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Baghdad Gamer Discusses Iraq's Videogame Past
Thanks to Salon.com for its article [ad click-thru required] profiling the videogame-playing, Baghdad-based owner of the 'Healing Iraq' weblog, as previously referenced in Slashdot Games articles. The weblog author, Zeyad, explains how he "started playing Sierra adventure games" like Leisure Suit Larry when he was 11 or 12, and "learned a lot about American culture from these games." He goes on to note that the Iraqi secret police had agents "whose jobs were to play and finish these games to find out if there was any mention of Iraq or Saddam", recounting the rumors that "there was a specific code or combo [in Mortal Kombat] that would spawn Saddam Hussein and his bodyguards to finish the opponent." Zeyad also criticizes the realism of some Iraq-based games such as Conflict: Desert Storm, pointing out that "the voice acting was terrible - the Iraqi soldiers talked in an Egyptian accent."
Well, that certainly explains a few things... If your only contact with western civilisation is through Leisure Suit Larry and Mortal Kombat, I understand why they hate it so much.
the voice acting was terrible - the Iraqi soldiers talked in an Egyptian accent.
And I watch Anime and Hong Kong cinema for the American accents. We are not a nation of William Shatners, and he's a freaking Canadian, not that this would excuse or explain his cadence.
He should get some perspective and be glad he's not Russian. They were a super power, and now everyone asks them why they don't sound scottish. That's gotta hurt.
Agh! I'm a Mortal Kombat-fanatic and I haven't even heard about that Saddam-code that he's talking about. Anybody got a screenshot to share? :-)
What's so bad about being lazy? What if there was a war and nobody showed up?
"the voice acting was terrible - the Iraqi soldiers talked in an Egyptian accent."
Honestly, though, how many different ways are there to say "a-dobba dobba dobba?"
I learned that all US girls have fake tits.
I learned that the washing machine repair guy doesn't know anything about repairing things.
I learnt that Americans can't cope with complex plots.
Just wait until they get a copy of Girls Gone Wild...
From the original post:
...great. No wonder why they don't want us there...
"Zeyad, explains how he 'started playing Sierra adventure games' like Leisure Suit Larry when he was 11 or 12, and "learned a lot about American culture from these games."
What? He learned that we're a bunch of seersucker-wearing middle-aged viagra-crazed nitwits who like to spend our extra time fishing for rings in ladies bathrooms, root through ashtrays for hints and buy wine from places that sell condoms too?
That's just
My
Limekiller
...did look an awful lot like Missle Command.
bother with the pretense. It's porn, not Shakespear. Less talking, more fucking. They're not good at talking anyway, that's how they ended up fucking for money. In case you're French, out of focus and bad editing isn't art, and boring stilted banter isn't plot, even if it's about feelings.
How would they have ever guessed "Death Angel" in police quest really reprsented Saddam? And what about Ganandorf, We all know that he was based on Hitler. We've been doing that for years! Silly people will never realize that the only reason we have video games is to pass secret information from one player to another!
That game ("Conflict: Desert Storm") is fine by the "Delta Force: Task Force Dagger" standards. There in a level I could hear the afgans to talk in Russian. Ok, there were Russians in the past. But these are the mujahidins - they hate Russians...
>There in a level I could hear the afgans to talk in Russian. Ok, there were Russians in the past. But
>these are the mujahidins - they hate Russians...
Don't know about Afghans but eg.: Chechen speak russian among themeselves (and Irish speak english).
..I came in contact with arcade games for the first time as there are restrictions here in Germany where these can be placed and who has access to them. Since the late 80s, it's 18+ only..
Anyhow, there was some park with a pavillon in the center, and there were a lot of arcade machines, all on free play. If I remember right i played Pole Position. My father had to lift me up cause the steering wheel was too high up the cabinet =).
Too bad the country has been ruined by the dictators in Baghdad and Washington.
I think that people often overlook that we are known by our exports. When I travel to South America, I am offered Coke because I am an American, and that's "what Americans drink". What does our entertainment say about us? Do we really want to be known for Vice City?
------- "A true friend stabs you in the front." -Eliot