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Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Qatar Game Banned in the US


According to The Qatar Times, a Qatar computer game has been banned in the US. We have scanned and added the newspaper article below, but we have also typed out the full article for those of you with text browsers. (It's about time the Qatar Times got a website!)

Qatar newspaper article on banned game.
Qatar Game Banned in the US

The Qatar computer game Landcruiser, based on driving experiences in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, has been banned by authorities in America for being too scary.

"An old women died of a heart attack after using it, one teenager is still curled up in a foetus position two weeks after purchasing it, and some of our staff have now reverted to using horse and cart after routine testing of the game," complained the head of the US board for approval of computer games, which has previously approved controversial games such as Scary Death Monster Cannibal Ghosts for the under 5's.

In the game, which uses real footage of driving taken from car cameras in Qatar, users have to complete a number of routine tasks, such as driving the wrong way round a roundabout in a Landcruiser while speaking to an angry customer on a mobile phone and eating a large cheeseburger and fries.

The designer of the game, Dr F. Ool, who is also the brainchild of Qatar Snow City, defended the game.

"It may not be popular in America, but it is perfect preparation for actually driving in Qatar."

Qatar residents didn't see what the fuss was about, with one expatriate, Ahmed from Egypt, saying:

"I thought it was boring!"

Qatar has a burgeouning computer games industry, and the game is just one of several hundred to be released this year.