Resident Evil 2 German Variant Help

[comicbooknerd]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the very noobish post but im looking for a little help with some release details for Resident Evil 2.

In my collection I have a German copy of RE2. I picked this up of a friend a while back, he got this and the German copy of RE DC along with another batch of games. Since looking into it a little I seem to see alot of sites saying RE2 was banned in Germany. Was this version pulled from stores or was it just a much more cencored version that got released?

Iv'e not had the chance to compare this one myself yet but i'm struggling to find information on it. I know there have been many edits and variants of other titles but im trying to find out a bit more about this version.

Is it hard to get hold off etc? I can't say iv'e seen this variant much on ebay etc but in all honesty untill I got hold of it I wasn't looking.

Any information would be appreciated guys!

[rewak]

I don't think it was "banned" exactly, i think they changed the blood colour to green and that was it. I might be wrong though.

[Anders]

People love to hype stuff with the "banned" word. It wasn't banned, it was "indiziert" (indexed), meaning it couldn't be advertised and I don't think it could even be on display in shops, but could be sold on request if you were over 18 years.

[Rick Hunter]

In my collection I have a German copy of RE2.

Do you have a "German copy" of RE2, or a "copy in German"? Games in Switzerland and Austria are in German, and aren't censored.

[Anders]

Do you have a "German copy" of RE2, or a "copy in German"? Games in Switzerland and Austria are in German, and aren't censored.

There's no Swiss-Austrian edition of the game, you guys probably got SLES 00972

[Renard]

When Resident Evil 3 was released outside of Japan, it was mildly censored in most areas. You couldn't kick the heads off zombies, the head stayed on when you kicked them.

In Germany however, Resident Evil 3 was heavily censored. On top of not being able to kick the heads off zombies, zombie blood was changed to gray. And once you killed a zombie, its body would flash and then disappear (kinda like an arcade-style shooting game).

I have no clue about RE2 though. The heavily censored RE3 could have been a result if RE2 was banned like you said.

[comicbooknerd]

Thanks for the help so far everyone. Iv'e read stories about people importing the game to Germany these days and it getting stopped at customs. The stories of this iv'e read seem to only be when the game is imported from outsude the EU though. Iv'e been having a bit of seach on google images and cant really see much besides a few manual cover shots. Does anyone own this version on here at all? My copy is in storage at the moment as im in the process of moving house otherwise I would put a photo of my version up. It basicially looks like this ( sorry for the lack of my own images of it.

Im not expecting this to be crazy rare or anything but really am finding it hard to find a concrete answer about it, lots of places saying different things.

[Guest]

I got my RE2 German copies (Standard & Platinum) some months ago. I could say its hard to find one of these right now at least on eBay. If you search the game in other markets such as auction-sites from Switzerland and/or Austria you'll have more luck to find it.

As I have understood the game continued to be marketed in countries like Austria and Switzerland, and I think that can confirm Rick Hunter. I have no played it yet but I will to find these differences in next weeks.

[Anders]

Im not expecting this to be crazy rare or anything but really am finding it hard to find a concrete answer about it, lots of places saying different things.

You have your concrete answer, it was sold in stores, but was indiziert/indexed so wasn't advertised etc.
Indexed games: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kategor..._Computerspiel
Banned games: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kategor..._Computerspiel

You can translate sections 5 and 8 here to understand better what it means to be indexed: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indizierung#Deutschland

You can find scans of the German versions here: http://crimson-ceremony.net/lostreleases/regame/re2.php

[DangerousDave87]

I am German and I also own Resident Evil 2.

Some weeks after the release, Resident Evil 2 got indexed. The released version was not censored, it is the exact same game as everywhere (only difference is the language). It could not be purchased from stores any more in Germany. As already mentioned by Rick Hunter, you can buy a German copy outside Germany no problem. It is not illegal to own Resident Evil 2 or to buy it from friends, you just can't buy it in stores any more. At least I haven't seen it anywere!

In contrast, Resident Evil 3 was heavily censored. Zombies started to blink and disappear after you "killed" them, you could no longer blow their heads off and worst of all, they changed the blood colour to grey.

[Anders]

Some weeks after the release, Resident Evil 2 got indexed. (...) At least I haven't seen it anywere!

As far as I understood indexed, they are still sold, but games aren't displayed in the shops, which is why you haven't seen them. You'd have to walk up to the counter and say "Hallo, darf ich bitte Resident Evil Zwei kaufen"?

[comicbooknerd]

You have your concrete answer, it was sold in stores, but was indiziert/indexed so wasn't advertised etc.
Indexed games: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kategor..._Computerspiel
Banned games: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kategor..._Computerspiel

You can translate sections 5 and 8 here to understand better what it means to be indexed: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indizierung#Deutschland

You can find scans of the German versions here: http://crimson-ceremony.net/lostreleases/regame/re2.php

Thanks everyone for all the info, really has cleared it up. There were so many conflicting stories online. Appreciate it! All I need now is the platinum German release as well now!