"I didn't know that Hitler was a closet video game player. Humm.. I heard some violent rock music, maybe you could bad that too.. "

"This is great progress, same should be done with the movies. There cannot be any good reason why anybody should be able to kill other human beings even as in simulation. We are the only species on this planet (probably in this galaxy as well) who enjoys watching slaughter of fellow species as "an entertainment".. it's mental illness that needs to be cured. Games could make people better persons, why not?"

"They should ban breathing air, too - since those spree killers always breathed that air before they did the crime. And the air contributed at least as much to the crime as video games :p"

"That German government is so silly, really if they're going to ban violent video games shouldn't they ban all violent film, television, and literature too. Obviously the German government doesn't think to highly of freedom of expression."

""spree killers always played such games before they did the crime." I bet 100% of violent criminals ate bread at some point in their lives. Obviously we need to ban the manufacture, distribution and consumption of bread. This simple example demonstrates the foolishness of such a ban."

"IS a hitler clone secretlt pulling Govt. strings in Germany haha..."

"I think people are in denial about the effects of television and computer games. I think both mediums can have profound effects on the way people think and behave. This event will predictably draw howls of derision, but before the howling and rationalization begins, people should allow for the possibility that there is some substance behind this decision and that these games are not healthy for some people less inhibited against violence."

"And Britain's in the lead with video surveillance, but the US is pulling up a close second with the PATRIOT Act... Britain opens the lead again by outlawing photography, the US tight on its heels with Tazers Gone Wild... Australia is pulling ahead of the pack by censoring the entire internet - they could take the lead, but what's this? The whole EU is making a power play with mandatory video game cutoff switches! This could be a real game-changer... Germany now leapfrogs into the lead by outlawing violent video games while America passes Britain on the outside by creating a de facto Official Secrets Act around torture photographs... don't go anywhere yet, fans - it promises to be an exciting race day... "

"This reeks of politicians attempting to curry votes via bold press releases and promises to the public that lie along with current "popular opinion". Its showboating, trying to bring parents and conservatives over to their side on the pretense of "we're protecting our children" - yes, at the expense of infringing on the rights of adults and people who can play these kinds of games without falling to pre-existing psychological conditions and personalities that predispose them to violence. Its akin to blaming John Wayne if someone were to go on a shooting spree on a horse with a six-shooter. Its a weak excuse, one that yet again reinforces the insidious idea that parents don't have to be responsible for what their children play if the government is willing to legislate it for them. "

"I agree with them totally! But that's not enough! There is a lot of violence in the news too! Ban the news! :( :D"

"There is persuasive scientific evidence that such games will change the attitudes of persons toward killing. Here is an easily understandable article: www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/1999/¿oct99leb.pdf . As long as solders and police are the only persons trained to kill it will be easy to control the remainder of the population. "

"There is an important difference between the sorts of violence. Sometimes violence is employed in media to realistically or artistically reflect some sort of deeper truth. Other violence serves no purpose other than gross entertainment and is inanely gratuitous. Though I personally believe that consumers have the right to both and are generally intelligent enough to realize the difference, I hope legislators aren't too blinded by political expediencies to ignore such an important distinction."

"Full support to Michael (Earth). Similar actions should be taken against violence on TV. If I watch TV for one average evening I end up with watching 5-20 killings! It's bizarre, and I'm convinced it's dangerous."

"ban all violent game by a man who never played video games and hate them . ban violent games = - metal gear solid - street fighter 4 - tekken 6 - soul calibur 4 - GTA 4 - CALL of duty 4 and warfar 2 hahaha - infamous - assasin creed - GOD of WAR 3 - and 80% off few best games i thin kthe misister want german guys to buy a nintendo wii and start gaying with happy games like dinner dash or mario tennis , german minister who said that is evil and must be banned from his fonction ."

"Haha, germany... I don't understand why they are even allowed in the European Union. If you are going to ban violent video games then you should ban alcoholics since ALOT of crimes are commited under the influence. You should also ban SUGAR because it makes people fat and is a cause of DIABETES. Now I don't think politicians care about people when they come with decisions like these. They don't care what you or anybody else think is right or wrong. They only care about what THEY want and they never actually listen to the people. Now as long as this rediculous decision does not affect the rest of Europe then feel free to ruin the lives for every gamer in germany to maybe stop people from maybe killing eachother... or maybe people will have to resort to strangling babies to releave stress from now on. God damn idiots."

"what's next? Hamlet? too many people get killed in that! let's ban shakespeare Orca whales bat, throw and torture baby seals for fun! lets ban the discovery channel! The Devil told Mark David Chapman to kill John Lennon, BAN RELIGION!"

"This law is truly ridiculous, but the censorship in Germany considering those games was very harsh before, that's why we buy our games in other countries like GB or NL. Multiple researchs have proven that thos games can't make anyone agressive, but they train a special component of the eyesight which is important for drivers... They only try to ban the production and vending, we still can import it on our own."

"Yes, yes, lots of things are less than healthy for someone with a bad case of controlling their inhibitions. Realistically, though, the problem here isn't whether someone was influenced to kill or not to--that point is moot compared to the big point: Freedom to express oneself. If they ban violence in games and films, then why not ban violence in news? Ban violence in books, such as history books and documentaries. Human beings are violent. You can ban the showing of this violence and all you end up with are violent liars. If you want to stop violence, f***ing educate your mother-f***ing kids and stop breeding hatred. When you educate people properly, games like these will become less popular of their own accord because less kids will want to pretend shoot their peers because they are being picked on every day. Sociopaths will be sociopaths with or without games and people don't kill other people because they saw it in a video game; they kill people because they saw it in a video game and someone didn't explain to them that it's different in real life.. or they saw it in a video game and that asshole really deserved it... ... or, my personal favorite, they saw that some dumbass said it was the games' fault, so now they can get away with it as long as they blame Grand Theft Auto. That way they get to kill that jerk who has been shoving them in the dirt and beating them up every day.. AND get away with it."

"Are they serious? are they going to ban cookery books because that german dude ate that other dude after cooking him his own battered sausage? Violence has existed throughout the whole history of man..the romans used ot watch christians get eaten alive for entertainment ffs!...are we suddenly going to become tree hugging hippies by not being exposed to this? I don't think so. European violent culture dominated the world from 15/16th centuries and wiped out any peaceful cultures along time ago. Governments should at least be realistic and try to get unnesseary or gratuitous violence toned down...keep age limits strict too thats the most sensible solution. Even a tax on violent material would discourage actual development of this material and encourage a shift from companies investing in game development toward more family oriented styles of games. Maybe they should have it coded into games to flag up a warning to police if your actions in games start to be a cause for concern like shooting children in the face...then aagain i think the police would have had several warning abot me! ooops"

"This is human progress. Creative games would be a great replacement. I play Trainz."

"Michael (Earth) we are the only spiecies known to us that uses the concept of entertainment and the myth that we are the only spicie on the planet that kills it's own is also a lie. Lots of spiecies not only fight and kill members of their own spiecies but also eat them. That being said, I have no problem with this ban as long as it stays in germany, they are pretty wierd anyway. however I am pretty sure that I would go on a rampage if they tried to limit my freedom to that extent and with that shitty excuses."

"Figures. The almighty government taking care of us poor sad people bleh /gag pretty soon it will be more and more government control everywhere. "

"This is retarded, i'm sorry if i am mistaken, but haven't people been killing each other since human existance? As Bauer said, was hitler an addicted gamer? No, but he still seemed to committ mass genecide. "

"ummm i do belive almost every other species kill each other ... alot ... most species adult males kill young ... we dont do that ... i mean some people r just psycho ... games dont cause that, brain damage does lol"

"lol Germany, l2p."

"ok .. and what video games did Jeffrey Dahmer play? What Video Games did Davis Berkowitz play? What Video Game did Jim Jones play before he killed 909 of his followers with a cup of kool-aid? Morons"

"So... um... There was never a violent crime before video games? I would like to see a ligit study on video game violence. I think for the most part its politicians that are suking up to parents that have no idea how to take care of their kids. So, the parents blame there childs "problems" on whatever they can. Originally a Graphic COMIC BOOK would make killers, then it was TV, now Video Games. I have been playing killing games for years now ever from when I was 12, and I have never had an urge to actually go out and hurt any one or anything. To me I think parents need to spend more time with there children and teach them what is right and wrong. that is the problem, not games."

" "spree killers always played such games before they did the crime." This list shows just how much BS that statement is.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_murderers_and_spree_killers_by_number_of_victims"

"Abolishing the general conscription too would be consequent."

"hold on there a second, maybe Germany (and the world) WOULD be a better place without video games. would you really be that sad to never shoot someone in the face? you could apply the same question to movies too. violence is overrated"

"I've played violent FPS games all my life and not once have I thought about killing anyone."

"I am all for the banning of Violent Video games from ages that should not be allowed to play Violent Video Games. I'm 26, my father was a gamer. I grew up in a household full of gaming. It's my father's and my favorite past time. I wasn't allowed to play any games that focused on Violent Themes when I was a kid (Which included Wolfiestien, Doom, and a multitude of fighters like Mortal Kombat) until I was old enough to understand the difference between real life and a Video Game. Same thing with movies, tv shows, etc. It was actual parenting, they payed attention to me as a kid and were aware of the things in society going on around us. They made the informed decisions I couldn't and regulated the things that they felt weren't healthly for me. Why do people insists that responisible adults have to pay for the mistakes of so many lazy parents. You can blame violent entertainment all you want but it really just bad parenting."

"What absolute rubbish! I have never read anything as stupid in my life.Alright so a few unstable people have played on these "violent" games and then gone out and killed but why spoil the fun for the rest of us? Most people who play these games do it for fun and they never, ever go out and kill. I have played on some of the worse games you can buy and it never affected me. I have not been put away in a padded room because these games made me kill. I have not killed or even turned violent. These so called ministers need to start looking where the real issues with violence lay. Perhaps by banning all religion - religion is often a big cause of violence although most people would prefer to ignore this. I just worry that English ministers etc will get hold of this idea and try to ban these games here too further spoiling our fun."

"I have played violoent video games for...as long as i can remember! and not once had it impacted my thoughts on wanting to slit someone throat, or blow a 12" hold in them with a shotgun.. the people that do are likely goin to do it REGARDLESS of wether the coincidentally did it in a video game once! VIDEO GAME'S will be the scape goat for it as long as idiots shoot people and other idiots cant bring it upon them selves to recognize the real reasons people do this stuff and admit to it! like terrible care of unstable people!..."

"stop and think what would be banned.com all fps. almost all platformers. most rpgs, action games adventure games. all fighting games. about half the virtual sims. the games industry would be damaged. have I made my point. comment from a wii. most dangrous/violent consle ever :)"

"Oh crap, I've been playing violent games all my life, lock me up before I kill a school D:"

"WOW, then how bout baning right wing parties in germany? And everywhere! That would trully be a step forward. I have played violent video games for 20 years guess ill go killa school now! HAHAHAH This is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. Worry about ur real problems!"

"Yeah, like WoW is violent. I'm going to play it then gank people by blasting them with magic."

"That's a shame. In my opinion eg. GTA series are more like a fascinating adventure in the criminal world than pointless killing. Maybe the youth should be more interested in politics..."

"Germany should ban all types of violence and make their police enforce this by asking nicely."

"While I strongly disagree with the notion of making games responsible for what some people do to other people, I do have to point out that the quotation used here has been mistranslated: It should be: "[...] spree killers have again and again played such games [...]"."

"Thanks for your comment Flow, we have made an update to our story."

"Stop the press, there's a big scoop: Cain killed Abel because he played a leaked beta of Half-Life 2, since the P2P is as old as the world itself!"

"Lol thats f***d up!"

"Couldn't it actually be that violent games help? It gives psykopaths a way to release their anger and bloodlust without actually hurting anyone. Also if you kill someone after playing violent games, then aren't you the real problem? I played tons of violent videogames, God of War (I and II) are among my all-time favorites, but i never, ever hurt a real human. I can't see why videogames ssould take the blame for some idiots, who doesn't know reality from fiction. A complete ban seems like taking freedom from the german people. Just say that you need to be 18 or something, and then enforce that. Never been happier not to be german"

"If only Hitler played more RISK, his plan would have been successful"

"Unfortunately the German people are a bunch of toothless lions these days and are even more accepting of civil erosions than us Brits are. The liberal left have castrated and transformed the country. It's like - One idiot goes mental, EVERYONE ELSE MUST PAY! :O This is madness and a similar trick that was pulled after Hungerford and Dunblaine. Blanket punishments have no place in a democracy, but they still go on. Can't someone push a bill through to stop this ban? "

"The thing is banning it in Germany will only mean kids will order them on-line from E-Bay or just nip over the border to France, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, holland, Poland or Luxemburg. :D Where there's a will there's a way folks :D"

"Ha ha :D"

"no maniacs existed before violent games. none."

""Violent games lower the inhibition level for real violence and spree killers have again and again played such before they did the crime." It would be weird if they didn't. Anyway, it's a lie, I'm playing a lot of violent video games and I have very strong inhibitions level for violent crime. And I used to be a violent person before I started playing violent computer games, so it's pure lies. Anyway, I'm banning German products in my household, until their violence against gamers will stop. If anyone loves the gaming culture, please do the same. Don't allow enemies of gaming to get fat on your money."

"Silly germans. Games didnt create the killers. These people were always unbalanced in the first place. Social reasons gave them a justification to kill, not the game in itself. The games are being used as an excuse. Well balanced people know the difference between real and false. "

"Wtf?Since when is this a major problem.Probably 90% of the kids in germany play violent games and how many become spreekillers?So yeah ban movies,games.Dont let us get out of our homes,just fuck it make robots and kill all humans.Now wouldnt that be fun?"

"the fella who shot up the school in germany was on antidepressants they make u go pyscho dont blame games"

"This is great!! What wonderful news. I'll testify that since I stopped playing violent video games, I stopped having violent dreams. They definately affect people whether kids believe it or not. It's truly a humane thing to see in Germany. Let's have this in the US too!"

"Not a single study has shown ANY link between videogames and violence. Despite lies to the contrary that many studies have proven a casual link between the two, the ONE recognized scientific study showed no link at all. This is quite simply a group of politicians pandering to a group of the population they will gain sway with."

"@Michael: I sure hope you're being very sarcastic. Besides that, I'm very curious as to whether this insane law will actually pass. Doesn't seem enforceable to me."

"Well, I think that you cant kill someone cause u saw it in a video game. First of all as some1 said before, u must have severe mental probs to kill some1, and also humanity always blames something or someone for something it/he/she didnt do.!"

"The more they talk, the more they just make me hate my own country. I'm so getting out of here when I get the chance. This so called democracy is fake."

"I don't think this will help. Do they really think that if they ban violent games, there will never be some psychos again? Do they think the psychos seek inspiration in such games? They have fantasy; it won't be hard for them to imagine cruel things they want to do."

"Video games don't make killers. I wasn't allowed to play Halo 2 until I was 12. People below their teens should not be allowed to play violent games. Some people are naturally disposed towards killing. Did Joseph Mangella (the nazi "doctor" play trauma center? No. Let's make a short list of notable killsers before 1980: A huge number of ROman Emperors, SHi Huguandi, Kim Jong IL (I can't spell it), Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hittler, Ander Johnson (Trail of tears) Cheif Shakas of the Zulu, the KKK, Ghengis Kahn, Jefery Dhamer, Baby Facee Nelson, Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker, The Crusaders, Pol Pot, Belgian IMperialists, William Tecumpsa Sherman, Fancisco Pizaro, Hernando Cortez, Leonidas (the 300 Spartans), Belesarius (the Byzantine General), Atilla the Hun, and many others."

"People have been motivated towards violence in reaction to acts brought on by politicians. I say we ban politicians. Politicians you could argue also contribute to increases in greed, adultery, bribery, etc., etc. Then we can start on the lawyers. Ridiculous."

"This is retarded. So many ignorant people in this world. If you want to ban something, ban religion."

"I think this is a complete disgrace!!! The murderers 99% of the time have other underlying problems. Of the millions who play violent games world wide, only a handful go on to commit murders. In my case, if I don't play violent video games I have to take out my violent feeling somewhere else. I can understand manhunt and stuff as that is really twisted, but come on, WoW? Censorship gone too far."

"Genocide and Murder have been around LONG before videogames."

"1)Taking kids off of violent games would bring them closer to all the other violent medias. 2)Hacking (Still common, even though it is illegal) gaming systems means that they can still download violent games. 3)With this law, someone is bound to bring up an end to violent media; if it passes, Germany would lose even more money."

"Look at it this way, if you cant play games, then you will go to the streets, larger chance to drink alcohol, or A.S.B.O's, Gang war's, etc, this is a step in the wrong direction. Do things like move +18 games to the higher shelves in shops and bring the +3 - +12 games down to eye level, so the majority of games you see are the more child friendly ones."

"I think the focus should be more on the message behind the game's violence, instead of the depiction. For instance, I think GTA should have been banned outright, not because of the depiction of violence but because the game depicts crime as a worthwhile lifestyle, and especially for its treatment of women. What's even worse is the fact that the people who created it don't seem to think there's anything wrong with it, and neither do the publishers - without whom the game would have been stillborn. And its not just games. Music with lyrics which endorse, however subtly, violence and disrespect, especially toward women, should also be banned outright. The same goes for movies. While I'm not particularly enamoured of censorship, due to the extensive control it would hand over to government, it seems to be the only solution - as media creators seem incapable of looking at their work and asking the only important question; is this work going to have a positive effect on our society?"

"this would have to be the most stupidest thing ive ever read. Ive played many violent games and iv never thought of killing someone. the thought of stabing someone for real makes me feel sick. am i glad i moved out of there to a country that atleast lets you play MA15+ which i reckon is fair enough."