DanielVT Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) I was reading on Fox News (http://www.foxnews.c...test=latestnews), and I saw how Pakistan was removing games that were accurately displaying them as a country harboring terrorists. Check out the story below: Pakistan bans 'Call of Duty,' 'Medal of Honor' for showing country as terrorist haven By Sib Kaifee Published January 22, 2013 FoxNews.com A screen shot from the video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2." (Activision) A screen shot from the video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2." (Activision) This is a screen shot of a scene of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. (Activision.com) Two popular video games have been ordered removed from store shelves in Pakistan, after shop owners there complained that the games portray their country as an incubator for terrorism. “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” and “Medal of Honor: Warfighter” are war-themed games where the player gets to shoot enemies and, according to the shop owners, show Pakistan and the country’s prime intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence, as supporting Al Qaeda and jihadi organizations. The controversial games were removed from shelves countrywide by stores after the All Pakistan CD, DVD, Audio Cassette Traders and Manufacturers Association (APCDACTM) released a notice to boycott both games. 'The problem is that there are things that are against Pakistan and they have included criticism of our army. They show the country in a very poor light.' - Saleem Memon, president of the APCDACTM in Karachi The circular, written in Urdu, Pakistan’s national language, reads, “The Association has always boycotted these types of films and games. These (games) have been developed against the country’s national unity and sanctity. The games (“Medal of Honor: Warfighter” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops II”) have been developed against Pakistan, and the association has completely banned their sale. Shopkeepers are warned and will be responsible for the consequences if found purchasing or selling these games.” Dozens of complaints prompted Saleem Memon, president of the APCDACTM in Karachi, to ban the sale of the games and inform its members. Speaking to a foreign news outlet, he said, “The problem is that there are things that are against Pakistan and they have included criticism of our army. They show the country in a very poor light.” The opening scene of the game “Medal of Honor: Warfighter,” released in November 2012, begins with Task Force Mako, a US Navy SEAL team commissioned to sabotage an Al Qaeda black market arms deal at shipping dock in the southern port city of Karachi, Pakistan. The team plants the explosives on a truck and detonates the bomb, but another explosion destroys the dock, sinking a cargo ship. The plot then reveals a much bigger terrorist threat. From a firefight in the streets of Karachi, followed by a covert mission to investigate Pakistan’s ties with terrorists and PETN, one of the most powerful high explosives known, down to escaping the ISI -- the game centers the story of Pakistan as a jihadi haven. The game was developed with the help of seven Navy SEAL Team 6 members who were part of Operation Neptune Spear to kill the leader of Al Qaeda. In Pakistan, speaking about its spy agency and militant groups in the same breath is viewed as taboo and a topic approached with caution. The Bin Laden raid on May 1, 2011, has left the country in utter embarrassment ; many are only gradually coming to terms that the 9/11 mastermind was living just a stone’s throw away from the Pakistan Army’s most notable training academy in Abbottabad. The CIA drone campaign in Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt has killed much of the Al Qaeda leadership and its soldiers, which Pakistan views as infringement of its sovereignty. A Pakistani security official speaking on the condition of anonymity told Fox News that these games are part of psychological warfare. He said, “These games are an effort to malign the minds of youth against Pakistan.” The security official views these games as American attempts to prepare the minds of Pakistanis to accept reports of Pakistan as a failed state, a place that is harboring terrorists, to justify any future action where youth would accept the killing of Pakistanis. Angered by the CIA’s covert activities, several conflicts between both spy agencies and undeclared foreign intelligence agents in the country, Pakistan clamped down and limited the number of American intelligence officials allowed in the country. The move is further straining relations and leaving the CIA virtually blind on ground intelligence, Fox News has learned. Regarding the video games, “Not only should the original be banned, but the pirated version sales should be blocked also” strictly speaking, the officer said. But the games can still be found in stores. “They are both hot sellers,” said Moeen Ali, owner of Islamabad’s largest game store. He wasn’t aware of the ban, but told Fox News that more than 5,000 copies of “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” had been sold in Pakistan since its release. The number of copies sold does not account for the unprecedented quantity of pirated copies available for just under $2 available in Pakistan. “’Medal of Honor’ would be around the same. My store has probably sold up to 1,000 copies,” says Ali. November 2012’s highest grossing game of the month, “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” focuses on Nicaraguan narc-terrorist Raul Menendez and contains a mission in Pakistan to get intelligence on the villain. “It’s not the first time a game has been banned or boycotted here,” says Ali. “’Assassin’s Creed’ was banned in Pakistan because Muslims found content offensive and I stopped selling it.” Read more: http://www.foxnews.c.../#ixzz2IkjS1f00 Edited January 23, 2013 by DanielVT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orlay_ Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Meh.. at least they didn't ban any good games. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielVT Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Meh.. at least they didn't ban any good games. Ouch......even if you did not like MOH or COD, Assassin's Creed is generally seen as a great franchise. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aranea Highwind Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Call Of Duty sucks anyway (no offence to the fans) but it has never interested me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orlay_ Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I like Assassin's Creed - I was being sarcastic. I don't live in Pakistan and as an American, I find censorship of this sort appalling. However, people in Pakistan were raised under that government. It's hard to miss freedoms you never had. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_MovieMan29 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Their country has a pretty strong religion base, and if you have a country like that, things are going to get banned. I don't feel surprised, I can see how it would insulting to them, oh well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Gotakibono Posted January 23, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) I can see this from two perspectives: One - It is completely understandable for some Pakistani citizens and its government to be outraged by the depiction of their country, as not every single Pakistani is accommodating and/or supportive of terrorists. See it from the perspective of a hard-working, honest person living in Pakistan, knowing that an overseas game is depicting every single member of his/her society and culture as an immoral, violent harbinger of terror. Extremists and terror organisations are the minority in Pakistan's society, but are always granted the majority of attention and subsequently tarnish the country's image. I remember when Crysis was released and a Korean friend of mine was outraged by how Koreans were represented in the game, and I clearly remember him saying how games such as Crysis always portray societies and people outside of America as evil; that they are the ones who must be killed, with the narrative never being from their perspective. Nobody's hands are clean in war, and these games are horrendously biased towards the western world - that's a fact. When was the last time you played as a Nazi in a game, or a Korean killing Americans? Secondly - Censorship is never good, even if it involves something as intellectually devoid as Call of Duty. I guess you have to realise that Call of Duty epitomises the Western culture: it was never going to be received with open, wanting arms as it is around America and Europe, amongst other places, for the simple reason that the series will always be pro-America, which little room to maneuver from that mindset; scratch that - a sincere unwillingness to change that mindset. Edit: Thirdly - Fox news: eew. Edited January 23, 2013 by Gotakibono 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 So many oversensitive people in the world. It's just a fuckin' game! Sell it to some other chump if you don't like it or go bring it back to the store! Meh.. at least they didn't ban any good games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mf_emokiller Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Well in all fairness wouldnt you if ur the leader lol but hey it up to them to do what they want there not gonna have a game that makes them look bad and also they probly dont like watching themselves losing in the real world and then turn on a game and there losing agin. But i also think people should say a game suxs just because they dont like it. Example i dont like Assassins creed but i dont say it sucks because i know its a good game just not the one for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gotakibono Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Well in all fairness wouldnt you if ur the leader lol but hey it up to them to do what they want there not gonna have a game that makes them look bad and also they probly dont like watching themselves losing in the real world and then turn on a game and there losing agin. But i also think people should say a game suxs just because they dont like it. Example i dont like Assassins creed but i dont say it sucks because i know its a good game just not the one for me. What? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mf_emokiller Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 What? HUH??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gotakibono Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 HUH??? You don't see anything wrong, or downright insensitive about your earlier comment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mr_MovieMan29 Posted January 23, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted January 23, 2013 Hold on! Let us not forget the REAL issue at hand here....DanielVT was reading Fox News... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acasser Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Autocratic governments like to ban all sorts of things.... particularly those things that allow the government to be painted in any light that is less-than-flattering. Why do you think the Internet is banned or restricted in so many places? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDR_McGarrett Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 "The game was developed with the help of seven Navy SEAL Team 6 members who were part of Operation Neptune Spear to kill the leader of Al Qaeda." Honestly I don't believe that's true. I mean, why should the elite of the SEALs give away classified information to civilians? It can ruin their careers or maybe worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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