Loads of Germans sign pro-games petition

By Tom Bramwell Published 10 July, 2009

Save our killerspiele!

Over 28,000 people in Germany have signed a petition to get the Government to reconsider proposals to ban violent videogames.

Last month Germany's interior ministers threatened to kick off about 'killerspiele' ahead of elections later this year.

However, under the rules outlined on the Government website (in German, obviously), if a petition gets more than 50,000 signatures within three weeks, the Petitions Committee holds a public hearing so the petitioners can present their case.

The petition itself, helpfully translated by our friends at Eurogamer.de, implores German citizens:

  • to erase the irritating and discriminating term of "killerspiele" from political discussion;
  • to strengthen the trust of the public in existing national youth-protection mechanics;
  • to improve and warrant the execution of existing laws, that ensure kids and the youth only get access to video- and computer games appropriate according the USK;
  • to support parents, teachers [or pedagogues, if you're translating into your second language - thanks again Tanja!] and educational responsible persons in the advancement of media competence;
  • to promote the computer- and videogames industry in Germany and especially the training of these promising professions.

Girl power!

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (54) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • kendoji #1 3 years ago

    ...to support parents, pedagogues and educational responsible persons...

    That's disgusting, pedagogues should be locked up!

  • Dizzy #2 3 years ago

    They should be shot!

  • George-Roper #3 3 years ago

    WTF is a 'pedagogue'?

    /feels stupid

  • myiagros #4 3 years ago

    what the hell is a "pedagogues"??

  • Jocho #5 3 years ago

    Do you have to be German to sign on or can the rest of us support them? I hope the former, but suspect the latter.

  • phonodyne #6 3 years ago

    Pedagogue = teacher / educator.

  • Lea #7 3 years ago

    Its actually only for german citizens.

    pedagogue: http://ww w.thefreedictionary.com/pedagogues

  • Jocho #8 3 years ago

    Too bad, but thanks for answering.

  • UncleLou #9 3 years ago

    More than 30.000 now already. In 3 days. Not bad at all. It's literally growing by the second.

  • Razorus #10 3 years ago

    Best of luck to the Jerries. I honestly feel bad for them. All the best games are censored, it must be frustrating.

  • General_Zod #11 3 years ago

    No murder simulators for you Uncle Fritz!

  • UncleLou #12 3 years ago

    Best of luck to the Jerries. I honestly feel bad for them. All the best games are censored, it must be frustrating.

    Thanks, but so far it hasn't really been a problem. It's perfectly legal to buy (for adults) the original versions, which I've been doing for years, and it's perfectly legal for stores in Germany to sell them to adults.

    What they're planning now, though, definitely goes too far.

  • rudedudejude #13 3 years ago

    Games don't kill people, joypads do!

  • miiiguel #14 3 years ago

    "Its actually only for german citizens.

    pedagogue: http://ww w.thefreedictionary.com/pedagogues "

    I have to disagree, you have the word in portuguese as well: "pedagogo".

  • peteb #15 3 years ago

    i signed it there, not a german citizen but I live here

  • kangarootoo #16 3 years ago

    @miiiguel

    Hehe, I think two seperate comments were being made in the same post there (the petition being just for German citizens, followed by the definition of pedagogue.

    That said, pedagogo is a great word. It sounds like a dance from the 60s.

  • miiiguel #17 3 years ago

    @ kanga: ooops... ehehe, my bad. I better leave multi-tasking for CPU's (and ladies as well..., so I heard).

  • AphoticCosmos #18 3 years ago

    Ich bin eine Killerspiele!

    What?

  • Octoroc #19 3 years ago

    I live in Germany and always import games from the UK. Adult games are almost always censored here, sometimes bizarrely so: the German version of COD4 for example had the "Arcade mode" removed. We never get demos of shooters on PSN either.

    What's really stupid is that non-censored german-langauge versions of these games are readily available from Austria.

    Politicians eh?

  • Sunyavadin #20 3 years ago

    What I also find hypocritical is their censorship of Nazi symbolism in games.
    So, you're not allowed to tell a story of someone fighting against the atrocities of the Nazis? What? You think if you pretend it never happened it will go away? Seems like the ones with the inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy are the policy makers, rather than the German public..

  • Dexter2015 #21 3 years ago

    people in Germany wana ban violent video games. Yep why is there a need for violent games if you can have the real thing right into your house! Just last week alone more them 20 people where killed in yet unresolved murders.... more them 30 people got killed in car crash.... 10 people did died with the Type A flu. And the history of anti violens in Germany is sad as well they started 2 world wars after all. So Mario better not jump on that guys heads anymore or you will have a ban in Germany!

  • Sorcy #22 3 years ago

    The thing with the Nazi symbols is not that they can not be shown. Actually, we talk about nazi germany in school ad nauseum, at least we did when I went to school. It's just that no nazi symbol is allowed to be used in any kind of game. Be it videogame or toycar or boardgame or cardgame. Yeah, I know, it's just the law.

    The petition with 30.000 people signing seems impressive, but I have a strong feeling it will be futile. We had an even bigger petition against a new law that creates a censuring infrastructure for the world wide web in germany - its supposed to be used for the blockage of child porn websites solely, but it could easily be used to block any kind of website. Plus, the list of the blocked sites is not open to scrutiny, so nobody can check what has been blocked.

    The petition against this law drew something like 130.000 petitioners, but much good it did us - they law has just today been accepted by the federal council, so it is basically in effect NOW.

  • Skeletor #23 3 years ago

    @Sunyavadin

    Swastikas and other Nazi symbols are NOT censored in general in Germany! Usually it's not a problem to use them in a pure historical and non-propaganda context. The problem here is that entertainment products can be pretty much all over the place when it comes to historical context. Is Call of Duty WaW really a game with a serious historical background?
    In the end it's quite complicated so many publishers remove those symbols on their own. Which of course is pretty much bullshit because everbody and their mother import their games from the UK or Austria nowadays;-)

  • UncleLou #24 3 years ago

    What I also find hypocritical is their censorship of Nazi symbolism in games.
    So, you're not allowed to tell a story of someone fighting against the atrocities of the Nazis? What? You think if you pretend it never happened it will go away? Seems like the ones with the inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy are the policy makers, rather than the German public..

    No, like Skeletor says, this isn't the reasoning behind this at all. I really don't think you can accuse German politics (or the public) of a lack of processing the past (and that particular aspect of it) quite thoroughly.

  • Linkified #25 3 years ago

    Thing is it needs to be 60 % of the voting electorate to make a difference.

  • Bravestinsane #26 3 years ago

    @Dexter2015

    Your a prick....the current generation of Young Germans had nothing to do with either world war, your like thos sad American Nobends who try to use history to insult us online..

    Well personaly i hope the Germans get what hey want, they are missing out on some of the games. If anything they should make games like Gears Of War 2 where you can turn of gore and language. At least that way people in Germany will have a choice and i see that as a reasonable compromise. And im sure it would be welcomed by parents in other countries. Personaly ill have the uncensored ones anytime, i don't find anything really offence so bring me as much blood and gore as you want is what i say.

  • Rodchenko #27 3 years ago

    In large electronic stores like MediaMarkt and Saturn they've started to put 18+ games (and other 'adult' media) in dark red, semi-transparent cases (and the 16+ media in ones that have a yellowish tint). I am not sure what the point of this is, but I find it pretty annoying. Since I am offended by some of our politicians and think that quite a few of them are a danger and an insult to the public, I think they should be cased into various colors as well.

    Edit: actually not sure whether this is a EU incentive, or whether this is something particular to Germany.
    Edited by 2 at 10/07/09 @ 19:10

  • Kain201 #28 3 years ago

    @Rodchenko:

    I have yet so see that. But don't worry, I was in a small video game shop last week and they had no such cases.

    I guess this is just special service from the Metro Group for the fuckwits who are too stupid to read the oversized USK ratings on the cover.

  • UncleLou #29 3 years ago

    I am not sure what the point of this is

    Pretty sure so that the sales personnel immediately notices the age rating, without having to look at the logo, and doesn't accidentally sell it to younger people. A logo is easier to forget about than a coloured case which you have to wrestle of the box. :)
    Edited by 1 at 10/07/09 @ 20:37

  • Kain201 #30 3 years ago

    Say Lou, did you bought a game with the new oversized USK logo?

    If not, look at this.
    The left cover has the old logo, the right one has the new logo.
    I doubt that anyone who isn't colourblind will miss this logo.
    Edited by 1 at 10/07/09 @ 20:58

  • Sunyavadin #31 3 years ago

    In large electronic stores like MediaMarkt and Saturn they've started to put 18+ games (and other 'adult' media) in dark red, semi-transparent cases (and the 16+ media in ones that have a yellowish tint).

    I would guess because it is FAR MORE IMMEDIATELY VISIBLE than SOME RETARDED SYSTEMS.....

  • AOFanboi #32 3 years ago

    After Schengen the Bundespolizei no longer ask "haben Sie Pass?" but "haben Sie Killerspiele?". Carry a user dose of cannabis and they let you go, carry GTA IV and they drag you the Kammer...

  • StooMonster #33 3 years ago

    This will start in Germany, then spread to EU, then we'll have the same shite in UK :(

    Who will think of the children?

    FFS

  • SpaceMonkey77 #34 3 years ago

    I'm glad german gamers are taking positive action. For too long, they've let these fools in government take apart their past time, with no regard for who buys games. Even if they fail, some positive notice will be made that they tried to do something.

    Next, aussie gamers need to do them same. The aussie government need to be put in their place, and 18 rating passed.

  • djed #35 3 years ago

    It's rather obvious to anyone interested that bigger age-rating logos on the Call of Duty 4 game package will prevent at least 3 school shootings within the next three years.

  • moshegy #36 3 years ago

    It's kind of sad when politicians start performing things like parenting for you and think they're right to do so. When did democracy become about leading what you believe to be the blind? I mean, can't they tell themselves what a side track they're on?

  • trooperdx3117 #37 3 years ago

    I've never understood this whole hatred for violent videogames by german politicians. After all people like Hitler (Who was Austrian by the way) got along fine being evil without the influence of videogames.

  • metalangel #38 3 years ago

    Was Operation Flashpoint (which seemed to be popular in Germany, as many players and mods came from there) censored at all there?

  • ShinMegami08 #39 3 years ago

    in switzerland its only a question of time till the laws will get harder. the politicians are working on a "killerspiele-verbot".... sucks really big time. fuck them all

  • Kain201 #40 3 years ago

    Over 40.000 people have signed now.

    Could someone update the news please? :-)

  • Bloodhunter #41 3 years ago

    This better not happen in the UK...

    anyway, go you guys Germans!

  • sneetch #42 3 years ago

    @Sunyavadin
    I would guess because it is FAR MORE IMMEDIATELY VISIBLE than SOME RETARDED SYSTEMS.....

    I would have thought the large "18+" sign that PEGI put on cases in addition to those icons would be enough.

    Apparently somepeople just don't "do" numbers.
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/09 @ 20:23

  • Jimpanse #43 3 years ago

    @metalangel: operation flashpoint 1 was not censored in germany :) but nowadays you won't find an game which is not censored, many Games will not be published in germany, because of their violence.... an the "Killerspiele-Verbot" is even more crazy Oo
    i have to go to UK, because of uncensored Games and many Xboxlive-User :D

  • oktava #44 3 years ago

    It's a fucking joke. Allowing weapons and banning games. Sounds just about right.

  • Rodchenko #45 3 years ago

    Pretty sure so that the sales personnel immediately notices the age rating, without having to look at the logo, and doesn't accidentally sell it to younger people. A logo is easier to forget about than a coloured case which you have to wrestle of the box.

    Maybe that's the reason, but the thing is that the red casings at least are almost opaque. It's bloody hard to see the title underneath. I could imagine some politician came up with this idiocy in order to keep the 'bad' titles away from our kiddies eyes'. Of course, as it always goes when something is banned, the kids will try everything to get a hold of the red, forbidden titles now even harder. Nice they stick out like a sore thumb, so they don't have to waste much time looking for them.
    Edited by 1 at 12/07/09 @ 18:13

  • Kain201 #46 3 years ago

    I still doubt that these red cases are mandatory. Do you know which other department store also belongs to the Metro Group?
    It's Galeria Kaufhof. Yes, it is the store chain that will not sell any videogames with an age rating of USK 18.

    [link url=http://kotaku.com/5176772/germ an-retailer-drops-violent-games-in-wake-of-shootings
    ]http://ko taku.com/5176772/german-retaile...[/link]

    Now, do you think this is a coincidence?

  • Braincrack #47 3 years ago

    Germany sucks!

    (Im a german gamer^^)

  • TitusCrow #48 3 years ago

    The original nazi ideology was all about this kind of hardcore censorship. Anything different from what was thought to be the idea and zip!! off you went to some sort of holding camp till the state could decide on an apropriate "re- education" program or other more draconian measure.
    I find it strange today, when the history of Germany had one of the most arbitery forms of censorship ever witnessed, that now in a free democratic germany, the electorate are willing to stand this kind of censorship over there.
    I hope that popular opinion forces a rethink of these laws and other's which seem to dog many forms of German media.

    Oh and btw - start a petition while your at it to kill Uwe Boll - for crimes against film :)

  • GreatUncleBaal #49 3 years ago

    I think it's a marvellous way for the German government to alienate a large part of their electorate. Trying to ban something they clearly don't fully comprehend just shows them as out of touch, and I hope this petition forces them to actually listen to people who know what they're talking about.

  • Cannibal #50 3 years ago

    Politicians only pick on games because gamers are not really considered a voting demographic. They go after games so they can be seen to be taking a passionate stance against something that is unlikely to bite them back in the ass votes wise. Most of them probably haven't played or been in the same room as someone playing one of these games.

  • lolife.se #51 3 years ago

    "Oh and btw - start a petition while your at it to kill Uwe Boll - for crimes against film :)"

    As long as people like Michael Bay gets to stay, over my dead body.
    Edited by 1 at 13/07/09 @ 21:29

  • Kain201 #52 3 years ago

    I don't know what your talking about Mr. notmyrealname, because I have not read anything like that in this comments.

    However, german law states that it is forbidden to idolize Nazis or nazism in any way. I know this sounds stupid, but to present Nazis or nazi ideology in video games, even just for killing them, is sometimes seen as an idolization by members of the USK rating board.

    The most publishers know this, and censor their games in advance for the german market, so they can offer their games to a bigger audience.

    And that's it. As long as we have this laws and this constellation of people running the USK, we can do nothing more than sign this petition.
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/09 @ 09:59

  • SEVQA #53 3 years ago

    The censors and politicians no mater which country or nation who support censorship are the Nazis!

  • Kain201 #54 3 years ago

    Depends, I totally support banning hate speech.