Germanic Half-life

Heh, that one guy is right, you can change your steam language, and aside from a bit of downloading, you can play HL in any language you want (if you want to change it back from german in particular, Options (maybe it was Settings...I forget :p ) becomes Einstellungen, and Languages becomes Sprache (and English becomes Englisch, but if you can't figure that one out, I don't think you should be doing this to begin with).

It's cool just to hear the ...fairly badly voice acted scientists and stuff, aha :D . Haven't gotten to the robot soldier dudes yet, although, you can load games from other languages (...though, I don't have any saved in steam that far ahead).
 
Yes, I also always thought the voice acting of the German version was rather awful...
 
ElFuhrer said:
Wouldn't the German censor people be pissed of about Steam? It allows Germans to easily obtain the normal versions of the game.
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It'll take them a while to find out though

//on topic//

Things have always been like this in Germany, I dont live far from Germany, so I bought quite some games in Germany. Once I bought Turok for the N64 and was amazed to see how they has altered the game :eek:
And yup, every German version of RTCW doesnt have anything referring to Nazi's.
 
Dougy said:
This is why you should live in the Uk.

Were down with pron and violence in pretty much everything apart from Kids TV.....

why just last night i was watching the SeX files..... :LOL:
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Same thing with Canada which is more like europe in its censorship than the prudish US.
 
Farrowlesparrow said:
So my game about a group of Jewish Zealots going crazy broadway style and having to be stopped by a man on the egde, who also has a shotgun....won't be coming out in Germany?


Shame...could have abeen a big hit.
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no it'll still come out, although instead of jewish zealots you'll fight jewish zealot robots...all named "Tim"... as in "Timmy the Jewish Zealot Robot" ...k kill me now :)


oh and return to castle wolfenstein did come out in germany only instead of the nazi's you fought some organization called the Wolves or something like that. All nazi symbols were removed
 
Germany is very strict when it comes to anything Nazi related. For example, you can be arrested if are seen doing the Nazi Salute.
 
If you guys want more proof of the robots try and play Half-Life multiplayer and go to the character model selection, one of em is the Robot.

EDIT: Heh didn't look through the entire topic.
 
Dr. Freeman said:
if u go into Half Life's multi-player and go into options to choose a model u should notice the "robo" model there.. and thats the "robots" u are asking about :)
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I thought I recognised the thing!!

As for Carmageddon, it was only the German version that had the zombies. The demo actually contained floating "bots" so they didn't offend too many people with it.

Germany seems like a dull place. I guess if you grew up there you're used to it, but looking in on the place, it seems too 'controlled'.
 
But there is nothing stopping German residents from ordering the game online or downloading the "unedited" version through Steam is there?

There is really no way - in this day and age - that the German censors can stop you from getting the unedited version if you really want it.
 
Yeah, that's probably true. You can't really 'ban' the internet if you have a phone line on hand. And to fully ban the un-edited versions, you'd pretty much have to ban the internet in Deutschland...Ain't gonna happen.

It ain't to hard to get around filters, either. Or to order the game from an American retailer. Anyway, i agree with Spugmaster:

Spugmaster said:
There is really no way - in this day and age - that the German censors can stop you from getting the unedited version if you really want it.
Click to expand...
 
Tinneth said:
Germany is very strict when it comes to anything Nazi related. For example, you can be arrested if are seen doing the Nazi Salute.
Click to expand...

So, this really wonders you? Germans still have to work with their history. We are very sensitively. Which conclusions allows someone showing the Nazi Salute on a street, in a crowded place, in a school?

I have to add that indexed games here are hard to get, they may not be advertised or shown in a shop. You also need an identity card to get them.

Most very violent games are cut or changed. Perhaps you've heard about Far Cry? It had to be taken from all stores after the BpjS found out that with a few changes you could switch back to the ragdoll-effect, which was disabled. Then a new version was delivered to all stores... :flame:
 
Germans are starving for some realistic violence...Americans are starving for some nudity without it becoming a nationwide crisis...*COUGHJANETJACKSONCOUGH*...I think we should switch countries! :smoking:
 
Lethal8472 said:
I think we should switch countries! :smoking:
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Same with me... :thumbs: ...but where to get a Green Card...? :)

No, to be honest, I think some of those laws are very reasonable, but sometimes... ...they exaggerate it a bit... ...you know, what I mean. *g*
 
But that was one of the main selling points of FarCry and most recent games.

Did they disable the entire physics engine or just the rag-doll effects on the dead bodies. That is just plain stupid in my book. I think they are taking it too far...it's one thing to remove the blood, which can be done with some sort of parental lock in-game - but to completely remove the rag-doll effect from the game is censorship gone mad.

I'm glad I live in a country where they don't do that. And if I lived in Germany I would order all games online from overseas. How dare they tell me how MY game should look and act. If I was offended by that content being in the game I would not buy it in the first place. And before you flame me - I understand that it is to protect young and/or impressionable people from being exposed to violent content. But there is nothing in any computer game I have ever seen that is even remotely as violent as what they show on the 6:00 news or at the movies.

Why are computer games - and to a small extent music - subject to this kind of scrutiny...? I'll tell you why - because they are easy targets for politicians and would be moral crusaders, because the major target audience of popular computer games and music is young people. People think that by playing and listening to violent content this leads to violent behaviour. I say a big bullshit to that theory. Just because a couple of kids decide to copy what they have seen in a game or heard in a song is no argument for the uber-censorship we put up with. Hell, if that were the case then they should be censoring the news and 60 minutes and every other current affairs show on TV. And not to mention reality TV programs.

People are so worried about upsetting this minority group or that moral crusader that they have taken the life out of just about every form of entertainment media there is.

Today we are playing a game in City 17 - tomorrow we are living in it for real.

*takes soap box and leaves quietly :)
 
So, when you guys learn history, specially about WW2, how do they teach it to you, do they tell you it was wrong or it was right?

Anyway, is so easy to get the real version, specially in Europe that all the countries are close together and you don't need a visa to go acroos the border and buy it in France or Belgium.
 
The way they teach it in my area is really messed up: they say who the bad guys and the good guys were, which side did what, the important battles etc, but in every grade they have never directly told us what started the wars, and how they ended...(yes I know how WW2 ended, my Art teacher told me they dropped a-bombs on Sydney and Venice) :)))
 
Tinneth said:
Germany is very strict when it comes to anything Nazi related. For example, you can be arrested if are seen doing the Nazi Salute.
Click to expand...

Isn't that kind of... Nazi-like?

Gestapo: Vot is zis? You do ze Nazi Salute? *slap slap* Ve 'ave vays of making you talk, scheisse Englander!!
 
In Germany there are living very many people from different nations. Very many of them would be feeling offended if they see a guy making the nazi salute.
 
I have no doubt that is true :)

Just we are used to being free to do pretty much whatever we want, having freedom of expression and so on, so it always seems a little... hmm.. extreme and totalitarian.

Btw, what happens if someone makes a nazi salute by accident? By like..lifting there arm up to shield their eyes from the sun? :LOL:
 
1. Start steam
2. Settings
3. Launguage
4. Change to german
5. Experience it for your self

It sucked...
 
the censorship is kinda funny and sad at the same time ...

There are some great examples:

HL1: Robots instead of marines
RtCW: Nazi symbols were removed
SoF2: Again: Robots ;(
System Shock 2: Yellow/Green blood (you would have to look at this - quite ridiculous)

As far as Far Cry is concerned the rag-doll effect has indeed been removed, but, in the version that went out on the market at first, it can easily be activated again.

If i remember correctly, Far Cry was ordered back from the stores when the organisation who does the censoring noticed it - and Crytek kind of had to re-do the version, so the rag-doll-effect cannot be activated anymore ... (anyone correct me if i'm wrong :p )

Happily I live in Austria (you know the small country next to Germany) and I can buy original versions as much as I want - there is nothing comparable in Austria ... I'm one of a lucky bastard, hm?? :LOL:
 
Yes yes, it's true.
It's correct, that the swastika is forbidden, but not for historic material.
Please keep fingers crossed, that there won't be an automatic censorship for German residents.
 
ElFuhrer said:
I wonder if they're allowed to play Wolfenstien? It has blood and stuff, but you kill Nazis which sorta redeems the violence.
Click to expand...

Haha, your name fits your post well. ;)

Wolfenstein is completely banned in Germany, as is any sort of media depicting Nazi imagery. The ban is quite strictly enforced, as it is a period in their history that no Germans today are proud of.
 
LOL, this is the first time i hear about this. :)

very odd thing.

99% of all games got violence. German people are unlucky.

Is there any pics for the german version ?
 
Six Three said:
The way they teach it in my area is really messed up: they say who the bad guys and the good guys were, which side did what, the important battles etc, but in every grade they have never directly told us what started the wars, and how they ended...(yes I know how WW2 ended, my Art teacher told me they dropped a-bombs on Sydney and Venice) :)))
Click to expand...

I take it (by that smiley) that you know your art teacher was incorrect?
 
To solve the missunderstandings. I am from Germany. We are allowed to play violent games BUT if you are under 18 you are not allowed to buy them and it's illegal to publish ads of these games. they aren't allowed to be selled in normal shops, too.
these games are called "indiziert" but there are also "verboten" forbidden games as wolfenstein. because in these games you can find symbols like the ss sign and hakenkreuze. these games are only allowed if nobody (insteed of the guy who play the game atm) can see it. so if anybody can look in your house and can see your screen with wolfenstein its illegal. hope my english wasn't too bad and everybody understood what i tried to say ;)


edit: i bought hl 1 original us version in a german computer store
 
Over down here they sell Nazi helmets that people use to ride motor bikes, so if i went to Germany with my Nazi helmet, would they get pissed off?
 
Aren't those the WWI helmets, with the spike on top? Are they the same as the Nazi ones? Or were the Nazi ones only those ones with the flange at that back?
 
any reason why farcry ragdol stuff was removed, will this happen for hl2 ragdol stuff as well?
 
The one with the spike on top is a WW1 german helmet, the cool helmet we all know is WW2, all modern based helmets are based on the german one.
 
The US army is the only army I know of that copied the german style.

I used to always wonder why they never gave soldiers body armour, I thought there must have been some law of war that was against the use of body armour on troops (bear in mind I was 5 years old :p), but now they all use it. I guess that it was just too expensive in the past, when wars depended more on weight of numbers.
 
Yeah, just think if the whole armor cost only $100. Multiply that by however many troops there were. Add that to the existing cost of guns, ammo, etc.
 
I guarentee the models will be the same, it will just be yellow blood and a different write up.

Talk about living in denial
 
I think Germany is just increasing the problem rather than fixing it. People relize that the citizens of Germany arn't Nazi's and don't do the things that happened more than 50 years ago. If they would just let go of the problem, it would probably be forgotten and go away.
 
Well of course there's no problem in getting the US version here in Germany to avoid having robots and stuff...


But I want the uncut Version *AND* German dialogue :/
 
Though this may be off-topic, what is the German authorities attitude to the 'proper' meaning of the Swastika? Namely the original Hindu use of it, symbolising good fortune, which far precedes the association with the Nazi party in the WW2-era.
 
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