Germany Lifts DOOM Ban After 17 Years

[The Straight Story]

Germany Lifts DOOM Ban After 17 Years

Germans are now free to buy the classic video game Doom after a ban imposed way back in 1994 was lifted on Wednesday. Anyone over the age of 16 can now purchase the title and its sequel “Doom II – Hell On Earth”.

Violent video games have always suffered in Germany as, like with pornography, sales of most violent games were limited to adult-only stores. The original title was deemed “harmful” by the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (Bundesprufstelle) and was placed on an index on controlled titles due to its “bloody” and “sadistic” nature that could harm the nation’s youth. Maybe they were thinking the game would start a Nazi uprising, I don’t know.

Alas, the 17 year ban officially expired on August 31st following an appeal by the game’s owners, Bethesda Softworks, who questioned the bans effectiveness, noting “the game’s crude graphics had been surpassed by many modern titles and, as a result, the violence it depicted had far less of an impact.”

The Bundesprufstelle originally decision was not decided by the graphics, no matter how crude, instead citing the main reason for banning ‘Doom’ because of its relentless use of gunplay and intense violence was “not balanced by other scenes”.

http://whatculture.com/gaming/germany-lifts-doom-ban-after-17-years.php