Germany Against Ban
Last year's amoklauf, German's term used for school shootings, by Tim Kretschmer understandably led to some strong sentiments in Germany. There was talk of games bans, harsher restrictions on games, a backlash against Spielekiller (game killer, as opposed to 'killer games,' which are known as Killerspiele), and even a contest to throw away your Killerspiele (which was rather poorly attended, to boot)
According to GamePolitics, via Game Captain, 73,000 signatures were provided in order to bring a citizens' petition to the government. The petitioner, asked that instead of banning games, that there be more education implemented about the rating system in place (GamePolitics mentions PEGI, though Germany does not officially use that rating system). The request was granted.
How, when, and other such questions have yet to be answered, but no further bans are being considered for now.
This.
It has long been my belief, and I share this sentiment with many of you, I'm sure, that games do not need to be censored--that is the job of a parent. I grew up with parents who gamed, so naturally they wouldn't let me play Phantasmagoria until I was a bit older, but they knew what my limits should be, and that such a game flagrantly crossed it.
Not every parent is going to be a gamer (though the likelihood will increase as the decades move forward), but more education on how to use the systems in place? Seems to make a lot of sense. After all, ignorance should not remove culpability.
VorpalBunny
Posted to Miscellany on 24 May 2010
· Comments (4)
Other stuff like this: ban, education, germany, killerspiele, rating system
You know, the problems in germany regarding violence are on a level that most americans cannot fathom. I live here. I am an american. The generally held view is that games are stuff for either children, or emotionally retarded, developmentally stunted young adults. Anyone over the age of 25 who plays games must have serious psychological problems. Germany does have its own ratings system for any type of entertainment - not just games, but books, movies all of it falls under the jurisdiction of this office. I honestly don't anticipate anything positive regarding gaming to happen in Germany ever. Restricting violent content in germany is actually more stringent than restricting sexual content in the US. (It's illegal here for a minor to come into contact with violent material. If you buy a minor a violent movie/book/video game, you can see jail time.) Whilst petitioning the government to fund education programs may (although I doubt it) stop a legislative change, it doesn't change the existing situation: after a certain point, violent video games (i.e., Gears of War) are either censored, or just aren't sold in Germany, and even importing a complete copy is considered illegal, although charges are rarely brought against someome for importing something that technically should not be allowed in Germany.
Importing such games is not illegal in Germany, but selling it is!
Blackboy has stated a few interesting things. The most important one being that he is an American living in Germany. Not a German. I can only assume that this is the reason why he isn't very familiar with German law nor culture. Videogames are neither considered for "children, or emotionally retarded, developmentally stunted young adults" (that might have been the case 10 years ago), nor can you be put in jail if you buy a minor a violent videogame (you can, if you are a shop owner and sell it to them). The statement that it is considered illegal to import copies of violent games that are cut or haven't been released in Germany is also wrong (if a game hasn't been released in Germany and is imported, it is considered rated M, not on the index, I suppose he mixed that up).
Oh, and just to clear this up: I'm not saying he didn't mean well ;) He is just a little ill-informed apparently. We have come a long way and I think it is not fair to state things that might have been true a decade ago.