Regional politicians in Germany are presenting a bill to parliament which they hope will bring an end to 'cruel videogames' being distirbuted in their country. Spurred by a recent shooting in a German high school and various polls that show that a high percent of the population blame violent videogames on the rise of violent behaviour amongst children, the bill could mean that anyone caught selling, developing or playing violent games could be sentenced to up to a year in prison.

“It is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitise unstable characters to violence and can have a stimulating effect,” said Günther Beckstein, Bavaria’s interior minister.

We're not too sure what exactly is cruel about beating to death zombies in Dead Rising on the Xbox 360 (if we don't kill them they'll kill us!), but that didn't stop Germany's official software rating organisation taking offence to the violent nature of the zombie killing fests. More recently Gears of War was also banned for its violent content.

The Financial Times reports that Germany 'is the world’s third biggest market for computer entertainment' with over 40,000 online gaming clans so the impact on game developer's could be huge. Our thoughts are with those German gamers who may be denied the chance of playing some of the best videogames on the market.

Source: Financial Times