Unlikely to happen but you can't underestimate the power of EU regarding legislation.

Quote :

Violent video games could be outlawed across the European Union, following calls for a clampdown among E.U. justice ministers this week.

“A certain degree of linkage between the growing violence among the younger generation and the growing diffusion of violent games exists,” said Franco Frattini, the European Justice commissioner, at a meeting of the justice ministers in Dresden, Germany, on Tuesday.

The Commission also wants to harmonize national rules in the 27 countries in the Union.

Video game violence became a hot political issue in Germany at the end of last year when 18-year-old Sebastian Bosse shot up a high school in Emsdetten, Germany, injuring 37 before fatally turning the gun on himself. Police said Bosse spent most of his waking hours playing "Counter-Strike."

http://www.infoworld.com/artic ... urulesonvideogames_1.html
(http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/55182.html)

1. It's about violent games only.
2. It's about selling them to kids.

3. Even if they banned videogames - I'm already forced to do so many illegal things on my computer it's rediculous.

Vain

Quote from Vain :

1. It's about violent games only.
2. It's about selling them to kids.

1. And totally banning them
2. kid = under 18
3. topic is supposed to grab attention

Video games are already ridiculously restricted in Germany and Germany is running this law proposal. I don't want that censorship to spread all over EU. This Franco Frattini looks like some kind of personal crusador against video games, similar to Jack Thompson, except that EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security has little more abilities.

ps. added a better news link in the first post.

Why don't they just stop selling guns instead of video games. Where do those kids get the guns???illepall

Quote from deggis :

3. topic is supposed to grab attention

And is therefore just as misleading as general press. If describing the story honestly won't get enough attention, maybe it's not an interesting/likely story?

This is just another example (if true) of the nanny culture that the EU imposes upon people.

Im 15 ... i play GTA and Just Cause and all that .... do i go outside and kill people with PickAxes?

Dont think so ...

If your not of the mentality to impose self control of the differences between a video game and real life then you are the kinda person who should have people to watch them to stop them killing people with crowbars.

Quote from Silly Billy :

Bosse spent most of his waking hours playing "Counter-Strike."

Hmm

Quote from Vain :

1. It's about violent games only.

at least according to 'bild' final fantasy 7 i deemed violent nowerdays

Quote from Shotglass :

at least according to 'bild'

:slap:

Vain

Quote from Vain :

:slap:

Vain

the point is that politicians who want a ban on games are not much more intelligent than the average bild reader

politicians main aim is to keep their jobs, so they have to go with what they think the people that vote for them want.....no more, no less.

The thing they're overlooking is, a quite big part of their voters ARE in fact gamers (more casually though, but still) and the number is increasing by the day...

As much as I like to play some 3D-shooters and 'violent' games, I simply do not care anymore as our politicians and leaders are messing up our lives much more horribly as internet censorship, mandatory RFID and biometric identification gain and who-knows-what-twisted-shit gains foothold across the globe.

But I love cats so I'll be ok in the end. Don't know about you guys, better burn backups of your precious Battlefields...

Quote :

Police said Bosse spent most of his waking hours playing "Counter-Strike."

Valve brainwashed him into doing it. Scratch that - The guns and ammo he bought of his own will made him do it.

"Videogames don't affect kids. If Pacman affected us as kids we'd spend all our time running around in darkened rooms munching magic pills and listening to repetative electronic music."

I'm told its attributed to the VP of Capcom's Marketing Department circa 1989.

you reckon they could ban sensationalist forum topic titles while they're at it?

Quote from Bean0 :

listening to repetative electronic music.

I do that

I'm not even gonna go into this conversation properly. This idea of banning violent video games has been on the agenda for a while. If they are gonna ban them, ban them, get the story over and done with. But they will underestimate the detemination of teens, they will still get the games off their parents or older friends. It's all down to the mentality of the child playing the game rather than the game itself. illepall Stupid politicians.

Bla bla bla...

Showing women in swimsuits was considered pornographic in 1950's.

Quote :

A certain degree of linkage

What they mean is "every so often someone who has played a violent game commits a violent act. We need something to blame because we refuse to accept that sometimes people are just f*cked up."

It happens every year. Doom and Wolfenstein in the early 90s, Carmageddon and Postal in the mid-90s. The list goes on. It won't work, because even if they ban something in one country, imports are so easy to get hold of now that they're just screwing themselves out of taxable sources in the end.

Well, I think children should be protected from extremely violent games no doubt. But banning all violent material, or spilling green blood, goes too far in my opinion. It's not like there isn't violence on TV or in movies, is it? Some people just happen to be mentally ill, you can't go around it saying it was some game. I see this suggestion very unlikely to happen because you can draw the freedom of expression-card anytime.

Exactly. The ESRB ratings are there for a reason, and it's not the developers (or legal-age fans) faults if the stores don't bother to check them when selling them.

This is bullshit if Germany wants to ban violent video games all over the EU why don't they sort there own country out before stepping there noses into other people laws.

Also if a 12/13 year old went out dressed like a solider curling upto and knifing them like in BF2142 who's fault is it the mother, government, shop assistant or the games company so come on every country is not perfect things happen like this first. what about world hunger, world piece, children porn, suicide bombers the list just goes on.

Now it's world-wide trend:

http://gamepolitics.com/2007/0 ... -violent-games-to-minors/
http://gamepolitics.com/2007/0 ... igious-violence-in-games/

Well some of the games go a bit too far with it, but I think this is giong too far the other way =P

So basically what politicians want is a game where little bunnies hop around all day in the sun.

Oh wait, bunnies reproduce after only a couple of years, so that would be under-age sex. Ummm...
Hold up, we can't have it in the sun because that's prejudiced against people who live in cold climates.

So we want a game where rocks sit in a temperate climate and do nothing. But the rocks can't be on grass, because that could be seen to have a drug reference. And no insects could be harmed by the rocks, because that would be violence.

So little rocks sitting on a huge rock in a vacuum.
Damn, vacuums suck so we have yet another sexual reference.

Little rocks on a big rock underwater! But no fish.
There's your bestseller, guys. Watch EA snap that one up.

Quite frankly, censorship is silly. People will get what they want somehow, however much you try to stop them.

If video games influenced people, we would have people that would be sitting in darkened rooms taking drugs. End of story.