Information AboutUnterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT UNTERHALTUNGSSOFTWARE SELBSTKONTROLLE | |
| video game organizations | |
| video game content ratings systems | |
| organisations based in germany | |
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Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle ( German ''Voluntary Monitoring Organisation of Entertainment Software'') or '''USK''', is Germany's Software rating organisation. RATINGS Software can receive one of the following ratings: Please note that the German version of Grand Theft Auto (since part three) is edited in various parts. The US-version of Grand Theft Auto received no rating at all. When referring to Grand Theft Auto getting a USK 16 only the German version is meant, featuring no headshots, having less blood, some weapons or their special impact are removed, civilians leave no money, some missions are missing. This goes for other localised games too. THE INDEX Games that are refused classification are referred to the '' Bundesprüfstelle Für Jugendgefährdende Medien '' (''Federal Verification Office for Youth-Endangering Media'') and can be placed on the ''Index'' (a process known in German as ''Indizierung''), upon which the titles may only be sold on request to adults over the age of 18, and are not to be advertised in retail stores or other media. It is permitted to use these titles in private but not to supply them to minors. CENSORING AND BANNING Games with a USK 18 rating or those placed on the index are not necessarily uncut, although as a general rule they are, with a number of exceptions. It is still possible for games to be banned in Germany—as is the case with titles such as '' Manhunt '' (violence) and the English version of '' Return To Castle Wolfenstein '' ( Nazi symbolism), which are not even available "under the counter" per the Index. As of 2003, entertainment software sold in Germany does not have to be USK-rated but without the rating it is automatically forbidden to be sold to minors below 18 years old. Microsoft, for instance, chose not to sell '' Gears Of War '' in Germany as the USK rejected to give it an official rating, which means the same as the rating 18+ but also gives the BPjM the right to test whether to put the game on the Index or not—which they did shortly after. The ban on endorsing Nazism or displaying Swastika s outside of a historical context applies to all titles. To avoid legal issues, many developers remove the reference to swastikas altogether, although the symbol of the 3rd Reich ' s Army is still permitted. It is also permitted to feature a function in which one can assume the role of the German army in World War II as in games such as '' Sudden Strike '' and '' Axis And Allies '', although this is a subject of controversy. SEE ALSO
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