I thought that decapitations of humans or human-like things weren't allowed in Japan...

chaos242

@Candlejack:
What you sure about resistance 1?
Thats pretty hard to believe considering that it actually was in my PS3 bundle.

Chibirazi

japan how could get banned. ichi the killer

zkotaku

Wasn't dead rising banned in Japan? Or just panned because they don't go for the ultra violence?

I guess some people just prefer hentai pedophilia over graphic gore.

sixonedoesitall

@DukeOfPwn: Hmm I'd consider "XIII" a "T" shooter and I believe that got a "16+" rating. Not sure if it was "T" in the way you mean.

Also, Resistance 1 was banned in Germany ;) or refused rating. List goes on. Basically any M game, like Dead Space certainly looks to be, will get 18+ or banned if it's extremely violent.

While these games get 15+ ratings over here in the UK :D Gotta love it. I'm old enough anyway though so it doesn't affect me. When I wasn't yet, I could still get my way around it easily.

Candlejack

It seems pretty darkly violent, so a ban in Germany is believable, China feasable, but Japan's pretty bizarro. Does stink a bit.

Kenshi_Ryden

If EA has to resort to PR hype by lying that it is banned, then it just shows you that the game is probably going to suck. I thought it might have been a buy, but this move by EA basically showed me their cards, and their hand is shit. Consumer wins this round EA.

RTW

well regardless i still want this game lol!!!

EVIL_V2

@Candlejack: You've mentioned all M games. Maybe they let T shooters through?

DukeOfPwn

@AssassinTRIP: Regardless of the setting, it's still a pretty bloody and violent game. Still, I don't see why EA should be so quiet about it.

BlinkinPark182

GTA4, I can kinda understand.

Deadspace(and games like it), not so much.
You are a spaceman and kill aliens in space.
Holy shit. That is so realistic.

AssassinTRIP

Well...it definitely will get the equivalent of "Adult Only" (18+) in Germany. Basically any shooter gets that from CS to Doom. :/

Also, they banned Condemned and practically even Gears, Dead Rising. Dead Space seems likely to be added to that list.

Candlejack

@Đipic: An outright ban from the country that's bought us such favorites like Rapeplay and the likes from one spectrum and child murdering classics like Elfen Lied, Narutaru, "Now and Then, Here and There" and Bokurano is probably as hypocritical as one can be. Perhaps it's due to the interactive nature but still some these existed as a game before they became animes. With the exception of Rapeplay, I feel that all these titles have a right to exist and it would be kind of sad they can are allowed and Dead Space isn't. This rating thing seems to be a moving target that uses silly-putty for suspensions; just try to predict what these boards are basing their decisions on!

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

@EmpressInYellow: Pointless post.

Kind of like this one.

Đipic

@Profondo:

Good to see y'all's ratings board isn't such a Gestapo anymore.

zgrowler2

@AssassinTRIP:
It maybe due to the gore and not so much the acts of violence.

Littlefields

@chaos242: NICE BOAT.

/School Days.

EmpressInYellow

I never thought I'd ever say this...but thank god the BBFC (the UK ratings board) have a bit of sense...in the UK the BBFC are maturing and becoming not so much a censor board but more of a ratings board...I hope this is all rumour & our other gaming cousins can get to experience what is looking like a must have game...for anyone interested here's the BBFC Classification details
WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Classified 22 August, 2008:

Consumer Advice: Contains strong bloody violence and horror

DEAD SPACE is a horror shoot-'em-up for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Set aboard a deep space mining ship, the player controls Isaac, an engineer, who discovers that the ship's crew has been ravaged by a vicious alien infestation, and that he must fight to stay alive. It has been classified '18' for strong bloody violence and horror.

The player uses a variety of sci-fi weapons to battle numerous surreal and vicious monsters, some of which are mutated crew members. He can also employ melee moves of punching and stamping. There is quite a high ratio of puzzle solving to violence - but the bloody violence is still very frequent. Strong horror includes sight of human corpses scattered around the blood-drenched environment, in various states of injury and dismemberment. Strong, bloody violence is seen during attacks, as Isaac can shoot limbs off both live aliens and human corpses, with plenty of blood spurts and gore. He can also stomp a corpse to pieces, including stamping off its head, with quite realistic and grisly sound effects. Some human-on-human violence is seen in the cutscenes, and includes violence such as a mad woman slicing in half an eviscerated man on a surgical table, then cutting her own throat, and a crazed doctor driving a large spike into a restrained man's forehead. It was considered that the focus on strong bloody violence, gore and horror, and ability to inflict sadist post-mortem damage, exceeded the BBFC Guidelines at '15', which direct that 'Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury ... strong threat and menace are permitted. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable'. This is an adult game, similar to other video games such as F.E.A.R or BIOSHOCK.

This work was passed with no cuts made.

The BBFC has placed this work in the Survival Horror genre(s).
The main spoken language in this work is English.

When submitted to the BBFC the linear elements within the work had a running time (eg cut scenes) of 55m 23s.

Profondo

@chaos242: I take it you've never heard of Elfen Lied. Do a google image search... if you're really curious. Obviously NSFW.

Đipic

@RTW: Admittedly, I am a little biased as they are my bread-giver, but Dead Space is pretty fucking awesome.

Lorrr

@Chibirazi: Whoops, no, it's not banned - it's 18+. My bad ;)

Candlejack

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): One of the reasons I no longer watch anime as much as I used to. Somehow it's so much creepier when the psycho's have Bambi eyes.

Thorax

@chaos242: I take it you haven't seen the original Ninja Scroll movie where they show the decapitated heads (at the jaw) of a brother and sister between the ages of 4 and 7 in full vivid detail (no off-color or silhouette effects here folks). Just say'in... double standards!

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

@Candlejack: Thank you for that correction. I've been calling it Rapelay ever since I was first made aware of it. It must have been my disdain for the game that allows you to play a rapist out for revenge that just turned me off to finding out more about it.

Don't worry either. For teenage boys, a game like that is like staring at a car accident. It's some kind of fascination with abomination thing.

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

@chaos242: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA "snort" HAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Thorax

@zgrowler2: Was it ever? The USK is and always was like that...don't recall it being as screwed up in the UK.

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): It's "Rapelay". Don't ask. Okay. I was with friends, drunk and 16.

Candlejack

@EmpressInYellow: Haaa... another good one based on a game latter made into an anime. I must say that using a (bone) saw to cut open your "friends" stomach while their alive to see if she really is carrying the child of your boyfriend is disturbed enough but add the fact your carrying your boyfriends head around in a duffel bag to show him your finding make you look crazy. Now reveal the fact that everyone involved is in middle school and it makes you wonder if a moral thermometer really exist in a society that allows such content yet bans something like Dead Space. These seems to fail the "smell test" as they say but should it prove to be true, I have no idea how to rationalize that decision.

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

I call bull too. It doesn't seem likely for a country to ban a space-alien-killing game, especially for Japan. DeadSpace essentially is Resident-Evil in Space and even then we were able to blow up heads of zombies who somewhat resemble living humans. In the case of Dead Space, the enemies don't even remotely resemble humans.

eternalsunshineofcoralfang

@Đipic: It's a reference to the final episode of an anime series called "School Days", which ends with one of the jilted lovers (this middle school girl) cutting off the boyfriend's head and sitting on a boat in the middle of the water, cradling his head and talking about how now they can be together.

Only thing is, when that final episode was supposed to air, there had just been a rather violent tragedy in Japan involving a girl killing her father with an axe. So instead, the station just aired thirty minutes of a bunch of scenery and classical music, including footage of this Norwegian boat. Some 4chan commenter commented, "Nice boat", and the whole thing became yet another ridiculous internet meme, to the point that the company actually began selling "Nice boat" merchandise.

EmpressInYellow

@RTW: pretty stupid reason to pass on a potential sweet game, but that's your loss.

sc00t420

@EmpressInYellow: Forgive my ignorance but what does "NICE BOAT" have to do with his comment?

Đipic

@EmpressInYellow: He probably didn't know the reference. Most people wont because they hated that male protagonist enough not to finish the series. God I hated him. I never cheered so hard for someone to be killed.

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

@Thorax: Yeah... anime deals with very disturbing subject matter because of the maturity of it as a medium in Japan. Honestly, if any sense can be placed on the implications being set forth by this rumor, it would have to be in fact that games alone (not based on the anime style (nebulous statement ftw)) perhaps are not afforded those same level of acceptance. It still sounds crazy to me though.

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

@Đipic: Not really. He made a comment about decapitation being banned. I responded with a reference that was relevant to his comment.

I'm sorry, however, that I failed to meet your standards for posting. I'll be sure to consult with you next time.

EmpressInYellow

So this was an EA community manager fabricating a story for the sake of free press?

Boo that. Still excited to play the game though!

stranger

@EmpressInYellow: Ahh, my apologies then; thanks for clearing that up. I tried googling it which only confused me more. -_- At least that youtube clip I watched makes a hell of a lot more sense now.

Đipic

"Dead Space cleared both Australia's 'notoriously censorious' OFLC and the UK's BBFC"

No it didn't clear the Australian OFLC.
[tinyurl.com]

'Version REVISED'

This means the game has been rejected, edited and resubmitted for classification.

fahrenheit

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): Oh, I know, and I don't blame anyone for not getting the allusion (it is, after all, just a stupid internet meme). I just kind of bristled at the accusation, is all.

But yeah, I can't see Japan shying away from Dead Space just because of the violence.

EmpressInYellow

@Đipic: Hey, no problem.

Yeah, that show is, uh..."unique". I actually felt a little bit ill watching the end of that episode, and I -knew- what was coming (and, in fact, that was the only reason I was watching it. My mistake, I guess.)

Really, compared to -that-, horrible undead things that you have to dismember to stop seem like T-rated territory.

EmpressInYellow

@Đipic: Intrestingly enough Elfen Leid got away with a 15's in England, uncut the full series, Gantz wasn't so lucky first volume was 15's the rest 18's!

excel_excel

There isn't the slightest question that Dead Space will stay an unrated game in Germany. I doubt they can cut enough content to get away with an 18+.

If it's Nazi Aliens, it might even be "banned" in the sense that it would be illegal to get the game (like fucking Wolfenstein 3D!). Doubt that, though.

lumpi

@fahrenheit: I saw this on their database literally 5 hours ago, and was wondering if that was the case. Is that confirmed, or educated guess? I'd love to know before I go to air.

Capt_Billy

The game HAS cleared the Australian OFLC. The term 'revised' refers to the fact that a product has been submitted for classification more than once. This does not in anyway indicate whether or not something has been banned. If you actually learn to read you'll find that Dead Space has NOT been refused classification or otherwise censored by the OFLC. There is absolutely no record of such taking place.

According to the OFLC database, two versions of Dead Space were submitted for classification in the space of less than two weeks. None of which were banned.

[www.classification.gov.au]

MikeZombie777

@chaos242: Nope since decaps are in Dark Sector just fine.

Witzbold

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): Hehe, you're welcome and that explanation is good enough for me ;) And as close as I will ever get to a game like that again.

Candlejack

@fahrenheit: F*ck me, you are the only person to reply to this story...who knows what the heck they are on about...Kudos Sir!!

Profondo

Isaacclarke says it really true. This just came across the official Dead Space Twitter. "I just confirmed with upper management that Dead Space is banned in Germany, China and Japan. Not a rumor folks.. it's true." www.twitter.com/isaacclarke

ShelbyDivine

@MikeZombie777:

Glad to be proven wrong. Thanks for clearing that up.

fahrenheit

@Đipic: @EmpressInYellow:

Two new things I am now interested in, thanks!

.em.

If this is a PR stunt I would have to say it is the most pathetic ever. But something tells me EA is not that brainless... if Germany and Japan come out this week and say "what are you talking about?" EA is going to look like one of the most dishonest companies ever. I don't think EA is that stupid to not forsee the backlash from a stunt like that.

fenderfuel08

wouldnt it be easier/more efficient to contact the ratings boards instead of EA?

horses mouths etc.

gique

its gonna be Manhunt 2 all over again

Sergius

Games that aren't available don't sell, and I'm pretty sure EA is in the business of making money, and not in the business of "OMGZ, we needs to make a killer space zombie game that will restrict sales in numerous major markets!!"

If it is a PR stunt, it seems to me just to be alot of spin, why would it affect anyone who was planning to buy the game in the first place? Why would it matter to people living in places where it is available whether or not it's available in Zimbabwe?

And on a tangent what the hell is with the broad generalizations? It was't banned/"banned" just in Japan, yet of course there is always the bringing up of "OMG, Tentacle porns and kidde sex, HYPOCRITES!!"

Well jeez let's see Nazis came from Germany so OMG they love massacre WTF! Oh and Australia originated as a penal colony so they gotta love this stuff! Oh in China they ignore human rights, this game should fit right in!

It's not banned in America? Isn't that saying alot more?

seppukake

@AssassinTRIP: Actually you are killing humans who have mutated/become infected.

CartBlanche2

Oh, forgot the link (obviously, its in German):
[www.gamestar.de]

ulix

The Game IS NOT BANNED IN GERMANY!!!

I repeat:

IT IS NOT BANNED IN GERMANY!

I already wrote you guys an email about that.

German Gaming Mag "Gamestar" got official word from EA (Germany) that the game was still in the ratings process at the USK. ANd even if it wasn't anymore, the USK can't ban games, it can only refuse classification. Which would mean the game could get banned BY THE TIME IT IS RELEASED.

ulix

Why should they ban it? I mean Resident Evil 4 wasn´t banned here also. So this wouldn´t make sense. At this years GC in Leipzig i was able to play it and i really don´t believe that they will ban it here in germany! BÄM

M.C.-Action