German law blocking Wii U content in Europe

That's gotta be suck. Good thing, many of us here are not in Europe. 

We've been having a big debate about this on CVG (since most of us are Brits). Some blame Nintendo, some blame the Germans. Me? Hmm... Nintendo or Germany? Have a guess. 

GERMANS ARE STINKING SMART! Except why isn't it just banned altogether...? Uh oh, don't make me take back my compliment...

Why? Kids are still going to play it regardless of when you're 'allowed' to purchase it. This only creates problems and solves none.

I live in the USA, so luckily this doesn't effect me...yet. I hope this problem is resolved quickly. Somebody mentioned IP filtering/blocking out users based on country, and that sounds like the most reasonable and plausible idea. You may be thinking that this policy doesn't effect you because you don't live in Europe, but you're wrong. This mature content block in such a huge area is going to discourage developers from making mature games for the eShop period. Why should a developer create games for the Wii U eShop and have a limited audience, when neither XBLA or the PSN Store impose such restrictions? C'mon Nintendo, get your act together, or the way of Sega you will soon go.

Because the parents that will let their kids near things that are rated 18 are really big on making them go to bed... How much money was wasted on this law?

Got to love the Germans... couldn't take over Europe by force, now they're trying to do it with draconian legal procedure instead.

Hopefully it's fixed in a few months. Right now it isn't much of an issue unless you enjoy paying £10-£15 more for retail games, but once some good mature downloadable games or demos come out then it'll be a bit annoying.

Looks like Wii U will be a short lived console.

Oh that explains it.  Wait no it doesn't.  Why did you set up in Germany?  The "Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons" has existed in some form or another since 1953 (originally it had a different name and dealt only with writings).  Nintendo, why would you set up in a country that clearly might restrict you in this way?  This isn't new.  (In fact, so far as I can tell they've been cracking down on video games since at least 2003.)  Second, how does a german law determine what you can do in Ireland.  That needs some splainin'.  Third, are you planning on fighting this in the courts?  There's never been a case like this, so there's at least a case to be made.  Fourth, isn't there any way around this?  Can't you just set up a room full of servers in the UK, declare that your HQ and upload everything from there (while still doing everything else from Germany)?  Maybe you're stuck with all this, but saying "oh German law" certainly doesn't explain everything.

you have topless stripper shows on german network TV after 11pm, and call me now dirty phone call ads, where the womean are 95% nude. I saw one where the woman was about 65, so at least they cater for all sorts. Don't know how protected their youth are.

Mother fvcking LOL.

because wii u is a kids friendly console ...... 

Because that will stop everyone.

Law or no law, it's still silly regardless. 

We see the different cultures between different countries...  If they did something like this in Canada, people would be furious.  In Europe they seem used to that kind of garbage so I bet people won't even complain.

As gamers, we need to show solidarity to take a stand against oppressive anti-gamer laws in other countries, even if they don't affect us.

But how does a law in Germany apply to all of Europe?

How is this even legal?  Germany decided that adult gamers don't have a right to buy mature content during most of the day, in the name of "protecting the children".  This is what I call discrimination against gamers.  Not all gamers are children, but according to Germany, they are.  Adult gamers do not have rights, according to Germany?

I find it funny when Europeans brag about how "progressive" they are and how supposedly they have more "freedom" than North America (according to them the US is a police state), yet I keep hearing stories like this one where human rights are blatantly ignored.  I live in Canada by the way.  Europe : you can keep your "progress" to yourself!

Apparently the Nazis are still in power in Germany after all those years.

Gotta love America and that first Amendment. 

Those zany Germans are at it again.  It's kind of funny how German policy seems to be the polar opposite of America...  In America, you can gut people with chainsaws until the cows come home, but if you dared to even show 1/10th of an areola you'll be burnt at the stake.  Whereas Germany has such strict laws against violence, but just try to find a German porno that isn't kinky as hell.  

It seems to me though that civilized people make love not war..  So maybe the Germans are just a little further along.  Actually no, now I'm just confused about everything.

No censorship, or whatever this is, please.

So... German law now dictates what happens in the rest of Europe?

... If I lived in France I'd be getting nervous. 

Go to London, Nintendo EU. Then you can go to the pub during your lunch break.

Alright, well this makes total sense, as a person who lived in europe for 8 years, this is ridiculous. European TV shows sex scenes from R (17) movies during the day on almost any station, but buying M games (17) is just crossing the line.GIve me a break. Europe and Australia have jumped on the bandwagon that games are the supreme most evil influence in a child's life...what a bunch of liberal crap.Maybe if these kids had better PARENTS and maybe TWO of them, they would end up a lot better and out of trouble. In the US, almost 80% of all robberies and thefts are done from men who grew up in single-parent homes. NOW that's a note-worthy statistic.

OK, I think I've got this straight. This is a German law and not an EU law but it's gonna affect me in the UK and the rest of Europe because Nintendo is based Gernany.

Perhaps Nintendo of Europe could gentley wave 2 fingers towards Berlin and bugger off to Brussels or London.

Is this law applicable to PSN, Steam, XBLA, GOG, etc?

Either Germany needs to change its laws or Nintendo needs to take their jobs to another country.

Can't everyone just look forward to PS4, 720, and Wii U equally with awesome?

What is the purpose of flaming?

Hell, I look forward to 4 HDMI inputs being used on my TV in the next 4 years.

1 - PS4

2 - 360 (Next 3 years, 720 due to expense)

3 - Wii U

4 - PC