Hi everybody,
I wish my first post would be about something more positive, but here we go:
Firstly I want to recommend this article by the "study-group historical sciences and digital games"/"Arbeistkreis Geschichtswissenschaften und Digitale Spiele":
"Wider die Selbstzensur – Das Dritte Reich, nationalsozialistische Verbrechen und der Holocaust im Digitalen Spiel"
http://gespielt.hypotheses.org/1449
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=gespielt.hypotheses.org/1449&edit-text=&act=url
It starts explicit with Wolfenstein II, recapitulates the legal situation down to quotation of the law, moves to the games industry/community in a broader sense and ends with two interviews with Berlin based indie devs who work on games touching the subject matter.
http://throughthedarkestoftimes.com/
http://curious-case.com/
If "Auf ein Bier" is within the OP you can add ERA's own SilentBob's cast, too, I guess:
https://www.hookedmagazin.de/blog/2...ein-2-the-new-colossus-paris-games-week-mehr/
As long as it is about solely the swastikas and/or SS-runes removal, I do not care. The mere substitutions of some 128x128 textures should be no deal breaker,
especially if the games would treat the Nazis like "generic bad guys/cannon fodder" interchangeable with Cobra Commander goons, etc.
I think this includes the older Wolfenstein titles, but not the new ones.
As strange as it sounds, I think "The New Order" is the first game that "gets it".
The Third Reich being the Reich and the Nazis being actually Nazis, not cosplaying Schießbudenfiguren.
In my opinion it is able to use its pulp genre as some kind of prism to handle the real horrors, which by a big part is made possible by its multi-lingual approach.
Gone are "Mein Leben!" and a mere "Die, Schweinehund!"("Der Schweinehund!"?) and now at least enhanced if not replaced with actual German dialogues
containing the BdM or the terrifying casual (double-think like) treatment of working shifts at a concentration camp. (Partially in subtle dialects! German dialects, in a game!)
Or the abyss that lurks within the lyrics of the Neumond Records or being shown a Berlin which has been completely devoured by Speer's Germania.
Sometimes I wonder if Germans had been THE target audience, who else would be able to register all the work they have put into this?
Except this is not what I would experience, even if I had rig/device to play it.
I had hopes that might change with "The New Colossus", given that its producer is supposed to be former USK staff.
http://www.gameswirtschaft.de/karriere/ruben-schwebe-usk-machinegames/
Like, you know, "Perhaps he's going to tell them about 'games are now at least cultural goods, if not even art.'".
https://www.kulturrat.de/pressemitt...erspiele-zehnjaehriger-kampf-war-erfolgreich/
And we would get both games with the original voice tracks retroactively, but nope. When I saw the German localization's flashback with its removals I just went "It's beyond remedy".
In regards to Wolfenstein II itself I got nothing to add. They should have kept the original voices and just add German subtitles. Put them in Fraktur if you want to add some kind of meta joke.
Additionally, going to court for "Video games are ART!" would mean to concede that your work's overall message has/is able to have ramifications.
I fear some people want to keep their "WTF!? They are just video games/electronic toys, LOL!"-card.
Also, here is a nice podcast with the voice actors of Blazkowicz and Frau Engel:
https://soundcloud.com/user-2981731...bloom-nina-franoszek-address-nazi-controversy
PS/fake edit:
Once again I am feeling so mad at some of the comments. Please look up "Vergangenheitsbewältigung" or "Stolpersteine". This is post is long enough, I can't tell you about my time at school/upbringing, too.
It is just as infuriating as the Extra Credits video "On World War II and Nazi Symbolism: A Note from Extra History" and parts of its comments. Especially this part:
I also think this law of the Federal Republic's very beginning is silly now, but, still, the horror of the Third Reich lies in its crimes and its abhorrent idea of humanity and society.
Understanding the Nazi ideology and its inner workings does not depend solely on using the right icons.
I hope I've expressed myself clearly.
PPS/fake edit II:
Wasn't "Hitler" in Persona 2 a
, anyway?
