Germany says NEIN to Gears of War
Entschuldigung Cliffy B, aber dein Spiel ist verboten! VERBOTEN!
Germany's Unterhaltungssoftware Selbskontrolle (USK), the German version of the ESRB, has refused to give the upcoming Gears of War a rating due to the game's violence. This doesn't outright ban the game in the country, but puts it in a state of limbo. This is the second time in recent memory that the USK denied to rate a game due to violence, they used the same tactic on Capcom's Dead Rising. German gamers currently need to import Dead Rising from another European country to play.
German politicking and regulations on video games has always been strong. Despite the Wolfenstein series' anti-Nazi message, images of swastikas and Nazism are still banned in the country -- unless in a historial context -- and therefore no Wolfenstein for the Germans. It is understandable that Germany might be a little sensitive on that whole Nazi thing; however, the USK not rating a game, whatever the reason, as a tactic to passive aggressively ban it is an insulting move against the German people. Doesn't the USK trust German gamers, especially adults, to make up their own minds?
