14 DAY TRIAL // After a horrific shooting incident in Germany, which took place in Winnenden and involved a teenager who was said to play Counter Strike and/or Far Cry 2, criticism of video games has been, as usual, on the rise. The President of the country called for a ban on violent video games and parent groups have also said that the access of children to such titles should be severely limited.
And now, the Minister of the Interior of the German state of Bavaria has launched the strongest attack yet on video games. He has not only attacked them directly by comparing them to illegal drugs and to child pornography, but he has also done this just as the German Games Awards, which are, in part, supported by the federal government, have been taking place.
Joachim Herrmann, who is the Minister of the Interior of Bavaria, has released a statement saying that, “Such games are one of the causes for youth violence and also for school shootings, where images from killer games become reality,” before mentioning that, “More and more children are getting mired in this virtual world of violence,” and that, “They have no time left for school or job training, and are lost to our society.” He has also called for them to be banned from sales in the same way as drugs are banned.
Thomas Jarzombek, who is the Commissioner for the New Media for the German government, has replied by stating that, “The comparison is completely inappropriate... anyone making such statements is unqualified to participate in any further debate protection of minors from harmful media.”
It seems that new labels have been added to some video games after the shooting incident and that legislation limiting access to some titles is being worked on. Let's hope that cooler heads, like Thomas Jarzombek, will prevail and that no ban on video games will be enacted in Germany.