German Group Plans Killer Game Drive
German Group Plans Killer Game Drive
October 14, 2009
A German advocacy group has organized an event designed to get participants to bring their “killer games” to in order to dispose of them in a trash can.
Aktionsbündnis Amoklauf Winnenden, or Action Alliance (loosely translated), has setup the event for this Saturday, October 17 in front of the Stuttgart State Opera. One game tosser will win a signed jersey from the German national soccer team. No word on what will be done with the “donated” games, but presumably they will be smashed or discarded in some way.
GP reader Matthias noted that one image used in the group’s promotion for the event appears to use a modified copy of an image designed to aid Germany in ridding use of the swastika, substituting a CD or DVD for the Nazi symbol.
The Action Alliance is made up, at least partially, of the parents of children slain earlier this year at the awful school shooting incident in Winnenden, Germany, which claimed 16 lives.
Thanks to GP reader Stephan as well.
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Posted 02/09/10 at 07:00am
Austin_Lewis: That Alabama school shooting is supposedly gang related, according to the shooter's lawyer.
Austin_Lewis: That Alabama school shooting is supposedly gang related, according to the shooter's lawyer.
Posted 02/08/10 at 10:22pm
JDKJ: Landrieu. That's a good Cajun name. I ga-run-tee.
JDKJ: Landrieu. That's a good Cajun name. I ga-run-tee.
Posted 02/08/10 at 09:36pm
BearDogg-X: New Orleans elected Sen. Mary Landrieu's brother, Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu as mayor Saturday night.
BearDogg-X: New Orleans elected Sen. Mary Landrieu's brother, Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu as mayor Saturday night.
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:22pm
Valdearg: J/K, btw, with that last comment. Just in case anyone was confused.
Valdearg: J/K, btw, with that last comment. Just in case anyone was confused.
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:21pm
Valdearg: This comes on the heels of Sarah Palin telling the Teaparty Convention to pray for Divine intervention to stop the Progressive tide. It seems she succeeded in recruiting the big man to offer some help. >.<
Valdearg: This comes on the heels of Sarah Palin telling the Teaparty Convention to pray for Divine intervention to stop the Progressive tide. It seems she succeeded in recruiting the big man to offer some help. >.<
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:20pm
Valdearg: @A_L: I'm hearing that, as well.. It seems the dems aren't just losing seats via elections... :(
Valdearg: @A_L: I'm hearing that, as well.. It seems the dems aren't just losing seats via elections... :(
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:04pm
DarkSaber: Did he design Big Murtha Truckers 1 & 2?
DarkSaber: Did he design Big Murtha Truckers 1 & 2?
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:50pm
Austin_Lewis: John Murtha reportedly deceased.
Austin_Lewis: John Murtha reportedly deceased.
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:04pm
Shadow D. Darkman: DarkSaber: (EDIT) IDC really, it's just good to see some new stuff here.
Shadow D. Darkman: DarkSaber: (EDIT) IDC really, it's just good to see some new stuff here.
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:02pm
DarkSaber: @Shadow If the on-going spat in China over WoW counts as "new" at least. Does anyone here REALLY give a shit about the state of chinas game industry anyway?
DarkSaber: @Shadow If the on-going spat in China over WoW counts as "new" at least. Does anyone here REALLY give a shit about the state of chinas game industry anyway?
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:59pm
gellymatos: Oh, we pro-life advocates have our nutjuobs to (ie, guys who shoot up abortion clincs). We can have worse ones than yours.
gellymatos: Oh, we pro-life advocates have our nutjuobs to (ie, guys who shoot up abortion clincs). We can have worse ones than yours.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:58pm
Shadow D. Darkman: Finally, new articles!
Shadow D. Darkman: Finally, new articles!
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:57pm
Valdearg: @Gelly: As much as I hate to admit it, it's because so many of us on the Left are utterly predictable with our outrage, LOL.
Valdearg: @Gelly: As much as I hate to admit it, it's because so many of us on the Left are utterly predictable with our outrage, LOL.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:57pm
gellymatos: Oh, and the boycotting didn't get that much attention to be a real blow to pro-choice advocates either.
gellymatos: Oh, and the boycotting didn't get that much attention to be a real blow to pro-choice advocates either.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:52pm
gellymatos: ...predict such a bad move by what is not considered a stupid group.
gellymatos: ...predict such a bad move by what is not considered a stupid group.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:50pm
gellymatos: How can you script someone boycotting the super bowl over such a trivial ad. An ad they must have seen before hand. You can't...
gellymatos: How can you script someone boycotting the super bowl over such a trivial ad. An ad they must have seen before hand. You can't...
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:47pm
Valdearg: There are plenty of bright people in Marketing, and this struck me as too perfect, and too scripted to have been just a byproduct of some lucky stroke of luck on FotF's part.
Valdearg: There are plenty of bright people in Marketing, and this struck me as too perfect, and too scripted to have been just a byproduct of some lucky stroke of luck on FotF's part.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:46pm
Valdearg: You are so quick to disqualify the possibility that it was planned. I'm not saying that it necessarily WAS as I describe it, but I certainly believe it a very real possibility.
Valdearg: You are so quick to disqualify the possibility that it was planned. I'm not saying that it necessarily WAS as I describe it, but I certainly believe it a very real possibility.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:42pm
gellymatos: ...that. However, that doesn't strike me as something predictable. Was it a bonus? Yes. Was it planned to be so? No.
gellymatos: ...that. However, that doesn't strike me as something predictable. Was it a bonus? Yes. Was it planned to be so? No.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:41pm
DarkSaber: Ah right here we go again, someone disagrees with Val therefore they don't know what they are talking about.
DarkSaber: Ah right here we go again, someone disagrees with Val therefore they don't know what they are talking about.
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Comments
Perhaps German gamers should hold a Killer Game Trade-a-Thon. Gamers would trade their used killer games for whatever other killer games they wish to play, or buy and sell them for cash.
Apparently the best plan is to just approach people in line. They'll still have a game to throw out.
I expect the group behind the Killer Game Drive would try to stop it. Fights would break out between those trying to score free games and those trying to get folks to throw them away.
Doesn't take much to guess who would be throwing the first punch.
Or who would win.
"De minimus non curat lex"
*Face palm* Good luck with that.
So after this event is over and there still is violence in the world, will they admit video games do not cause real-life violence?
Yes?
Hey, free games. Now all I need is a plane ticket to Germany.
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
I feel sorry for their losses, but as always, scapegoating mere perpetuates the problems. There is no evidence linking video games to the cause of these crimes, and even if we believe the studies that show a causal link between games and aggression, the games are a minor element (most studies I've seen only claim a slight increase in aggression) amidst what are presumably much bigger problems.
I wouldn't condemn all of Germany for this. There was an American Church that recently planned a game burning (don't know if if happened or not). This kind of insanity happens all over the world.
Sounds liek a great way to score some free games for trading and/or selling.
Maybe I will give it a shot.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma
The proper response would be something along the lines of:
Someone is going to make a killing off of used games.
So they are asking people to throw away harmelss games in order to win a prize related to something that causes real violence?
*headdesk*
Remember when Germany organized events where people brought in objectionable books and burnt them? Just sayin'.
(Screw you Godwin)
--------------------------------------------------
I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Damn...you just beat me to it.
"You know what I wish? I wish all the scum of the Earth had one throat and I had my hands about it."
I was just about to ask if there was going to be a game burning after.
Sweet! A good ol'fashioned book burning equivalent....haven't had one of those in Germany since....hmm....
"You know what I wish? I wish all the scum of the Earth had one throat and I had my hands about it."
I can think of so many ways how gamers could, out of protest, make a farce out of this; But that would be inconsiderate towards the victims and might come off the wrong way. On the other hand, i feel this group already makes a farce out of this tragedy.
Can someone PLEASE explain the logic in this? I really hope they don't think violence is gonna stop outta the blue just because they are throwing games away and if they are then God help the human race.
Don't you know? Violence didn't exist before Pong came out. The Crusades were actually just giant shoving matches (Grossman actually said that). Vietnam never happened. It's propaganda put out by the video game companies. World War II was real, the video game companies traveled back in time to start it so they could make games off of it. They also started World War One, mostly because they liked the sound of "World War Two" for their games.
The Crusades were actually just giant shoving matches (Grossman actually said that).
You can't possibly be serious. Where did Grossman say that? I'll be very curious to know (if you could even give me a page number, I'd be in your debt).
Hmm... I'm not 100% certain it was Grossman. It might have been somebody he worked closely with. I'm honestly not sure.
Also thinking on it, it might have been the Greek wars, not the crusades.
I only read it in an article, so I couldn't tell you page numbers or anything. Sorry.
I've managed to track down the source. It's from Trained to Kill, by David Grossman:
"Throughout human history, when humans fight each other, there is a lot of posturing. Adversaries make loud noises and puff themselves up, trying to daunt the enemy. There is a lot of fleeing and submission. Ancient battles were nothing more than great shoving matches. It was not until one side turned and ran that most of the killing happened, and most of that was stabbing people in the back. All of the ancient military historians report that the vast majority of killing happened in pursuit when one side was fleeing."
I don't think he's saying modern violence levels have their origins in Pong, however. Instead, he's saying violent games have the same potential to turn people into killers as modern boot camps have the power to turn soldiers into killing machines.
I realize that. My comments about Pong were me being silly, much like my theories on Vietnam and the World Wars.
He's still the only person I've ever heard refer to ancient battles as shoving matches.
Thanks for looking that up, though.
While I enjoy laughing at idiots, he is technically correct, at least if he is referencing the Ancient Greeks.
Ancient Greek battles consisted of Hoplites in phanlax formation, the resulting fight turned into a giant pushing match along the shield wall, the Front row would have to maintain the shield wall's cohesion while the rows behind them would push forward in an attempt to break the opposing shield wall. Whichever side broke usually ran and thats when the majority of the casualities would occur.
Granted I don't understand his overall reference to this particular style of warfare that occured for a small period of time.
Video games are the new Harry potter.
Nah, games were an issue long before Harry Potter showed up. MK1 anyone?
If anything, it's more like Harry Potter was a side show, and violent games are the main event.
Harry Potter is not so maligned. Instead, I think video games are the new comic books / rock and roll / [anything new and unfamiliar to the previous generation]. It's just the same old story of conservatards of all political persuasions fighting against the inevitable evolution of human culture.
Heck... even the Waltz was once considered a corrupting element.
Ultimately it all boils down to a simple fact: Every generation has its share of idiots.
Hey lets start burning books too! It will be great fun! We will of course only burn books we dont approve of and then we can.... ad nauseum....
Wait somthing tells me Germany has gone through these motions before but I just can place the time.... somthing with a W and another W and maybe a 2?
Bah screw it, toss another Duke Nukem on the fire!
Aye, indeed.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/ww2-pix/book-burn.jpg
This is what happens when a community decides to erase knowledge they do not agree with. Embracing ignorance, marginalising those that do not share the same viewpoint.
lol, they don't realize the irony of using that image.
http://www.eliteownage.com/nice
That's exactly what I am thinking. Maybe they want to contrast what is good and what is bad. Seeing that the event is about killer games being bad, the right side must be the correct thing to do. Make does that mean about the left side?
Nah, I am just joking around. But aren't they doing exactly what the Nazis did? Like book burning?
And is it just me or does the person in the pic look like they are doing a nazi salute?
It's just you.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=keep+tidy&gbv=2&aq=f&o...
Seems like Germans are still at the whim of a nutcase in power.
In all fairness, this report is only telling us about a small group of nutcases. I doubt they're going to get much turnout. Most people who are willing to believe this kind of nonsense aren't likely to have violent video games in the first place.
I imagine the vast majority of participants will be concerned parents throwing away the violent games that their teenagers own. I would be pissed if I was one of those kids.
What nutcase and which power, and why single out Germany? This is about a whole bunch of whack jobs that don't have any power whatsoever and are part of a phenomenon that isn't restricted to Germany. Does your comment have anything at all to do with the article at hand or did your brain shut off at the "German" in the headline?
First it was a joke, granted dark humor but either everything is fair game or nothing is.
Secondly everytime a game is banned or there is some kind of game burning that has actual steam it always seems to be a country outside of North America. Luckily here in the US we just have a loud mouth jobless former attorney and a hemorrhoid on Fox News who's never played a game before in his life.
I can see parents bringing their children's things there. Or adult son or daughter's stuff there to get trashed without them or with them knowing.
NO. JUST HELL NO.
WTF is wrong with Germans these days?!
As the once-mighty German work ethic collapsed into pure welfare-state laziness, the entire country became like this. The same effect is creeping into other countries more and more every year. The more the adult public looks to a surrogate parent in the nanny government, the more you see this kind of crap.
So I presume the games will be collected from the trashcans to be disposed of in some manner...
If the people who drive the collection trucks don't abuse their position somehow, there is no god.
And is it just me, or is there some thick irony that in their efforts to be perceived as less violent and reactionary, the German government has become more violent and reactionary?
No need to talk about the Nazi comparison, it's already been talked about.
What I can't understand is why they're giving away signed jerseys of the German National Soccer team. If one were being compelled to toss out their "killer games", they damn well better hear a better incentive than another stupid shirt- they better be getting a free copy of FIFA or another sports game, like football.
I mean, what's wrong with grown men slamming into each other in a high-risk game where your bones are liable to be broken? It's not like schools and parents condone those activities. </sarcasm>
I thought it was illegal in Germany to use Nazi imagery...
So, they don't support videogames because they cause violence, but a sport that has sparked riots is okay?
"No word on what will be done with the “donated” games, but presumably they will be smashed or discarded in some way."
5 bucks says some utter GENIUS gamer has figured out a good way to get a whole bunch of games for free, and organised this whole thing. oh, if only :P
I wonder how many are going to treat this as a "bin your old unwanted game and win a signed T-shirt" competition, a lot more than those who actually want to get rid of 'killer games' I would imagine.
1. Remember that this is not the German government that's doing this. While there are parallels with the old book burnings, I'm also reminded of ludicrous American groups burning records of the Beatles, and later heavy metal bands. It's the usual over-reaction of parent groups, I'm sure everyone here has seen it on the news at least once.
2. The image the group are using is based on the 'Keep it tidy' sign where the figure is putting rubbish into a bin. I thought it was a UK symbol but I guess it's used in all of Europe (Naturally) and so it was used in Germany with the swastika for a different purpose. It certainly wasn't the swastika to begin with.
3. Yes this is stupid.
I'm also reminded me the Wakken music festival in Germany, where I heard that thousands of German Christians lobbied people going into it - they honestly feared they were being corrupted by Satan - and went as far as offering to buy tickets off people and then burning them (The tickets, not the people).
Of course, this didn't stop one of the bands telling the crowd: "There are 10,000 of them out there and 60, 000 of us in here. I want us all to shout as loud as we can: SATAN!".
And so they did. :) If only German gamers could do something similar.
I feel bad for the German people. According to these logos they only have 1 arm, and it ends in a sharp point. How can they even play games on a modern controller?
Seriously though, don't just throw out your killerspiele. I'll take them.
Which will be more sucessful?
Gun Drive
Cash for Clunkers
or Killer Game Drive?
Wow, I haven't seen the trash the nazis logo in years. I remember way back when, when every SHARP and ARA skin used to have one of those patches on their flight jacket. Makes me feel old.
How much you want to bet that a large portions of these games will end up back in the market. This is just easy pickings, and i'm not sure of taking those games would even be illegal, isn't ok to just grab anything if it's in the trash
Hi,
to follow up on this, here's video footage of the container's contents at the end of the collection event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR8FMLw5IR4
Here's some more pictures of the overwhelming response to the event: http://mitglied.lycos.de/Wolle_B/2009-09-17/
4 games made it in the container.
Small Soldiers for GameBoy
OpenArena
GTA San Andreas for PS2
Def Jam Fight for New York for PS2
Both PS2 games have been brought along by a camera team. They most likely bought them on the way there because they were still wrapped and had their price tags on.
I can only try to image the pain losing a child do to a school shooting could cause. I am sure that the members of this organization are doing what they feel is "right." They are probably sensitive to violence, maybe phobic. I support their freedom of expression as long as it does not hurt the rights of others. On a less serious note I feel they should buy a lot of violent video games to destroy. It would only be supporting the industry.