Zombie paradise action game Dead Island may have been out since early September, but it’s only now that the Germans at the wonderfully-named Federal Department of Media Harmful to Young Persons have got around to banning it. More »
If you’re travelling to Canada, a country whose customs officials are notorious for playing the role of morality police, you’d better leave your Japanese comics at home – whether they’re in print or digital. More »
Different cultures have different tastes. That’s a given, and will always result in slight differences in game ratings. But what’s just happened to 3DS game Dead or Alive: Dimensions is too strange to overlook. More »
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board used to manually assess the content of the games it was awarding a classification to. Now, computers do most of the work. Which must be a bummer to anyone hoping to get a job there. More »
Someone hacked apart the config file data for Mortal Kombat on the PS3 and in addition to discovering about 17 on-disc DLC character skins – and, weirdly, a dummy support-string for Kinect, they found hundreds of wirdy-dirds banned from text communication in MK’s online play. More »
The Chinese government dictates what can and can’t be shown in overhead photographs. This is bad news for Google Maps, which continues to have run-ins with the Mainland. No worries, there is a solution. A beautiful one. More »
Germany’s government has a rather sensitive relationship with video games. Reports of official censorship often involve the country, either for violent content or the fact that Nazis are useful game antagonists – and you know how they feel about that. Sensational crimes with ties to “Killerspiele,” have stirred calls for outright bans of violent games. More »
Upcoming shooter Bulletstorm, which is revelling in its violent trimmings, has had to face a reckoning of sorts in Germany, with much of the game’s trademark content cut just so it could be released. More »
In the West, Shigesato Itoi is best known for the Earthbound series of role-playing games. He might challenge game conventions, but his wife Kanako Higuchi challenged Japanese censorship more. More »
