Honduras set to ban violent videogames

The Central American state of Honduras (population: 6.5 million) has issued a blanket ban on all violent videogames and toys, which is set to come into effect next June - giving retailers in the country a six month grace period to clear stocks of the games from their inventories. Among the banned games named are Resident Evil, Shadowman [quite right - Ed], Street Fighter, Turok, Perfect Dark, Quake and the old stalwart of the moral moronity, Doom.

The move comes in reaction to rising levels of violent crime in the country, much of which is blamed on youth gangs known as "maras". Given that Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, with 53 per cent of the population living under the poverty line, we're really not sure how influential games and toys are in the criminal scene in the country. We'd be tempted to point the finger at the healthy drug trade, human rights abuses and massive societal divisions between rich and poor personally, but hey, we're not politicians.

The motion was passed unanimously by Congress in Honduras, and is expected to pass through the rest of the government unopposed before being signed into law by the president of the country. Earlier this year, Greece banned all electronic games in a move designed to curb illegal gambling, but faced a huge backlash from both consumers and the industry.