Crytek designer Tim Partlett has posted a lengthy account of what it is like being a game designer in Germany. I had assumed it was pretty bad, considering the outcry over violent games fueled by the recent school shooting, but some of the incidents he relates are downright chilling.
In 2004 the Bavarian authorities sent in the state troopers. Ostensibly it was as a response to a claim made by a former employee that we had illegal software installed on our machines. Their remit, however, appeared to be a lot wider. When the small tech team appeared to inspect our computers, they were accompanied by over one hundred flak-jacketed riot police, all armed with Heckler and Koch sub-machine guns.
Especially outrageous is the article he quotes from Der Spiegal, which spins a drunk neo-Nazi kicking a mans head in as being a direct result of him playing a violent game. SmackDown vs Raw 2006. Really.
It's a really interesting read, and it hammers home the fact that compared to what developers are contending with in Germany, Shock Tampon J is nothing but a bad joke.
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