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Middle East avoids Dante’s Inferno لعبة دانتي انفرنو تتجنب الشرق الأوسط

Written on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 12:53 pm by taimoor - 4,132 views -

It’s officially official, Dante’s Inferno is not being released in the Middle East. In a move that surprised absolutely no one, EA states that, “Electronic Arts has decided not to release Dante’s Inferno in the Middle East after an evaluation process which is based on consumer tastes, preferences, platform mix and other factors.”

After first setting our eyes on Dante’s Inferno last year, it seemed like one of those titles that might never hit the retail shelves in UAE. Dealing with the afterlife, the game focuses on Hell and its 9 circles of sinners within. Such a premise itself is a very touchy topic within the region, one of the reasons why we think Darksiders got banned here.

In fact, this region is so sensitive to such topics that God of War is also banned over here just because it has the word ‘God’ in the title, despite being based on Greek mythology! After playing the demo last year we were pretty damn sure that Dante’s Inferno will be banned, not least because it goes out of it’s way to shock you with obscenity and total disregard for being subtle in anyway. So no surprise then, that EA decided to back off completely and not even bother trying to get the game past the Media Council. Out of the 4 big action games this year (Bayonetta, Darksiders, Dante’s Inferno and God of War 3) three are not officially available! Still, Bayonetta’s one hell of a game, and banning a game has never stopped anyone from playing it if they really want to.

لعبة دانتي انفرنو تتجنب منطقة الشرق الأوسط

لقد صار الأمر رسمياً الآن، لن يتم إطلاق لعبة Dante’s Inferno في الشرق الأوسط. وفي تصريح لاحق كان متوقعاً لشركة EA، جاء فيه: ” لقد قررت شركة Electronic Arts ألا تطلق لعبة Dante’s Inferno في منطقة الشرق الأوسط، وذلك بعد عملية تقييم وتقصي لأذواق المستخدمين، القرائن، اختلاط منصات اللعب وعوامل أخرى.”

منذ أن وقعت أعيننا على لعبة Dante’s Inferno في العام الماضي، بدا واضحاً بأنها من تلك الألعاب التي يستحيل أن يتم السماح بفسحها كي تجد طريقها إلى المتاجر في دولة الإمارات. فموضوعها الذي يتناول الحياة بعد الموت وتركيزها على طبقات الخطيئة التسع في الجحيم، هو شيئ حساس جداً في هذه المنطقة، وهو أحد الأسباب التي جعلت الرقابة تمنع لعبة Darksiders أيضاً.

الحقيقة القاطعة هو أن الشرق الأوسط بأكمله حساس لهذه المواضيع فقد تم منع لعبة God of War لسبب وحيد وهو وجود كلمة God أو “ربّ” على العنوان، رغم أن قصتها مأخوذة من الأساطير الإغريقية القديمة! وبعد أن قمنا بلعب النسخة التجريبية في العام الماضي، فقد كنا متأكدين كل التأكد من أن لعبة Dante’s Inferno سوف تُمنع، ولعل ذلك سيكون لخروجها عن سياقها العام في النهاية لتصدمك بفحشها واستخفافها التام دون أية مراعاة للمشاعر. لذلك فلم يكن من المفاجئ أن تتخذ EA هذا القرار وأن لا تكلف نفسها حتى بإرسال اللعبة إلى هيئة مراقبة الإعلام. وهكذا فمن بين أكبر أربع ألعاب مغامرات في هذا العام (Bayonetta, Darksiders, Dante’s Inferno و God of War 3) تم منع تداول ثلاث منها بشكل رسمي! مع ذلك، فلعبة Bayonetta لعبة رائعة بحد ذاتها، كما أن منع تداول الألعاب لم يكن يوماً طريقة ناجحة لمنع من يرغب بالحصول على هذه الألعاب كي تصل إليه بطريقة أو بأخرى.

Written on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 12:53 pm by taimoor - 4,132 views -
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8 Responses to “Middle East avoids Dante’s Inferno لعبة دانتي انفرنو تتجنب الشرق الأوسط”


  • David Macphail
    02/08/2010
    7:17 pm
    2 Comments

    That sucks for the gamers in the UAE. Retail stores not stocking some of the best action games just because of a few religious nuts?

    Freedom of choice FTW!

    Location: Scotland
    Console: PS3
    Arrow

    • abuzakour
      02/08/2010
      8:29 pm
      7 Comments

      Not a few religious nuts .. there are legitimate concerns, David.

      Location: United Arab Emirates
      Console: PS3
      Arrow

  • abuzakour
    02/11/2010
    9:05 pm
    7 Comments

    Mohammad, I am with giving people the freedom to buy but if a game predicts Muslims and arabs as terrorists, do you think we should find the game in our local game store, so our kids can pick up the game and play it?

    Salam

    Location: United Arab Emirates
    Console: PS3
    Arrow

    • mohamed ashraf
      02/13/2010
      6:15 pm
      3 Comments

      i know but i said that the seller should get to check if the gurdian or the parent of the child approves or the guy himself buying it has an id

      Location: Egypt
      Console: Xbox 360
      Personal Blog
      Arrow

  • DollFishu
    02/15/2010
    8:18 am
    7 Comments

    A game is a game. And if said game influences and sways the views of anyone then they are already messed up in the first place. Dante’s Inferno doesn’t offend any creed or any religion, and it shouldn’t be taken as such. If parents don’t want their kids to be exposed to video games such as this, then they should work on going all ‘FCC’ on them.

    Bummer.

    Location: United Arab Emirates
    Console: PS3
    Personal Blog
    Arrow

  • mohamed ashraf
    02/22/2010
    6:06 pm
    3 Comments

    but this certanly sux that the only game i am waiting 4 in the KSA and in egypt are banned
    like even the GOW series suffered the same in both countries

    Location: Egypt
    Console: Xbox 360
    Personal Blog
    Arrow

  • mohamed ashraf
    02/11/2010
    7:57 pm
    3 Comments

    abuzakour u have a point
    but still people should have a freedom of choice for example dante’s inferno little kids like between 10 and 16 [i think thats 16 is the mature age]
    should have someone with an id or iqama as in ksa let them buy the game or not but people with an id can buy or not
    because if just a few people disagree with this that doesnt mean the whole country should be banned from it

    Location: Egypt
    Console: Xbox 360
    Personal Blog
    Arrow

  • taimoor
    02/11/2010
    8:06 pm
    7 Comments

    Unfortunately age ratings on a game aren’t considered important. Take the US for example, where FOX will go buckwild on the sex scene in Mass Effect even when the game clearly has a ‘Mature’ rating on it.

    Similarly the authorities in this region have no regards for the ratings system, hence they ban things outright. Consider for instance the number of games that get banned in Germany or Australia becuase of violence. AVP, for instance, was almost banned in Australia, and Left 4 Dead 2 was ‘edited’ to keep the gore in check for the German version!

    Location:
    Console:
    Arrow

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