German Ministers to Ban all Violent Video Games?
A growing number of sources are reporting that the 16 Interior Ministers of Germany are striving to have all violent video games banned from the country. Germany has already enforced stricter limits than we get in the UK, banning series such as Gears of War, but this move could block all games considered to be violent from German shelves.
This move could be viewed as misguided, as it seems the main motivation is to prevent another incident such as the tragedy on March 11th of this year, when a 17 year old shot 15 people. He had been playing Far Cry 2 the previous night, which is being cited as an instigator, as similar games often are. However, the game is rated 18 by the USK in Germany, their games moderation board, so clearly the victim was too young to be playing this game in the first place.
This latest development adds more fuel to the debate of who is to blame at times like these, the games or the parents who allow their children to play mature content? The ban would also mean that violent games could not be produced in Germany, which would seriously harm Crytek, developers of the original Far Cry, who are rumoured to be working on the long-awaited Timesplitters 4, which they recently acquired rights to.
8 comments ↓
Grilled Seabass
June 10th, 2009
Fascists.
Slight error you might want to change; you’ve described the psycho killer as ‘the victim’: ‘…clearly the victim was too young to be playing this game’
Seth
June 10th, 2009
Don’t you see? He was the victim of violent video games… If he hadn’t played Far Cry 2, then he would never have become a psycho.
I know I wanted to kill something after playing Far Cry 2. Possibly for different reasons.
manuel
June 10th, 2009
Videogames had nothing to do with this, i play videogames for a long time and nothing bad happened to me or my psyche.
But you can find the photos of me killing these 16 motherfuckers at my email address samfisher@hitman-metalgear.com.
manuel
June 10th, 2009
Videogames had nothing to do with this, i play videogames for a long time and nothing bad happened to me or my psyche.
But you can find the photos of me killing these 16 motherfuckers at my email address samfisher@hitman-metalgear.com
Ian
June 10th, 2009
I played Far Cry 2 and wanted to kill Seth for being HORRIBLY WRONG.
Alasdair
June 10th, 2009
Yet again, games get blamed for something that isn’t really their fault. It could just as easily be said that violent films or television are causing these problems. If, hypothetically, it was the games having a bad influence (which I disagree with), responsibility doesn’t lie with the games, but the parents or guardians who allowed this young man to play a game he wasn’t old enough to play, in this country or his own.
Steve
June 10th, 2009
Germany has stupid laws. In an effort to be the most foward thinking country in Europe they’ve taken censorship to new heights.
Craig Dixon
June 14th, 2009
How long was Manhunt banned for? GAME removed it for 2 weeks if that. They bow to Government pressure but the games sell.
German kids will be able to import it via Ebay, Amazon US, etc.