Funcom have announced that their upcoming MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will be censored for...wait for it...the German market. The German version won't feature excessive violence, such as dismemberment and copious amounts of gore. It will, however, be the only edited version: contrary to reports from earlier today, the US version of the game will ship uncensored, and that includes lady-nipples. As for classification, it's got an M rating in the US, while it'll carry an 18+ rating in Europe (including Germany).
Age of Conan Not Censored in North America [Shacknews]
Age of Conan: Censored In Germany, But For US, Nipples Are GO
8:20 PM on Tue Feb 5 2008
By Luke Plunkett
13,772 views
87 comments















Comments
The KPF strikes again!
A Teen rating when it has nipples.... ok
A T rating? Even with uncensored pixellated boobies? Could this be a sign that America is finally becoming less prude, like the rest of the world?
Nah.
I believe it's rated M by the ESRB
If this keeps going , in a few years videogames will have a "every game needs at least one teletubby on it to be eligible."
"T" rating? I think you mean "M," my good sir.
Maybe all this game censorship is the real reason that German UT kid was so upset?
@rickyyo:
@JeffPaine:
To clarify its rated M for Mature...
@Dirty Mongrel: Yes, brain explosion, it's M. Post edited.
yeah its definitely rated M
they're Harpy nipples. thats totally kosher!
With the Pointing Fish it's T. The full game has them, right?
Shafted wieder
But oh god, some pixelated rubbing of groins is AO. Aren't we missing the point of having brains here?
@Ignatius:
And now that I've read through the article. Apparently, full decapitations, dismemberment and gore are now less horrifying than pixelated sex. Whoops.
@rickyyo: The article originally said it was rated T, hence the confusion. An M rating makes a lot more sense.
Aw, Poor Pointy Fish :(. Console him with some Mass Effect screenies!
In all fairness, they traded nipples for poo.
hurray for canada
What the hell! I thought Germany was the land were only violence is taboo. I remember reading somewhere that videogame trade shows in that nation have topless women handing out fliers while violent games were confined to the "Adults Only" section.
i love that fish!!!!
Wait a minute... I thought this game or Conan received bad reviews...
@Allen750: No, thats the action Conan. Which was just called Conan. Its awful. This is the MMO.
@Allen750:
That was just Conan, which is different from this game. Age of Conan is an MMO, Conan is a straight up action game.
That woman has a face not even a mother could forgive! Are you sure you want that thing uncensored? Can someone put a fish over her face?
...
I knew the Germans would want weapons replaced with healing sticks of friendship that shoots pink flowers but as "Europeans" , you'd think they'd be down with the sex and what not. Is Germany just censor happy?(!) War, soccer, BMW... do Germans really do anything im moderation really. Sometimes it turns out good (like beer) but sometimes not so much :(
@ShoreofWpamylon:
that's why only the violence is toned down for the german version, nipples still in full glory :)
i want a kotaku fish t-shirt
why do germans censor so much sex and violence, when their neighbors are so open about it?
and it's not like they're a conservative or uptight country, i mean, have you seen german pr0n?
Poor kotaku fish :(
Psst, game looks like ass.
@diablofreak:
Control, it is all about CONTROL!
@diablofreak: they censor sex so much so the rest of the world can be severely desensitized by the people rebelling against that censorship. aka The BME pain Olympics. if you happen upon it i am not held responsible for any pain you may suffer from the images.
Suck to be them. ( this is if you really cared for this MMO )
@diablofreak: Have you seen German past?
This is why I hate Germany. I can't stand censorship. Two stories on it in one day. First No More Heroes, now this. Just give it the 18+ and leave it the fuck alone.
wait, who said germans would censor sex? i can clearly deny that :)
I wasn't going to buy this but now that they the nipples are back so am I. Now if I could just type "nipples" into my browser and see some I wouldn't need this game.
Wait... what!?... I'll be back in twenty minutes...
@diablofreak:
As my AP history teacher put it, they are "nazi about being anti-nazi" (no offense to any germans out there) Anything bad is censored 100% which is really unfortunate. I understand they are do not like their history and what they are known for, that's fine, but this is too much. It's just a game = /
I would have thought that germany would have learned about censorship by now. And I really don't get this one at all.
Germany opinion:
Bukkake=Fine
Crazy dungeon porn=fine
Nipples in a video game=HERESY!
@Covert_Knight:
this totally wrong mate. there is infact no active censorship whatsoever in germany. there are just age ratings which are followed a little stricter than, say, in the us. so it is in the financial interest of any publisher to alter the violence in games for example to sell the game to a broad audience instead of a smaller one.
i dont like that either, as i am german, but it is not as bad as everyone pictures it here. and if i really want an uncut version, i simply purchase it online in the uk, or the benelux, or swiss, or austria. legally
@Nayl: Huh? The German version will contain nudity. It's the excessive violence that's been removed. Try reading the post again.
@Nayl:
read the article again, nipples are not cut in the german version of the game :)
WoW once had harpy nipples in its early days. But, later on they updated the models where their supple bewbs were covered instead of exposed.
The Pointer Fish: Now Pink for Valentines Day and the ladies.
This game is becoming more and more awesome.
Also far truer to the Conan I know and love than that awful PS3/360 game.
This would be more exciting if she didn't look like a man.
Man nipple ftw!
@feartheraven: Best shirt idea ever! Guys? Will it ever happen?
@Marcel_de:
Well remember I'm going based off on impressions from someone else here, also last time I visited Germany was in 96 and I was 7 years old so my memory isn't exactly great.
(correct me if I am wrong) but I am very sure that, as an example of what I meant, germany does not have a "capital punishment" and I believe the most amount of time a prisoner can do is 15 years? Anyway that is what I meant in the "avoid what we were" Please I really don't mean any offense by all that.
But many games in Germany are banned or censored. Wasn't the developer for Crysis going to be pressured to stop work in Germany? I'm fairly certain you can dig up on that. Other articles also implicate otherwise. However you are the one living in the country so obviously you know more than me, but keep in mind that things are relative to each of us, whats a lot of censoring for me could be nothing for you, and vice versa.
You know, because of this site, I've developed a really unnatural attraction to fish.
ehh nipples or no nipples at least the game doesn't have some stupid captuer the flag pvp
nipples are always good even if they are made our of code ^^
What HAPPENED to that chicks legs? They're both frostbitten and broken!
At the risk of sounding like a prevert
THANK F**KIN GOD
^obvious gringo
@Marcel_de:
Yeah, my bad. That teaches me to not just read the headline.