loCAliZAtion As AdAptAtion in the WOLFENSTEIN frAnChise
209
markets with specific constraints. 21 Such local constraints can often be cast
into law, prescribing self-regulation procedures and delineating forbidden
content. An example of the redesign of a product for a certain target audience
is the 1993 SNES version of Wolfenstein 3D. 22 In the process of porting the
game from computer to console, many violent elements as well as references
to Nazi Germany were removed from its gameplay. The changes to the
storyworld thus reached beyond what was technically necessary to adapt
the game to the new platform in order to meet the constraints of the SNES’s
“family friendly” branding. 23 In contrast, the localization of Return to Castle
Wolfenstein (2001) for the German market reflects German legal constraints. 24
These constraints made it necessary for the producers to remove certain
references to Nazi Germany. A reduction of violent gameplay features, in
contrast, was only necessary for a number of instances of ultra-violence.
Media companies themselves conducted these changes, functioning as
“narrative filters in the same way as material or technical media do.” 25 As this
example shows, the narrative filtering of the Wolfenstein series is an interesting
case, since it is not solely motivated in relation to a target audience, but by
the target market’s legislation. It is also noteworthy that the video games in
question are treated differently in legal terms from comparable movies or books.
This shows how local constraints can preserve clear-cut distinctions between
media types, based on lawmakers’ cultural biases against newer media. 26
21 E.g. Dennis Kogel, “Wolfenstein: The New Order – Interview mit Bethesda: Warum die
deutsche Version anders ist,” GameStar, May 10, 2014, accessed January 20, 2017, www.gamestar.de/
spiele/wolfenstein-the-new-order/artikel/wolfenstein_the_new_order,49503,3055635.html%20
viewed%202015-04-29.
22 Inc. id Software, Wolfenstein 3D (Imagineer Co., Limited, 1993).
23 Cf. “Nintendo of America’s video game content guidelines and an assessment of their policy”
by Steven A. Schwartz and Janet Schwartz, Parent’s Guide to Video Games (Rocklin, CA: Prima,
1994), 21–24.
24 Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Inc. et al., Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Activision
Deutschland GmbH, 2001).
25 Karl N. Renner, “Erzählen im Zeitalter der Medienkonvergenz.” In Medien – Erzählen –
Gesellschaft: Transmediales Erzählen im Zeitalter der Medienkonvergenz, ed. Karl N. Renner,
Dagmar von Hoff and Matthias Krings, Media Convergence/Medienkonvergenz 2 (Berlin:
de Gruyter, 2013), 4, my translation.
26 The frequently criticized fact that video games face more restrictions than movies in Germany
(Michael Kauert, “Computerrecht – Computerspiele.” In Medienrecht: Praxishandbuch, Vol. 2,
ed. Artur-Axel Wandtke and Claudia Ohst, 3rd ed., 5 vols. (Berlin, Boston: de Gruyter, 2014),
2:522, paragraph 177) is easily demonstrated when looking at the first official Wolfenstein movie,
released in 2009 (Lasse Nolte, Der Goldene Nazivampir von Absam 2. Das Geheimnis von Schloß
Kottlitz (2007)). Unlike the Wolfenstein video games, it was neither indexed nor confiscated in
Germany. The movie is a German production and its title translates literally to “The Golden
209
markets with specific constraints. 21 Such local constraints can often be cast
into law, prescribing self-regulation procedures and delineating forbidden
content. An example of the redesign of a product for a certain target audience
is the 1993 SNES version of Wolfenstein 3D. 22 In the process of porting the
game from computer to console, many violent elements as well as references
to Nazi Germany were removed from its gameplay. The changes to the
storyworld thus reached beyond what was technically necessary to adapt
the game to the new platform in order to meet the constraints of the SNES’s
“family friendly” branding. 23 In contrast, the localization of Return to Castle
Wolfenstein (2001) for the German market reflects German legal constraints. 24
These constraints made it necessary for the producers to remove certain
references to Nazi Germany. A reduction of violent gameplay features, in
contrast, was only necessary for a number of instances of ultra-violence.
Media companies themselves conducted these changes, functioning as
“narrative filters in the same way as material or technical media do.” 25 As this
example shows, the narrative filtering of the Wolfenstein series is an interesting
case, since it is not solely motivated in relation to a target audience, but by
the target market’s legislation. It is also noteworthy that the video games in
question are treated differently in legal terms from comparable movies or books.
This shows how local constraints can preserve clear-cut distinctions between
media types, based on lawmakers’ cultural biases against newer media. 26
21 E.g. Dennis Kogel, “Wolfenstein: The New Order – Interview mit Bethesda: Warum die
deutsche Version anders ist,” GameStar, May 10, 2014, accessed January 20, 2017, www.gamestar.de/
spiele/wolfenstein-the-new-order/artikel/wolfenstein_the_new_order,49503,3055635.html%20
viewed%202015-04-29.
22 Inc. id Software, Wolfenstein 3D (Imagineer Co., Limited, 1993).
23 Cf. “Nintendo of America’s video game content guidelines and an assessment of their policy”
by Steven A. Schwartz and Janet Schwartz, Parent’s Guide to Video Games (Rocklin, CA: Prima,
1994), 21–24.
24 Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Inc. et al., Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Activision
Deutschland GmbH, 2001).
25 Karl N. Renner, “Erzählen im Zeitalter der Medienkonvergenz.” In Medien – Erzählen –
Gesellschaft: Transmediales Erzählen im Zeitalter der Medienkonvergenz, ed. Karl N. Renner,
Dagmar von Hoff and Matthias Krings, Media Convergence/Medienkonvergenz 2 (Berlin:
de Gruyter, 2013), 4, my translation.
26 The frequently criticized fact that video games face more restrictions than movies in Germany
(Michael Kauert, “Computerrecht – Computerspiele.” In Medienrecht: Praxishandbuch, Vol. 2,
ed. Artur-Axel Wandtke and Claudia Ohst, 3rd ed., 5 vols. (Berlin, Boston: de Gruyter, 2014),
2:522, paragraph 177) is easily demonstrated when looking at the first official Wolfenstein movie,
released in 2009 (Lasse Nolte, Der Goldene Nazivampir von Absam 2. Das Geheimnis von Schloß
Kottlitz (2007)). Unlike the Wolfenstein video games, it was neither indexed nor confiscated in
Germany. The movie is a German production and its title translates literally to “The Golden