I wanted to touch on this in my Wolfenstien article. I give Raven alot of props for putting the swastika in there. Too often in games like Company of Heroes or Call of Duty they are downplayed or omitted entirely.
I wanted to touch on this in my Wolfenstien article. I give Raven alot of props for putting the swastika in there. Too often in games like Company of Heroes or Call of Duty they are downplayed or omitted entirely.
Yeah, they didn't beat around the bush with that. I don't know what the extent of the swastikas are in the German version, but it sounds like Raven pretty much ignored the localization rules when they moved it to Germany.
A swastika is not something to give props for. Sure it adds to the realism and verisimilitude to a story, but it's a symbol that still evokes tender emotions for many people, and in Germany it's illegal to do anything with them.
Many games, graphic novels and movies that depict "nazis" (really usually just stereotype nazi-esk caricatures) leave out the swastika, or use a modified version of it.
Sometimes they do it because it offends people, but mostly it's a practical matter. It's a pain to have to change it if you ever want to sell it in Germany, so you might as well just leave it out to start.
I disagree. The swastika, like it or not, is part of world history. It's the most recognizable symbol of what is likely the most evil group of people to have ever walked the face of this planet. As such, if you are going for any semblance of realism, it makes sense to include it.
Maybe I was just praising the developers for not sugar coating history. I couldn't imagine Indiana Jones without huge red Nazi banners or SS soldiers without red arm bands. Maybe its just me, but when I have to kill Germans in WWII I want to make exactly sure I'm killing a National Socialist sympathizer and not a Wehrmacht soldier.
That and I'm just of the mindset that omission or censorship only causes more attention to the object in question than if it were tastefully presented in the first place.
That and I'm just of the mindset that omission or censorship only causes more attention to the object in question than if it were tastefully presented in the first place.
And everybody knows that the German government is always reic- er, right.
I am of the opinion that if a game is supposed to be about Nazis and you do not involve the swastika, the single greatest piece of symbolism in all of the 20th Century, you do not have a game about Nazis.
Hiding it isn't going to change history, Germany. People still fly the Southern Cross in America. We all learn from it and move on.
I'm comparing one system that subjugated humans through mass exterminations with one that subjugated humans through mass enslavement. Both are life-destroyers.
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Yeah, they didn't beat around the bush with that. I don't know what the extent of the swastikas are in the German version, but it sounds like Raven pretty much ignored the localization rules when they moved it to Germany.
Many games, graphic novels and movies that depict "nazis" (really usually just stereotype nazi-esk caricatures) leave out the swastika, or use a modified version of it.
Sometimes they do it because it offends people, but mostly it's a practical matter. It's a pain to have to change it if you ever want to sell it in Germany, so you might as well just leave it out to start.
This surprised me as well. I would have never expected them to attempt to release it, let alone be successful (if even for a temporary amount of time)
That and I'm just of the mindset that omission or censorship only causes more attention to the object in question than if it were tastefully presented in the first place.
The German government disagrees with you. :shrug:
I am of the opinion that if a game is supposed to be about Nazis and you do not involve the swastika, the single greatest piece of symbolism in all of the 20th Century, you do not have a game about Nazis.
Hiding it isn't going to change history, Germany. People still fly the Southern Cross in America. We all learn from it and move on.