Has anyone gotten it yet?

[Hierophant]

Oh my.. I don't know if I should be annoyed or amused because of this.

There are some german players who are somewhat annoyed that there is no german version, perhaps they will be happier when they know that MoO3 is in a special way a typical "german" game. I doubt it, though

[darcy]

heh, looks like some "political correctness" nonsense from the publisher. Games are indexed through a review process by a board, not by comparing them to some list which outlaws red blood. If you show excessive graphic violence against human beings, colouring the blood green won't protect your game.

Couldn't stuff like that get you an M or R rating in the US too? Why risk that for a strategy game that might sell well to kids?

[Jamski]

But MoO3 is not a kids game, is it?

*starts to look worried*

-Jam

[darcy]

Oh, all good games are kids games, because they are easy to understand and fun. If you want to use "kid game" in a derogatory way, keep in mind that some 12-year-olds play chess better than you (unless you're a Master, of course).

[Grumbold]

Thats what I meant. If you want an EU wide release you need to satisfy all the national legislative quirks as well as passing the blanket EU stamp of approval. So no red blood (Germany) or swastikas (Germany and others) or nudity (Uk mainly) or certain swear words (various) or kids that can be hurt, intentionally or accidentally (UK). Any of this stuff and you get an R/M/18 stamp on the game and lose a considerable market.

Thats why things like the European version of Carmageddon look very different from the US version. Even the Fallouts looked odd because all the teen gangs had to get edited out in case someone shot them.

Its another reason why some games get released for the US only. Its not just that they have to do a language translation but they actually have to recode parts if they want to release in each country. Often the profits aren't worth the hassle. Just look at the fuss over whether Germany and Spain are ever going to get a Civ III 1.29 patch. Any game where these things are big issues I usually import the US version now. At least I can be fairly confident I'll get the game as intended and all the patches that get made.

[Ozymandous]

Amusing

And people say the US has too many "rules" that have to be followed.

Glad most of the other "holier-than-thou" European countries have their own 'issues' as well.

[Jamski]

Originally posted by darcy
Oh, all good games are kids games, because they are easy to understand and fun. If you want to use "kid game" in a derogatory way, keep in mind that some 12-year-olds play chess better than you (unless you're a Master, of course).

Well, actually I beat a few Masters once but it was a charity (i.e. non-ranking) tournament, (the charity got money from people paying to play against Masters) and I lost in the long run, so yes, I'm not a Master myself. I was probably a _bit_ lucky, but its still something to be proud of. But still, compentent as I am, there are some 12 year olds that play better chess than me. But chess is not a "kid game". Unreal Tournament is a "kids game" or the various C&C clones. Ach, you know what I mean.

-Jam

[Grumbold]

Re: Amusing

Originally posted by Ozymandous
And people say the US has too many "rules" that have to be followed.

Glad most of the other "holier-than-thou" European countries have their own 'issues' as well.

I guess its quite similar to State laws. I wouldn't know what the legal age to drink, gamble, drive etc was in one State to the next or one EU country to the next. The recent chaos caused by a coachload of English plane spotting enthusiasts being arrested and put on trial by the Greeks for "spying" just goes to show how stupid these things can be even in seemingly civilised and democratic countries.

[Rantz]

Originally posted by darcy
heh, looks like some "political correctness" nonsense from the publisher. Games are indexed through a review process by a board, not by comparing them to some list which outlaws red blood. If you show excessive graphic violence against human beings, colouring the blood green won't protect your game.

Couldn't stuff like that get you an M or R rating in the US too? Why risk that for a strategy game that might sell well to kids?

There are scene in the intro movie, and stuff involving certain races that a PG-13 at the least, and are central to the gameplay premise. Marketing wanted an 'E' rating, they were informed that material could not come out without delaying a redesigning the game. (Green blood or not, it's still gory, and it's pivotal to one element of gameplay...)

So, I believe MOO3 has a 'T' rating in the states

[Sarxis]

Since you are here, is the warehouse shipping yet?

[booje]

I'm going NUTS over here! A whole MONTH to get the game! Boo-hoo!

Say, for those of us here in S. Cal, couldn't we drive over to the offices and pick up a copy? Heh...heh...er...heh...

[Jamski]

Well, give us some sympathy over on the other side of the pond. We'll have to wait one more week while it actually ships, on an actual ship, which could sink or anything

-Jam

[booje]

Sorry old chap! Well, this IS the 21st Century. Why the heck don't they ship the manuals, boxes and such now and then send the cd via a secured tunnel (ssh?) across the net and then burn them onto disks for simutaneous worldwide release.

[Harry Seldon]

I think because some of us still live in the dark ages of 20th century dialup modems. The travesty of being poor...

[booje]

That's a good idea too but Harry I was actually thinking that the distributor would have the high-speed connection and burn copies from a downloaded master.