Muslims craft their own video games
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-06 19:32
Hasan Salem, a director at Dar al-Fiqr, hopes "Al-Quraysh" will promote a
more "modern" Islam.
"People believe that only their heritage will help this nation," says Mr.
Salem. "We believe that this nation needs a new vision, new people, new blood to
study, read, and then think about Islam. We believe in this line, not the old
line that only reads old books and believes in the past."
But Dar al-Fiqr and Afkar Media's toughest challenge may be getting serious
gamers to play.
Weak copyright laws in the region limit a company's ability to profit from
such games, which sell for about $10 a copy.
And games like "Al-Quraysh" must compete with the sophisticated graphics and
game plots of a multibillion-dollar gaming industry.
Mohamad Hamzeh, a 26-year-old gamer, says he bought "Under Siege," but that
he would not play it instead of other popular games like "World of Warcraft" or
"Counterstrike" because he says the plot lines are not convincing.
"We do want to put Arabs in games and show that we have a civilization, we
respect other people, and that we are not aggressors," says Mr. Hamzeh, who
develops video games himself. "But it's hard to really get into a game like
'Under Siege.' When you are in 2005 and you find a game that was released in
1995 that was much more advanced, it is not good. You must feel the challenge in
the game. They are paying so much attention to the political and religious part,
they are not concentrating on the technical parts of the
game."
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