http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460439,00.html

Pretty soon they'll start banning racing games because of fatal crashes on the Autobahn.

Wow, already two mistakes in the first paragraph.
Sebastian B. wasn't the one who made the CS map of the school and it wasn't his school that was recreated. Just a school with the same name.

That said these Nazis aren't only trying to get Killerspiele (last game added to the list was Final Fantasy 7 or 8) banned in Germany but also in the EU.

Scoff at our politicians all you want, Europe. Yours are just as dumb.

First Jews and now violent videogames? What'll those crazy Germans think of next?

Europe is always makin' things tough for America!

(I have no proof to back that up)

People too lazy to look for the truth need someone to blame. Of course the parents want to think that no, their kid wasn't really like that. Newsflash: The game didn't make them pull the triggers. If it wasn't already inside them, they wouldn't have. It's a shame that so many people refuse to see that maybe the problem with violent youth is just that some kids are bad.

I saw a case once where the father molested the kid and the mother beat him. He shot someone, and they blamed it on Doom.

If they're gonna introduce some stupid video game laws, I'll sure as hell move away from here as fast as possible.

Some politicians trying to gain support from the ignorant masses for their own reelections by giving statements like that is still far away from having an actual law banning games. And the fact this comes from Germany isn't going to make it any more likely: They are already trying to ban any imagery that could possibly be considered to refer to nazis under any circumstances in the whole EU. The Germans just seem to be fans of banning things. However, in other places it could be the opposite, and I don't see the free speech being so cheap as to be sacrificed so easily.

come to america... you can live down the street from me

Seriously, are there any places to live in the world that don't suck, and likely still won't in the future? Because it sure doesn't seem like it.

Antarctica's got penguins.

sweden usually ignores things like this, like the EU trying to ban snus

Yeah, Sweden, Denmark came to mind. Who knows in the future though.

The thing is that EU implements directives and regulations. So if this video game ban gets through as a regulation (for some reason I don't even want to imagine), then even Sweden has to ratify it

Germany always had crazy laws about video games. Say, Mortal Kombat was banned there since the very first game's release, and heroes and enemies in Contra were replaced by robots. Not to say that Wolfenstein 3D and its sequel were banned for display of Nazi symbolics. RtcW has since been released after being censored, but the original Wolfenstein 3D is still illegal.

And that's not to mention,

[quote=The Guardian, UK]December 2006, the German government proposed legislature to consider acts of violence against human-like characters in video games similar to violence against real life people. The bill was introduced by the states of Bavaria and Lower Saxony. Those found guilty of "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" could face fines or jail time of up to 12 months. It applies to developers, retailers, and consumers.[/quote]

So I really hope the rest of the EU isn't as insanely stupid.

Bratwurst boys are at it again.

Heh, the christmas version of Wolfenstein 3D isn't illegal.
Looks like it's ok to shoot santa, but not nazis.

I'm so glad I live in America. Don't the Germans have something set up so you have to be 17+ to buy certain games?

I thought America had that too. M+ rating, anyone?
(whether or not store clerks actually check your ID is another story.)

For chrissakes its the ****ing people that have these violent problems, not the ****ing video games! God damn I hate politicians.

But I digress.

Fairly sure 18 is the top one throughout the EU.

Well, at least it is in Britain.

Yeah. Most of the (old) EU countries are members of PEGI, and 18 is the highest there.

However, Germany doesn't seem to be a member - probably because they want to ban so many things that the others would never understand it...

That said, the PEGI rating has no legal power, they're more like... guidelines really. [/end quote]

Also, in general most european countries are laid back when it comes to violence and such in entertainment. (In Belgium Matrix: Reloaded was a "children allowed" movie for crying out loud. XD)

So I'm curious as to how far Germany will get in their crusade to ban violent games.

Except regulations are passed by the European Commission, whose members are not elected in by the public, are instructed to ignore the commands of their country, and are instead loyal to the EU. Once the regulation passes through the Commission, it goes into EU-wide effect, becoming law in each nation, whether or not they have a similar law on the books.

How about computer boot camp? Like the ones in Hong Kong. I can't find the news article online, but this kid in Hong Kong played a lot at a NetCafe and went to a chat room were he was told if he jumped off a building he would go into a mystical gaming world. He did so and died. I can't find the news article but if someone finds its please tell me.

This is like the topic...Who kills who? Guns or people?

Hmm.. efforts to get WoW banned in Germany! JUST TO GOSH DARN ADDICTIVE.