According to a report on Gamesmarkt, Switzerland's National Council has just passed a pair of bills that seek to restrict the sale of violent video games within the country.
The first, put forward by Evi Allemann, of the Socialist Party, wants to stop the manufacture, advertisement, importation and sale of any game that promotes as a means of advancement or "success" acts of violence against humans or "human-like" creatures. It passed by a margin of 19-12.
The second bill, put forward by the Christian Democratic Party's Norbert Hochreutener, wants to restrict the sale of violent shooters to children. It passed by a margin of 27-1.
Just how many games will be affected is now up to the Swiss government, who must determine the criteria by which a game is deemed too violent.
Before you cry foul, please note that under Swiss law, any petition that can gather over 100,000 signatures must go to a national referendum. So if the government starts banning games willy-nilly, all it would take would be the signatures of 100,000 gamers (or, just as important, 100,000 opponents of government censorship) to have it publicly challenged.
Schweizer Ständerat stimmt für "Killerspiel"-Verbot [GamesMarkt]