New Islamic Game Rating System in Middle East

Recently announced at an Expo in the Middle East is a new game rating system which rates games' suitability with respect to the tenets of Islam.

Muslim parents can choose whether or not to allow their children to access games which deviate from the core tenets.

What's interesting to me is that this is a system which will be used in the Middle East. I think there's big potential for this to be adopted in Western Countries as part of a dual rating system.

Please see the youtube vid below:



I'd be interested in your comments.

I also wonder what would happen if games were rated against the tenets of Christianity....that's make for a darned boring game!

reply to post by stellify


Games are usually rated using the norm of a society, and since Islam is the norm in Middle East it is a good idea to use Islam to rate games.

In West it is a different story. Although the West is comprised of mostly Christians, the norm is far, far away from Christianity.

Do you think it would be possible to rate games in West using Christianity without having to piss off a huge number of people?

Wow.

Why not give us a demographic of the development team while we are at it.

Ratings are worthless. Salt was PG-13 for example and the first 5 minutes were a woman being tortured.

I don't get it... How can a game be less or more 'Muslim'? How do you judge "Truth" or "Virtue".. "Benevolence"??

Also is this going to replace the normal PEGI rating? If so, how will parents know how violent the game is?


Seems kind of brainwashy..

In that case pedophilia, murder, and beheading of "Infidels" will get an E rating.

Games that have any different views from Islam will probably be prohibited all together.

It is a bad idea to be rating games based on religion.

It wasn't too long ago when Pokemon was labeled as satanic and a Zionist conspiracy.

I mean POKEMON for crying out loud!!!!

For me, bringing religion into the modern arena of gaming is a potential threat to intellectual freedom.

Given the west's tolerance stance on religion, I could see companies beginning to adopt a standard for rating games bases on islamic tenets alongside existing ratings.

Be interesting to see if they could do a Grand Theft Auto Tehran style where violence would be fine as long as it was against infidels.

Oh god! Sharia has taken over video games! What’s next? Movies, Porn, Internet? My life will be veiled just like the poor Muslim women!

This game is rated "J" for "Jihad" (insert Muhammad "thumbs up" graphic here)

~Heff

Wait, I am confused... If the game violate Sharia wouldn't they find the game makers and cut their appendages off or similar? Then stone/whip anyone who bought the game.

Originally posted by Hefficide

This game is rated "J" for "Jihad" (insert Muhammad "thumbs up" graphic here)

~Heff

Now thats Jihadalicious!

ps: Now uhh can they actually draw him? Or would this incite violence? The Vicious circle of religion!

I wonder what they will do about American war videogames where they will play as Americans killing Muslims?

Originally posted by Hefficide

This game is rated "J" for "Jihad" (insert Muhammad "thumbs up" graphic here)

~Heff

Am still laughing about that one.

For me, if this was pandered to in the West, then this would be a major step back for me and a real signal that social evolution was going in the wrong direction.

Why don't we tone down the hate talk?

I highly doubt there are going to be a lot of games focused on killing infidels, seeing as how most video game studios are located in the west, and this is just a rating system, it doesn't actually change the game..

It would most likely be the other way around, as in many games the enemies are Muslim, or Arabic.

Question is how do you score virtue in a game like Need for Speed, or "Benevolence" in a game like.. I don't know, Final Fantasy...

All in all it seems like a pretty meaningless way of rating games, as the criteria is very subjective, and most games allow people to choose their actions anyway, you can be virtuous, or you can be evil.

reply to post by Eliad


Roll the idea forward a few years - the rating system WILL change the game.

Supply and demand. If it doesnt sell, it doesnt get made.

reply to post by stellify


I don't think the middle east gaming market justifies any spending of money for adjusting a game according to the principles of Islam..

Games can't really be "Muslim", unless it's a game about praying, giving to charity, fasting and pilgrimage..