German Government Says Nein to Violent Game Ban

May 20, 2010 -

Last June, news emerged from Germany that a group of Interior Ministers had asked for a total ban on the production and distribution of violent videogames. Thanks in large part to a petition, such a ban will not be enacted in the near future.

German website Game Captain reports (translated) that the 73,000 signatures captured on a petition against banning such games allowed the matter to be taken up in front of the Committee on Petitions. The petitioner was allowed to speak, and apparently asked more education on media be provided in place of the ban.

Parliament State Secretary Dr. Herman Kues, of the Federal Ministry for Home Affairs must have been swayed, as he announced that no changes to the current criminal code would be enacted. Instead the government will push for more public education of the PEGI ratings system.

Unsurprisingly, game publishers were happy with the news: EA Senior VP Dr Jens Uwe Intat told GamesIndustry.biz that, “The German decision is a very welcome step as we encourage policy makers to better understand the reality of today's videogame market and give games the same respect as books, films or music.”

Thanks Magic!

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Comments

Re: German Government Says Nein to Violent Game Ban

Submitted by killatia on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 14:50.

Thank goodness someone in the German goverment has the brains not to ban video games.

http://www.magicinkgaming.com/

http://www.killatia.com/

Re: German Government Says Nein to Violent Game Ban

Submitted by Cheater87 on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 13:06.

Germany uses the USK as their game rating system with PEGI tagged on. The games are still censored by the USK with the PEGI rating next to the USK rating. I hope they totally switch over to PEGI.

Re: German Government Says Nein to Violent Game Ban

Submitted by Afirejar on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 13:56.

If the PEGI rating is there, it's solely because the game happens to have one and the publisher decided to put it there. The USK rating is known and legally binding, PEGI isn't.

In fact I just went through my XBox games and I don't have a single game with multiple ratings symbols. The games I bought in Germany all have USK only, the ones from Austria all have PEGI only, and the ones from the UK have BBFC only (except FIFA 09, which for some reason is a British version with only the PEGI symbol).

Re: German Government Says Nein to Violent Game Ban

Submitted by Nocturne on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 02:51.

PEGI ratings only on British versions of games isn't that uncommon. BBFC ratings on games were only required if the game included violent content , profanity, promoted criminal activity and/or references to sex or drugs. They wouldn't have rated Fifa as it didn't fall within their remit.

There are some games that don't include any of that but have BBFC ratings because they can still be submitted at the publishers discretion (such as Ratcht & Clank: Crack in Time which has a U rating, U = Universal/no restriction)

Re: German Government Says Nein to Violent Game Ban

Submitted by Kojiro on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 12:22.

Win! Thank goodness.

Re: German Government Says Nein to Violent Game Ban

Submitted by Avalongod on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 11:39.

Excellent news for Germany! I'm glad to see that the leveler heads won out.

Now I only hope that we Americans (and our Supreme Court) will learn from the German example...

Re: German Government Says Nein to Violent Game Ban

Submitted by Cheater87 on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 09:29.

Now if they would only switch over to PEGI and get over the huge censorship problem.

Re: German Government Says Nein to Violent Game Ban

Submitted by Chris Kimberley on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 11:34.

"Instead the government will push for more public education of the PEGI ratings system."

This seems to suggest that PEGI is the system they care about. So presumably they're already using it or will soon switch. Anyone have any direct knowledge of Germany's rating system?

===============

Chris Kimberley

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Chris Kimberley

Re: German Government Says Nein to Violent Game Ban

Submitted by Afirejar on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 13:51.

Don't use PEGI, and don't plan to. Any reference to the PEGI system is most likely an error in the article.

Re: German Government Says Nein to Violent Game Ban

Submitted by ZippyDSMlee on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 09:22.

Reason has won the day..... I wonder if Hanna(our forum goddess mod) is still in germany...mmmm

Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! CP/IP laws should not effect the daily life of common people! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/

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http://zippydsm.deviantart.com/

Shout box

Technogeek: If the developer were male there wouldn't have been a "conversation" in the first place.10/19/2014 - 2:27am

Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm

Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm

Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm

Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm

Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm

Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm

Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm

Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm

ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm

MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm

Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm

MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am

Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am

quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: I thought it was a good article. Jeff is right. I feel like GamerGate did destroy its message. I am for Ethics in game journalism, but man. so much hate. and its on both sides. I've seen some awful stuff spewed on twitter. Its a big reason why I exited..10/17/2014 - 7:34pm

Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm

Papa Midnight: That was a damn good read offered by Jeff Gertsmann.10/17/2014 - 7:17pm

Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm

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