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The online edition of German news magazine Der Spiegel has revealed that interior ministers urged against ‘Killerspiele' (killer games) during a conference held last Friday. Although details are only being shared in English via online translations such as this, it seems clear that German ministers are now serious about preventing another incident like Winnenden on 11 March where a 17-year-old shot 15 people. The previous evening the shooter had been playing the game "Far Cry 2".
Spiegel Online details that the ministers have appealed for "an explicit production and dissemination ban as soon as possible", preventing the development and distribution of all games considered to be violent within Germany.
The Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) software ratings board already stands in the way of many violent games being released in Germany. The blockbuster "Gears of War" series for Xbox 360 is among them. However the key issue with the latest appeal to the Bundestag, the German equivalent of the British Parliament, is that violent videogames may not be produced on German soil. This would be hard on German based developer Crytek, coincidentally responsible for the original "Far Cry".
Winnenden isn't the first tragedy to move government officials against violent games, and especially those that involve shooting other people. The Columbine High School massacre of 1999 brought that same year's E3 videogame convention under US government scrutiny, forcing first-person-shooters - in particular ultra-realistic ‘simulation' Soldier of Fortune - behind closed doors, viewable by appointment only. In the case of Columbine it was id Software's "Doom" held responsible.
Do violent videogames beget violent gun-toting youths? Are the German ministers over-reacting, or even acting to be seen to be acting? If the German ministers' appeals are accepted, and if the decision proves to be popular overseas, it's likely that UK MPs will see vote-winning opportunities in this country too.
Prudence or politics? You decide.
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I, 100% agree. Coupled with rap/gansta music, easy acess internet porn - it`s no wonder the youth of today are disaffected!
Posted by: ray.gibbs on Tue Jun 09 04:59PM | Report abuseYer they should be banned everywhere. I have no pleasure from such games so I would be happy to see them go. Some WW2 games are educational but some are just violent beyond belief. BAN THEM!
Posted by: lesleykeith on Tue Jun 09 04:59PM | Report abuseGovernments make war yet they see it as their right, therefore we should ban governments as well.
Posted by: davie_djc on Tue Jun 09 04:59PM | Report abuseCrazy. I pray this kind of move never makes it to British soil. I can remember in the 80's when everyone banged on about violent films. It was tosh then and is now. I have played games my whole life. I'm 41 now and still play with my son on most games. I never once felt the need to go out and go crazy with a gun after playing a shooting game. People come in all states of mind. Those with a violent streak don't need a game to show them the way to behave. They have it in them from birth. The Germans will burn books next. Oh wait, they already did that.........
Posted by: batsy68 on Tue Jun 09 04:59PM | Report abuseO @#$% off!
Posted by: terrasaw on Tue Jun 09 04:59PM | Report abuseseriously what is wrong with these people, soon there going to want to ban everything. If there going to ban violent video games then they should be banning violent films as well. These video games are age rated just like movies so its the problem of the parents that buy these games for there kids. what i'd like to know is will they want to ban racing games as well because they encourage fast driving? as i said this is silly they are age rated just as movies are so its up to the parents to keep an eye on what there kids are playing and what they buy for them. C Jackson
Posted by: jasonvoorhees1312 on Tue Jun 09 04:59PM | Report abuseAs usual, it would seem to be another case of looking for someone else to blame. Perhaps more serious questions should be asked, including how the teenaged shooter in Winnenden was able to get his hands on the guns in the first place? In any case, how are games to blame? There are age-restrictions in place for a reason, so any blame should surely rest with the parents of under-aged person who obtains them (ie Columbine); and any person of legal age should be responsible for their own actions, as I am: I'm no real games-fanatic, but I have played the likes of Doom, Gears of War, Bioshock et al, and so far have neither developed any homocidal inclinations to shoot a dozen or so innocent strangers, nor discovered the means to do so even if I did. This seems to be a case of politicians chasing headlines, and my only fear is that our own MPs, desperate to avoid further scrutiny of their own short-commings, will follow suit.
Posted by: neil_martin78 on Tue Jun 09 04:59PM | Report abuseThis is pathetic. Plenty of German videogame stockists supply banned, or 'indexed' games (such as Gears of War), they just do so from beneath the counter and require age identification. This law won't change a thing. It's yet another one of those knee-jerk reactions caused when some idiot guns down members of the public. As is fast becoming the norm, videogames suffer the scapegoat label and are saddled as the source of all of society's ills. Oddly, I don't see violent German or U.S movies and TV shows being targeted. Anyone who's had the misfortune of seeing Saw or any of the current crop of disgusting torture horror films knows videogames should not be targeted for responsibility. Here's hoping the proposed law is rightly thrown out.
Posted by: paddy_clarke_hahaha on Tue Jun 09 05:00PM | Report abuseSo the next time somebody shoots up a school, they'll have to play Mario beforehand? Then we ban Mario? Then Animal Crossing? Violent games don't breed violent people - violent people are drawn to violent activities - video games, films, music, 'sports'.
Posted by: sgtowers83 on Tue Jun 09 05:00PM | Report abuseThis is an absolute disgrace, it is not videogames that make people committ these atrocities, it is a problem within the actual person. I myself play on these types of games and have no inclination whatsoever to take up a gun and go around shooting people. I can differentiate between reality and gameplay and as such know what is right and wrong. The people who commit these attacks have been raised incorrectly by their parents and have no idea of what is acceptable in modern society. Politicians need to have a rethink on this issue and stop blaming games and films for people's actions. It is society as a whole that is failing and there are other issues at work to create these psychopaths.
Posted by: richmansell on Tue Jun 09 05:00PM | Report abuse