Afghan Youth Find Escape in a Video Game (nytimes.com) 26
An anonymous reader shares a report: Rifle fire, hurried footsteps and distant explosions. The rat-a-tat of a firefight. Cars mangled from grenades. The young man was transfixed. It could have been any day in Kabul, where targeted assassinations, terrorist attacks and wanton violence have become routine, and the city often feels as if it is under siege. But for Safiullah Sharifi, his behind firmly planted on a dusty stoop in the Qala-e Fatullah neighborhood, the death and destruction unfurled on his phone, held landscape-style in his hands. "On Friday I play from early morning to around 4 p.m.," said Mr. Sharifi, 20, with a sly grin, as if he knew he was detailing the outline of an addiction to a passer-by. His left hand is tattooed with a skull in a jester's hat, a grim image offset by his lanky and not-quite-old-enough demeanor. "Almost every night, it's 8 p.m. to 3 a.m."
The game is called PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds, but to its millions of players worldwide, no matter the language, it's referred to as PUBG (pronounced pub-gee). It's violent. And it's becoming widely played across Afghanistan, almost as an escape from reality as the 19-year-old war grinds on. In the game, the player drops onto a large piece of terrain, finds weapons and equipment and kills everyone, all of whom are other people playing the game against each other. Victory translates to being the last person or team standing. Which makes its growing popularity in Afghanistan peculiar since that can eerily almost describe the state of the war -- despite ongoing peace negotiations in Qatar.
Even as ending that war seems ever more elusive, Afghan lawmakers are trying to ban PUBG, arguing that it promotes violence and distracts the young from their schoolwork. But Mr. Sharifi laughed at the mention of the proposed ban, knowing he could circumvent it easily with software on his phone. He said he uses the game to communicate with friends and sometimes talks to girls who also play it. That is a remarkable feat on its own since only in the last several years have Afghanistan's cell networks become capable of delivering the kind of data needed to play a game like PUBG, let alone communicate with people concurrently. Gaming centers became popular in Kabul in the years after the 2001 United States invasion, which reversed the Taliban's ban on entertainment including video games and music. But PUBG and other mobile games are usurping these staples because they are downloadable on a smartphone, and free, in a country where 90 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
The game is called PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds, but to its millions of players worldwide, no matter the language, it's referred to as PUBG (pronounced pub-gee). It's violent. And it's becoming widely played across Afghanistan, almost as an escape from reality as the 19-year-old war grinds on. In the game, the player drops onto a large piece of terrain, finds weapons and equipment and kills everyone, all of whom are other people playing the game against each other. Victory translates to being the last person or team standing. Which makes its growing popularity in Afghanistan peculiar since that can eerily almost describe the state of the war -- despite ongoing peace negotiations in Qatar.
Even as ending that war seems ever more elusive, Afghan lawmakers are trying to ban PUBG, arguing that it promotes violence and distracts the young from their schoolwork. But Mr. Sharifi laughed at the mention of the proposed ban, knowing he could circumvent it easily with software on his phone. He said he uses the game to communicate with friends and sometimes talks to girls who also play it. That is a remarkable feat on its own since only in the last several years have Afghanistan's cell networks become capable of delivering the kind of data needed to play a game like PUBG, let alone communicate with people concurrently. Gaming centers became popular in Kabul in the years after the 2001 United States invasion, which reversed the Taliban's ban on entertainment including video games and music. But PUBG and other mobile games are usurping these staples because they are downloadable on a smartphone, and free, in a country where 90 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
Makes sense to me (Score:5, Insightful)
They are not escaping violence by playing a violent game. They are escaping a lack of agency by playing a game where they have hope of controlling their fate.
Re:Makes sense to me (Score:4, Interesting)
They are not escaping violence by playing a violent game. They are escaping a lack of agency by playing a game where they have hope of controlling their fate.
Not only that, but putting the identical label of "violence" on two completely different things is only done by the ignorant and by those who are intentionally lying out of maliciousness about the situation.
War - where many are killed, many more are maimed and left mutilated, where families and even entire communities are left destroyed, let alone the psychological damage to individuals involved.
Video game, even of war - no one dies. no one is physically harmed. there is no meaningful loss of anything, except perhaps some pride for all of a few minute until the next round starts.
The utter lack of reasoning ability and thought process that is required to equate those as the same exact thing is just mindboggling.
Please double check hardware (Score:1)
I am pretty sure it is an amiga connected to internet by a satellite link.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually they're using unearthed Commodores to browse the web.
I thought I was the only one old enough to remember this.
Re: (Score:2)
I am pretty sure it is an amiga connected to internet by a satellite link.
Voices From the Dupe
Re: (Score:2)
Also double check the culture...
"On Friday I play from early morning to around 4 p.m.," said Mr. Sharifi, 20, with a sly grin, as if he knew he was detailing the outline of an addiction to a passer-by.
I'm pretty sure he knew he was admitting that he didn't go to mosque. But Friday is also the only day off in most Muslim countries, and I'd hardly call a weekly indulgence an addiction.
Enjoy it while it lasts. (Score:2)
There is zero plausible end game where radicals do not win though they may divide the territory as historically appropriate along tribal lines. Pakistan must support this as a counter against China and India and their decades of aid (including maintaining a porous border) ensures the Coalition will never stand a chance of victory.
When the mission crept to nation-building thanks to idiotic American exceptionalism the trap was set and the monkey grabbed the bait in the bottle.
Afghan youth have no future unles
Re: Enjoy it while it lasts. (Score:2)
Why fight? Easier to stand aside and grow a beard.
Now the girls having any opportunity at leisure, they be fucked.
Awww (Score:2)
Maybe they'll grow up to use the skills as drone pilots!
Inquiring minds want to know (Score:2)
is it pub-/j/ or pub-/g/?
It should seem obvious to any pedantic nerd that it's /g/, since it's the initial letter for "grounds", a hard g word.
But, then again, is .gif /g/if or /j/if?
So many questions on Turkey day.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Try saying Pub/g/ a few times, and you'll soon see why it's pronounced pub/j/
Re: (Score:2)
is it pub-/j/ or pub-/g/?
It should seem obvious to any pedantic nerd that it's /g/, since it's the initial letter for "grounds", a hard g word.
But, then again, is .gif /g/if or /j/if?
So many questions on Turkey day.
It's a hard G, just like GIF. It's not that a question. If the creator wanted us to say jif but spell gif he should've called it giraffe interchange.
Re: Inquiring minds want to know (Score:1)
On Internet, nobody knows you are a dog (Score:2)
He said he uses the game to communicate with friends and sometimes talks to girls who also play it
A Gril. Or perhaps it is an old man. Or a chatbot. Or a gig worker. Or a dog./p
Study just published (Score:2)
A recent study of Afghan youths shows that playing violent video games leads to a decrease in violent behavior.
promotes violence (Score:2, Flamebait)
Dear Afghan Lawmakers,
Imposing religious subjugation on your women promotes violence. Raping young boys promotes violence. Adhering to a religion that demands propagation through violence promotes violence. Being ignorant violent cunts promotes violence.
Frankly playing computer games is the only fucking thing in your country that don't promote violence.
Yours etc.
Drones (Score:2)
Re: Drones (Score:2)
Where is an Ender's Game when they need one.
Re: (Score:2)
The war in Afghanistan and a videogame (Score:1)
Solution in disguise? (Score:1)
Maybe they can work through their aggression via video games instead of making actual war. Sending them increasingly addictive video games would be a lot cheaper than making real war too.