Rules Would Also Hamper German-Based Developers
All of Germany’s Internior Ministers are pressing for legislation from the country’s Bundestag, or parliament, to outright ban the sale and development of “violent” video games, according to a Friday report in Der Spiegel.
Though the ban may ultimately end up open-ended, there are some guidelines. The ministers would extend limits to those games which would, according to the report, include “realistic killing” an “integral part of the plot,” and “other cruel acts of violence against human or human-like beings.” Not only would games falling in that category be banned from sale, development houses making such titles would also be banned from existing in Germany. That would impact groups like Crytek, the group behind Crysis and Far Cry.
The German government is moving swiftly to put such practices into law before the country’s late September elections.
Germany is still reeling from a school schooting massacre in March of this year. Taking place in Winnenden and Wendlingen, 17 year old Tim Kretschmer shot and killed fifteen people both at his campus and at a nearby car dealership, and then took his own life.
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“Taking place in Winnenden and Wendlingen, 17 year old Tim Kretschmer shot and killed fifteen people both at his campus and at a nearby car dealership, and then took his own life.”
Kids are still doing this? And more importantly (in terms of gaming anyway), why are they blaming video games again? It’s the kid’s fault that all those people and himself died. Sure, I saw an episode of NUMB3RS (and probably some other people, I’m sure of it) where it explained that video games could be used as a killing simulator, but that’s not the video games fault that he’s freakin’ psychotic. Could it possibly that he was bullied in school and/or just born mentally insane?
Also, WHO THE HELL gives kids these days weapons? Why don’t they just punish those people and leave the gaming community alone?
@ Soul : You that got right & here is my statement… *ahem…* THAT IS BULLSH*T leave video games German Goverment !!!!! That is all…
It’s not bullshit, it’s beacuse some people aren’t “mature”, and when the brain is….what can I say. when it’s growing. It can be hard to see what’s real and what’s not real!
And many times it’s the voilent video games wrong. It’s beacuse younger people play games for 18+. So, yeah that’s actually true. And it was beacuse this kid had a problem and he played those games and got more problem. It’s not his foult that it is something wrong with him. And that makes it the games foult, or maybe the paren’t who gave him the games, I don’t know how he got the games or something. But it’s still the games fiult, it looks so realistic.
And in my opinion, games with so realistic voilent. Or I mean, they should not make it so realistic. It’s just stupid.
@Osnic – I’m pretty sure the average seventeen-year-old can distinguish the difference between what he plays on his ecksbawks and reality. If they can’t, then that’s their problem (and keep in mind that this also applies to movies, television, comics, etc.).
Also “it’s still the games fiult, it looks so realistic.”? Now, just how exactly, does REALISM make a video game responsible for making a person mentally unstable? Sonic Unleashed was plenty realistic in the graphics and physics department – however I feel no urge to beat the shit out of robots and turn into a werehog at nightfall. There is nothing wrong with giving a game a sense of graphic realism – would you prefer that Alien Hominid’s alternate route of censorship by having cartoony flowers and sparkles replace blood and gore be made standard for all violent video games?
Also “It’s not his foult that it is something wrong with him”. This statement is not provable. Why yes, it may be the result of external forces (having a shitty life), but it’s certainly possible for them to make some mistakes on their accord. And, video games, of all things, would fill someone with enough hate, rage, and resentment towards the rest of the world to gun down their colleagues, educators, and innocent civilians before taking their own life? No, I don’t think so.
What the kid did is not the result of video games, he was a mentally unstable individual.
Again I say, so at what point does good parenting come into the picture?
If kids are too young to play a game, blame the parents. If the kid is a teen, blame the kid for being insane. Really, blaming games is just sad.
@DoctorEggman
Exactly. Its also bad that the news are blaming gaming and TV.watching for diabetes. no its not games fault its the peoples fault for not getting up and doing things.
Also in a news report on FOX that I watched just a few hours ago it claimed that people who stay up past 12 o clock are more depressed than people who go to sleep earlier. which is rediculous considering that news stations including fox stay on air past 12 o’ clock.
So back to this topic of games causing violence. its not the games its the fact that people are too stupid to realize that what happens in gaming isnt possible in real life.
People are looking for scapegoats to divert attention from their own wrong-doings. This is a trend which reaches far beyond videogames. Why do it? Because a videogame can’t answer back.