What's going on in Germany? First they threatened to lock up the makers and publishers of video games which portrayed "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters". Then they threatened to jail the people who played these games as well. Now, they're considering banning violent games altogether.
Sigh. It's tough to be a German gamer these days.
In any case, this recent string of events has been triggered by a recent shooting incident in that country, in which the scapegoat culprit has apparently been the person-with-a-gun's addiction to violent video games. Now, to add to the already-stringent censorship policies, a new bill has been proposed by the German states of Bavaria and Lower Saxony. This one advocates even more tightening of content moderation which could then lead to the complete banning of games which feature "cruel violence". First and foremost among those that may be affected by this legislation would be FPS titles such as CounterStrike and Call of Duty 3. This proposed bill is due to be discussed next year.
According to Bavarian interior minister Gunther Beckstein, "It is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitize unstable characters to violence and can have a stimulating effect."
Right.
What do we have to say about all this? Only that parents should pay more attention to their kids, and that people should Respect the Ratings.
What's going on in Germany? First they threatened to lock up the makers and publishers of video games which portrayed "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters". Then they threatened to jail the people who played these games as well. Now, they're considering banning violent games altogether.
Sigh. It's tough to be a German gamer these days.
In any case, this recent string of events has been triggered by a recent shooting incident in that country, in which the scapegoat culprit has apparently been the person-with-a-gun's addiction to violent video games. Now, to add to the already-stringent censorship policies, a new bill has been proposed by the German states of Bavaria and Lower Saxony. This one advocates even more tightening of content moderation which could then lead to the complete banning of games which feature "cruel violence". First and foremost among those that may be affected by this legislation would be FPS titles such as CounterStrike and Call of Duty 3. This proposed bill is due to be discussed next year.
According to Bavarian interior minister Gunther Beckstein, "It is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitize unstable characters to violence and can have a stimulating effect."
Right.
What do we have to say about all this? Only that parents should pay more attention to their kids, and that people should Respect the Ratings.