Because in American popular culture Nazis = the "ultimate" bad guys. It's cheap heat. There are several reasons for this, chief amongst them being that the Nazi cause was, y'know...pretty friggin' evil no matter how you slice it. There's also the fact that some American artists of various mediums are of the Jewish faith and so that sort of thing resonated with them. In that way it's very much like portrayals of slave traders and overseers in many artistic and commercial works in the US, particularly during and after the Civil Rights movement. But, really...it pretty much all boils down the the Nazi cause itself just being off the wall sort of evil. I mean...c'mon: genocide, world domination, technological advantages, bizarre interest in the occult, led by a guy who was just...nuts...but who somehow gained a fervent cult of personality.... How can't they be seen as the "ultimate baddies"? Could they just remove the imagery from this game? Maybe...but then it wouldn't be Wolfenstein, really. All that stuff is part of the game. Remove that, and is it really Wolfenstein? In gameplay, yeah...but there's a lot to be said about the atmosphere of the games aside from gameplay. Besides, we can extend that "this would work without it" idea to a bunch of other works. Should the Indiana Jones movies remove all references to Nazi Germany as well? Wouldn't it still be a series of whiz bang adventure flicks (except for that last one...god I hate Shia Lebouf )? But...without the Nazi stuff...it really wouldn't be Indy. I commend Carmack and id for sticking to their guns on this. If the German government has an issue with it, it's their issue, not id's.
It was this or Civ for $4.99. Based on reviews of lousy controls in Civ, I went for Wolf and I'm glad I did. Great controls, relaxed, but fun play. And it's a nostalgia kick to look out those windows and see the static backgrounds, like PC games circa 1998. I kind of miss the days of minimalism and this game brings it back. I didn't even notice mustache and swastika's are missing. It's obvious these are Nazi's. The humor is great. I enjoyed reading a lot of the books lying around. Question: What's the best difficulty level to play? I started with 'normal' and it seems to be quite easy so far, but I'm just going into the catacombs.
Of course the nazis are the "ultimate badasses"...but I don't get the point that the german government always has to ban nazi-content out of games or the games itself...I mean they don't do it with movies or things like that. Would be cool if id removed those symbols...because MAYBE it would then be approved in the german appstore as well. And I don't blame id for that...I blame our government for their stupidity...they always want you to deal with that subject rather than to push it aside...but hey everytime anything deals with that subject it's banned or censored or something alike.
They didn't ban it...it wasn't even approved...it never hit the appstore here in germany! Cellphone is something different...you can get those games from everywhere...
It does get increasingly difficult. You may want to give Nightmare a try after you're done on Normal. It may blow off your hairpiece.
Just wondering, does anyone actually know that Germany has banned WolfRPG for sure? It just seems a tad unlikey to me. Living in Berlin, I find that I am quite often reminded about WW2. Either via the what seem like daily TV documentaries, or seeing some spoof play advertised on a poster somwhere. And then there is the fantastic film Der Untergang about Hitler's last days in Berlin. It's everywhere here. Nobody's hiding anything, quite the opposite I find and I can't see the German government spending their working hours making sure a little game like this doesn't slip through the net. But....maybe I'm wrong.
...I thought there were recent protests over legislation that was going to ban all violent videogames in germany??? http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/143914
That's not the point! The problem is that they have issues with videogames in general. That's what I meant when I said that they don't censor movies and stuff like that. It's just: "Videogames are bad and if there are nazis it's hell"...-.- But the thing with nazis and Hitler makes it even worth because just have a look at Duke Nukem...it's a FPS and it's on the appstore too...Oo
Amazing game, the humor and great gameplay reminds me of the 16bit glory days! I just kind of wish I had decided to play on a harder difficulty, I'm on "normal" now and I have like 30 or more health packs. Still it's fun enough I'll probably play through a second time and it's a complete STEAL at only $4.99!
It's just stupid to go to the effort to change it. You can't just pretend history didn't happen. This game takes place during WWII right? Who were the enemy? The Nazis. Sure there was an "Axis", but only to a small supporting extent. The Nazis were the major force, and in control of the war in Europe. It's lame to remove the Nazis because some people may be offended. If we did that for every group who was offended by another, there would be noone left!
Politics aside the game has a good appeal to it. I like the slap stick humor in it. That crazy guy dressed up like the enemy with those funky eyes wanting to play cards and beating up the chickens to get some health Plus all the other npcs in the game. Punching scientists I never thought would be fun but here I am hating when I have to bribe them
I don't pretend history didn't happen. Believe me we're remembered quite often about our history. And I didn't say anything about removing the nazis in all versions...maybe just remove the symbols in the german one...in order to have it approved...would be so sweet. Because thinking of CoD or those WW2 games...they just removed or changed the symbols and everything was ok... Let's stop this discussion...nobody here will ever get the point why some games are accepted and others not... and no one will ever change our stupid government... Besides that...come and visit Germany... You're always welcome here Does anybody of you know if there's a way to get this game...oh and I want a LEGAL one please
I get what you're stating, Flip, however I just don't think the solution is for the creators to remove that stuff from the game in order to get it on market in Germany. There's a line that has to be set for commercial art, and that is not forsaking the artistic sensibilities completely for the sake of commercial viability. Now, I'm not stating that Wolfenstein is art (as that is in the eye of the beholder), but the point stands. Sure, id and EA could remove the Nazi stuff from the game and it'd be up in the German App Store...but at what cost to them as creators? Morally they seem opposed to removing such things from the game to appease the German government. And I understand it's not about "hiding" anything. It simply seems that the German government sadly has a very draconian attitude towards the medium of video games. It is especially true with violent games, and in particular, it seems, with those that are set in WWII and include any form of Nazi imagery. I've known some German gamers who find some way about importing their games, but even that's rife with issues for them apparently. I just think the onus is on the German government to change their outlook in such cases. And the only way they'll do that is for voices like yours to be heard.
BTW, to answer your question about finding some way to get the game: Is it possible for you to set up a US account? Or account in another region store? Or has Apple closed that little loophole?
It's possible to create US account, but it'll be difficult to pay for the games (but you may be able to download free apps). You'll need an American plastic card or iTunes gift card, but Apple is not fond of this kind of deals and may block accounts cuz these accounts are usually registered on fake names. I pay for the games in Russian App Store with Russian card, but download some free apps from US (ex. lite verison of Civilization) - for this I have two accounts.
I'm just curious what the real reason for not releasing in Germany was. I find it really difficult to believe that it is for the reasons of violence, as it is, I find, no more violent than watching a Tom and Jerry and it tackles a done to death subject with a light hearted tongue in cheek way. Come on Germany, mach schon! Let the people use their own common sense if they want to play it or not...
I've bought things from the Japanese app store with a fake name and a Japanese iTunes card I bought from a website that specializes in importing Japanese items to the U.S. I know it's frowned on by Apple, but I don't see it as this huge illicit transaction, since I am paying good money for the product, and I'm only buying things that aren't available in the U.S. for whatever reason. I really don't see Apple fighting this battle...they have bigger fish to fry. I'd recommend going to a place like ebay or just doing an internet search for U.S. iTunes cards. The Japanese site sends me a scan via e-mail of the iTunes card, so I don't even have to wait for the mail. It's a pretty quick transaction, and I haven't had any problems so far.
But if we rule out violence, then the alternative seems even more daft. It's not as though the game glorifies the Nazi's in any way, quite the opposite. It satires them, in much the same way as Monty Python satires christianity with The Life of Brian. All healthy stuff IMHO, but I realize that many think differently on that.
