German Past Haunts Gamers' Future

Wired has up a very thoughtful article examining the current anti-violent gaming trends in Germany, and reflecting on their connection to WWII. Article author Bruce Gain discusses some of the history of post-Nazi Germany, and points out how violent games rile politics in that country by reminding it of its past. Says Gain: "Some German officials link these games to an increase in violence among the young and cite at least one instance where a gamer applied the lessons learned from a first-person shooter to a real-life murderous rampage. Remove the connection, they argue, and you prevent further violence. Germany has a lot of gamers, but the violence found in many of these games is widely criticized there. It has some of the strictest video-game censorship laws in the Western world. For example, laws prohibit the sale of Counter-Strike and other titles with blood-depicting graphics switched on. But for many politicians, the laws don't go far enough."

Comments

It's such a shame

[Vengeance]

If only Adolf Hitler had not had access to videogames, the history of modern Europe would look entirely different.

Whats worse, fake violence or real censorship?

[Shatrat]

They clamp down on violent games by using government censorship? It makes you wonder how much of a lesson they really learned from the failures of national socialism.

How long does this need to go on?

[east coast]

Let's face facts, and not to make light the tragedy of the holocaust, but how long does a society need to live with the sins of it's past?

It's a fairly safe bet that today's German gamer isn't the same guy shoveling the bodies of holocaust victims into mass graves.

When can we get over this image of German = Nazi? How long until I don't have to feel bad about being a white American male because of slave owners who have been worm food for over a century?

We need to stop pinning the past of a society on today's citizens.