This might sound strange, but if you've ever watched the Star Trek episode where they land on a planet where wars are clean... the populace takes wars as being a lottery.

Kirk and crew sabotage the computer running the lottery and force the populace to face war for what it really is, ugly and evil.

Now back to violence in games, if you really think abou it, if you're going to have violence in a game it should be ugly and evil. It should twist and turn your stomach. This would do several things, to say the least make violence an M rating and give a little didactic component to our audience.

The irony is that if you change red blood to green then shooting someone in a game is ok...hmmm where's Kirk when you need him?

I heard that the Dead Space team eats babies.

And yet somehow, I'm willing to bet that American movies with roughly the same amount of violence are not banned in these countries. Well, China, maybe, but not Germany or Japan.

Unless this thing really is more horrifically violent and disturbing than previews have let on? I mean, how bad could it really be?

"Kirk and crew sabotage the computer running the lottery and force the populace to face war for what it really is, ugly and evil."

All due respect to the legacy, but Star Trek is the perfect example of naive and juvenile political/social analysis.

People do grasp that war is horrible. What some people don't grasp is that, very frequently, war is necessary.

In any case: it's not as if these countries are bastions of freedom and independent thought. Does this news really surprise anyone?

Anonymous 5 Sep 2008 at 3:42 pm PST

You're retarded dood. That Star Trek episode is a perfect example, there are many types of examples that can be given.

The point that was being given is that by pulling back violence in games we are basically white washing violence to be more palatable and clean.

Exactly, mr anonymous juevnile, we are talking about the practicality and expression of the violent form in video games, not the neo natural selectionist war is necessary platform. Get back on track.

As an industry, we need to decide, like all other medias, do we "tone down violence" and if we do what does that mean? Can violence be toned down? If there is a game where someone is shot, having green blood, why is that acceptable?

Currently, removing red blood makes it acceptable, its such a strange notion really. Remove the blood and we can ship at a lower mature rating and ship in x countries.

Would it not be more responsible to actually show violence as close to reality as possible, not to promote but to viscerally expose the masses and protect younger viewers from being exposed to such material....

Unless you live in a war zone, I doubt very highly that people understand either notion. For example, how many people have actually gone on liveleak.com and watched a beheading or an Apache blow to bits Al Queda insurgents? I think thats the minority of people out there.

And that exactly was the archetype message in that episode of Star Trek; we live in a bubble unexposed to the terror that people in war zones live in...

I'm pretty sure EVERY game gets banned in Germany these days. My Little Ponies Share Happiness is to violent for the country, it would seem.

I'm interested in what EA's response will be. If they decide to go ahead and keep the game as is, I'm definitely going to pick it up now. Originally I wasn't sure on the title, but I highly disdain censorship and will buy it on principal. Perhaps a bit of a foolish reason to buy a game but hey... I've got to "stick it to censorship" somehow.

Dear Mr. Gambill,
atleast Germany doesn't treat sex in movies and games a higher threat to children and young people than violence, as they do in your country.
Further nobody talked about cencorship in general, just adjusted versions to fit country specific rating systems, so please stop the drama. Thanks.

German gaming sites report that they have got comments from EA-Germany that the banning is just a rumor and not true. The game is currently in the reviewing process by the "USK".

That just sounds like a Marketing tatics =)