Proposal in Swiss government could ban violent games

by Ben Gilbert on Mar 24th 2010 1:00AM

According to a report out of consonant-heavy Swiss gaming site GamesMarkt, Switzerland's parliament recently passed a law that could lead to an across the board ban on "violent" games being sold in the country. Apparently a proposal was inked last month that aimed to remove games which require "cruel acts of violence against humans and human-like creatures for in-game success" -- a proposal that has apparently been passed by the Swiss National Council.

Since the initial proposal has passed, it's said to now be up to the Swiss parliament exactly how the law is enacted. If you're a Swiss gamer interested in challenging the new law, we encourage you to contact local politicians, as GamesIndustry.biz points out that "citizens are able to challenge any new law passed by parliament if they can show sufficient opposition to it." Given the petitions we've seen some of you get into, we're hoping this one will be a no brainer.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

Source

Tags: ban, law, parliament, petition, swiss-national-council, switzerland, violence, violent-game-bill

Reader Comments (78)

Idiocracy is spreading through out the world like a plague I see.

Spreading? I'm afraid it's already infected the entire world. Though, I am not particularly suprised. This 'neutral' country has a history of non-violence.

That Burning Sensation@
I know,Im just saying because in my country they just aproved a moronic law regarding to "violent" video games,politicians are just idiots,everywhere.

. . . because before there were video games, violence never existed.

Our replies look very much alike! That is... curious.

No. Just like how nobody in the old days played 'violent' games like cops n robbers, cowboys and Indians, stick wars, nope, that never happened.

/s

and evidence is conclusive that violent games and stick wars lead to violence? I would say as a whole the world has become more peaceful in the few decades games have been around. (end of the cold war, more humane treatment of prisoners of war) Most of the bloody wars like WW 1 and 2, the civil war, korea, vietnam took place before the invention of video games. As for stick wars, the jury is still out.

Not that i'm for this, but I think the law means gratuitous violence, like God Of War, Madworld, Dante's Inferno etc, but probably not Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain or Half Life mmm just guessing.

Sadly, I am pretty sure it would cover Uncharted 2 as well. In the article, it said this applies to games with "cruel acts of violence against humans and human-like creatures for in-game success." Now, I'm just some heathen that only played the demo for Uncharted 2 and doesn't actually own the game, but you had to kill humans in it to advance safely. The multiplayer also has you kill other players to gain higher rankings (again, from the MP demo).

Would be a sad day to see games like that banned.

the world has gotten more peaceful. remember the hay days of public beheadings, violent racism and hitler's regime? if people a hundred years ago saw us today, they would think we were pussies. we wont even die for are country.

...because politics haven't got better shit to do.

Eh, if they weren't blowing our money while screwing us over, I'd be worried. This is par for the course for the Worst Generation.

However i must say, one of the greatest countries IN THE WORLD is Switzerland.

I'm sure there will be...holes in the ban. Lots of...holes.

Come on man, don't joke about Swiss cheese. That ain't cool man.

DO IT! Video games are the road to hell and I'm not a monkey sitting in a president's chair!!

DIE MONSTER!

You don't belong in this world!

I was playing Chavez :D
oh no Michael, Thriller time!

Switzerland used to be cool.

So did you Michael, but you screwed that kid!

So did Alan Titchmarsh.
If you can watch until the end without being angry, then you're obviously ASIMO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryH2WemACIM&feature=player_embedded

Oops! Alan used to be cool, like Switzerland. Not a Peado like the bear.

When? Before they gave women the vote in 1976?

This red is burning my EYES!!

Those Swiss invented some stupid knife, and now they think they know everything.

They do make good chocolate, though.

...and they keep my money safe.

...and they measured my turd.

What if instead of violence, you use sex as a weapon. I think that would dramatically change games like Resistance and Doom.

Then you'll just be turning them into hentai games and they'll be shot down as well.

There going to say two wrongs don't make a right.

Games - Bad, Porn - Bad, Porn Games - Super Bad

Oh your making me angry Switzerland! You want me to put more blood on your flag!?

Let's just send Jack Thompson there, it sounds like his kind of place

he would probably run for president or some kind of ruling position.

the domain where games are not allowed

What a bunch of swissies.

This seems very strange to me, Switzerland seemed very calm and crime free and I have heard it has one of the lowest crime rates and highest suicide rates in the world. So I guess I can seem them banning Planescape: Torment but don't understand the other stuff.

My feelings towards the Swiss are pretty neutral.

*rimshot*

I've been living in Switzerland for over 5 years, I've never seen any crime. Although once this guy did park his car in a blue zone although he only had a permit to park in an orange zone, the police went nuts. I guess he must have been a gamer

I reckon they didn't want the area to become like Liberty City.

Thinking about it he did try and outrun the police using awkward controls

Was he trying to cast "Haste" on himself?

Nah, but his elven rogue boots gave him 5+ speed

I lived in Geneva for three months and my landlord once threatened to call the police because I was running up the stairs too fast. The Swiss are not just neutral, they are almost completely disconnected.

There are exceptions of course.

@ Korova

Hey, I also live in Geneva, and that sounds like a serious offense to me

my landlord told me I'm not allowed to flush the toilet after 11pm. Not sure if he'll call the police if I do though...

Here's the thing. There are two proposals floating around regarding the issue. The extreme one wants to effectivly ban violent video games (production, import and sale), the other one wants the PEGI ratings to be binding by law, which they aren't right now.

But even the milder proposal is gonna have it difficult to pass because it'll require a new bureau to monitor the whole thing and a change to our constitution (Bundesverfassung). And even if they do go for it, which is unlikely, it'd take about three years to be realized. And if they think they can forbid something so easily available worldwide... by legal and illegal means, then they're truly delusional.

So yeah, it's basically about some politicians trying to gain some attention, because sadly there's plenty of uninformed people who eat it up.

Although I agree this proposition can take time to pass (if at all), I'd rather not take any chances. I'm from Switzerland, but I have no idea who to contact to complain about this. If we tell enough people about this, we could get a big enough amount of people to call and make a difference.

For the record, I don't mind sanctions when the PEGI ratings are not followed, but completely against any sort of banning. Don't want to end up like in Germany or Australia.

"cruel acts of violence against humans and human-like creatures for in-game success"
Are they going to ban Mario? Bowser just wanted to be loved!

I'd love to see what black and white legal process they'll use to determine what is 'cruel' and what isn't. A law which requires human interpretation is easy to abuse or be made redundant depending on the agenda of those in power at the time. Got to hate politics.

I'm Swiss, I'm a gamer since 20+ years, but I do support the new proposal. As a future father I vote for everything that protects my children from being exposed to excessive portrait violence and idealized gun use.

For those that don't know how law-making in Switzerland works:

If someone here in Switzerland thinks that the administration is wrong in their decision-making, let's say for banning violent games for Swiss citizens under 18 years, he will start to organize an initiative of the people (Volksinitiative). If they get 1000'000 signatures within 18 months they have the right to bring their counter-proposal to the ballot. If they succeed and their proposal goes through then the administration has to acknowledge the will of the people and has to change the law accordingly.

That is the short explanation of voting in Switzerland for those living in countries where you have to trust the politicians that they know what they are doing.

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Proposal in Swiss government could ban violent games

Reader Comments (78)

Posted: Mar 24th 2010 1:04AM Mr White said

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