Interesting article about proposed legislation in Germany to criminalize creating or playing any video game that depicts violence against humans or "human-like" characters. And you thought Jack Thompson was bad enough....
From the Financial Times:
Germany plans crackdown on violent online games
Financial Times
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Updated: 3:11 p.m. ET Dec 6, 2006
German virtual hitmen, among the most feared in the world, could soon find themselves behind real bars if the regional governments of Bavaria and Lower Saxony have their way.
The two states have drafted a bill that would subject developers, distributors and players of video games whose goal is to inflict "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" to a fine and a maximum of one year in jail.
The draft law, a reaction to a school shooting that shook German public opinion last month, will come before the upper house of parliament next year. But it is already sending shockwaves through the 2m-strong German online gaming community.
"We have among the most drastic censorship rules for games," said Frank Sliwka, head of the Deutsche E-Sport Bund, an umbrella federation for German online gaming teams. "Now we are being labelled as a breeding ground for unstable, dysfunctional and violent youngsters."
The discussion in the world's third largest video games market also comes at an awkward time for Sony, which has delayed the European launch of its Playstation 3 videogame console from last month to next March because of component shortages and technical glitches.
Call of Duty 3 and Resistance: Fall of Man, the two best-selling PS3 titles on Amazon.com's ranking list are both first-person shooters, which would fall under the mulled ban. Sony Computer Entertainment Germany refused to comment.
Germany has 40,000 active online gaming teams, the best of which regularly take part in worldwide tournaments where victories bring lucrative sponsoring contracts and prize money in the hundreds of thousands dollars.
In the past decade, online gaming has become increasingly professional, with a rising number of players making a living out of their skills and teams acquiring renowned gamers for hefty transfer fees.
Even if the ban does not make it through parliament, all this could be at risk, says Holger Scherff, leader of the German a-Losers.MSI team, if the discussion leads corporate sponsors to review their endorsement of professional gamers.
German joystick virtuosos finished first at the annual electronic version of the Fifa football world tournament in the past two years, a feat that eluded the real-world national team at this year's World Cup in Germany.
Though the Fifa game would be unaffected by the proposed ban, it would almost certainly hit Counter Strike, the world's most popular first-person shooter and most played online video game.
Under German rules amended in 2003 after a previous schoolground shooting, developers routinely have to excise violent content from the German versions of their games.
Unlike the game played in the US or the UK, the German version of Counter Strike, for instance, does not feature blood spurting from gunshot wounds and when shot, victims dissipate instead of collapsing to the ground.
Despite such restrictions, German Counter Strike teams regularly rank in the top five positions of international tournament league tables. Germany also hosts the world's third largest computer games trade fair, the Leipzig Games Convention.
By putting forward their bill, regional politicians led by Günther Beckstein, the Bavarian interior minister, are surfing a wave of disgust at increasingly violent video games, mirroring recent debates in the US.
An opinion poll taken after the latest shooting at a secondary school in Emsdetten last month, showed 72 per cent of respondents blaming such incidents on violent computer games and 59 per cent supporting a ban.
"It is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitise unstable characters and can have a stimulating effect," Mr Beckstein said on Monday.
The 18-year Emsdetten shooter, who killed himself with a rifle after storming his school and injuring 11 people, was an avid Counter Strike player and self-avowed internet nerd according to local newspaper reports.
From the Financial Times:
Germany plans crackdown on violent online games
Financial Times
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Updated: 3:11 p.m. ET Dec 6, 2006
German virtual hitmen, among the most feared in the world, could soon find themselves behind real bars if the regional governments of Bavaria and Lower Saxony have their way.
The two states have drafted a bill that would subject developers, distributors and players of video games whose goal is to inflict "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" to a fine and a maximum of one year in jail.
The draft law, a reaction to a school shooting that shook German public opinion last month, will come before the upper house of parliament next year. But it is already sending shockwaves through the 2m-strong German online gaming community.
"We have among the most drastic censorship rules for games," said Frank Sliwka, head of the Deutsche E-Sport Bund, an umbrella federation for German online gaming teams. "Now we are being labelled as a breeding ground for unstable, dysfunctional and violent youngsters."
The discussion in the world's third largest video games market also comes at an awkward time for Sony, which has delayed the European launch of its Playstation 3 videogame console from last month to next March because of component shortages and technical glitches.
Call of Duty 3 and Resistance: Fall of Man, the two best-selling PS3 titles on Amazon.com's ranking list are both first-person shooters, which would fall under the mulled ban. Sony Computer Entertainment Germany refused to comment.
Germany has 40,000 active online gaming teams, the best of which regularly take part in worldwide tournaments where victories bring lucrative sponsoring contracts and prize money in the hundreds of thousands dollars.
In the past decade, online gaming has become increasingly professional, with a rising number of players making a living out of their skills and teams acquiring renowned gamers for hefty transfer fees.
Even if the ban does not make it through parliament, all this could be at risk, says Holger Scherff, leader of the German a-Losers.MSI team, if the discussion leads corporate sponsors to review their endorsement of professional gamers.
German joystick virtuosos finished first at the annual electronic version of the Fifa football world tournament in the past two years, a feat that eluded the real-world national team at this year's World Cup in Germany.
Though the Fifa game would be unaffected by the proposed ban, it would almost certainly hit Counter Strike, the world's most popular first-person shooter and most played online video game.
Under German rules amended in 2003 after a previous schoolground shooting, developers routinely have to excise violent content from the German versions of their games.
Unlike the game played in the US or the UK, the German version of Counter Strike, for instance, does not feature blood spurting from gunshot wounds and when shot, victims dissipate instead of collapsing to the ground.
Despite such restrictions, German Counter Strike teams regularly rank in the top five positions of international tournament league tables. Germany also hosts the world's third largest computer games trade fair, the Leipzig Games Convention.
By putting forward their bill, regional politicians led by Günther Beckstein, the Bavarian interior minister, are surfing a wave of disgust at increasingly violent video games, mirroring recent debates in the US.
An opinion poll taken after the latest shooting at a secondary school in Emsdetten last month, showed 72 per cent of respondents blaming such incidents on violent computer games and 59 per cent supporting a ban.
"It is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitise unstable characters and can have a stimulating effect," Mr Beckstein said on Monday.
The 18-year Emsdetten shooter, who killed himself with a rifle after storming his school and injuring 11 people, was an avid Counter Strike player and self-avowed internet nerd according to local newspaper reports.
