http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/kotaku.com.png http://kotaku.com/tag/censorship http://kotaku.com/tag/censorship

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 »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5863642&view=rss&microfeed=true

The iOS version of id Software's Wolfenstein 3D has been withdrawn from sale in two European countries over its use of the Nazi swastika. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5834253&view=rss&microfeed=true

Despite one of the state Attorneys General required to change Australia's classification laws not turning up to a meeting earlier today, those present (and the Federal Government) have agreed "in principle" to institute an adults-only game rating for the country. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5823702&view=rss&microfeed=true

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 »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5806816&view=rss&microfeed=true

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 »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5801468&view=rss&microfeed=true

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 »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5797396&view=rss&microfeed=true

Since Australia's State Attorneys-General can't ever seem to get their heads together on the issue of a national adults-only rating for video games, one state is breaking off and introducing its own R18+ classification. [Updated] More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5796492&view=rss&microfeed=true It sounds like the Australian government, fed up with being the "laughing stock of the developed world", is going to step in and find some way to let Aussie adults play adult video games. About time! More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5782415&view=rss&microfeed=true

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 »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5773169&view=rss&microfeed=true

The upcoming Mortal Kombat game is brutal as hell. Meaning, and this shouldn't come as too great a shock to most of you, it's been "banned" in Australia. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5769924&view=rss&microfeed=true

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 »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5769835&view=rss&microfeed=true

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 »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5755663&view=rss&microfeed=true

Rep. Tim Murphy discussing the Tucson shootings. We have a Constitution that prohibits government restraint of most creative works, and guarantees a right to own firearms. Both can be called problems as well as values. Thanks truthtellah for the pullquote. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5735132&view=rss&microfeed=true

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, changing it forever. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5715901&view=rss&microfeed=true

But it's not, after a lengthy meeting between government officials earlier today wound up without, as was expected, an adults-only video game rating being introduced. Bummer! More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5711011&view=rss&microfeed=true

As this report on Kotaku AU details, Australia continues to deal with how it classifies and views video games. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5704019&view=rss&microfeed=true

In China, World of Warcraft and censorship aren't strangers. Things like blood and skeletons were edited for The People's Republic, and the release of expansion Wrath of the Lich King was held up due to content Chinese authorities found objectionable. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5630904&view=rss&microfeed=true

Australia's lack of an adults-only rating is a tricky issue, one in which there's really no longer any "villain". A new move that could threaten mobile games in the country, though, is a little more sinister. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5616524&view=rss&microfeed=true

Blacklight: Tango Down, a recently-released online shooter, hasn't been released in Australia. Why? According to Xbox Australia, it's because it's an online shooter. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5593244&view=rss&microfeed=true

Last summer, as Germany grappled with a shooting spree linked to video games, state officials demanded the German government enact a comprehensive ban on violent games. A year later the government has refused, choosing to implement ratings education measures instead. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5545250&view=rss&microfeed=true

Michael Ephraim, boss of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, has spoken out against the country's continued lack of an adults-only rating for video games. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5541363&view=rss&microfeed=true

Developer Matthew Smyth is upset that Apple rejected his seal clubbing game for the iPhone. PETA, on the other hand, is so overjoyed they sent Steve Jobs chocolates. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5528169&view=rss&microfeed=true

Reports that South Australia's replacement attorney-general supported a R18+ rating for video games turn out to be premature, as John Rau reveals he has "no preconceptions" about the issue whatsoever. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5515172&view=rss&microfeed=true

Switzerland recently passed two acts meant to clamp down on violent video games, but has yet to enact them while the government determines the standards under which a game considered too violent. Apparently, only 12 titles would fit the description. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5510123&view=rss&microfeed=true

Last year, Australian gamers protested against the government's lack of an adults-only video game rating by...dressing up like zombies and shambling through Sydney. This year, they did it again, only with more zombies. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5505949&view=rss&microfeed=true

Australia is one step closer to a mature rating for video games, as resigning ratings-blocker Michael Atkinson is replaced as South Australian Attorney General by John Rau, a man who reportedly says an R18+ video game rating is common sense. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5501880&view=rss&microfeed=true

No, not yet, but the possibility of Australia getting games rated 18 and older has increased quite a bit with the chief opponent to the move, trouble-plagued South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson, stepping down from office this weekend. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5498362&view=rss&microfeed=true

As the most public - and pivotal - opponent of an adults-only video game rating in Australia, Michael Atkinson is a rather public figure. Just don't call him a crook. You may end up being sued by him. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5486390&view=rss&microfeed=true

While the lack of an adults-only rating for video games hogs all the headlines when it comes to gaming and Australia, there's a far more sinister threat lurking on the horizon: internet censorship. But how does this affect gaming? More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5477799&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Classification Board is the body responsible for rating video games (and other stuff!) in Australia, and as such, is often blamed for the mess our system currently finds itself in. Thing is, it's not their fault. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5474445&view=rss&microfeed=true

Electronic Arts has elected not to offer Dante's Inferno for sale in the Middle East, for reasons that should probably be obvious. That makes three of the first four big action games for 2010 officially unavailable in that region. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5466117&view=rss&microfeed=true

Mass Effect 2's tamer (and sideboobless) sex scenes led some to believe that BioWare held something back, after the 2008 uproar over Mass Effect started by the Network That Must Not Be Named. But a dev sternly denies that charge. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5465742&view=rss&microfeed=true

South Australia 's opposition calls for the firing of Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, the primary reason the country can't give games a R18+ mature rating, after he suggested that a West Croydon citizen was an imaginary plant for the Liberal Party. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5465085&view=rss&microfeed=true

At the moment, Australia's classification laws are stuck in the stone age. There's support for changes from gamers, of course, but hardcore gamers don't have much in the way of political clout. Multinational companies, however, do. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5462882&view=rss&microfeed=true

Darksiders seems to be the flavour of the month so far, its rugged charms leading to good review scores and media opportunities. Just don't tell that to the United Arab Emirates, who have reportedly banned the game. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5443491&view=rss&microfeed=true

Knew something was up with that trailer rating this morning; Sega just let us know that Aliens vs Predator, a violent game which had previously been refused classification in Australia, has had that ruling overturned. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5429337&view=rss&microfeed=true

Yesterday, the Australian government released its long-awaited discussion paper on an adults-only rating for video games (or, as we'd call it, R18+). I've already sent in my contribution; any of you care to do the same? More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5426396&view=rss&microfeed=true

Australia's Classification Review Board will meet on Friday to reconsider its earlier refusal to classify Aliens vs. Predator, effectively forbidding it for sale in that country. A news release says Sega asked for the reconsideration. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5426290&view=rss&microfeed=true

Valdir Raupp, who is both a senator and a lion of a man, has put forward a bill seeking to ban the sale and distribution of violent video games in Brazil. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5419382&view=rss&microfeed=true

You know, every time a game is "banned" in Australia, I see people from the US and Europe saying stupid, stupid things. I'd like to try and put a stop to that. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5419298&view=rss&microfeed=true