The head of the Iranian National Foundation for Computer Games claims a game called Attack on Tel Aviv will hurt America in the way Battlefield 3 hurt Iran.
As was expected by many, Battlefield 3 was banned fairly quickly in Iran for its depiction of American soldiers roaming around Tehran looking for nuclear weaponry. Now, the next stage of Iran’s response to the game has been announced by the director of the country’s National Computer Game Foundation (NCGF). It’s a game called Attack on Tel Aviv, and nothing is known about it other than its title.
In keeping with the calm rhetorical tone set by Iran’s vocal leader in recent years, NCGF head Behruz Minaii told the Fars News Agency that, “The United States is governed by the Zionist Regime so Attack on Tel Aviv would make Americans angrier than a game about an attack on Washington.”
“We have submitted several letters of objection to the developers of [Battlefield 3] but we have yet to receive a response,” continued Minaii.
According to the Tehran Times, Minaii tried to get answers at the Dubai World Game Summit from Gears of War studio Epic Games (which is odd, unless it’s a translation error or incorrect) but was not impressed with the response. “Their reaction was that it is only a game and we should take it easy, but with the game set in Tehran, it is simply not acceptable,” he said.
It is worth noting that Minaii revealed nothing about the game other than its title, leading some to wonder whether or not it’s actually in development. Iran and Israel have threatened each another with various acts of retribution and aggression far more colorful than a game over the years, and if this game does appear on the market one day it’ll present an interesting opportunity of sorts for the community to discuss the paradigms surrounding national censorship. Or, more scope for some anti-Semitism and Iran-bashing. How could it possibly go wrong, I wonder?
Source: Tehran Times
Published: Dec 13, 2011 11:30 pm