Politics is not a topic normally discussed in relation to game rating systems, but censorship of political content--mostly in the form of political symbols--is quite common. Nazi imagery, for example, has a long history of being censored, both in Germany and elsewhere. Exactly why is such political content censored? Whom is it intended to protect? Who is censoring it? What obligation do commercial game makers have to comply with prevailing political views? What are the consequences for not doing so? And what effect does this back-and-forth have on the political imagination of gaming culture?

Games discussed will include:

Bionic Commando
Wolfenstein
Indiana Jones
Death to Spies
Metal of Honor (2010)
Six Days in Fallujah
First-Person Victim
Tropico
Shadow Complex
Metal Gear

"[REDACTED]" - Censoring Game Politics is part three of a running discussion series on censorship in video games. Konstantin Mitgutsch, one of our visiting scholars, is a member of PEGI, the European games rating board. He wants people from local Boston industry, academia, and journalism to come and discuss various topics of game censorship - namely violence, sex, and politics - for a report he is currently compiling for PEGI. The goal of the report is to suggest changes to the current rating system.

This session will take place in GAMBIT between 4 and 7 pm (coming late is okay) on Friday 2/18 (today!). It will begin with Konstantin giving a little context for his report, how game rating systems currently work, etc. Then we will play a series of games and discuss them while we play. The goal is to capture the conversation. While it is happening, a small camera crew will be filming. The video will later go up on the GAMBIT website as part of our normal video series, but the video will also be used for reference for Konstantin's report.

There will be cookies.