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.