‘Violent’ video games: ban or self-regulation? 

Suggested policy responses range from an outright ban to stricter self-regulatory measures and labelling than those already in place.

The issue was brought into sharp focus on 20 November 2006 when a German teenager, Sebastian Bosse, 18, stormed his former school, Geschwister Scholl in Emsdetten near the Dutch border, and wounded around 32 people with a firearm before committing suicide by shooting himself.

A study , conducted in 2000 by Craig A. Anderson from the University of Missouri in Columbia and Karen E. Dill of Lenoir-Rhyne College, suggested that "exposure to violent video games will increase aggresive behaviour...in both the long and short term".

However, the 2005 findings of researchers Dmitri Williams, a professor of speech communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Marko Skoric, a lecturer at the School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, appear to contradict the commissioner's position and "did not support the assertion that a violent game will cause substantial increases in real-world aggression". 

In response, Commission Vice-President Franco Frattini told EurActiv: "I respect researchers' point of views and opinions, however I strongly believe that video games reaching high peaks of violence and aggressiveness (such as killing people walking down a street or burning a girl alive) do not have a positive impact on children's education."

Spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing  added: "What we are sure about is that certain kinds of video games or computer programmes can have a very bad impact on teenagers. The vice-president's decision to write a letter to his fellow European ministers is not an overreaction to a "normal phenomenon" - it is a 'pro-action', vis à vis a worrying trend that calls for a frank and open debate at European level."

The game to which Frattini referred was The Rule of Rose, for Sony's PlayStation 2 console, but a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe spokesman stood firm on the European ratings system, in place since April 2003. He told Euractiv: "The way that games certification works in Europe is that we have an independent and voluntary ratings code…called the Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) system and it has been well received by its intended users, such as parents and educators. All games released are thus subject to ratings ranging from 3+ to 18+ – no retailer would touch an unrated game. The reason we have a voluntary scheme is to take into account cultural differences between member states – just because someone doesn’t like a particular title does not mean that the system is at fault. Furthermore, as The Rule of Rose has not yet been released in Europe, it would appear that Vice-President Frattini made his comments without having been briefed on PEGI’s work."

The German teenager who stormed his former school, Sebastian Bosse, was allegedly a fan of violent computer games; politicians have subsequently called for them to be restricted or banned.

"These are completely irresponsible and should have no place in our society," said Edmund Stoiber, a senior conservative ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

However Dieter Wiefelspuetz, a senior lawmaker in the centre-left Social Democrats who make up the other half of Merkel's coalition, was more cautious, warning against a "blanket, knee-jerk reaction".