German Government: Officially mental.

John Carter · 14-12-2006, 12:48 AM

http://au.gamespot.com/news/6163059....stnews;title;0

Quote:

Proposed legislation targets pixelated mayhem and virtual violence; legislators consider acts of cruelty against "human-looking characters" as reason enough to fine, imprison.

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Games in Germany already face strict censorship laws--titles such as Gears of War are deemed to be too violent, and the German board of classification (the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbskontrolle) refuses to give them a rating, effectively meaning that the games can be sold only at adults-only retailers.

Nazi symbols are also banned in the country, except for art and educational purposes--so games which use them, including the Wolfenstein series, are also banned from being released in Germany. Even games such as Dead Rising are regarded as crossing a threshold of acceptability since violence towards zombies is considered to be too close to violence towards real people.

Legislation currently being drafted would take these standards a step further. The bill, which was introduced last week by the states of Bavaria and Lower Saxony, proposes a new offence. Those found guilty of "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" could face fines or jail time of up to 12 months --and those it applies to include developers, retailers, and consumers, reports UK newspaper The Guardian.

The mind boggles.

mkpdavies · 14-12-2006, 03:59 AM

I bet it just makes the Germans want to play those kind of games more.

Thanks to the internet, they probably do.

Soddball · 14-12-2006, 08:14 AM

Yah, German kids just lap it up. Most of the guys I play against online on Forgotten Hope are Poles or Germans who relish the chance to go at it again. Just for fun, you understand.

SGK · 14-12-2006, 11:27 AM

Always remember that Germany is the driving force, the role model if you like, of the EU. What happens there will eventually roll out to all countries.
There is fundamentally little different, from a political culture point of view, between the Germany of today and the Germany that brought war and destruction to Europe.
It is an inherent problem that the country has and, in fact, you could say that the British and US should have addressed the issue after WWII.

Hartlepool · 14-12-2006, 02:31 PM

We are still in the post ww2 era and we will no doubt address the German issue sometime in the future.

14-12-2006, 03:59 AM	#2 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 30,841 Party: Libertarian Party	I bet it just makes the Germans want to play those kind of games more. Thanks to the internet, they probably do. __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Blue Labour, Lib Dems

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14-12-2006, 08:14 AM	#3 (permalink)
Soddball Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 272	Yah, German kids just lap it up. Most of the guys I play against online on Forgotten Hope are Poles or Germans who relish the chance to go at it again. Just for fun, you understand.

14-12-2006, 11:27 AM	#4 (permalink)
SGK Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,237	Always remember that Germany is the driving force, the role model if you like, of the EU. What happens there will eventually roll out to all countries. There is fundamentally little different, from a political culture point of view, between the Germany of today and the Germany that brought war and destruction to Europe. It is an inherent problem that the country has and, in fact, you could say that the British and US should have addressed the issue after WWII.

14-12-2006, 02:31 PM	#5 (permalink)
Hartlepool Uber Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: North East England Posts: 6,785 Party: Free England Party	We are still in the post ww2 era and we will no doubt address the German issue sometime in the future.