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Games Entertainment

Afghanistan Closes Videogame Stores 39

Posted by simoniker from the gta3-none-too-popular dept.
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the UK Guardian's report that authorities in Afghanistan have closed hundreds of shops where children played video games. Authorities claimed they were "reacting to complaints from parents that their children spent time and money in the shops instead of going to their schools", and also cited alleged gambling and alcohol drinking in the stores as "corrupting the morals" of young people. The story links this move to increasingly conservative elements in Afghanistan's post-Taliban government, mentioning that cable television was also recently banned by an Afghan supreme court judge.
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Afghanistan Closes Videogame Stores More

Afghanistan Closes Videogame Stores

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  • Uh-oh (Score:5, Funny)

    by GuyMannDude ( 574364 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @01:13PM (#6444632) Journal

    They keep slipping back to hardline Islam like this and we might have to "liberate" them all over again!

    GMD

    • Re:Uh-oh (Score:2, Insightful)

      by trompete ( 651953 )
      It just goes to show that the conservativist attitude was not just that of the Taliban but of some of the residents too. We should take note of that when we "liberate" people.
      • Were this in the US you'd be screaming that the evil Christian right was taking away your freedoms. You see, you will only point out when the US does something wrong, but never look when it does something right.

        More on topic:

        Not that I agree that closing arcades and such is a good thing. I do see that if my child was doing poorly in school and spending more hours playing at arcades than study, I would want to keep him from the arcades though. That is parenting, not something the government should do th
        • I hope that Christianity would not take away my freedoms. I am Christian, but this country was founded on separating that from the ruling government.
          You definitely have something with going with the whole parenting thing. Parents need to step in before the government does. Yes, I'm part of the TV generation, but I was lucky enough to have been raised by my parents and not the TV.

          • Re:Uh-oh (Score:3, Informative)

            by FroMan ( 111520 )
            but this country was founded on separating that from the ruling government.

            Common misinterpretation of the 1st amendment.

            Actually, "spearation of church and state" was not thought about until a certain (forget which) supreme court ruling. Read it again:

            Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a re
  • With all the available outlets for emotional expression and stress relief available in Afghanistan, it's no wonder that it is such a peaceful haven.

    What happens when you attempt to relieve growing pressure by sealing it off?

    Wynter

  • How uncivilized (Score:2, Insightful)

    by lightspawn ( 155347 )
    In Soviet America, government just tries to make it illegal to sell the hardcore stuff to kids instead of shutting down the whole industry.

    Unconstitutional? Sure, the courts will stike down the law, but in the meantime we turn parents into voters because we let them know how much we care. It's like using taxpayers money to fight religious battles [enquirer.com]. Sure, it seems pointless, but if most of your potential voters are christians who will appreciate your devotion to the almighty while anybody who opposes you is

    • In Soviet America, government just tries to make it illegal to sell the hardcore stuff to kids instead of shutting down the whole industry.

      Unconstitutional?

      Not really. It's only unconsititutional to countries whose constitution has laws preventing other laws or or decisions to be made or broken. If Afghanistan's law doesn't protect freedom of speech or things pertaining to selling games, then that's that. If they inerpret freedom differently, well.. that's that, eh?

  • A bit vague (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Otter ( 3800 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @01:25PM (#6444738) Journal
    Well, what with the increasing presence of Linux in Afghanistan [slashdot.org], soon there won't be any more need for videogame stores as that niche is fille by Tuxracer, xbill and obsessive repetition of 'emerge sync && emerge -up world'.

    Seriously, though, while the writeup talks about "Afghanistan", this story is limited to Jalabad. The Taliban mentality is still strong in certain parts of Afghanistan but it's a huge exaggeration to suggest it's dominating the country.

    Come to think of it, isn't the most remarkable news that Jalabad, in the most fundamentalist part of the country, already has over 300 video game shops to close down?

    • Re:A bit vague (Score:3, Informative)

      by lightspawn ( 155347 )
      isn't the most remarkable news that Jalabad, in the most fundamentalist part of the country, already has over 300 video game shops to close down?

      From the article:
      "People would gamble and drink alcohol in those video game shops"
      "Besides playing video games, customers watch DVD movies for a fee."

      These places aren't an equivalent of your gamestop or electronics bootyq. They sound like small time combination bars/movie rental/arcades/game rental businesses. They may not even offer anything for actual sale
      • I was just quoting (hurriedly) from the headline. Obviously Jalalabad (finally spelled it correctly) doesn't have 300 video game retailers -- I wasn't suggesting it's turned into Akihabara. And it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the authorities might be exaggerating the numbers a bit.

        As you say, these are probably corner restaurants or cafes showing videos and maybe offering a PlayStation or something. Still, it's remarkable that one of the centers of fundamentalism has reached that stage. Rememb

    • Uh yeah. I'm sure that many people in Afghanistan are worried about the Linux box on a broadband connection when they have to think about getting potable water and food every day, and then trying to find their relatives and children who have been scattered across the country.

  • Another point of view... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ae0nflx ( 679000 ) <bjberg@paCOMMAcbell.net minus punct> on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @01:32PM (#6444785)
    Is this really such a bad thing? It may be from our reference point, but it may not be so much from theirs. It is likely that in a soceity that has recently endured so much that the social services such as education are not as in place as they should be. It may be quite easy for kids to just blow off school and play video games. Therefore they may have to temporarily shut down parlors.

    Also, we all that has gone on in recent history, we should give the Afghan society some time to grow. It must be really darn hard for so much to be introduced into a culture in so short a period. They've got to slow down a bit so that the masses can change along with everything else.
    • They've got to slow down a bit so that the masses can change along with everything else. Whoah there cowboy... It's not about being patient and giving them time to change over to a western lifestyle. It's about letting them do what ever the hell they want so long as it doesn't directly harm others. We're one bit mixing pot, like a stew. Not a block of homogenous non-toxic meat-product, like spam.

  • They need to deal with this... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by gamgee5273 ( 410326 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @02:21PM (#6445352) Journal
    This is something the Afghanis need to work out for themselves - we can't attack them for it and we can't make them embrace our social mores. They aren't used to having a country that is open to expression - they need to learn how to deal with it. Some of the hardliners will react - the Afghanis must decide what to do for themselves.

    Perhaps they want a more hardline government than we would like them to have. Time will tell. Their elections are scheduled for June of 2004. Let's see what happens then before we condemn them now.

  • This is terrible news! Where will Junis [slashdot.org] be able to buy "Raid on Bungling Bay" for his C64? Or play "America's Army" with his friends?

    This is truly, a human tragedy in the making.

    -Isaac

  • Next you're going to tell me they outlawed him too!
  • Sure some don't but I've seen enough yellow buses full of kids to not be too worried.

    It's like they've raised by wolves and suddenly found civilization.

    Totalitarianism destroys heritage and culture which produces a society incapable of prioritizing (school vs games, that's a tough one) or recognizing the problem (ban the games, don't bring it in slowly, and bring back the straitjacket gov't, that'll fix everything).

    As long as they have nothing to look forward to nor noone to look up to, you're going to s

  • Just in time (Score:3, Funny)

    by August_zero ( 654282 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @04:07PM (#6446643)
    it's really a shame to see such a peaceful nation ruined by the scourge of video games. I'm glad they did something about them before the whole country got devastated.

  • They have a right to ban games... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by HardcoreGamer ( 672845 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2003 @05:50PM (#6447696)
    ... especially if they are an integral part of a destructive subculture that is detrimental to society at large.

    I like games and I'm all for letting kids and adults play age-appropriate games and engage in age-appropriate social activity.

    Is it really such a bad thing to remove children from an environment that encourages them to participate in vice -- drinking and gambling -- instead of going to school as the article mentions?

    We're talking about a country that has seen its culture and heritage destroyed, and remains essentally lawless as a result of over two deades of brutal war and occupation. There is no infrastructure of any kind to speak of -- governmental, social, utility or otherwise -- and heavily-armed private militias still control the majority of the country and are still the predominant opportunity to earn an income and obtain food, clothing and shelter.

    Would you really want a bunch of uneducated, underage alcoholic gamblers traumatized by war -- who have daily witnessed how cheap life is, have easy access to guns, and view the world through the latest first-person shooter -- running wild in the streets?

    The other thing I'll say about this ban is that it's not for us to dictate to another culture the kinds of entertainments and pastimes they should engage in.

    And before anyone gets too up in arms about this ban and starts making disparaging comments about anyone's faith or culture, I'll remind everyone that we have a LOT of efforts in America to ban minors from buying or playing video games, and none of it has to do with anything as serious as kids skipping school to get drunk and bet on the games they play.

    Here's a recent post I submitted that was rejected:

    A federal
    judge has temporarily blocked a Washington state law that bans selling violent games to minors under 17 [com.com], and would fine retailers $500 for each game sold to minors that depicts violence against law-enforcement officials. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik said the law (slated to take effect July 27) is too all-encompassing and too targeted, and seems to violate free-speech rights since games' complex plots, original musical scores and detailed art deserve the same free speech protection as other types of media.

    And that's only the latest example. Here are a few of many more:
    Violent Video Game Restriction Struck Down [slashdot.org]
    Congress To Consider Age Limits On Violent Games [slashdot.org]
    Indianapolis Bans Violent Video Games [slashdot.org]

    The point is that in Afghanistan the games seem to be concretely linked to a subculture and environment that is detrimental to society at large and the efforts to rebuild civil society. Unless and until they can figure out a way to put games in a more appropriate social setting and context, banning them seems like a logical step.

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