German Censors Have No Sympathy for COD: Black Ops

October 4, 2010

Activision’s upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops has undergone a few changes in order to appease German censors.

According to CODFeed (via The Escapist), the game, which is set in various locations between 1960 and 2010, will have the following changes implemented for the German market:

• A scene where an enemy is shot in slow motion with copious amounts of gore has been toned down for the German release.
• A torture scene involving a prisoner has been completely eliminated from the German version.
• The song Sympathy for the Devil by Mick Jagger has been removed.
• No explosions that lead to limb loss.
• Removal of what Germany deems ‘anti-constitutional symbols’.

The last term, “anti-constitutional symbols,” most likely refers to any Nazi-themed imagery in the game, while the removal of the Rolling Stones song was probably due to the mention of the term “blitzkrieg,” in the song’s lyrics:

I rode a tank
Held a general's rank
When the Blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

The song was actually co-written by Jagger and Keith Richards.

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Comments

Re: German Censors Have No Sympathy for COD: Black Ops

Submitted by mogbert on Mon, 10/04/2010 - 16:59.

Wait, the word Blitzkrieg is enough to get media censored in Germany?

(shudder) I hope it never gets that far in America.

Re: German Censors Have No Sympathy for COD: Black Ops

Submitted by Mr. Stodern on Mon, 10/04/2010 - 17:51.

The country that refers to the brave souls who fought in WWII as the "Greatest Generation"? Don't bet on it.

Seriously, as far as political-correctness has been taken, as often as the Freedom of Speech is challenged, censorship really hasn't progressed much in America. In fact, people get away with a lot more in television, movies, music, and yes, even games, than ever before. Just look at shows like Dexter, which never would've been given the greenlight some twenty years ago.

Germany's just being way too uptight about anything remotely referring to Nazis, especially in games, mainly because they're so popular. The more people enjoy a medium, the more they stick noses in it to sniff out the mustard gas. Freakin' ridiculous if you ask me.

Re: German Censors Have No Sympathy for COD: Black Ops

Submitted by Thad on Mon, 10/04/2010 - 18:10.

...Dexter runs on Showtime, not network TV. The government has absolutely no control over its content.

George Carlin was performing his entire 7 Words routine on HBO 30 years ago. Premium cable is an entirely different animal from broadcast TV.

Re: German Censors Have No Sympathy for COD: Black Ops

Submitted by Mr. Stodern on Mon, 10/04/2010 - 19:13.

I stand corrected on that bit. But still, I don't see it going as far as the poster above fears.

Re: German Censors Have No Sympathy for COD: Black Ops

Submitted by airford on Mon, 10/04/2010 - 16:06.

My heart goes out to my German bretheren, Sympathy for the Devil is a great song. I just don't see it as bad enough to remove due to one word, but there isn't much I can do here.

Re: German Censors Have No Sympathy for COD: Black Ops

Submitted by Mr. Stodern on Mon, 10/04/2010 - 14:53.

Germany really wants to forget that WWII ever happened, don't they? Not that I blame them for wanting to cleanse themselves of Hitler's stain, but a much better way to do that in my eyes would be by letting developers make their games they way they want and not censoring them like, well, Nazis.

Re: German Censors Have No Sympathy for COD: Black Ops

Submitted by Zeke129 on Mon, 10/04/2010 - 19:52.

Germans actually learn about the Nazis and WW2 extensively in school. However, they crafted laws banning Nazi and related imagery to prevent neo-Nazi parties from starting up in Germany but keep forgetting to use common sense when enforcing them.

Re: German Censors Have No Sympathy for COD: Black Ops

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Mon, 10/04/2010 - 17:21.

There's also the old saying "Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it"

Re: German Censors Have No Sympathy for COD: Black Ops

Submitted by Speeder on Mon, 10/04/2010 - 14:41.

In Brazil noone can sell to you, but you can buy.

So, we sorta smuggle stuff.

---

Maurício Gomes

twitter.com/agfgames

--- Maurício Gomes twitter.com/agfgames

Re: German Censors Have No Sympathy for COD: Black Ops

Submitted by killatia on Mon, 10/04/2010 - 14:18.

German gamers can still import the game from different Europe countries right?

http://www.magicinkgaming.com/

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E. Zachary Knight: If the videos are of sufficient quality that people subscribe and watch regularly, then those let's players are providing a service that people want. That is the heart of capitalism. That is not something that should be shamed.05/17/2013 - 8:06am

E. Zachary Knight: I have no idea who either of those people are. However, I still don't see why making a business out of creating let's play videos is somehow evil or wrong.05/17/2013 - 8:04am

MaskedPixelante: It sure is if you're just doing it for the money. See Tobuscus and/or Pewdiepie for what happens when people get into it just for the money.05/17/2013 - 7:30am

E. Zachary Knight: Why is it wrong to make money doing LPs? Why should that be something that should be shamed?05/17/2013 - 6:20am

MaskedPixelante: https://twitter.com/PsychedelicSA/status/335183893214924801 Now here's an interesting, glass half full thought about the Nintendo LP thing. It outs the people who are just doing LPs to make money.05/17/2013 - 5:56am

E. Zachary Knight: I responded in writing to all this "let's play" stuff Nintendo Started. No need for my permission, I won't give it. It's not mine to give. http://divineknightgaming.com/?p=29205/16/2013 - 2:21pm

E. Zachary Knight: Lars Doucet of Levelup Labs has a Reddit going on game companies that allow monetization of Let's Play videos. http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1egayn/lets_build_a_list_of_game_studios_that_allow/05/16/2013 - 1:04pm

Sleaker: @Imautobot - yah I wouldn't use an emulator as a good first run test of how stable the console is, haha.05/16/2013 - 11:47am

E. Zachary Knight: The 50th person to jump off a bridge is just as dumb if not dumber than the 1st.05/16/2013 - 10:03am

MaskedPixelante: Yeah, let's all jump on Nintendo for doing this, even though they're hardly the first company to do this...05/16/2013 - 9:47am

E. Zachary Knight: Wow Nintendo, this is wrong. http://kotaku.com/nintendo-forcing-ads-on-some-youtube-lets-play-video-50709238305/16/2013 - 8:44am

Imautobot: @Sleaker, further gameplay has revealed that the controller button do stick under the faceplate. Also, The NES emulator (Emuya)keeps crashing on me, though I think a bad ROM is causing it.05/16/2013 - 7:10am

Papa Midnight: AE: I wonder if any other publishers will follow suit.05/15/2013 - 8:12pm

Andrew Eisen: EA is ditching Online Pass. http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/15/ea-kills-its-controversial-online-pass-program/05/15/2013 - 7:20pm

Avalongod: @Zach and quicnkold...I've read the bill and the intent of it is to fear-monger. It's not a balanced message. I don't recall the ESRB being mentioned at all. It's more "keeps your kids away from these movies/games or they'll become violent"05/15/2013 - 4:35pm

E. Zachary Knight: quiknkold, The big problem with that legislation is the amount of misinformation out there. Who is going to ensure that the information in the pamphlet is accurate?05/15/2013 - 3:25pm

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IanC: Frostbite is coming out on iOS devices. Yet the Wii U cant handle it? *coughbullshitcough*05/15/2013 - 2:31pm

BearDogg-X: http://www.politickernj.com/65515/lesniak-ruiz-bill-limit-children-s-exposure-media-violence-clears-senate - Bill requiring schools to publish pamphlets with anti-fake media "violence" propaganda clears NJ Senate05/15/2013 - 2:03pm

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