29, 2012
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jamyskis: Here you go. The most horrifically violent game of the 1980s.
I remember that one. ;)

Btw, it might be interesting to read the complete new report on Max Payne 1. According to heise.de, the new assessment seems to link the game to Film Noire (which makes sense) and ... Greek tragedies. ;) The perspective of the BPjM still seems oddly skewed, but this time in the other direction. ;)
Posted February 29, 2012
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jefequeso: wait...seriously?

THAT'S what Germans have been complaining about all this time?

-__-

It is true that you get modified versions of games, though, right?
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jamyskis: The problem is not the indexing. We are allowed to buy the games, but the law makes it as difficult as possible to get them. As I say, there has to be a closed-off section which minors are not allowed to enter, or the shop can keep it behind the counter out of sight and sell it on demand.

Online shops are not allowed to sell the games openly, and they have to have reasonable certainty that the buyer is 18 or over. It can get expensive, and for a lot of publishers, they don't see it as being commercially worthwhile. For years they were censoring games to just get them on the market, until they started realising that gamers were for the most part avoiding the censored versions like the plague.
Ahh... I see the problem.
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General discussion (archive)Max Payne 1 unbanned in Germany(24 posts)(24 posts)
(24 posts)