4 ms·

So a game company removes one of their own games, and replaces it with a different version with a different name? If the company decided to do that independent

So a game company removes one of their own games, and replaces it with a different version with a different name? If the company decided to do that independently, does that matter? Maybe they could be capitalizing on nationalism? If the government made them alter it, how would that be different than say Left 4 Dead having different censorship in Germany

swampthinker 7y ago
Because the altercations included pro-Chinese language.
- thatoneuser 7y ago
  I mean so? There are plenty of video games that are pro America. It's still OK to be pro China even in the face of their abhorrent social policies. Would you rather we just cut off all recognition that China exists or something? Don't think that's gonna help.
  - swampthinker 7y ago
    There hasn't been a game that was banned in the US until it had altercations made to be Pro-US. That's the difference. PUBG is a simple battle royale game with no concept of nations in-game, and the Chinese government banned it until there was pro-Chinese content in game. Wh
    - shrimp_emoji 7y ago
      alterations* "altercation" means "fight".
      - swampthinker 7y ago
        Ah, sorry I missed that. Typing on mobile.
AndrewKemendo 7y ago
This is the difference: "In its place, Game for Peace is very much the type of game that will pass the demands of China’s game censorship body." The idea being that consumers aren't the primary drivers for changes in what is available in the market. Rather this decision was primarily influenced by a central government body that controls what is available in the market. It's an explicit example of levers being pulled by the government in a planned economy, in contrast to a more "democratic" if you will, market mechanism.
- jstanley 7y ago
  FWIW, Left 4 Dead has different censorship in Germany because of levers being pulled by the government, not because the free market prefers it that way.
make3 7y ago
That seems like a very obvious false equivalence.
cameronbrown 7y ago
L4D being censored in Germany was also bad, just to a much lesser degree.
- Insanity 7y ago
  I think games do, or used to, remove swastikas for Germany as well. L4D was also censored in Australia I think.
  - ucosty 7y ago
    Left 4 Dead 2 was censored in Australia, until the classification board started allowing R-ratings for games. It was re-released (if I remember correctly) without the censorship.
  - sgift 7y ago
    You are correct, swastikas (and other symbols of the national socialists) had to be replaced/removed in Germany in the past. Nowadays games have been recognized as art form and a game developer can request admission to the German market without removing the symbols first. I'm not sure if there's already a game which did this on the market.
    - __m 7y ago
      First game that was allowed to do so was “Through the Darkest of Times”[1] by Paintbucket Games. I’m not sure Wolfenstein or l4d would get a clearance though. [1] http://throughthedarkestoftimes.com/ http://throughthedarkestoftimes.com/
      - Insanity 7y ago
        L4D has no swastikas, so no problem there :) Wolfenstein yeah.. that's a different story xD
      - sgift 7y ago
        Would be an interesting case. After all, 'Inglourious Basterds' was allowed to show them and it seems hard to argue how that movie is different from a Wolfenstein game.
gshulegaard 7y ago
What's a little ironic given the tone of the article is this could be considered a region lock and many gamers call for region locking China due to rampant cheating.

swampthinker 7y ago

Because the altercations included pro-Chinese language.

thatoneuser 7y ago
I mean so? There are plenty of video games that are pro America. It's still OK to be pro China even in the face of their abhorrent social policies. Would you rather we just cut off all recognition that China exists or something? Don't think that's gonna help.
- swampthinker 7y ago
  There hasn't been a game that was banned in the US until it had altercations made to be Pro-US. That's the difference. PUBG is a simple battle royale game with no concept of nations in-game, and the Chinese government banned it until there was pro-Chinese content in game. Wh
  - shrimp_emoji 7y ago
    alterations* "altercation" means "fight".
    - swampthinker 7y ago
      Ah, sorry I missed that. Typing on mobile.

AndrewKemendo 7y ago

This is the difference: "In its place, Game for Peace is very much the type of game that will pass the demands of China’s game censorship body." The idea being that consumers aren't the primary drivers for changes in what is available in the market. Rather this decision was primarily influenced by a central government body that controls what is available in the market. It's an explicit example of levers being pulled by the government in a planned economy, in contrast to a more "democratic" if you will, market mechanism.

jstanley 7y ago
FWIW, Left 4 Dead has different censorship in Germany because of levers being pulled by the government, not because the free market prefers it that way.

make3 7y ago

That seems like a very obvious false equivalence.

cameronbrown 7y ago

L4D being censored in Germany was also bad, just to a much lesser degree.

Insanity 7y ago
I think games do, or used to, remove swastikas for Germany as well. L4D was also censored in Australia I think.
- ucosty 7y ago
  Left 4 Dead 2 was censored in Australia, until the classification board started allowing R-ratings for games. It was re-released (if I remember correctly) without the censorship.
- sgift 7y ago
  You are correct, swastikas (and other symbols of the national socialists) had to be replaced/removed in Germany in the past. Nowadays games have been recognized as art form and a game developer can request admission to the German market without removing the symbols first. I'm not sure if there's already a game which did this on the market.
  - __m 7y ago
    First game that was allowed to do so was “Through the Darkest of Times”[1] by Paintbucket Games. I’m not sure Wolfenstein or l4d would get a clearance though. [1] http://throughthedarkestoftimes.com/ http://throughthedarkestoftimes.com/
    - Insanity 7y ago
      L4D has no swastikas, so no problem there :) Wolfenstein yeah.. that's a different story xD
    - sgift 7y ago
      Would be an interesting case. After all, 'Inglourious Basterds' was allowed to show them and it seems hard to argue how that movie is different from a Wolfenstein game.

gshulegaard 7y ago

What's a little ironic given the tone of the article is this could be considered a region lock and many gamers call for region locking China due to rampant cheating.