PC version of Black Ops banned in Germany.

[(V)]

Bad news for German PC players, it seems that European PC versions of Black Ops has been banned. Steam will only be authorizing localized version of Black Ops so it doesn't look like you'll be able to import a copy of Black Ops from other European countires either.

Source

One thing I really don't get is why it's only been reported that the PC version and not the console version has been banned. Surely they would both have the same content, unless the higher graphical settings of the PC was too much for the Censorsh... err.... Ratings board.

The article also talks about a new trailer coming out on Sunday, but refer to this thread for discussion about it.

[Matuzz]

Why everything gets banned in Germany? :shock:

[Phillips455]

lol, you dont need steam, all you have to do is buy the british version and not hook it up to steam, allthought that means no multiplayer

even though theres no dedicated severs in germany :(

[(V)]

lol, you dont need steam, all you have to do is buy the british version and not hook it up to steam, allthought that means no multiplayer

I'm guessing Black Ops will be somewhat similar to MW2 in terms of Steam. If so, yes, you do need steam. You still have to be connected to Steam to play SP (which I'm not happy about). You have to connect your copy of Black Ops to your Steam account.

Also, it said that every "European copy of Black Ops" is banned in Germany. The UK is in the Europe region no?

I guess the Germans will be happy pirating exists .

[Gross1985]

Why everything gets banned in Germany? :shock:

Because they still kick themselves for what the country was during WWII. Laws concerning depiction of most Third Reich paraphernalia are quite strict, too. In fact, they're considered "unconstitutional". :?

[-CrF WarMachine-]

Germany needs to lighten up as far as violence goes. But at the same time I totally understand why they would ban something that may in fact have something to do with Nazism.

[kuoguy]

Germany needs to lighten up as far as violence goes. But at the same time I totally understand why they would ban something that may in fact have something to do with Nazism.

all of this germany banning stuff shows that there must be more nazi/ww2 references and stuff like that in BO

surely not..?

[m12]

Germany needs to lighten up as far as violence goes. But at the same time I totally understand why they would ban something that may in fact have something to do with Nazism.

all of this germany banning stuff shows that there must be more nazi/ww2 references and stuff like that in BO

surely not..?

Or just a lot of violence, pretty sure they can't sell/buy violent games.

[Gross1985]

Germany needs to lighten up as far as violence goes. But at the same time I totally understand why they would ban something that may in fact have something to do with Nazism.

Well my views on their history during the early 1900's is a bit radical. To me it's silly that they should edit out Swastikas in games set during WWII, but the problem is that people only see the Swastika an nothing but a symbol of murder. The Swastika was implemented on many branches of their military; it wasn't just associated with the SS or any personnel involved in war-crimes committed during the war.

I think one reason they have it edited out is because of shame. Well, it's easy for me to say this but I think they should consider it; people of the current generation shouldn't feel shame for something they themselves weren't involved in, even if everyone else encourages them to feel shame. All that stuff happened pretty much a long time ago. History can't be forgotten, but sometimes you can't let it drag you down.

If it's anything, we in America are being told that the Confederate Flag is "no different from the Nazi Swastika", which I personally find to be a load of horse-crap, but a majority supports this belief, so the Confederate Flag is greatly frowned upon, and there was even an attempt some years back at removing it from a state flag (I forget which one) because it "supports racism" and other stuff. The symbol itself doesn't support a perverse belief; it's just those who wield the symbol that end up distorting the original message of the symbol, kind of like the origin of the Swastika and how it became a negative symbol after WWII.

As for COD:BO being edited in Germany, well, I fail to see why they should edit anything there, because as far as I know there is no explicit Third Reich reference in COD:BO. If they're editing it for violent content, which is a less complicated issue than the whole Third Reich paraphernalia thing, then I easily say "Oh, come on!" Even Japan is editing out some of the graphic violence for COD:BO, which I find hypocritical because of some of the gratuitous stuff their media sometimes shells out. But hey, that's cultural differences for ya.

Plus I think that there are some German gamers who wish such content wasn't edited out, because maybe they want to have the full experience like everyone else in other countries playing the game.