Germany gone off the deep end?

[Sgt.Rock]

http://www.gamezine.co.uk/news/form...video-games-be-banned-in-germany-$1301757.htm

Oh Germany.



Not really sure how credible it is, but it doesn't seem entirely unreasonable. Can't really think of a single game I have or don't have thats good that doesn't involve killing people (or beings).

 

[Ron]

Piracy rate increases by 1 million percent, seriously though thank the gods i dont live in germany talk about a knee jerk reaction. I mean these are the same idiots who want to ban paintballing.

 

[Murphy]

Won't get through anyway. First of all, the definition is unusable (I guess they think it's defining enough, as they haven't played any "killergames", but the truth is that definition says almost nothing at all. Is Mario depicting killings realistic enough to be banned? Probably not, right? Enemies don't look too human either, except if you count the Mario VS Luigi gamemodes in some games. What about Conker then? Brutal as heck, but you don't kill humans. What about Quake 3? Sure, some characters are humanoid, but are they gibbed realistically enough for the game to be banned?) so even if the majority in the parliament were dopey enough to fly with it (and I doubt it is, it's just that you only hear about the dopes in the media) they would have trouble working with this popularistic knee-jerk nonsense.

Politicians often act like there were no laws in place as of now and every kid could legally get a brutal murder-simulator. That's crap and most politicians know that. The laws are already there. The USK is in place and it's very strict on violence when compared to other countries' equivalent organizations. Truth is, what they want is basically already in the laws except "killergames", as they naively put it, aren't banned but restricted to an adult audience. That's all that can be done anyway.
If kids still get their grubby hands on such games it's not because the laws aren't strict enough, but because they aren't enforced strictly enough (maybe because they are not enforcable!). The same problems would persist with stricter laws. Most politicians know that too, which is why that proposition is going to fail, like all the ones before it.

There have been so many plans of politicians, organizations and people to get such a law in place and it always makes the news on a few gaming sites, but the truth is, just because they plan stuff doesn't mean they are close to implementing it. So don't worry just yet...

 

[KrazyKraut]

It is credible, that's the sad part.

The "good" news is that they still need to write a law (what exactly is a violent game anyway) and get it approved by the Bundestag, so far it's just omg-we-need-to-do-something talk. But seeing as how elections are coming up, you can bet noone in the Bundestag is going to block a law that "protects our children".

Maybe we can get rid of it afterwards, seeing as how this law sounds like something the federal court would label unconstitutional.

Politicians, was there ever a time they were not complete morons?

 

[Nimsky]

All violent videogames? That is, like, 90% of all games?

What... don't they realize that videogaming is more popular than going to the movies?

Oh well, maybe you'll still find some enjoyment in My Little Pony Express, Churmanz.

 

[Tomcat_ha]

All violent videogames? That is, like, 90% of all games?

What... don't they realize that videogaming is more popular than going to the movies?

Oh well, maybe you'll still find some enjoyment in My Little Pony Express, Churmanz.

no freddy fish is much better

 

[Agenda_Suicide]

I was going to post this but Sgt. Rock beat me to it. Why not just make all violent games 18+ and just make it harder for kids to get a hold of. Making anything illegal just creates a black market and in this case piracy would rise exponentially. German politician fail. Why not ban all violent movies, television, and comic books while they're at it. Oh yeah and ban any books with violence.

 

[husbert]

i dont think they will get it

they tried it several times in the past, even in switzerland

their is so much "money" behind the games , this will cost jobs !

 

[DraKon2k]

good thing i'm austrian

 

[KrazyKraut]

I was going to post this but Sgt. Rock beat me to it. Why not just make all violent games 18+ and just make it harder for kids to get a hold of.

We already have that in Germany:

effect on reality = nil

Just about the effect this law will have if it ever gets passed.

 

[slayerduck]

LOL there banning wow. Thats stuff is more innocent then my little pony with the cartoon graphics.

Its not like this is gonna change anything because if you put such absurd law in place it will just go underground and 80% of all the people still play it.

 

[LemoN]

good thing i'm austrian

haha same here

 

[Lt_Kettch]

Good thing I am NOT Austrian

When I bought ArmA 2 I witnessed how hard it is for children to get 18+. There was a fat mother and her fat child infront of me at the cashpoint the mother had Killzone 2 in her hand (18+ stupid console game) obviously the game was for her overwheighted child (I guees he was 14 or so, the fat mad it hard to guess).
And oh I was asked for my ID buying ArmA 2 which is rated 16. So **** off it is the parents fault if their children go mad and nothing else.

Did I mention these people were fat?

Also this year is an election year

 

[husbert]

i vote for pirate party

 

[Rak]

Failure law is failure.

 

[fOgGy]

They might as well ban violent films, they should also ban cars and guns coz they are also violent as well as porn, that is also violent to kids.

 

[Dcode]

"where the main part is to realistically play the killing of people or other cruel or unhuman acts of violence against humans or manlike characters."

The article is titled "All violent video games to be banned in Germany".

To me the first statement should not run up a conclusion that all violent games will be banned in Germany.

The first statement would imply games like Manhunt and Mortal Kombat where murder and mutation is the focus of gameplay. Not games like RO, Counter Strike and Call of Duty, where the focus is competitive gameplay if you will.

The article is not credible and too 'Black and White'. Neither does it elaborate on the policital details.

Did anyone read the comment posted by this guy?

"This is great progress, same should be done with the movies. There cannot be any good reason why anybody should be able to kill other human beings even as in simulation. We are the only species on this planet (probably in this galaxy as well) who enjoys watching slaughter of fellow species as "an entertainment".. it's mental illness that needs to be cured. Games could make people better persons, why not?"

 

[Murphy]

That's just the thing! The definition isn't clear enough! If it were understood like you did the new law would be entirely useless as such games are already forbidden (indexed or banned, depending on the game)!
The only thing this law would add is forbidding the production of such games. The production of such games can never be forbidden though, because during production they have not been evaluated! So the law would be useless for that too.

 

[KrazyKraut]

"where the main part is to realistically play the killing of people or other cruel or unhuman acts of violence against humans or manlike characters."

[/I]The article is titled "All violent video games to be banned in Germany".

To me the first statement should not run up a conclusion that all violent games will be banned in Germany.

Well, normally I would be the first one to agree with you here, as I'm very sceptical about the media and their ways to exaggregate certain things at their whim.

But the debate most certainly evolves around what German media and politics call "killer games" and usually that word is a synonym for first person shooters + everything else where people are shot and includes especially the softer type of games in that genre like Counterstrike. Games where virtual violence is used to achieve a certain objective not games where violence itself is the goal.

 

[Lt_Kettch]