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#1 Germany considers ban on violent games
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:25 pm
by frigidmagi
techspot
Violent games may soon be a thing of the past in Germany. GamePolitics reports that the country’s sixteen interior ministers have banded together to petition the Bundestag (Germany's equivalent of Parliament) for a ban on both the production and distribution of violent games. If approved, the ban could be fully enforced before the next German elections in September, forcing companies like Crytek to either relocate or outsource development work.
The country has been hard on video games in the past with bans on Manhunt and Dead Rising taking place, or even going as far as to require alterations to the cover art for Left 4 Dead, but an outright ban on every violent game would significantly hurt the European market for mature games and threaten the country’s games industry. The proposal is gaining a lot of attention as it comes in the wake of a school shooting in which sixteen people were killed, with the 17-year-old shooter being revealed as a Far Cry 2 and Counter Strike fan.
#2
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 7:02 pm
by The Minx
So, they assume that the games caused this behavior simply because the shooter happened to play them?
I wonder whether they'll ban soccer the next time some soccer fan goes on a rampage.
What a load of nanny state nonsense.
PS: In other news, stuff can be downloaded nowadays.
#3
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 7:14 pm
by Batman
Oh great Valen not again...
Nevermind the idiocy of the underlying idea (that violent video games actually have a causal relationship with stuff like that) what makes them think they CAN prevent the distribution of violent video games when next to everybody has high speed internet access?
Not that this is a recent development. Germany (that is, german politicians and the self-styled 'concerned citizens' they pander to) disliking violent video games goes back to the mid-90s at least.
I remember the german versions of 'Crusader:No Regret' and 'Fallout' had to have gore disabled so they could be sold here. Yeah, because there's no such thing as imports.
#4
Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:59 pm
by Cpl Kendall
All those years of games before and after the Army sure haven't made me into a one man killing machine, hell I still can't hit anything. Wonder why that is...