Next one, for the list: Painkiller Overdose, blocked in Germany.

You win some, you lose some. -_-

EDIT: It's official. Red Faction (1) is no longer on the Index. Thx, THQ Nordic. :)

http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/red-faction/news/red_faction,37160,3304240.html

The company also says that they wish to have more of their games removed from the Index.

Oh well, i've added Painkiller: Overdose to the list and the mix ....

I'm always late at any change in regional blocks, but here I am anyway to leave proof of this being recorded by MaGog:

---------------------------

The newly added game Painkiller: Overdose is regionally locked in DE

Let us welcome the new arrival on the list: Killing Time - which is not available in Germany :(

A retro fps I didn't know of?
I'm interested although it does look extremely cheesy.
It does seem to have different endings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-6JeHs6ZY

Neither did I but that doesn't mean much because i don't know the 3DO at all....

Just learned that both Shadow Warrior Classic Complete and Shadow Warrior Classic Redux (which wasn't region locked anyway) have been de-indexed. Therefore Shadow Warrior Classic Complete should be available to Germans again soon.

Edit: And ninja'd by reality. It's available again. I've removed it from both the list and the mix.

I'm curious: who decides what goes in or out of this index?

A German federal agency known as the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien.

An interesting point is that being indexed since a bit over a decade ago doesn't mean your game is banned, per se. You can still sell it legally, but it can't be publicly displayed in stores or to minors - which means most stores don't bother with indexed games at all, and many online storefronts decide to avoid those titles too.

I see, thank you. I already knew what you explain in the second paragraph, I was more interested in this agency and how it works. Do they meet, say, once a week and decide what's dangerous for the German youth and what isn't anymore? :P

I believe they're on call 24/7 and often get 2am phone calls asking them to go to the office immediately because somebody is about to release a game where a single female breast is displayed and they need to be there to ban it or else society will be destroyed :P

More seriously, they probably work like the Ausralian ratings agency, in that every piece of media slated for mass release in Germany needs to go through them - then they rate it and decide it whether to index it or not. They probably also hold other responsibilities, perhaps as part of their ministry of culture or however they call it.

Just guessing, tho. I reckon you'll be better off asking a German citizen about this :P

Nudity is not a problem here in germany/europe.

I'm aware, but it's not noon yet and I'm not a morning person and I'm sick so you'll take my bad joke and laugh at it regardless.

If I'm not mistaken, anyone can submit an application for the indexing of a particular game, record, movie or book to the BPJM, who will then examine the medium in question and decide whether or not it's actually "harmful to minors".
How exactly they come to those decisions is anyone's guess, as the whole process is rather nebulous.

Additionally, an indexing normally only lasts 25 years, unless it's renewed. If a company wants to get something off the list prematurely, they also have to make an application for that, pay a fee and be very persuasive.