Captain Quasi-Obvious: Prototype edited for Australia ... and Germany

10:16 AM on 04.28.2008   |   Jim Sterling

15 comments

In what looks like the beginnings of a worrying trend, Radical Entertainment has said it is working hard to make sure Prototype is released in those countries currently not open-minded enough to handle violence in videogames, even if it has to censor its work to do it.

The studio is dealing with authorities from both countries to tone down the game and make it suitable for release in the those places notorious for their aversion to blood and violence (ironic, considering the ancestors for both of them). Although Australia is home to a few censored games, this is the first instance I've seen of Germany being singled out from the rest of Europe to have a special toned down version.

"We're working really closely with the German office and we've had multiple meetings with the USK. As you can imagine that was a lot of work to get it through the German market but we take it very seriously," stated Radical marketing director Chris Hansell. "They've seen it a number of times and we're making very detailed analysis of the particular elements we need to change and tweak and we're always watching the other titles and what they have to change. It's a large job for us to do, I won't lie. It's a challenge that we've said we would tackle and take on."

While I am impressed by the studio's commitment to getting gamers its product, I can't help but feel it's a step backwards rather than forwards, and in an age where game makers should really stand up for their creations as they were intended to be created, it's a little sad that they feel the need to do this. At the end of the day though, it's the gamers who suffer -- having to pay more for less.