September 25, 2007 -
News outlet Heise is reporting that Jericho, the upcoming horror action game from CodeMasters, has been refused classification by the USK, Germany's game rating organization.GP is working from a Google translation of the Heise story, but it appears that Jericho will find itself in the same position as Crackdown earlier this year. That is:
Cannot be sold to minors or via online orders. In addition, cannot be displayed in stores or advertised.
Heise also reports that console makers Sony and Microsoft won't market a game without a USK classification, so it appears that only the PC version of Jericho will be available and only to those over 18.
As Joystiq reminds us, Gears of War suffered a similar fate in Germany. But German gamers who really want Jericho should be able to get their hands on a copy in nearby Austria.
The game is set for an October 23rd launch in the US on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The German release is scheduled for October 26th.
Comments
Wrong country buddy.
Hitler did this same things before world war 2. Started censoring, started taking control of the media, and nows he's remembered as the most evil man of that era.
USK will make themself into censors and drive industries away, and sooner or later, the financial hit will cause them to be removed, or completely remade so that game companies will come back.
Cry tech I belive is doing just that aren't they? If anyone knows, let me know where I can find that info.
Crytek is moving out of germany (or rather, they're being forced out cause of FarCry), but where is the real question. Like the article suggests, Austria is just around the corner...
Hey, It's the internets universal law.
When you cant think of another analogy, use the Nazis.
Seriously, my point doesn't change. Censorship is one of the many things that hitler did before he started WW2.
In this case, censorship will have a major financial effect, and the USK will be the ones ultimatly ruined for it. Thats all i was saying .
They're just pissed that the game doesn't feature any German-made guns (i.e. H&K, Mauser...), as do most shooters do these days.
Seriously, you shouldn't use Google translations and use them as basis for proper news, that just seems a little bit unprofessional. I mean everybody knows it's flawed.
The way we Germans deal with media violence and especially game violence is pretty reatarded though, no doubt about that. But comparing the way we deal with media now to the way the NS regime dealt with media is no less retarded and demonstrates a profound lack of insight.
On a related note im very much looking forward to jericho, clive barker has done alot of stuff that i like (and is a fellow scouser lol).
In other news: the sky is blue.
what do you expect from the country that produced Uwe Boll and Holocaust Denial?
really? they've arrested upwards to 40% of the country?
Godwin's law only applies if the post is not relevant to Hitler or Nazis. When used in reference to German history, Godwin is defeated for the time being. It might come up again if the reference is not used for German history.
Rammsoldat
I loved undying I hope Jericho is only as bad as it if it suffers from bugs and polish issues like bioshock I give the fck up on FPSs.
And for everyone making Hitler comparisons (Yes, i'm taking to you Yuki), drop it. Nothing to do with Hitler.
the comparasions need to be made tho they are doign stupid things in roder for what to show how moralistic they are when they ignore the other 80% its BS they should do what they do with any mature game and keep it behind the counter now ban it to make the polis look better.
Colin McRae
http://www.codemasters.com/press/index.php?showarticle=10830&territory=E...
a) cannot by it if you aren't 18
b)won't find any ads whatsoever anywhere in any store
c) the game won't be on open display
Those age 18 and beyond can still purchase the game if that is their wish, even though chances are you find find it at major stores.
So this "censorship" merely prevents underaged folks from getting it (or is supposed to). In theory they could ban the game for everyone, but that needs certain requirements which i do not see fullfilled in this case.
Speaking of comparisons, it does remind me of certain US stores who won't carry games like that at all.
In Germany, for the age-rating of computer games the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) refused, due to brutal scenes, an age classification to the game "Clive Barker's Jericho". Thus the Bundeszentrale für jugendgefährdende Medien (BPjM) ["federal center for youth-endangering media" - FABULOUS!] is free to set the game in the index for youth-endangering media [impliciation: has not yet]. The game may now only be sold to young people over 18 years with age proof. It is possible there will be a prohibition of the game, which thereupon it cannot be sold or imported [again the implication is there has been no prohibition...yet].
The game was originally announced for the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. But with the license conditions of Sony and Microsoft in this country, no titles without USK ratings may be published for their platforms. Notwithstanding, Microsoft did publish their best-seller "Gears of War" without a USK rating.
Codemasters have similarly decided to publish in this country only the PC version in unchanged form on 26 October. Obviously, the necessary changes would have been too serious. According to Codemasters one does not want to disrespect "the artistic vision of the author and film producer Clive Barker by cuts and extensive strange changes to the creative properties and ideas".
However, there will be no publication of the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions in Germany. In a similar case the publisher Take Two had decided differently with the game "Manhunt 2" some weeks ago. Since the game did not receive a youth rating "among other things" [implication to the US news media/JT coverage?] in the USA and so no publication for the Wii and Playstation 2 would have been possible, developer Rock Star Games amended the game so that the US Jugendschuetzer [having trouble translating this word - Youth Contactor? I think they mean the ESRB anyway] gave the green light. (Dennis Schirrmacher)
So, long story short: Jericho is rated AO in Germany. More prohibitions may come later (ostensibly after some review or public opinion).
Ah so its not fou censorship merely reaffirming that no "children" see it or get it.
Nekojin
harsh man harsh!
while he might not been on the project he was part of thier company and his kid died with him so its worth a mention.
The USK rating is on the box because it's the German edition. If there's no German edition the Austrians get the European one. The Austrian market is too small for its own editions. Same with films, Austrian films (not many) are an exception of course.
I am German and as a gamer who likes his stuff bloody and uncut I learned to deal with this situation. If you buy online getting a game or film is never a problem because even stuff that is banned by law can be bought online from our European neighbours. Possesion is always legal.
The only thing that can't be dealt with at the moment is the fact that if a game gets the "German AO rating" Microsoft refuses to let gamers with a German IP download additional content. Funny thing about this is that nobody would say something if they wouldn't block the downloads. Microsoft does this out of their own initiative.
What really sucks though is that most UK/US gamers don't understand WHY Germany is so restrictive when it comes to violence. There's a law in Germany that is quite unique in the whole of Europe which says that a mediaproduct can be banned from sale if it glorifies violence or portays extreme violence in a way that offend human dignity. The problem with this law is that it's a very ambiguous clause which can be used to ban everything violent or nothing. It is tightly connected to the Anti-War/ Anti-Violence attitude of the postwar generation and will probably be reinterpreted in order to gradually approach the way other EU countries handle violent media. That's why it's so sad to read Nazi comparisons.
Really? And when did you have a say whatsoever with the ratings in Germany? You can't even effect games in THIS country how the hell do you expect to have an impact on the other side of the globe.
Lets look at your recent "victories". Remember when you got Take-Two to remove the supposed likeness of you? Oh wait they didn't. You LOST. And remember when you stopped Halo 3 from coming out. Oh wait, its been out for about 20 hours now. You LOST.
Then that time where you showed up some punk webcomic artist. Oh yeah thats right, you can't even win over a gamer webcomic artist.
So where are your victories again Jackie-Dear?
He forgot to capitlize his name, not to mention its too quick. Jack would gloat more.
And also.. Its not rated, but still releaseable.
But then again, what Yuki said:
"USK will make themself into censors and drive industries away, and sooner or later, the financial hit will cause them to be removed, or completely remade so that game companies will come back."
I do believe this may happen if this kind of thing keeps going on.
And in all honesty, does the usual rating really change anything ? It's just a joke how easy it is to get any game in most shops, like they would really care for their customers age. So why not totally ban games ? Real adults won't have problems to get anyways, it if they really need to buy it.
You can discuss if Jericho wouldn't have simply deserverd an 18+ rating, but there is nothing wrong about the plain existence of the USK.
All other arguments like the USK causing Crytek to leave the country just prove how biased gamers tend to act. Crytek surely hasn't any problems at all with the USK. They fear that the idea of banning all "Killerspiele" by some politicians might be realized, as those think that the USK is uneffective.
So yes, there is an ongoing battle between those idiots and some media on their side and the gaming industry, the USK, the gamers and some other medias on the other side. Yes, I made no mistake when I put the USK on the gamers side.
And Conejo, your stuff isn't even worth to be reassembled. Too dumb to differ between Iran's Ahmadinejad and Germany or what ? No idea from where you are, but your country surely made something wrong in education ( at least in your case ).
These kinds of violent acts happen because the person that killed was an innocent person that kept on getting traumatized by society because a great percentage of society gets a kick out of messing with the most innocent person. Throughout my years of moving around, I have witnessed where people of all ages will usually take out there anger on the most innocent nice person. Violent video games is a way to escape the bad reality and keep busy. So many of the most extreme murder cases happened many years before violent video games which goes to show that society is to blame for the violent acts, not video games.
Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you people?
Basically the German people are being deprived of their human rights to buy and play the games they want.
There is no causal link between games and violence. This has been proved in many studies and by the hundreds of millions of game players in the world.