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Gaming Life In Iraq

Posted by simoniker on from the business-as-usual dept.

Thanks to GameGirlAdvance for pointing to a Healing Iraq weblog entry about the state of gaming life in Iraq. The Baghdad-based author says: "Videogames are a huge part of our society. Almost everyone I know, regardless of their socioeconomic status, either owns a console or has regular access to one", and goes on to note that "The most popular console in Iraq is the Sony Playstation. Dreamcast and the PS2 also have their devoted fans. The Xbox and Gamecube aren't very popular here." The games industry may not be raking in much money from Iraq, though: "We have a special gamers district at Bab Al-Sharji at the heart of the city where you can find hundreds of videogame vendors. Of course all the games we get are copies and we rarely find originals."

3 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. OH NO!! by arrow · · Score: 5, Funny

    They can't find originals? That means their games are... pirated.

    Now we know the real reason as to why we invaded them. Weapons of mass Infringement. Maybe the MPAA, RIAA, and BSA can help foot the bill too.

    --
    symetrix. We are building a religion, a limited edition.
  2. Fodder for Dubya's next speech... by wrinkledshirt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Of course all the games we get are copies and we rarely find originals.

    Well, at least the White House can now prove SOMETHING illegal has been going on in Iraq.

    --

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    Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...

  3. Re:Maybe I missed something by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Iraqi middle class in the major cities live in townhouses or apartments and have air conditioning, mains electricity, televisions and cars. They go to school and university, watch the news, play video games and surf the internet (typically in cafes because internet access is still relatively expensive). There are computer shops, malls, gyms (one of which even renamed itself the The Arnold Classic after he won the California recall). It's quite suburban in fact.

    Or at least, they did have all of this until the US bombed the crap out of the infrastructure and power plants prior to invading - and now extremists keep blowing up all the power lines whenever they get them repaired.

    Of course, much of the country is desert, and there are still uneducated country peasants (the lower class) who want to shoot rocket launchers at anything that moves because Saddam told them to. Kind of like the redneck US stereotype, but without beer to pacify. Sure, there are some people like that, but by no means everyone.

    (Uneducated armchair statements from somebody who's been paying attention to the news outlets that report things about Iraq other than "stuff blows up").