German ministers want ‘violent’ games banned
p2pnet news view | Games:- The German parliament should ban the production and distribution of violent video games, say the country’s 16 interior ministers
“Moreover, the ministers hope to see this accomplished before Germany’s new elections take place on September 27th,” says Game Politics.
“The move comes during a scheduled conference of interior ministers,” says the post, going on »»»
School shootings, in particular the March 11th rampage committed by a 17-year-old in Winnenden, were prominently mentioned in relation to the group’s demand for a ban on violent games.
In the tragedy, Tim Kretschmer, 17, killed 15 people.
The night before the murders, “Kretschmer had been playing Far Cry2, a game in which the player takes on the role of the killer,’ said The Australian, going on »»»
Remarkable parallels emerged between the video game and the 17-year-old’s actions, when he killed 15 people and then himself.
In the game it is essential to hijack cars to move around. Kretschmer did the same, holding a pistol to the terrified driver’s head and asking: “Should I have fun and pick off some more drivers?”
Characters in the game, which is made by the French company Ubisoft and has sold 2.9 million copies worldwide, wear black camouflage uniforms, the clothing Kretschmer wore on Wednesday.
Most sinister of all, Far Cry2’s killer uses a Beretta 92 handgun – the same weapon fired 112 times by Kretschmer.
The game includes sequences in which the aiming, firing and reloading of a Beretta are portrayed in vivid detail. It rewards players who shoot their victims in the head, the style of killing chosen by Kretschmer.
Germany is now second only to the US in terms of the number of deaths resulting from school killings, and is “top of the league in Europe,” said The Independent.
If the German ministers are successful in their pleas, German gamers and game developers would both be affected, says Game Politics, adding:
“Under the proposed law, Crytek would apparently need to outsource development of violent games or even relocate its operations to another country.”
Game Politics – Germany’s Interior Ministers Ask Bundestag For Total Ban on Violent Games, June 5, 2009
killed 15 people – Was German school killer Far Cry2 fan?, March 16, 2009
The Australian - German killings linked to video game, March 16, 2009
The Independent – In Europe’s league of school shootings, Germany comes top, March 15, 2009
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June 8th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Another “blame the game” move by part of society, who as a whole, may have a greater power and responsibility to shape the minds of our developing youth than any video game could ever, but instead choose to willfully dismissing the factors they KNOW are actually troubling youth, such as the one described here, and thus any inference to having anything to do with the problem themselves.
EVERYONE who has any association with today’s youth knows that “ideas” are everywhere (many of which are constantly viewed on a television screen), not just in video games, and that what someone does with these ideas is a product of how balanced a mind has developed.
We all have a responsibility to follow the development of our youth.
They need us to keep touch with them to some degree and reach out to them, as there are so many questions and concerns that can send some youth into a needless tailspin, if only they had the feedback from a few of us. They are exposed to so much that may need clarifying, if only someone were there to add some perspective.
Gone are the days when parents were around even half the time.
We live in a “2-income” society, where both parents are quite often forced to leave the young without themselves for possibly too much time.
Also gone are the days when teachers could successfully monitor their students.
Classrooms are now overcrowded. Schools are underfunded. Teachers haven’t got the time, the resources, or the motivation to follow each student’s journey that closely anymore.
And, as the troubles in the world increase, so goes the days when the community can care, either.
More troubled youth are visible, and people are justifiably motivated by fear. They can’t get involved if they want to now. Bad enough they have to be afraid of what the youth themselves are capable of now, but they also have to consider repercussions from some of the parents who would perceive their concern as “interference” in one form or another.
A well-balanced mind doesn’t simply “adopt” a mental illness or some evil, negative motivation from something like a video game. When they do “copy” elements of a game and lash out at society, they’re demonstrating something has already gone wrong, and not enough people saw that as it was developing. “Following the script” of the video game would simply be a chosen method to expressing the problem. If the game didn’t exist, they would just choose another.
If we “blame the game”, we would need to remove so many other things that would carry the same “harmful” label. Yet, as long as we ignore the youth, and expect some miracle to shape their minds without us, the list will just get bigger until we “get it”.
June 8th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Wouldn’t it be more effective just to ban guns? Not like that would work or anything, but a video game has never harmed anyone, ever.
June 8th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
All this would do is force the troubled youth to play “Die Sims” and have that reported as being the cause of their outburst.
And it’s not like anybody’s invented a network which can speak to the rest of the world’s computers or anything. Ban away. It will achieve nothing but further isolate the aging government from the future electorate.
Keep pushing. They won’t conform. They’ll just adapt around it.
June 8th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Well i have played many violent games so far, but to look at real blood, seeing pictures of killed people chokes me, horrifies me and makes me really sick… I know deep in myself that I would never be able to do such actions in real life… So putting the blame on games for “producing” killers is not the answer. These people have problems of their own, and in these cases the game is a kind of trigger.
June 8th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Right now, it’s the “evil games” that is supposed to be the cause of these children’s violent outrages.
Several years ago, it was the “evil Rock ‘n Roll” that made the youth put on leather chaps, and terrorize towns with their motorcycles.
Going back further, some say that it was the newspapers and their reporting that caused copycat murders of “Jack the Ripper”.
I am also sure that the “evil science” was also branded as the reason behind the troubles youth.
I am sure that if you go back further, there would always be “something” that is brought up as the scapegoat for the problems of that time- whether it be the youth, or the adults.
As a father of a 3rd grade boy, I will be the first to admit that games have an effect on a child’s behavior (doing a Mario jump, acting out events from a Pokemon game, etc…), and I have had to tell him to stop doing that time to time. But, I know that as a child I acted out scenes from a popular superhero show, and have seen photos of my father playing cowboys and Indians.
But that does not mean that any of us has gone out and gone on a killing spree (or at least not yet for my son
).
When asked about what his opinion was towards a serial murderer watching his film before killing one of his later victims, Alfred Hitchcock replied “I’m more interested in knowing what movies he watched before killing his other victims”.
Just my two cents
June 8th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Any kid that can’t tell the difference between a video game and real life has some serious issues. It’s not the game that causes that. As a hint for any that are having troubles distinguishing the difference, I’ll give a clue. Real life doesn’t have a power button to turn it on and off. Nor does real life have a reset button when you die that magically puts it all back the way it was.
Those that have always plotted for ways to get rid of various items of common to the public such as objected video games, violence in comic books, objectionable text in books, all have the thought they know how to have you live your life better than you do.
I’ve played Far Cry2, quite a bit actually. I’ve also played other games of war and what not. I have no plans, yesterday, today, nor will I in the future, to go hurt someone just because that’s what happened in a game. In real life I have no use for a Beretta pistol. If I needed and wanted a pistol, I would want one that reaches out there. Say one with a 10 in or longer barrel. Ever thought of what a pain that would be to try and conceal? It sure isn’t going to fit in the pocket.
If Far Cry 2 is deemed bad, what do they think exposure to real war is? You know, the real honest to gosh, soldier. You think after a term of shooting people because he was ordered to is less damaging than a violent video game? Hello… Earth to those that want to run others lives… get your own life. I’m busy living mine and it doesn’t contain the idea of a video game making me go do something in real life.
If anything, pulling the trigger in a video game has been shown to remove the violent tendencies and provides a welcome reducing of tension and violence as it is “acted” out in the game. Before computers kids acted out killing and shooting by pointing a finger with a “cocked” thumb. I guess if this passes we’ll be looking at having amputation for the masses of their thumbs because it “could” inspire violent acts, eh?
June 9th, 2009 at 10:09 am
So the kid was influenced by the game, the same way the game was influenced by real events (guns/war) – In that line of thought we would have to ban all guns and any form of violence in the real world that influenced the game in the first place..
June 10th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
How about instead you take the hundreds of millions of kruekers (or whatever they use in Germany) this will take out of the German economy, and spend it on mental health research instead? I understand wanting to do *SOMETHING*, but clearly they have no idea what to do. That’s what research is for.
June 10th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
I want my “the fuck” back.