Censorship – How the FUCK does that work?
I am German. I know a thing or two about censorship. The
Germans are, let’s say a wee bit uncomfortable with certain imagery regarding
their countries past. Well, to be precise waving a flag when we did not just
play national football (yes, football – the game where you kick the ball with
your foot more than once) feels like a crime and one should surely not do it.
We’re not Nazis, you know. Being in Denmark this just seems ridiculous. Flags
are everywhere and they even work as a special indicator for birthdays. Such
pride…
The fear of symbolism in Germany lead to the censorship and even prohibition of parts of the Wolfenstein series (Activision, Bethesda. 1981-2014.). You cannot play a game with Nazi symbols.
That’s why you have to play this:
The fear of symbolism in Germany lead to the censorship and even prohibition of parts of the Wolfenstein series (Activision, Bethesda. 1981-2014.). You cannot play a game with Nazi symbols.
That’s why you have to play this:
In Wolfenstein: The
New Order (Bethesda Softworks, 2014.) a considerable amount of imagery and
terminology is different in the censored version compared to the original.
In an interview at PAX Pete Hines, marketing executive at Bethesda Softworks puts it like this when asked about the release in Germany: “They have a thing about Nazis there. They’re a little touchy. And so they’re called The Regime in Wolfenstein in Germany.” (Pax East Interview, 2014. Min. 24:43).
In an interview at PAX Pete Hines, marketing executive at Bethesda Softworks puts it like this when asked about the release in Germany: “They have a thing about Nazis there. They’re a little touchy. And so they’re called The Regime in Wolfenstein in Germany.” (Pax East Interview, 2014. Min. 24:43).
This, however, is only half the story. The ban of symbolism
and any other form of anti-constitutional propaganda is in fact part of the
German jurisdiction created in 1949, which was part of the changes made in
accordance with the allies to the German political system. To change a part of
the German constitution (Grundgesetz) would require two thirds of the federal
council to agree upon the changes and, of course, it would draw massive international
media and political attention. You surely can imagine the headlines when German
politicians decide to abolish this silly and outdated law, because it is silly
and outdated – the press would probably declare the Nazis to be back. So the international community makes fun of
the Germans and at the same time would go nuts if they actually did something
about it.
The Wolfenstein issue is surely one of the more forefront examples for how
cultural and political issues influence gaming. But censorship does not only
affect Germany and symbolism but comes into play when national censorship agencies
think of a game (or other media for that matter) of being too violent, language
inappropriate, sexual explicit or any other kind of wrong. The consequences are
in most cases age a certain age limit for buying the game, so the customer has
to be 12, 16, 18 or even 21 in order to get a certain product. It is rarely
taken further, namely to force the producer to censor, take products off the
market or ban its distribution entirely.
The interesting questions emerging are who makes these decisions and
how do they decide what is too much and what isn’t? And, how did they get in
the position to dictate this? It takes the decision away from customers and parents,
on what they think is appropriate to play.
One of the rating agencies is CERO (Computer Entertainment
Rating Organization). It is Japanese based and called into being by the
government though it claims to be independent from any organization or company.
The need to have an organization like this and the reaction of the government
to install one is an indicator for a preceding debate probably in the public
discourse.
This agency 'explains' its rating process on the website. For every category (like violence, sexuality,…) there are a number of hierarchically sorted events that can be seen or played in the game. According to how many and which are in the game, it will be rated. Who the people are that rate those games is not clearly stated, only that they are trained.
This agency 'explains' its rating process on the website. For every category (like violence, sexuality,…) there are a number of hierarchically sorted events that can be seen or played in the game. According to how many and which are in the game, it will be rated. Who the people are that rate those games is not clearly stated, only that they are trained.
As this example shows there is no real transparency in the rating process of games. Additionally the rating results are highly dependent on the cultural background and political system. What might be rated for a relatively young age could be banned in another country.
Games are conveyer of messages and they can portray, criticise
and depict all kinds of issues and even be a propaganda tool (for example in America’s Army (United States Army
(2002) and Under Ash (Dar al-Fikr
(2001)). In a functional democracy no game should be banned or censored. Every
adult human being should have the right to choose what to play and form his or
her own opinion.
References
Bethesda Softworks. (2014). Wolfenstein: New Order. MachineGames.
Dar al-Fikr.
(2001). Under Ash. Dar al-Fikr.
PAX East Interview. (2014). Received at: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/in-the-german-version-of-wolfenstein-the-new-order-nazis-are-called-the-regime/1100-6419025/
United States Army. (2002). America’s Army. United States
Army.
Homepage of Cero: http://www.cero.gr.jp/e/index.html
Further Readings
ESRB: Independent rating agency used by retailers: http://www.esrb.org/index-js.jsp
List of censored Games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regionally_censored_video_games
Reddit threat on Wolfenstein censorship: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/26acpz/the_difference_between_the_original_and_the/?sort=top
