Activision lies to its consumers: Modern Warfare 2 censored in Germany

Well, when I read that Modern Warfare 2 was to be uncensored, I was a bit thrilled. Not that I am much of an fps gamer, mind you, but, that would mark the FIRST Call of Duty game in the main series, that would be uncut in Germany.

Now, Activision send out letters to the press and retailers detailing the release of Modern Warfare 2, which is very carefully written not to say anything about censorship.

The original press release said, and I quote "The German version of Modern Warfare 2 includes every single level of the US release uncut. All of the three modes (single, multi and coop) are included. The multiplayer mode of MW2 is compatible with the international version and identical in terms of the points system, including doubles kills etc... This allows the player to search for games worldwide and to show his prowess against players all over the world"

[JasonXE]

and there pants are on fire!!!

[Greywulf]

Why do u guys keep participating in these n4g-directed articles? The guys just write stories to get N4G hits.. Notice that they always edit them based on complaints.

I mean.. is N4G really directing that much traffic to your site?

"Well, when I read that Modern Warefare 2 was to be uncensored, I was a bit thrilled. Not that I am much of an fps gamer, mind you, but, that would mark the FIRST Call of Duty game in the main series, that would be uncut in Germany.

Now, Activision send out letters to the press and retailers detailing the release of Modern Warfare 2, which is very carefully written not to say anything about censorship.

The original press release said, and I quote "The German version of Modern Warfare 2 includes every single level of the US release uncut. All of the three modes (single, multi and coop) are included. The multiplayer mode of MW2 is compatible with the internation version and identical in terms of the points system, including doubles kills etc... This allows the player to search for games worldwide and to show his prowess against players all over the world"

See... no word on ANY censorship. It indeed reads like it means it is completely uncut, right?

WRONG! There were some rumors floating about, but nothing concret, until earlier this week. And, being asked by the german gaming press, Activision was quick to deny any rumors, saying:" those people don't seem to be well informed" and, adding insult in the same sentence, Activision confirmed the earlier press release and said again... NO CUTS.

4Players then went on and asked again... and now the tune changed, strangely.

For some people, this might be a SPOILER, so readers be advised.

There's a scene in the game, were you are disguised as a terrorist and you have the ability to shoot and kill unarmed civilians. This is not possible in the german version! If you try to shoot a civilian, the game screen turns black and you restart at your last checkpoint (just like with friendly fire, I suppose).

Now... if Activision did say so from the get go, I wouldn't have cared at all. But... retailers like Amazon specifically advertized the game as "uncensored", on behalf of the information given by Activision. Of course, I know why Activision acted like they did... censored games sell worse in Germany, and rightly so!

If that was all that was censored, it wouldn't even be half bad! I mean, CoD4 missed the arcade mode in Germany, WaW lost Nazi Zombies (my favourite mode, tbh), and many of the fmv cutscenes are cut down severely to not show any connection to Hitler or Swastikas.

Ubisoft on the other hand made some strange comments too. When Assassin's Creed 1 was released two years ago, at first they said they had to censor the game, which was strange, since it had gotten a 16+ rating. And it wasn't censored! Same is happening now with AC2. I guess this was a PR stunt to boost hype. Well, we'll see about that in some days time!"

Source -4Players.de

[Bebedora]

This is like cleaving hairs....who cares who said what to whom? A good game is a good game, or else what?

[edit] Besides from that...they put their a** on the forman grill if not.

[Blaze929]

Hmm? What was the point of all that?

[MetalGearRising]

wow the world's gonna come to the end Activision lies f*ckin pathetic Sony site.

[WenisWagon]

What do you expect though, Sony sites have probably had a record low in terms of site hits these past few years, because there is absolutely nothing exciting about to report on the ps3, so they have to resort to crappy articles with far-fetched titles in order to get hits from the gullible droids on N4g.

[karan8624]

You guys are so pathetic its funny. Any chance to diss the PS3 eh?

First you had nothing to say about graphics, so you dissed the games
Now you cant diss the games, so you diss the online
Now you cant diss the online, so you diss the sales
Now you cant diss the sales, you diss PS3 websites

[CernaML]

" because there is absolutely nothing exciting about to report on the 360."

Fixed. Now I think it's best to stay in your Modern Warfare 2 articles. That's pretty much the only exciting news you'll be getting for a while. :)

[Pandamobile]

Activision is full of lies.

[Deadly_Sinner]

They will say anything to get people to buy their grapy games.

BOYCOTT MW2!
BOYCOTT MW2!
BOYCOTT MW2!

I am with you, my PC brothers!

[Maisay]

Censorship should die!

[Bebedora]

Censoring is a nail in the eye on an artist

[fr0sty]

Uncut is uncut, meaning no content (including the ability to kill civilians) has been removed. They lied.

As for the person saying we write for n4g, we've been around much longer than this site has. We might make an edit to our stories, but it has nothing to do with n4g, but the fact that if there is something misleading in our articles (like a headline that isn't as descriptive as it should be), we'd like to make those changes when we find out about them so our readers have the optimum experience with our site. sometimes we make mistakes, and you should be happy knowing that we at least bother to correct them when they happen rather than just saying "screw it" and leaving them there.

N4G does a decent job of directing traffic to your site, but we hardly rely on it. We didn't in the years before n4g, we don't now.

[fr0sty]

censorship is a cancer.

[TheEvilGeneral]

Yeah, but if you're not a German in Germany, it's kind of a bullshit article, as in it's sensationalizing something that I, and every other country including Germany don't really find that shocking- another violent FPS being censored in Deutschland, when there was talk of it potentially not being. The bullshit part of the article being the argument, that Activision are liars. Wow, liars?

I mean, it's written like a freakn tragedy, like it's a cover up or something. Like the trust Activision had with it's consumers is forever broken, the stigma of their actions will forever stain their image. Granted, you can be pissed if you're German, and technically it is news, and on top of that this is just my opinion, but when you read that title on N4G, it just reeks of propaganda. "Activision lies to its consumers"- They lied to me? My friends? Heck, the English speaking world? Should I boycott?

Censorship is not imposed by Activision, it's imposed by Germany on the German people. ...Like Activision loves spending money on rewriting their code to piss off FPS junkies...

[fr0sty]

Robin Segitz, this article's author, is a German in Germany.

[Blaze929]

Wow, crazy

[AcesHigh291]

Activision needs to learn that they are not above the consumer like they think they are.

[Polluted]

Maybe you should direct a little bit of that rage at the governing bodies in Germany who wouldn't let them sell their game without making cuts. Why are we pretending like this is Activision's fault? Obviously they're like the "new EA" and it's cool to hate on them atm, but this is getting a bit silly.

[Neo604]

.

[Dutch Boogie]

Nar more like a jewish kid who got picked on alot at school.

Now he's taking revenge on the cool kids who gave him hell lol.

[foxtheory]

Well this isn't new...

See what you just did, Activision? You just made an entire country mad at you!

[NecrumSlavery]

Wow outside of US/JP, games are taking hits left and right. So much nudity and underage sex on TV, who would of thought games would be the main issue when it comes to media censorship?

[Feral Gamer]

LOL, sucks to live in Germany. Funny thing is that the US censors stuff like swear words on the radio but they don't in Germany. Instead they get censored video games. People in the US are always complaining about censorship but it's extremely mild here. Heck, look at Australia, one of the most censored nations in the world.

[Gen0ne]

and the sky's blue and water's wet. What else is new? Next.

[BrianC6234]

Here's an idea. Since he has a PS3 he can order the US version of the game from an importer. I assume they're allowed to import it at least. This censoring is more of an issue with countries like Germany and Australia that are too strict on games. I'm just glad the rest of us don't have to have our games watered down to meet their standards.

[D3adcell]

I think because of the media censorship I would have a hard time ever moving to Germany.

[spektical]

wenis wagon and metal gear rising love to suck M$ c0ck early and often

[Knightofelemia]

This is not the first time Activision has lied about a game

[bjornbear]

Its activision. Complain but vote with your money for the one you condemn. sad