View Full Version : German Foundation Wants Violent Games Banned
eth3rton
03-12-2009, 06:20 PM
Gamepolitics is reporting that Hans-Dieter Schwind, the president of the German Foundation for Crime, wants a ban on violent games after yesterday’s shooting rampage by teenager Tim Kretschmer.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/ETH3RTON/counterstrike1.jpg
The President of the German Foundation for Crime, Hans-Dieter Schwind, calls... for a total ban on violent computer games, and a further tightening of the arms law. The criminologist said that the 17-year-old on the run even further to have done is a behavior the young people in games like Counter-Strike or Crysis could learn...
The Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann has... expressed demand for a ban on so-called killer games renewed... he said, it generally must be clearly said that the games were available, the obvious just in young people cutting inhibitions...
Original story located over on VG247.com (http://www.vg247.com/2009/03/12/german-foundation-wants-violent-games-banned-after-school-shooting/) and the full story is located over on Gamepolitics.com (http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/03/12/europe-violent-games-under-fire-wake-german-school-massacre).
Sensei-X
03-12-2009, 06:53 PM
Ah, if only Adolf Hitler had played less Counter-Strike... oh wait...
Derella
03-12-2009, 06:56 PM
I say we ban crazy.
Agnostic
03-12-2009, 07:03 PM
Germany should just burn the games. I hear they have a history with burning media.
Major Scud
03-12-2009, 07:33 PM
If they ban violent game, then how will they possibly survive the zombie apocalypse?
Returner
03-12-2009, 07:47 PM
Bat shit crazy
Johan
03-12-2009, 07:55 PM
Google translator SUCKS:
The criminologist said that the 17-year-old on the run even further to have done is a behavior the young people in games like Counter-Strike or Crysis could learn
What the HELL does this mean? It is certainly not English...not recognizable English, at least.
More from that link:
expressed demand for a ban on so-called killer games renewed... he said, it generally must be clearly said that the games were available, the obvious just in young people cutting inhibitions...
The translator (or 'bot') might want to insert an article (the) and a 'be' verb in that first clause.
Broken English makes me want to go off and...play Counter-Strike. :D
GunnSgtHartman
03-12-2009, 08:13 PM
This is disgusting!
How about putting money into school resources for tracking/helping teenagers with mental illnesses and try to prevent this kind of tragedy?
It's just easier to play the blame game and get more votes at the same time...
Maybe publishers/developers should release a patch for every violent game and replace the poor murdered humans by Nazi zombies... damn, Nazis are already banned!
At least Germans will still be able to play Barbie's Magical Horse Adventure.
At least Germans will still be able to play Barbie's Magical Horse Adventure.Oh, man, that game's AWESOME! We can only hope it never gets banned...
*sigh*
Chaos Machine
03-12-2009, 09:12 PM
should also ban all the kids that pushed him over the edge, O WAIT HE ALREADY DID BADUNTZ TISSSzzzz
Sarconix
03-12-2009, 10:04 PM
"German Foundation Wants Violent Games Banned"
Thanks eth3rton for an accurate, non-sensationalized title. Just because somebody wants something doesn't mean they will get it. In this case, sanity will almost certainly prevail and they will not get what they want. Restrictions... maybe. Outright ban? Good luck.
Same goes for all the "bills" out there: a bill only means someone wants it, but that's a Far Cry from a law. :p
Tennebaum
03-12-2009, 10:16 PM
Meh, this is just the usual huffing and puffing from some of our clueless politicians. Nothing will come from this.
The people in charge are actually intelligent enough that violent games are not responsible for this.
Mozgus
03-12-2009, 10:18 PM
Banning media will do nothing. Strengthening gun control will do nothing. When will the world understand this? If a person wants to kill another person, chances are they will find a way. That's the sad truth of this world. We can end each others lives.
Tremorlor
03-12-2009, 10:52 PM
They already have hard restrictions on game violence. Hardly any shooter makes it on the market without cuts in the German version. The developers that don't cut their game won't see their game on the shelves in Germany.
Control via the State doesn't have to be strengthened, the parents should do their damn job for once, spend time with their children instead of using TV and games as baby-sitters and also look at what the kids are watching or playing with and whether it's acceptable for their age.
Also, media reports are conflicting. In some articles they quote people saying that he wasn't a gamer, in some others Counter Strike and other violent games were found and that he was an avid gamer and watcher of horror movies.
Shame they didn't find a ton of bibles or qurans instead. Now those two books do promote intolerance and violence.
Virtuoso
03-12-2009, 11:24 PM
This will probably pass, and that is extremely sad for German gamers. Its funny, in doing as much as they can to avoid the mistakes of the past (fascism) they end up repeating them.
Sarconix
03-12-2009, 11:30 PM
Its funny, in doing as much as they can to avoid the mistakes of the past (fascism) they end up repeating them.
Now that's irony for you!
MADxMrMike
03-13-2009, 12:46 AM
I still say pokers to blame.
DarkDaY
03-13-2009, 01:12 AM
I still say pokers to blame.
Gonna have to agree with you. To make matters worse its ON TV NOW...we r doomed.
Pokute
03-13-2009, 01:20 AM
Just put everyone who doesn't have friends into prison. And force them to make new friends there.
ResistanceAddict
03-13-2009, 01:40 AM
I still say pokers to blame.
Uh... what?
I think the media coverage on events like this is a shame.
It always follows the same pattern:
1. Public outcry
2. Find a scapegoat in films, videogames, rock music or other activities.
3. Completely ignore the social and psychological aspect.
The only thing this kind of coverage shows is that if you off all your classmates you finally get your two weeks of fame...
And the sad thing is nobody really cares.
Tennebaum
03-13-2009, 06:00 AM
This will probably pass, and that is extremely sad for German gamers. Its funny, in doing as much as they can to avoid the mistakes of the past (fascism) they end up repeating them.
No, it will not. These are just the ramblings of some attention whores. We get to hear this stuff every few months and nothing ever comes of it.
Yes, Germany has strict rules concerning violence in videogames and movies and a few games like Gears of War or Dead Rising didn't get released in Germany because of that. But most of the violent games get released uncut (Killzone 2, GTA IV, Resident Evil 5 and many many more) and in the case of The Witcher we got the "boobies version" like the rest of the world and the US Version was censored. So don't start baseless accusations of fascism as long as there are nationwide uproars in the US over stuff like the Hot Coffee incident.
I don't mean any personal offense to you Virtuoso.
But I just don't like it that everytime some loud mouthed german politician with no influence rambles about banning violent videogames, immediately we are the evil fascist germans that love to ban and censor videogames when other countries have the same kind of censorship on violence, sex or drug related content in games (remember Fallout 3 anyone?). Our government doesn't want children to be exposed to extreme violence. There is nothing wrong with that. Every responsible parent should be in agreement with that. If I want to play Gears of Wars I can buy it in Austria, Switzerland or from the UK. It isn't illegal and most of the time cheaper anyway.
The people demanding a ban on violent videogames over here are the same kind of whackos like your Jack Thompson or Hillary Clinton.
Demo_Boy
03-13-2009, 06:48 AM
If they want to decrease the body count resulting from gun crazy teens, they will ban Counterstrike, as it is a highly effective trainer for positional tactics and movement.
Johan
03-13-2009, 06:49 AM
It's funny, in doing as much as they can to avoid the mistakes of the past (fascism) they end up repeating them.
:rolleyes:
Please...you cannot seriously be comparing the banning of a video game or a particular type of content in a video game to fascism and ("mistakes of the past...repeating them," your words) the deaths of millions of Jews in concentration camps and millions of civilians across Europe, can you?
Wow. Talk about hyperbole. This isn't fascism...it's certainly an overreaction, but it's not "repeating" "the mistakes of the past (fascism)." Banning this kind of content would not cost tens of millions of lives...
:shakes head:
DeuceMojo
03-13-2009, 06:50 AM
If they ban violent game, then how will they possibly survive the zombie apocalypse?WINNER!!!! Hands down. Well done, Major Major Major Major.
Ulysses
03-13-2009, 07:02 AM
I wondered how long it'd take for this thread to get a Nazi reference in, heh.
Suicidal ShiZuru
03-13-2009, 07:17 AM
AKA
German Foundation finally proves once and for all how crazy all Germans are.
Shit like this seriously saddens me. Whenever something like this happens here in Germany, we get a bunch of people calling for the ban of "killer games", among them some fairly well-known politicians.
I don't believe for a second that most of these people are retarded enough to actually think there is a causal relationship between violent games and events like what happened in Winnenden. What is really happening is that these people are trying to use, to exploit these tragedies in order to gain popularity or political support. It is despicable.
Orphiuchus
03-13-2009, 12:47 PM
If they want to decrease the body count resulting from gun crazy teens, they will ban Counterstrike, as it is a highly effective trainer for positional tactics and movement.
Yes, I'll never forget the day in the School of Infantry when they showed us how to AWP and switch to deagle a second later. Or the duck-jumping PT.
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