Germany Removes Doom Sales Ban After 17 Years

[Guest]

@JimmiG
"I think you need to take another look at the world. What happened in Germany has happened many times since, in many different parts of the world. The western world often chooses to not see, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened."
That is exactly why history lessons in Germany and Austria focus so hard on WW2 - to prevent happening a similar scenario again here. Unfortunately, they learned the lesson. But the rest of the world didn't. Especially the US, fighting battles and wars all over the world for oil or whatever.

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]aaron88_7[/nom]WW2 was caused by numerous factors, including paranoia, overt national patriotism, in addition to racist attitudes towards minorities.Good thing we all learned a lesson from that horrible war![/citation]
Yes, all fostered by Hitler who only rose to power because of the economic crash, he tried before the crash and was flung in jail.
So the difference is the economic crash.
Doesn't take a genius to work out that a single event changed the whole game.

 

[Trialsking]

[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]6 billion people would be affected, making it unenforcable.[/citation]

+6,000,000,000

Yeah including most people who have posted above...

 

[SmileyTPB1]

I'm laughing at the "Superior" race.

 

[aaron88_7]

[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]Yes, all fostered by Hitler who only rose to power because of the economic crash[/citation]
To attribute the horrors of WW2 to a single person is to show an enormous amount of naivete for what brought the Nazi party to power. It wasn't a person or even a single country responsible, it was an ideology masses of people accepted and went along with. Let's not forget Japan's role in WW2 either. The suicide bombers attacking our Navy weren't giving their lives for Hitler's cause that's for sure.

 

[Benihana]

I'm glad I don't live there. A world without Doom is not a world worth living in.

 

[beenthere]

Yeah, I'll bet there is ton's of "historical value" in a video game... Really.

 

[aaron88_7]

[citation][nom]beenthere[/nom]Yeah, I'll bet there is ton's of "historical value" in a video game... Really.[/citation]
I'm assuming you're too young to have been around when Doom was released, but back then it broke huge boundaries, not just for gaming, but media in general. I still remember my friends having to come to my house to play it because their right wing nutty parents thought it was a product of the devil lol.

A lot of games are still trying to recapture the essence of what Doom created. I'd say that's a pretty historical game!

 

[eddieroolz]

I've always regarded the absolute ban of Nazi-related ideas, graphics and speech to be a ridiculous censorship in Germany, but it's good to see Doom being removed from the ban list. I say this because while self-criticism is good, I think Germany has taken it too far via the above-mentioned censorship.

In my frank opinion, Germans have a lot to be thankful for the National Socialists. They stabilized the economy (at expensive of debt, however), engaged in rebuilding Germany and made her a powerful nation once again.

While their racist policy was indeed extreme, I'd like someone to tell me a place on earth where racism was not prevalent in the 1930's. USA/Canada was the bastion of anti-Asian racism with head taxes and immigration bans; Europe was churning in anti-Semitism; and in Asia there were widespread anti-Western sentiment (in colonies) and such.

What I'm saying is that their racial policy, as unfortunate as it was, is just an unfortunate byproduct of the time.

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]aaron88_7[/nom]To attribute the horrors of WW2 to a single person is to show an enormous amount of naivete for what brought the Nazi party to power. It wasn't a person or even a single country responsible, it was an ideology masses of people accepted and went along with. Let's not forget Japan's role in WW2 either. The suicide bombers attacking our Navy weren't giving their lives for Hitler's cause that's for sure.[/citation]
Those horrors are simple human nature, left unchecked any nation on this planet can do the same, look at what happened in Bosnia, Somalia, Zimbabwe, all very very recently. As soon as the controlling authority lets it off the chain people automatically start to divide and kill each other for a real or imagined enemy.

Surely the Americans can understand this? Your whole nation was quite happy with the idea of the black slave trade until Lincoln abolished it. One man, in charge, altered the status quo.

Hitler did the opposite, sure he nation had racial tension but instead of trying to calm the people and get them to work together he fomented that into a resolve and stoked the fires of anti-semetism. He could have used his influence to make the country a better place, instead he guided the country into madness.

Of course now that Hitler is dead the German people remain and there is always that undercurrent of neo-Nazi feeling, but no worse than the Klan in the USA, with the right kind of leadership Germany now is great place to visit, good food, fantastic beer and they make some pretty good cars.

In many ways, Hitler and George W Bush are alike, both got elected in very dubious circumstances and led the nation to illegal wars, the real lesson here is be very careful about which idiot you vote for because the man does not always represent the idiology, even if his party has a sound message.

 

[back_by_demand]

Oh, and as far as trying to Demonise the Japanese, how come none of their scientists went to the Hague for war crimes. Even after they put living American soldiers in a centrifuge until they exploded. When the war ended they were dealt with in the harshest manner possible? No, they went back to the USA and worked for them.

 

[f-gomes]

[citation][nom]cookoy[/nom]Doom and Wolfenstein with Sound Blaster at full blast, those were the good old days[/citation]
I was there!

 

[marraco]

Just google 'online OR flash doom'. Nobody can ban that.

 

[ik242]

i lived in germany when those games were released and EVERYONE had them. this is a joke....

 

[dontknownotsure]

[citation][nom]eddieroolz[/nom]I've always regarded the absolute ban of Nazi-related ideas, graphics and speech to be a ridiculous censorship in Germany, but it's good to see Doom being removed from the ban list. I say this because while self-criticism is good, I think Germany has taken it too far via the above-mentioned censorship.In my frank opinion, Germans have a lot to be thankful for the National Socialists. They stabilized the economy (at expensive of debt, however), engaged in rebuilding Germany and made her a powerful nation once again. While their racist policy was indeed extreme, I'd like someone to tell me a place on earth where racism was not prevalent in the 1930's. USA/Canada was the bastion of anti-Asian racism with head taxes and immigration bans; Europe was churning in anti-Semitism; and in Asia there were widespread anti-Western sentiment (in colonies) and such. What I'm saying is that their racial policy, as unfortunate as it was, is just an unfortunate byproduct of the time.[/citation]

Well they made one small mistake: losing the war.
Without a chance to whitewash themselves Germany are now paying for it, imposed shame and all because victors wrote the textbooks.

 

[whysobluepandabear]

You people have to realize the context. This country was responsible for the worst genocide, and wars known to man kind.


They try to filter out violence. I know a lot of you are saying "Oh, bullshit, video games don't make you violent - and they're not the reason people kill or hurt each other" -- and for the most part, I would agree with you.


However, if you raised a bunch of tree-hugger children that didn't know the meaning of "Being a man", fighting, violence or anything of that nature - only love, caring and kindness for their fellow man - I can promise that they would greatly show less violence.


You'll surely argue that it's natural, and hard-wired into our brains. I disagree. Nature vs nurture is a highly debated topic, usually resulting in almost everything being a result of the environment.


People aren't violent by nature - we're born to be a certain way. Look at how much less violent we've become over the past 50 years. There used to be a time where people settled arguments with a gun fight - and this was a socially acceptable situation. Look at all the people who used to dress in their best attire, only to watch a public hanging - yeah, entire families who would go to church, would then all gather to watch some poor bastard get hung to death.


If that isn't violent, then I don't know what is.

 

[Rizlla]

Now this game brings back memories. Doom for Windows 95, the first game I ever finished.

 

[kingnoobe]

@beenthere.. Why shouldn't it. People are constantly saying art has historical value, and games are art in their own rights. Their far better art then somebody throwing paint on a canvas from a ladder.

 

[aaron88_7]

[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]Oh, and as far as trying to Demonise the Japanese[/citation]
I'm not demonizing, (it isn't not spelled demonise), any person, culture, or country. You said Hitler was responsible for WW2 and I'm simply pointing out you forgot about the other side of the globe during that time.
[citation][nom]dontknownotsure[/nom]Well they made one small mistake: losing the war.Without a chance to whitewash themselves Germany are now paying for it, imposed shame and all because victors wrote the textbooks.[/citation]
I think you mean "Germans are paying for it", please people, is it too much to ask to not rape the English language while expressing your distorted views on history? Now in response, the Nazi party took over Germany and most Germans were too afraid to do anything after the party took root. They let nationalism and racist attitudes snowball to a point where it took a war to stop it. Hitler had many enemies, most were German. There were around 40 or so documented attempts on Hitlers life, that alone should be a testament to how popular he was among most Germans.

Once the war ended Germans were finally free from the Nazi party and were so disgusted decided to ban all Nazi paraphernalia. We as unaffected children of WW2 can argue all day about whether this ban is a good idea or not, but you have to stop and remember that the people that implemented this ban had just escaped from a brutal government feed by public compliance and acceptance for nationalistic attitudes and racism.

So while I believe the ban is not right, I also respect the fact that I didn't live in Germany while it was held captive by one of the worlds most brutal political parties, so if Germans want to continue the ban then that is their choice to have, not mine.

I will also say that it is not uncommon for Nazi sympathizers, or just simply racist people, to be attracted towards Nazi paraphernalia, including games like Wolfenstein. So even though I don't agree with the ban, I completely understand their reasoning behind it.

 

[DaveUK]

[citation][nom]ojas[/nom]I kind of feel bad for the Germans, the Nazi legacy causes them a lot of problems.[/citation]

I think you'll find it caused a lot more problems for everyone else involved so I don't feel sorry for them, at all.

 

[vaughn2k]

spreiken heinen! tapunen ang basurahen!

 

[tinmann]

I think I've spent more hours on the Doom series than any other FPS ever made. Doom 3 was pale in comparison to the original. They just couldn't capture the madness, the chaos or the intensity of the original. At points in the game the hair would be standing up on the back of my neck. My vote for the best game EVER! It changed the way we play.

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]WhysoBluepandabear[/nom]You people have to realize the context. This country was responsible for the worst genocide, and wars known to man kind[/citation]
Actually it isn't, the worst genocide was Spain and Cortez in South America, 60 million is a conservative estimate and that is as much as Hitler, Stalin and Mao all put together.
Then there was what happened to the Native Americans against an invading European force.
3 million is a drop in the oceam compared to what happened on the other side of the pond, but seeing as they happened so long ago people seem to forget.

I guess nobody learned anything from that lesson, eh?

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]aaron88_7[/nom]I'm not demonizing, (it isn't not spelled demonise)[/citation]
It is demonise.
That's why it's called the English language and not the American language.
Colour me bad, it's a matter of honour, etc.
Sure they are interchangable, but only because the last 200 years has seen the language bastardised by the colonials, old chap...

 

[ojas]

[citation][nom]DaveUK[/nom]I think you'll find it caused a lot more problems for everyone else involved so I don't feel sorry for them, at all.[/citation]

Hey...the germans of today are not the same people who did all the BS in WW2. Germans aren't proud of their WW2 legacy (they tend to get very upset if you associate them with the nazis). You guys sitting in US/Europe would perhaps know much more about WW2 than i do, and would know what the nazis and hitler subjected their people to.

[citation][nom]aaron88_7[/nom]I'm not demonizing, (it isn't not spelled demonise), any person, culture, or country. You said Hitler was responsible for WW2 and I'm simply pointing out you forgot about the other side of the globe during that time(....)So even though I don't agree with the ban, I completely understand their reasoning behind it.[/citation]

Agreed.

But as back_by_demand says it's demonise in british english