Cacodemon
Register | User Profile | Member List | F.A.Q | Privacy Policy | New Blog | Search Forums | Forums Home
Doomworld Forums : Powered by vBulletin version 2.2.5 Doomworld Forums > Misc. > Doomworld News > Finally: Doom Is Legal in Germany Now
Pages (2): [1] 2 »  
Author
All times are GMT. The time now is 12:16. Post New Thread    Post A Reply
DoomGater
Junior Member


Posts: 104
Registered: 08-04
After 17 years, Doom and Doom2 are no longer put on the index of the "Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien". So from now on, it is legal to sell, buy and play Doom and Doom 2 in Germany. Here's a link to a 16-page-pdf (German) which explains the details. I am wondering if this is about the crippled German Doom 2 version that came without MAP31 and MAP32, or if the full uncrippled version with all 32 maps and Wolfenstein symbols will be legal, too.
Old Post 08-31-11 12:01 #
DoomGater is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Birdbrain
Mini-Member


Posts: 70
Registered: 03-11
That's great news. A lot of german fps players(mostly younger ones) aren't familiar with the old Doom games, now that magazines and other forms of media can write articles about the game or include it in ones it will hopefully become more popular here.
Old Post 08-31-11 17:56 #
Birdbrain is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
xAn
Newbie


Posts: 9
Registered: 11-04
DoomGater said:
I am wondering if this is about the crippled German Doom 2 version that came without MAP31 and MAP32, or if the full uncrippled version with all 32 maps and Wolfenstein symbols will be legal, too.

It´s only about the crippled german version, because of the maps 31 and 32. Wolfenstein 3D is still illegal, so the two extra-levels in the US-version are illegal too.


The info is in here:
"Lediglich die amerikanische Fassung von "Doom II-Hell on Earth" wurde in der Liste belassen, da diese zwei zusätzliche Level mit Darstellungen aus dem indizierten und bundesweit beschlagnahmten Spiel "Wolfenstein 3D" enthält."
Old Post 08-31-11 19:31 #
xAn is offline Profile || Blog || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Csonicgo
This post is probably useless


Posts: 3960
Registered: 03-04
I remember the news when River Raid was made legal in 2002. For those not in the know, that game was released in 1983.
Old Post 08-31-11 23:29 #
Csonicgo is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Processingcontrol
Senior Member


Posts: 1155
Registered: 09-10
2002?

Thank god I don't live in Germany!
Old Post 09-01-11 00:49 #
Processingcontrol is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Woolie Wool
Member


Posts: 566
Registered: 08-02
This is something of an oversimplification. Previously it was illegal to advertise or openly display the game where minors may be present. This basically means it could only be advertised in adult media and sold in adult shops or under the counter of regular shops like pornography would be.
Old Post 09-01-11 04:10 #
Woolie Wool is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Marnetmar
Forum Staple


Posts: 2025
Registered: 09-10
I guess you could say that Germany...

...Is Doomed.
Old Post 09-01-11 13:18 #
Marnetmar is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
DoomGater
Junior Member


Posts: 104
Registered: 08-04
xAn said:
It´s only about the crippled german version,(...)


Ah, thanx for the info, I was too lazy to read all the text. Unfortunately, this means, german players still cannot play deathmatch on an international base, because the german IWAD is not compatible to 'normal' V1.9. Most server browsers compare checksums of the IWAD and will kick german V1.8 ... :-(

Processingcontrol said:
Thank god I don't live in Germany!

Yeah, thanks that you don't live here! :-)

Marnetmar said:
I guess you could say that Germany...
...Is Doomed.

Yes, we're all doomed here! - Finally!!
Old Post 09-01-11 14:29 #
DoomGater is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
boris
meow


Posts: 3743
Registered: 05-00
Csonicgo said:
I remember the news when River Raid was made legal in 2002. For those not in the know, that game was released in 1983.

It now has no age restriction whatsoever. Also gotta love the reason why it was "banned":

Minors are intended to delve into the role of an uncompromising fighter and agent of annihilation (...). It provides children with a paramilitaristic education (...). With older minors, playing leads (...) to physical cramps, anger, aggressiveness, erratic thinking (...) and headaches.


Sounds like a religious rant right from the dark age, eh?

DoomGater said:
Ah, thanx for the info, I was too lazy to read all the text.

You mean to were too lazy to read the very first page.
Old Post 09-01-11 15:56 #
boris is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
GhostlyDeath
Forum Retard


Posts: 829
Registered: 08-05
Could someone translate that PDF to English?
Old Post 09-01-11 16:45 #
GhostlyDeath is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Processingcontrol
Senior Member


Posts: 1155
Registered: 09-10
Here's something one BBC website about this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14748027
Old Post 09-01-11 17:16 #
Processingcontrol is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
neg!ke
Junior Member


Posts: 223
Registered: 07-06
So did they just remove the two secret levels and corresponding content from the German version (or non-American whatever) of Doom 2 then? Was MAP15 changed, the secret area with the exit simply deleted, or did it lead to MAP16?

Funny the BPJM pdf mentions speedrunning.

On an unrelated note, I can't believe even the BBC article used "iD Software".
Old Post 09-01-11 17:49 #
neg!ke is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Quasar
Moderator


Posts: 4615
Registered: 08-00
IIRC the German version actually bombs out with "W_GetNumForName: MAP31 not found" if you try to use the secret exit in MAP15.
Old Post 09-01-11 17:54 #
Quasar is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Tetzlaff
Senior Member


Posts: 1041
Registered: 06-00
This is good news, I wasn't really expecting it!

On a side note, I find it really funny that the Bundesprüfstelle in her new report explicitely mentions that BFG stands for "Big Fucking Gun".
Old Post 09-01-11 17:56 #
Tetzlaff is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
pritch
Super Moderator


Posts: 6056
Registered: 11-01
This is second on the BBC website most read at the moment, behind Colonel Gaddafi vows to fight on, heh.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14748027

Pick the holes in that article aprt - but the thing I'm most cross about - "crude" graphics!?

How dare they! The graphics were far more ingenius than half the stuff atound today.
Old Post 09-01-11 18:32 #
pritch is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Mordeth
Administrator


Posts: 1883
Registered: 05-00
Processingcontrol said:
Here's something one BBC website about this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14748027


This gives the full / better story. I'm surprised about the following blurp:

The Bundesprufstelle reportedly decided to reconsider the game's status following an appeal by Bethesda Softworks, the current owner of id Software, which created Doom.


Why did they bother even to appeal this after 15+ years?
Old Post 09-01-11 20:27 #
Mordeth is offline Profile || Blog || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Pirx
Member


Posts: 560
Registered: 11-04
Mordeth said:


Why did they bother even to appeal this after 15+ years?


to sell it on mobile devices i guess.

well, it's time to be legal at 18 ;)

i'll read their reasoning later.

only doom and the german version of doom 2 were struck from the list of games banned from being advertised and sold to minors because of their graphic violence, while the standard version of doom 2 remains banned because of the 2 secret maps showing nazi symbols.

anyway, it's interesting to see how a bunch of lawyers cared to analyze doom from a gaming point of view, and even made some good points:

limited ammo on higher difficulty levels and surprise moments (traps) point out the importance of a thought-out approach. from today's perspective, doom is a relatively difficult game, in which mindless charging does not lead to success, but to a quick death, punished by starting from scratch and losing all weapons. multiplayer emphasizes the necessity of skilled and esp. tactical approach even more.
doom is today primarily of historical-scientific interest. this is shown by the fact that the game counts as one of the 10 most important video games of all time. it served art and science.

perhaps someone can copy this pdf to a html page which people can translate using google.

oh, and they really wrote "big fucking gun" in an official document.
Old Post 09-01-11 21:05 #
Pirx is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
boris
meow


Posts: 3743
Registered: 05-00
Pirx said:
oh, and they really wrote "big fucking gun" in an official document.

Why not? It's germany, so nobody is offended by swearing and naked boobs. I actually prefere the latter over violence :P
Old Post 09-01-11 21:18 #
boris is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Maes
I like big butts!


Posts: 8662
Registered: 07-06
FUN FACT: Google translate recognizes "Big Fucking Gun" as a proper name and does not promptly translate it into (most) other languages.

E.g. German leaves it as it is, even putting an article results into "Die Big Fucking Gun" (Google even auto-capitalizes every work).

If you go out of your way to rephrase it e.g. "The large, fucking gun" you get stuff like "Grosse verdamte Pistole". Afrikaans/Dutch fares a bit "better" with "Die Groot fokken geweer"/"De Grote fokken pistool".

Funnily, translating that into German again gives -literally- "Die Big Fucking Gun" once again.

Something is fishy there, I'm telling ya ;-) (or the German part of the app is really crappy, which would be surprising given the importance of German language)
Old Post 09-01-11 21:47 #
Maes is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
RjY
anARCHy


Posts: 802
Registered: 05-02
pritch said:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14748027
Pick the holes in that article aprt - but the thing I'm most cross about - "crude" graphics!?
How dare they! The graphics were far more ingenius than half the stuff atound today.
I liked the part about how it is apparently "mainly of historical interest" when we go around making new maps and improving the engine all the time...
Old Post 09-01-11 22:38 #
RjY is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Deathmatcher
Member


Posts: 661
Registered: 06-03
DoomGater said:

Ah, thanx for the info, I was too lazy to read all the text. Unfortunately, this means, german players still cannot play deathmatch on an international base, because the german IWAD is not compatible to 'normal' V1.9. Most server browsers compare checksums of the IWAD and will kick german V1.8 ... :-(


Owning the US version is not illegal though, just selling it to somebody. I bought mine on a trip to the US in 1996 but I guess you could order it from there somehow.
Old Post 09-02-11 00:05 #
Deathmatcher is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
DeathevokatioN
Forum Staple


Posts: 2089
Registered: 03-10
Cool I'm looking forward to some German mappers who are very anal about texture alignment and want to force a very particular gameplay situation on me. :P
Old Post 09-02-11 01:01 #
DeathevokatioN is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
purist
Senior Member


Posts: 1113
Registered: 04-04
Mordeth said:


Why did they bother even to appeal this after 15+ years?

Maybe they either intend to package the original Doom with Doom 4 in Germany or they are planning a 20th anniversary edition. Let's speculate!
Old Post 09-02-11 07:32 #
purist is online now Profile || Blog || PM || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
NightFright
Mini-Member


Posts: 64
Registered: 08-10
I ordered the game directly at id one or two years after its release. It was sent to Germany without any problem. :)

Anyway, this is still great news after all these years because finally, the game gets the acknowledgement which it deserves over here. As soon as people are able to purchase the game over Steam, it might be a chance for many people to actually play the game for the first time and learn why it used to be (and still is) so popular.
Old Post 09-02-11 09:03 #
NightFright is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Trasher][
The game is not well!


Posts: 1303
Registered: 08-02
Mordeth said:
Why did they bother even to appeal this after 15+ years?
1.) There's apparently a forced 10-year delay between listing and appeal.
2.) Gears of War 3 recently somehow (and apparently EXTREMELY unexpectedly) got the all-clear to sell in Germany completely uncut without being listed, presumably ringing alarm bells in the heads of egoshooter makers everywhere.
3.) Germany is a big gaming market, and Bethesda would presumably like to take their Euros via the recent console and mobile ports.
4.) Even multi-million dollar publishers need hobbies.
Old Post 09-02-11 09:12 #
Trasher][ is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
hervoheebo
Member


Posts: 455
Registered: 11-08
Pretty much a formality, anyone with half a brain can easily acquire the game from the 'net. Guess this could also be for publicity for Rage, Doom 4 and the like, but Bethesda hogging the glory is kind of unnerving. Maybe id just didn't care?
Old Post 09-02-11 09:32 #
hervoheebo is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Maes
I like big butts!


Posts: 8662
Registered: 07-06
DeathevokatioN said:
Cool I'm looking forward to some German mappers who are very anal


Trust me, you don't want that!
Old Post 09-02-11 10:20 #
Maes is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
DoomGater
Junior Member


Posts: 104
Registered: 08-04
Deathmatcher said:
Owning the US version is not illegal though, just selling it to somebody. I bought mine on a trip to the US in 1996 but I guess you could order it from there somehow.


No, it's not illegal to buy it, when you're 18, but it is not soo easy:

- Nor the old id shop neither Steam did sell it in germany
- Ebay & Amazon don't deal with stuff on the index

Only some 18+- specialized shops had it available on request.
(OK, by luck I've got one of my CollectorsEditions directly from a
big shopping mall (KDW in Berlin...) I just asked and they simply
had is under the table...)

But now the situation will improve.

BTW: Don't forget: there are many ways to do up- and backdates to
change between IWAD-versions (including the german V1.8):
http://doomgate.de/content/files/ladopato/index.html
Old Post 09-02-11 11:15 #
DoomGater is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
neg!ke
Junior Member


Posts: 223
Registered: 07-06
DoomGater said:
Ebay & Amazon don't deal with stuff on the index
Protip: Try one of the other Ebay and Amazon sites then, e.g. UK. In most cases you'll also save a considerable amount of money even despite the shipping costs.
Old Post 09-02-11 11:28 #
neg!ke is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
Fusion
Member


Posts: 319
Registered: 05-00
About time wow.

__________________
-Project Leader of Ancient megawad Hellcore, http://nextlevelgamer.com/doom
Old Post 09-03-11 08:00 #
Fusion is offline Profile || Blog || PM || Email || Homepage || Search || Add Buddy IP || Edit/Delete || Quote
All times are GMT. The time now is 12:16. Post New Thread    Post A Reply
Pages (2): [1] 2 »  
Doomworld Forums : Powered by vBulletin version 2.2.5 Doomworld Forums > Misc. > Doomworld News > Finally: Doom Is Legal in Germany Now

Show Printable Version | Email this Page | Subscribe to this Thread

 

Forum Rules:
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts 		HTML code is OFF
vB code is ON
Smilies are OFF
[IMG] code is OFF
 

< Contact Us - Doomworld >

Powered by: vBulletin Version 2.2.5
Copyright ©2000, 2001, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited.

Forums Directory