TOP GAMES THAT ARE BANNED !!!
BANNED !!
VIDEO GAMES
If you've been playing video games for more than five minutes, you know they have a tendency to be moral outrage magnets. If you can name it, games have been blamed for it, so it's not too shocking that game bans have followed in force. For the children, I suppose, though I'm not sure how many children are picking up the Witcher or Command and Conquer.
OUTLAST 2 : Banned in Australia
OUTLAST 2 : Banned in Australia
Outlast 2 is pretty grisly. There's no denying it. There are skinned people on sticks, piles of dead babies and, every so often, a giant 9ft woman plunges a pick axe into your crotch and you watch the blood spew out from a first person perspective. Lovely. This, apparently along with inclusion of 'implied sexual violence' tipped the Australian Ratings Board over the edge, prompting it to refuse even handing out the highest R18 level of ratings.
However it turns out that developer Red Barrels actually sent the wrong footage in for classification. Along with the code was a video that didn't represent the final product. Once this mistake was cleared up, Australia was free to wander the death filled cornfields. Phew.
However it turns out that developer Red Barrels actually sent the wrong footage in for classification. Along with the code was a video that didn't represent the final product. Once this mistake was cleared up, Australia was free to wander the death filled cornfields. Phew.
BATTLEFIELD 3: Banned in Iran for inciting international terror
Back in November 2011, the sale of Battlefield 3 was banned in Iran. It was all thanks to a scene where American soldiers lay siege to Tehran and the Grand Bazaar. The announcement was followed by raids on game shops to nab all existing copies, while a petition bearing the signatures of 5,000 Iranians accused the game of drumming up fear of Iran in the international community. Not unexpected, since the relationship between the US and Iran is famously sticky anyway.
There's one wrinkle, though: Battlefield 3 was never officially released in Iran. Publisher EA has no resellers in the country, so all copies available when the ban came down were pirated. Is a "shot yourself in the foot" joke crass here?
There's one wrinkle, though: Battlefield 3 was never officially released in Iran. Publisher EA has no resellers in the country, so all copies available when the ban came down were pirated. Is a "shot yourself in the foot" joke crass here?
DEAD RISING 3 : Banned in Germany for having human like enemy
Germany wins the blue ribbon for Europe's most intense game restrictions. While changing a human to a zombie can get a game to pass muster in the likes of the UK or France, it'll have no such luck in Deutschland. Given that Dead Rising is all about zombies, its no surprise that this series has seen repeated bans in Germany. Dead Rising 3 is the latest victim, expunged from the Xbox One launch line-up in this country.
This pretty-goddamn-violent zombie thrasher is considered tolerable in many places, since your main target are fantasy legions of undead monsters. However, Germany's Bundeprfstelle fr jugendgefhrende Medien (the gaming police) places heavy restrictions on games where you kill any human or "human-like" enemies, so zombies qualify. Then again, Gears of War 3 was deemed acceptable without edits, so I cant pretend to understand the logic.
This pretty-goddamn-violent zombie thrasher is considered tolerable in many places, since your main target are fantasy legions of undead monsters. However, Germany's Bundeprfstelle fr jugendgefhrende Medien (the gaming police) places heavy restrictions on games where you kill any human or "human-like" enemies, so zombies qualify. Then again, Gears of War 3 was deemed acceptable without edits, so I cant pretend to understand the logic.
CALL OF DUTY : BLACK OPS II and MEDAL OF HONOR : WARFIGHTER- Banned in Pakistan for smearing nation's image
Two for the price of one here. In January 2013, the government of Pakistan banned Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Medal of Honor: Warfighter in one fell swoop, saying they "show the country in a very poor light." Since both of these military shooters essentially equate Pakistan with terrorism, Id say thats a fair comment.
They probably should have tried to convince the country's game retailers to accept the ban, though, or at least told them about it. On the day of the ban, the owner of Islamabad's biggest game store claimed to have not even heard about it, and another anonymous shop-owner said "The nationalists and the religious ones don't like [these games] but I'm not going to stop selling them." Nothing yells louder than green it seems.
They probably should have tried to convince the country's game retailers to accept the ban, though, or at least told them about it. On the day of the ban, the owner of Islamabad's biggest game store claimed to have not even heard about it, and another anonymous shop-owner said "The nationalists and the religious ones don't like [these games] but I'm not going to stop selling them." Nothing yells louder than green it seems.
GOD OF WAR 2 : Banned in Saudi Arabia for sexual themes
If Iran and Pakistans examples are any indication, our gaming brethren in the Middle East sure know their way around a game ban. Saudi Arabian gamers are no exception, because even in the face of strict content restrictions and fines for playing banned titles, many manage to sneak prohibited games anyway. One good example is God of War 2, which was banned for sexual content (and possibly the use of the word God in the title) upon release. However, its still very much available for players who know where to look.
Satisfied as the nation's moralizers were with the decision, gamers weren't pleased, and they weren't deterred either. Speaking to Kotaku about ways of circumventing the ban, Saudi Arabian user Alaa A explained that retailers still sell black market copies of the game, just packaged and shrink-wrapped as something else. Congratulations, Alaa, you deserve a go at that fantastical debauchery.
Satisfied as the nation's moralizers were with the decision, gamers weren't pleased, and they weren't deterred either. Speaking to Kotaku about ways of circumventing the ban, Saudi Arabian user Alaa A explained that retailers still sell black market copies of the game, just packaged and shrink-wrapped as something else. Congratulations, Alaa, you deserve a go at that fantastical debauchery.
COUNTER STRIKE : Banned in Brazil for showcasing a slum
Let's take a moment and try to think of everything that could offend someone about Counter-strike. Rampant violence? Terrorist involvement? An overabundance of "ROFL F*G" comments from edgy tweens? Apparently none of those fazed the Brazilian government, though, because they banned it for a completely different reason: it contains a user-made map of a Brazilian slum, or favela. O-okay.
In case you aren't familiar with the concept, favelas are urban shantytowns where crime among the impoverished populace is rampant. That's presumably why Brazilian officials took exception to a favela-based Counter-Strike map, dubbing the game "an attack against the democratic state" and banning it from sale in October 2007. (Though the equally violent Modern Warfare 2 also has a favela map and wasnt banned so) As in, over ten years after the game was released and began building its huge Brazilian following. Yeeeah, that ban didn't last long.
GRAND THEFT AUTO : Banned in Thailand for associating in a murder
Grand Theft Auto is the affluent, angsty, suburban punk of the gaming world, stealing its mom's cigarettes and giving the middle finger to the police but not actually doing anything dangerous. Still, thats not going to convince the judgmental among us that GTA isnt a bad influence. So when a Thai teenager killed a taxi driver during a carjacking in 2008 and blamed it on Grand Theft Auto 4, nobody bought GTA's alibi that it was hanging with Bully all day.
Following the incident, GTA 4 was banned for inciting what Thai courts deemed a copycat killing. According to police, "[The accused] wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game." Nevermind the fact that the guy was just caught stabbing a man to death and would probably say anything to get out of trouble. Naw, that Niko Bellics a bad egg.
Following the incident, GTA 4 was banned for inciting what Thai courts deemed a copycat killing. According to police, "[The accused] wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game." Nevermind the fact that the guy was just caught stabbing a man to death and would probably say anything to get out of trouble. Naw, that Niko Bellics a bad egg.
MANHUNT 2 : Banned pretty much everywhere for being a manhunt game
If you are at all surprised by this entry, you haven't played Manhunt 2. Sequel to the brutal and controversial Manhunt (which some people still blame for the brutal murder of a 14-year-old in the UK years after the gavel came down), just the announcement that it was being made was enough to spark outrage. Since its release, it has seen bans or rating refusals in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. It was also hit with a sales-crippling Adults Only rating the United States, and plenty of other countries decry its very existence.
While plenty of games have been banned for "excessive gore" and "high impact violence", Manhunt 2 is in a class of its own. Taking up right where its bloody and violent predecessor left off, it corners the market on over-the-top executions, while offering a pretty solid gameplay experience. Those two things sparked interest from some, deep-seated outrage from others, and a veritable parade of bans that few other games can match.
While plenty of games have been banned for "excessive gore" and "high impact violence", Manhunt 2 is in a class of its own. Taking up right where its bloody and violent predecessor left off, it corners the market on over-the-top executions, while offering a pretty solid gameplay experience. Those two things sparked interest from some, deep-seated outrage from others, and a veritable parade of bans that few other games can match.
FOOTBALL MANAGER 2005 : Banned in China for recognizing Tibet's Independence
As the video game medium has aged, it's seen the creation of more and more games that deal with serious political topics. BioShock addresses political objectivism. Watch Dogs tackles security in the digital age. Football Manager 2005 rails against Chinese imperialism. Oh, you didn't know that? It's what China seemed to think anyway, when it banned the innocuous sports game for including certain conquered regions on the country roster.
In the English release of the sporty title, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet are all recognized as independent nations you can choose to play. That sort of pissed off the Chinese government, which responded with a ban in December 2004, claiming the game threatened "sovereignty and territorial integrity." Publisher Sega responded with a statement that the feature was never supposed to be seen by audiences in China and was going to be removed for Chinese release, but bootleggers got hold of the English version too early. Looks like piracy is its own reward.
In the English release of the sporty title, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet are all recognized as independent nations you can choose to play. That sort of pissed off the Chinese government, which responded with a ban in December 2004, claiming the game threatened "sovereignty and territorial integrity." Publisher Sega responded with a statement that the feature was never supposed to be seen by audiences in China and was going to be removed for Chinese release, but bootleggers got hold of the English version too early. Looks like piracy is its own reward.
ALL VIDEO GAMES ARE BANNED IN GREECE
You have to laugh when elected officials say something unbearably stupid about technology (if you dont want to cry, anyway). Remember when Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens called the internet a series of tubes? Or when British Parliamentarian David Wright claimed insulting opposition over social media is cool because Twitter is edgy? HAHA look how much Im laughing! Though, when it comes to governments not getting technology, our heart goes out to Greece. For a while, all video games were banned there for being too much like online gambling.
Back in 2002, Greece enacted law 3037 to undercut illegal gambling, establishing a blanket ban on all devices that contain "electronic mechanisms and software". That applied to both citizens and foreigners, so bringing your Gameboy on your Athens vacation could land you in jail for a year. The EU promptly slapped the government of Greece with an injunction for being dumb, and the ban was allowed to quietly lapse three years later.
Back in 2002, Greece enacted law 3037 to undercut illegal gambling, establishing a blanket ban on all devices that contain "electronic mechanisms and software". That applied to both citizens and foreigners, so bringing your Gameboy on your Athens vacation could land you in jail for a year. The EU promptly slapped the government of Greece with an injunction for being dumb, and the ban was allowed to quietly lapse three years later.
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