SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - Germany embarks on total and complete ban of killer games

SUBSIM Radio Room Forums (https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/index.php)

- General Topics (https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/forumdisplay.php?f=175)

- - Germany embarks on total and complete ban of killer games (https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=152461)

If you ban something you only serve to increase the demand for it :damn:

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet (Post 1112849)

skybird... i would spend less time blaming violent movies and video games and more time concentrating on the social life of the youth in question.

Haven'T I said that myself? Just with the difference maybe that I do not exclude games and movies from their social life - it is integral part of it? In other words, games/movies are all part of the social life you have (even when you are all alone, then your social life is a mess), but social life is not entirely focussed on just games and movies. Where it is, maybe you have also a problem!? :hmmm:

It would probably have been prefereable to put a limit of age for buying/playing them. No such games sold to childs, and adults who buy it will be responsable if the game ends in a sub-18 year old child. More or less like alcohol and tobacco.

Wonder if a similar movement is to be expected regarding the cinema and TV movies, which also show sometimes a good amount of gore and violence. And what about paint ball shooters? :hmmm: Because that is also in the same line...

I'm not willing to enter a discussion of pros and cons of forbidding videogames, but I don't understand well -since the decission is already taken- why to be so selective and leave so many other "violent" social areas open.

Quote:

The kids will get them anyway. I always did when I was a kid....well, the beer and tobacco. Video games when I was a kid required quarters and I think I had TV Pong at that time.:oops:

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet (Post 1112849)

skybird... i would spend less time blaming violent movies and video games and more time concentrating on the social life of the youth in question.

As a kid, i watched R-Rated movies like Alien, Predator, all the nightmare on elm street flicks etc - some of those films i watched as early as 6 years old.

furthermore, as soon as video games were a hot item, i played all the violent ones... some were cool, some sucked, some you were just randomly wasting people with a shot gun.

through 6th 7th and 8th grade i was teased without mercy by a group of mouth breathers sometimes to the point of serious public humiliation in front of the whole school.

I grew up in a pro-gun home, i was an experienced hunter, shooter, marksman etc even at the age of 12-13 years old i was no stranger to any of the 70 some odd firearms in my home ranging from .22 pistols, to .45s to semi automatic shotguns to fully automatic weapons.

to say the least i was a pressure cooker - a perfect recipe for a school massacre - i had the means to pull it off - i had the capability - i had the proper motive everything had fallen into place except for one small series of things...

my parents gave me a happy home, we ate dinners at night together - usually - we went to the movies together and vacations together.

through it all i had a couple of best friends who were blind to the taunting i received at school, and who always made me feel welcomed and cared for no matter the circumstances.

fortunately as high school started i grew out of the awkward stage of life as most youths do, the teasing and taunting ended and before anyone knew it i was just another one of the "in crowd".

so despite having exposure to violent films and games, despite having the ingredients common to a kid who snaps and massacres his school - I didnt do it - and i credit that to a lot of what i mentioned above.

video games dont lead kids to kill their class mates - they target these people because 22-23 days out of any given month these people are making that kids life a literal living hell from which he has no escape. the child is usually not reached a point of maturity in life to figure out that if he blows away his teacher and class mates with a 12 gauge - thats permanent revenge... not a temporary one.

EDIT:

I guess PONG or perhaps SPACE INVADERS on the atari caused this kid to snap...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkway...chool_shooting

its no new concept that people (regardless of age) flip out and kill their peers. video games or not

Agreed... as a student in one of the s****y US school systems. Teasing and people being a** holes is a frequently occuring thing. (now days It goes all through school. I see it in everygrade.) I myself know what it is like to be treated like s*** by kids & administraitors... It is because no one does anything to try to stop anything... And some people like I learn to deal with the stuff... some dont... and some go crazy...

I agree to some point... with some individuals the media does help abit. but not with all. Most of it in my opinion is built up anger and pressure from other people. Gangs and things like gangs could brainwash a person to do something like this. (kind of like some cults.) Also where the individual lives, and the life they live. Lots of factors fall into place when It comes to the Child/Teen/adult in shootings. Mental state is a very large factor, a person could have mental issues, without violence or with...

There peers could be a large part... excessive jokeing and things in that aspect could cause a person to go crazy. I know... I had issues with mother f**kers my entire school carear (10 years of the s***) and the administation of the schools dont care... pffft a detention... a slap on the wrists... nothin much... and sometimes nothing.

Media... Yep... The media, puts pressure on kids trying to change them and make them into different people, sometimes pushing them overboard. Music... even though I like it... Music can be quite violent at times, which a kid with a un stable mind can take seriously or something like that. And yes games can be violent, but EVERYONE who plays games I know has violent vediogames... So If Its games... there should be a greater number of school shootings. also shootings have been around before mass media/games came out.

Its not just games... Its people, and all the factors of there lifes that could drive them to the point of a school shooting.

I think that baning games like these is stupid... theys just cause a uproar, and help pirates get more downloads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitman (Post 1112888)

We have that already. Games are rated for 12, 16 and 18 year olds, movie DVDs as well.

Effect: pretty much zero, I would say. Plus that it has not ben controlled that shops obey these age verifications.

We have a very intense political dispute currently on wether or not teenagers should be allowed to function as test buyers (acompanied by covered officials and/or police) to check if shops sell them cigarettes and alcohol without asking for their ID card to verify their age. If the age is in doubt, most DO NOT ask. Since years, numbers of coma-drinkers and drunkien teenagers are climbing over here. Some say: "No, that is intrusive." Others say "We should appeal to the good will of traders." And "That is child abuse, it is not a teenager's duty to expose himself to the risk of buying alcohol." Or "Let'S find a pedagogical solution - let's tell them to be reasonable, all of a sudden." And "I appeal to traders and parents to be aware of their responsibility." And more stupid, braindead BS like this.

A moment when I either burst in yelling laughter or get a red face in anger with murderous fantasies on my mind? When politicians mount themselves in front of microphones and start a sentence by saying "I appeal to XYZ to..." That shows me that I am dealing with a brain-amputated, irresponsibly naive professional fulltime-idiot not living in reality. It's one of the most stupid phrases to be used in politics. And that means something, since there are so incredibly many stupid phrases in politics.

What other things will they try to ban once the powers that be learn that banning violent games will not prevent a mentally unstable person from commiting violent acts.

What is there like 5 games in world that exist with some sort of violence? I mean even tetris could be considered a killing game because you are killing rows of blocks.

Betting on this in a a few months:

"Scientists have discovered that 100% of Violent Criminals breath oxygen, Germany has taken steps to prevent violence by banning oxygen."

100% of Violent Criminals have Di-hydrogen Monoxide in their system. Ban Water.

I hear having a brain is the leading cause of violence too, I wonder if Germany will ban the possession of brain, its not like any of their politicians have one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rilder (Post 1113333)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skybird

The issue will cause absolute polarisation between fans and critics, no doubt, and each camp will argue with total absolutes.

Maybe I should have added "...and construct the most absurd extremes of examples to back up their opinion." :-?

That is a interesting graph Mookiemoookie. The crime rate is actually going down despite the increase violent content in recent games.

Quote:

Originally Posted by surf_ten (Post 1113346)

That is a interesting graph Mookiemoookie. The crime rate is actually going down despite the increase violent content in recent games.

I don't think the graph should be considered to be an accurate representation.

First off in some countries the violent crime rate has gone up over the same period and second i'd bet if you applied that to a graph of school shootings and other violent crimes committed by minors it would tell a different story.

Yes, the graph looks a little suspect to me.
Violent crime only started to fall in the US in the early 90s according to the best statistics I can find.

And how do they plan to stop BitTorrent?

The people that still want them will still get them.

-S

Quote:

Originally Posted by August (Post 1113350)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bureau of Justice Satistics

The percentage of students ages 12 to 18 victimized by violence and theft at school decreased between 1995 and 2005, and remained unchanged between 2005 and 2007. In 1995 about 10 percent of students were victims of violence or theft, compared to 4 percent in 2005 and 2007.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict_c.htm#school