I already made extensive posts on Joystiq about this:
There is no such law in Germany for games or any retail/digital content. If there were such a law it would not be possible to buy Saints Row 3, Halo Reach, God of War 3, GTA IV or any other 18+ game at any German retailer during daytime. But as I said it's not, you can buy all of those, nude mags and melee weapons at any given time.
The only law that restricts mature content has to do with television, where 16+ content needs to be broadcasted around 10pm and 18+ content around 11pm. But even that is only valid for non pay TV channels.
There MIGHT me a different law, one that doesn't allow online distributors to sell 18+ games without verifying that the customer is over 18 years old. But this has NOTHING to do with time, so it's not related to anything Nindendo said.
IF Nintendo doesn't have such a measure in their eShop and a 6 year old child is able to order ZombiU from Nintendo's own online store then I don't see why anyone is blaming Germany.
Every publisher has to abide by the German law if they target German customers or else they're facing massive problems. They don't need to be located here.
Does Microsoft sell Gears of War 1 and 2 here ? No they don't because they were too violent to get a 18+ rating. They aren't "banned" though, simply because MS decided to not release them here.
Can Steam sell uncut games to their German customers ? Nope
Every game that is rated 18+ can be advertised and sold at retail or online at any given time.
There is no WiiU game that is too violent to not get a rating. ZombiU got a 18+ rating, so Ubisoft can sell it anywhere at any time.Look at other German located online shops:
http://www.buch.de/shop/home/suchartikel/zombiu/EAN3307215654347/ID32404779.html?fftrk=1%3A1%3A10%3A1&jumpId=13414319
not even 1pm and I can buy it, even though the store is located in Germany.
Some bonus information about the rating system:
A game that is too violent to get a 18+ rating has three choices:
1. It gets released, but doesn't get a rating, which means that it cannot be openly distributed or advertised. It can still be sold though, but hidden from the younger audience ! (that is unless the German justice says it cannot be distributed at all)
2. The developer cuts the most violent parts out of the game and tries to get a 18+ rating that way (the most common way)
3. It doesn't get released because the developer or publisher doesn't want to cut anything to get a 18+ rating (Gears of War 1+2, Crackdown). That's their own decision.
German Ratings:
USK 0
USK 6
USK 12
USK 16
USK 18
Rating denied (can still be sold !)
Confiscated (= banned)
The last two are not official ratings. Examples:
USK 18 - ZombiU
Rating denied - Dead Island
Confiscated - Manhunt
