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Battlefield 3 Banned In Iran
dotarray writes "Iranian gamers hoping to get their hands on Battlefield 3 will be sorely disappointed, as the country has officially banned EA's latest shooter. Why? The game features an American war force launching an assault on Iranian capital city Tehran."
Banned in Boston used to be a selling point.
Now Banned in Iran is badge of honor.
Fight Spammers!
Pretty sure a shooter involving taking down the Trade Centre would be banned in the USA.
Given the current USA/NATO warmongering mutters re Iran they probably view it as an attempt to get people used to the idea of the USA invading Iran.
This will speed the overthrow of those idiots running the country. Won't be long I suppose.
Ban Moar!
There you go. Welcome to the world, courtesy of EA. Seriously, the US government could easily afford this and it would be cool as hell.
How about telling me when they don't ban something?
I mean, they would probably want to ban a Chinese game that allowed the player to kill American citizens and destroy American landmarks.
Not saying it's right, but it's probably what would happen. Personally, I'd love to play a game about the United States from a Chinese perspective. It would probably be hysterical...
Americans already consider _real_ war to be a game.
Maybe the Americans you hang out with, chief. There are plenty who have seen it first-hand who think otherwise.
I want to know if EA/DICE paid money to the Iranian government.
All weapons appearing in the game (sp and mp) are licensed, meaning the owners got paid for permission to use the guns likeness. The KH2002 is a bullpup assault rifle designed and produced by the (government run ) Iranian defense industry which appears in the game as a usable weapon. Who did EA/DICE pay to license this gun? Is this in violation of any embargo, considering there is a complete ban on any weapons exports (presumably including designs) from Iran?
"So... Ahmed... I see you lost in Battlefield on defense of Tehran... Why do you hate Iran, Ahmed?"
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
But the enemy was Russia was it not, not the Iranians?
"Dre don't get as high as me.... I'm Cheech and Chong" - Snoop Dogg
Easy way to appease the populace into upcoming practices is make it an event, so that if it happens, they have already become apathetic about it if &when the real event occurs... Would you blame any country if an opposing countries media shows its cities pummeled? Why have militaries become so interested in video games? Therin lies your answer.
Iran banning this game is just sufficient justification for the US to go in and invade them!
I mean really... what isn't banned in Iran, and why do I care ?
I've always wanted to play a serious World War II shooter from the perspective of a German soldier. I mean, we've stormed Omaha beach so many times... it'd be interesting to defend it. And we'd get to participate in some really unique content that hasn't been completely done to death by every shooter ever.
Have you heard of Battlefield 1942? It is one of the most popular World War 2 games ever and is a multiplayer game -- meaning that you can play both sides of the war. It even has a Omaha Beach map.
All weapons appearing in the game (sp and mp) are licensed
Oh really? Can you provide a source on that?
Inorite?
Oh no! They're missing a great opportunity to be called gay by 12 year olds on the internet! And single player is shit (except visuals).
It really sucks that the Iranian government is censoring this, but I doubt they were going to buy it anyway.
It is entirely possible that 200 years from now historians will agree that the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan was entirely brought about for economic reasons and to benefit US corporations who had supported the Bush Administration(s) by letting them rake in some of the missing billions of dollars spent in Iraq, or test weapon systems, or for a myriad of other reasons. We may learn enough about the Extraordinary Renditions program and use of torture that the people of that future environment agree that the US was an Evil entity at the time - not the people, but elements of the ruling elite (Government, Corporate, 1% whatever you want).
Or just the opposite could happen as far as history is concerned. Probably the biggest deciding factor will be who writes the history - i.e. the dominant culture/country of the time.
As for the Germans in WWII, many if not the majority of them were not aware of what was being done in the extermination camps. I am sure they knew that Jews were being taken away wholesale, but I imagine many thought they were being taken to "labour camps" as was promulgated at the time. Not everyone was a Nazi supporter, and its a shame we have to demonize the entire nation for the actions of its vile government (which were truly evil no question). We should never forget what happened there, but we should also try to understand it. Demonizing all Germans of the time does not help understanding.
Likewise the demonization of all Muslims for the actions of a small percentage. It will not help in the end to alienate 1 billion+ people because it serves the interests of the government in power to focus the population's attention on a foreign threat just so its easier to get elected.
"The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
Don't think for a second that this wouldn't happen in the USA. Most recently, EA's Medal of Honor shooter in 2010 was boycotted in military stores due to fact that you could play as the Taliban. EA eventually caved in and changed the enemy to "Opposing force".
The horse's mouth: http://twitter.com/#!/zh1nt0/status/137569596440973313
Your source is to those that follow him known as generally highly uninformed. This tweet was likely just a lying excuse for why they left the MP5 out of the game.
The MP5 was in Battlefield 2. If DICE and EA put an effort into licensing the equipment in its games, it would have licensed it at the time. So why would it not be in BF3? Some might speculate that perhaps the relationship between H&K and DICE/EA deteriorated. If that were true, then why is the M416 in there? How about the G3? How about the MP7?
You have to remember that many of the people that care enough about Battlefield 3 to complain about BF3 featuring this weapon or that are likely those that don't have a lot of clout in the real world -- teenagers, mostly. Matros is not going to put a lot of effort into figuring out why the MP5 wasn't included -- he likely just walked over to his PR boss and asked what a plausible excuse was and used that.
I just did a quick google on "battlefield3 equipment licenses" and turned up nothing in the first three pages, so...probably not actually licensed.
As another note, there is a little disclaimer at the bottom of the recently-released BF3 trailers (such as this one) that reads:
"The depiction of any weapon or vehicle in this game does not indicate affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement by any weapon or vehicle manufacturer."
Some might suggest that statement implies that there is some contract between EA and these equipment manufacturers spelling out the terms by which DICE may use such equipment, including that there be such a license. In fact, I'm inclined to suggest that this disclaimer is intended to set up a legal shield to avoid having any relationship at all with equipment manufacturers.
Population of Irak around 30 M, population of Afghanistan around 30 M, population of Iran around 80 M.
Approximate economical wealth of Iran compared to Irak + Afghanistan about 4 time more.
Cost of Irak/Afghan war : around 4 Trillion.
Probable cost of Iran war between 6 and 16 Trillion US$ or around 25K per us citizen age 0 to 100.
Or equivalent to the next bank bailout ...., not sure the US can afford both...
BF3 and MW3 where the NYC, Berlin and Paris are bombed to shit by the Russians?
Russians have invaded and are blowing shit up. They've disabled US air defenses and so on. You have to fight through the trashed streets and go disable their jammer and so on and so forth.
That is the opening mission in the campaign.
The game sold 6.5 million copies in the first 24 hours it was out. You can find it on the shelves of every games store in the USA.
Seriously, even if the US wanted to ban a game for content, it'd have a real hard time. That whole pesky "first amendment" thing.
For one, that kind of thing isn't want earns a game an AO rating. Go look at the ESRB's page, they are quite open about things.
More important is the fact that as others have noted the ESRB is NOT the government. It is 100% optional, it is an non-profit industry group. For that matter even if you need a rating to sell in the stores you want, you can use someone else. PEGI is the European version of the ESRB. Civ 4 was only PEGI rated, not ESRB, and was sold in retail stores.
Finally there's the whole issue of digital distributors these days. Even if stores say "No we won't do AO," there are a bunch of companies online who don't have such hangups (including just selling it on your own site). That is perfectly feasible these days, there have been a number of successful no-retail games. Minecraft being the most visible.
Oh no! They're missing a great opportunity to be called gay by 12 year olds on the internet! And single player is shit (except visuals).
There's the reason it was banned, there are no gays in Iran so how can anyone be called gay.
Perfectly logical, right? In all seriousness, oppressive Mid-East government bans popular western game. Not news. I wonder if I can get BF3 in other ME nations with strict religious governments, like Saudi Arabia.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Just ignore your score.
There are very many of us that read at -1 and I for one appreciate any constructive input to a story.
I fail to see how its wrong either.
Do you really want the government to get involved in deciding what a business must sell? Is that truly any better than non-government censorship ?
Indeed, the US gov't does not regulate. The government prohibiting child porn, selling drugs, alcohol and guns to anyone who wants them, requiring a deed to build on a property, and requiring doctors to have a license before operating on you, having insurance for basically everything you do,
isnt' the government dictating your life. It's an expression of complete freedom.
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
That'd be great rebuttal if we were talking about trademark law.
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Capital has no home, no country, no allegiance, and no color. It travels to where it gets the best deal. It dismisses everyone, as it needs no one.
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7387332n
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"The most dangerous enemy of a better solution is an existing codebase that is just good enough." -- Eric S. Raymond
They may have lost tens or even a hundred dollars.
On the other hand Iran probably gave EA enough free pub to make it a net gain 10x over.
I wrote a book where the heroes are Chinese and Iranians (and one EU member from Belgium), shameless link-whoring here.
Would this book be banned in Iran? Or lauded? I wonder what they think of it...
Check out my sci-fi book "Lacuna" at http://goo.gl/MVxX8
EA is an American company. The US currently does not allow exports of most things to Iran, including software, and doing so may qualify as a capital offense (treason). Iranian residents were unlikely to purchase BF3 regardless of how the Iranian gov't decided.
Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
Dude, Haliburton, and contractors are winning, spiking up oil and making more $$$ in fed notes is a win for banks. Follow the dollars.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
not sure the US can afford both...
Sure we can, we've just got to cut all of those pesky social programs and eliminate all of the federal agencies (except DOD, of course) and then we'll have plenty of money to defend ourselves from the terrorists that hate us for our freedoms and save the job creators. Then we can all bask in the glorious stream of money that comes trickling down upon us.
nil
Oh look, someone doesn't understand the difference between a boycott & a governmental ban. How cute.
There is a war going on for your mind.
when you weaken the government, there is a power vacuum. it is filled by corporations. who are not accountable to the people, like your government is. well, it is supposed to be, in theory, but again, corporate money makes sure it is accountable to corporations instead. so what do you do? you HEAL a sick government, you don't fall for CORPORATION SPONSORED PROPAGANDA like faux news, and WEAKEN the government, thereby subjecting you to FAR MORE abuse at the hands of UNACCOUNTABLE corporations
there is really something wrong with this country: so many fools so eager to believe that the institution formed to represent them is the enemy, and the institutions formed to acquire cash, at whatever cost, including infecting and weakening their government and encroaching on your rights, are innocent and without the capacity to harm
how can so many be so gullible and so easily fooled?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Please watch the civilian execution in the Manning video. Killing 20+ civilians with a press of a button. He did not even see them first-hand, they were hazy images on his little computer screen. Now tell me that's not a video game. The operator definitely sounded like it was.
To take it to a more abstract level, there were psychology studies carried out, that discovered that when the person(s) you are harming are remote and impersonal, the ease of pressing the trigger fast approaches that of a video game.
So despite the people you hang out with knowing better, the fact is that killing civilians with today's military technology is as easy as playing a video game. Also, judging by the Manning video it is also as desirable, as the dude with the button clearly could not tell the two apart.
A Red Dawn game could be pretty cool. Hey, look, we have an opportunity for one coming up next year!
There was a Fortress America board game, but that's about all I could come up with.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Poor Iraniens. I don't even think what i would do if, for example, they'll tray to bann it in my country :))
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