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Swastika prompts German Wolfenstein recall
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 23rd September 2009
A swastika which is still faintly visible in the German version of Wolfenstein has prompted a complete recall.
Swastikas and Nazis feature prominently in international versions of the game obviously, but German law requires their censorship and instead pits players against a nameless army.
Featuring a swastika is so forbidden in German media that punishments can include jail time for the management of any company which does not take immediate action to rectify the situation. You can bet that if there was a critical bug in the game then it wouldn't get patched this fast though.
Swastika's can still be used in an artistic or educational context obviously, but German has apparently taken a firm stance on the old 'Are Games Art?' debate.
"Although it is not a conspicuous element in the normal game ... we have decided to take this game immediately from the German market," is Activision's official statement, according to Kotaku.
You can check out our thoughts on the full game in our Wolfenstein review - but suffice to say that we greeted the game with a resounding m'eh. Well, except for Richard anyway. He really liked it.
Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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i mean after all they have to be designed, and sometimes they exist for no real purpose or are so visually pleasing that you become addicted to them - just like art
Seriously, there is something better to be done than to whine about the sand caught in your crack(s).
Well, it's about the New Wolfenstein, not the old one.
Players will be getting the "uncut" variant anyway :D
Let's not forget the swastlika was a religious symbol long before Hitler *******ised it. (Though I think he reversed it.)
Correct.
"It never happened. The end."
Seriously, they need to drop the issue and move on. By bringing it up like this, the German government is just drawing more attention to the matter. It's hardly a mature attitude.
That shouldn't make any difference. The thing I can think of is that the Germans still have a lot of Neo-Nazism and they don't want this game (or others) to exacerbate that.
Now, there's and idea, Joe - Jail-time for critical bugs!
Studios like Bohemia, GSC & Pirhana Bytes would be banged up in no time...
I was talking about the war in general ;)
Someone doesn't watch Family Guy :p
http://video.canadiancontent.net/43720662-family-guy-german-tour.html
Having lived in Germany for some time as a kid, I can tell you that they acknowledge their part in WWII much more than we do in the UK. They also give the war the respect it deserves. There are still many living Germans who feel ashamed of their country's actions during the war too.
All true - yet curiously, they do allow swastikas in films on TV. Is there a difference between these and games? Denying the holocaust and glorifying that era are clearly wrong, but I think we can all agree the the 'Nazis' in Wolfenstein are not role models that we are likely to aspire to. Arguably, it's appropriate to regard Nazis, alongside aliens & monsters as the ultimate enemies of us all.
I would feel the same with films that used the symbol that were of the light-hearted nature. If the film is trying to be historically accurate, and tell a meaningful story, then I would have no problem. Even though WWII is out of most people's living memory, there are still many people out there who have been affected by the nazi era. Then there is the neo nazi element to factor in too, which also affects many people here and now.
...for example, The Producers?
They best way to 'exorcise a demon' is to poke fun at it.
I understand your reasoning, but I disagree. The game bears the odd swastika but it doesn't glorify Fascism and try to mitigate what happened in WWII. It is not disrespectful to modern Germany, Judaism or any other of the affected parties.
As for the symbol having a particular meaning for a large group of people, I can only assume you are talking about Hindus and other groups (particularly in the Indian sub-continent) for whom the swastika has had religious meaning, and those who have been using the symbol since the neolithic period. I suspect these people are slightly miffed that a nasty little Austrian Corporal with one gonad has stigmatised their symbol.
So does the Christian cross, only those who suffered and were tortured/burned at the stake/drowned (Witch hunts) and/or murdered directly or indirectly because of it are already dead.
Oh and let's not forget the genocides in the New World.
Shall we ban it too?
Nonsense - read my previous post: The swastika has had positive connotations for the last few thousand years (long before Christendom existed), and it's only in the last 70 years that it has been challenged.
(note: both the standard and reversed swastika have meaning in Sanskrit!)
So to ask my original question again, would you feel comfortable, or any of you other guys, wearing a piece of clothing with the swastika on it?
Not my style, but I definitely feel comfortable reading a book with this cover prominently featuring the swastika and the Nazi eagle in public:
http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/covers/all/5/5/9780141042855H.jpg
However, I do not live in Germany :-)
written by this guy (on the right) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-139-1112-17%2C_Russland-Mitte%2C_Heinz_Guderian.jpg
I doubt the cover looks the same in Germany...the book is probably a standard read for tanktroops though:D
As a foreigner living in Germany: generally Germans are taught about the war...but alas most of it is "you're guilty, even though your parents didn't exist at the time...oh, and your debt is eternal, and all jews are good, did we mention you're guilty and in debt and guilty?"
And this is starting to down a lot less well lately...
It's right that they should be ever mindful of the darkest period in their history and all that went with it. It is also right that they take steps to prevent it happening again - after all, Germany was at the heart of the two biggest wars in history, all within a space of 25 years. So laws against holocaust denial and the use of emotive symbology like the swastika is appropriate.
However, given that there are few survivors from that period, and given that they have been model world citizens for the last 60-odd years (excluding some dodgy stuff on the football pitch), I would consider their debt paid.
However, that still doesn't mean that WWII films/books/games should disappear and, in case you still in any doubt, I certainly don't think a swastika in Wolfenstein is even remotely inappropriate.
I don't blame them its like trying to blame every one in England now for slavery in the 1700
You don't have to, they do it to themselves...fascinating to look at.
When people started wearing german colours at the world cup a few years ago, there was a serious discussion if all this sudden "nationalism" isn't bad...No it's supporting your team just like any other country!
Just think of all the debate we have when the Union Jack/St George Cross come out at our sporting events. Because the far right try to commandeer such symbols and icons, your automatically linked with them when you are merely being patriotic...
Modern history perhaps
I'm not an expert on history, but I'm not aware of an other wars that participants from 4 continents... Nothing the Romans or Alexander the Great dead was anything near the scale of these two, though plenty of wars have lasted longer...
But if we only consider modern history, my point still stands.
If you really want to fight fascism, make sure your representatives vote no on extending the laws that were passed after 9/11.
Yours in anti-Fascist Plasma,
Star*Dagger
The thing is, it's understood - as it's already been said, if Books, Films & Art are allowed to depict what they will in whatever context they want, I believe a game should be as well. Still, I'm not the powers that be in Germany so it doesn't really matter what I say or think. The reason as to why I thought that they wouldn't want the Swastika up on screens is that children or young-adolescence are the primary target audience for this game. Maybe they don't want their youth stereotyping their race with Nazis? I dunno - but if they want to move away from it all, they're going about it in the wrong way in my opinion.
Try telling that to the french...or the dutch...italians...brits
Besides it was more the end of a long line of wars/quarrels/territorial pissings the French and the Germanns had had. More the austro/hungarian relicts that started that one. Just simpler to blame the germans after they'd lost ;-)
I not saying they were innocent lambs though...Bach to Topic:
Talking about evil characters and us playing them, how about GTA?
Personally I feel the system is still not "open" enough...to be truely evil
I would. If I was supposed to be walking down a street in WW2, FFS. That's the point; it's a game set in WW2 Germany, obviously there are supposed to be swastikas around!