August 1, 2007 -
This must be Capcom's day for troubling ethnic issues.This morning, GamePolitics reported that Resident Evil 5 was receiving harsh criticism over its depiction of African villagers as zombies to be mowed down by a white protagonist.
This afternoon the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which describes itself as America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, issued a press release announcing that the phrase Allahu akbar ("God is most Great") would be removed from Capcom's Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. The puzzle adventure is scheduled for release on the Wii in October.
From the press release:
CAIR contacted Capcom after receiving a complaint about the use of the phrase in Capcom's "Zack & Wiki" game. The Arabic phrase is one of the most frequently repeated religious statements made by Muslims and is used often in daily Islamic prayers...
In an e-mail to CAIR, a Capcom spokesperson wrote: "We have already contacted the team working on the game, and the phrase has been removed from the game and will not be heard in future videos released to the public."
Said CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin:
We appreciated Capcom's willingness to address Muslim concerns and applaud the company's swift and appropriate actions.
The offending phrase may be heard in this E3 video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziV03wLGDnY
Comments
It's subjective that women get raped and hanged in the name of Islam because they didn't obey their husbands?
You must be one of the ones that complained to Capcom.
It's not the phrase that's offensive, obviously. We say it all the time. The issue is that the phrase is used entirely out of context. It's not being said by a Muslim, it's not really referencing God at all. It's there for the "exotic Arabian flavor." It's the same with what happened with OoT; a really important religious phrase was used out of context to do nothing more than build an atmosphere (nevermind the fact that it was associated with the hellish "Fire Temple" which I can understand a lot of Muslims taking issue with).
Muslims don't want "Allah Akbar" or any other important phrase to be reduced to nothing but a soundbyte that's used to make things sound "exotic." It's an important phrase with an important meaning, and they want to protect that.
I'm not saying that I agree with all of it. Personally I don't mind it all that much. But CAIR is actually a pretty good organization that does a lot of good work, and they're not a bunch of ignorant folks just from the Middle East.
I've been seeing a lot of ignorant stereotyping in this comment thread, and I have to say that I'm kind of disappointed. Considering all of the silly, ridiculous stereotyping that gamers face every day, you'd think we'd try to be a little more understanding of different kinds of people. :\
i guess i can understand that
@almost everyone
i agree its no big deal (probably happens all the time we just never hear about it {not just in church matters i mean})
My Quicktime's malfunctioning, so I can't get the video to work, but I'm willing to bet the use of the phrase is entirely innocuous. Still, this isn't as loopy as the RE5 flap: some Muslims (like some Jews and Christians) treat their religious words (whether witten or spoken) very seriously, and I can see how the use of "Allahu akbar" out of the context of actual prayer could seem inappropriate to some. If it's not an integral part of the game, Ithink Capcom did the right thing in removing it.
On a related note, this current issue of Newsweek (the August 6, 2007 issue) has a good article on the issues that new MP3 "audio-Bibles" raise: how reverently should these files be treated, and should they be casually mixed with normal music files on an iPod or other player?
(I just found the article online, as well: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19999622/site/newsweek)
While the Zack & Wiki issue might seem like censorship to some, it would be a good idea to keep in mind that most of the world (and even most of the US) is religious, and until religion and games fully come to terms with each other, both sides have to be willing to compromise.
your god is dead/and no one cares
if there is a hell/i'll see you there
Capcom, your god is dead.
GP pulls racists from every corner of the globe via the RE5 thread, then gives them another soapbox to spew from with this article. This sort of thing happens all the time, it's just a part of being in the entertainment industry, and in the end there's no reason to get worked up about it. None at all.
Does anybody wonder why Capcom chose this particular day to tell this to the public? I don't think it's coincidence, it's an attempt to save face after the RE5 crap by showing that they are sensitive to ethnic issues. It's standard PR practice, and it helps keep the cultural watchdogs from going into full-on attack mode. Why can't gamers practice the same thing by showing just a little bit of cultural sensitivity, even if you don't understand what the problem is, instead of showing your ignorance online and making us all look like pricks?
(Thank you to those who actually DID discuss the issue reasonably, and a big middle finger straight up to Rey, whose comment was so ignorant I lost my temper and had to write this reply)
but in a bar setting, one should not speak of politics, religion, or race (i can't remember the exact quote...), and sadly, this has two of the three.
I think that's the point... it's a holy phrase that is used "flippantly", insultingly, and in an almost barbaric context within in the game.
(And in case Rey is confused as to why I singled him out, I wasn't referring to the post 3 replies ago which hadn't been posted when I started my reply, I was referring to the "in the name of God" one earlier on the page. Completely unnecessary.)
"The thing is, it’s not an attempt to incorporate Islam into entertainment. Odds are that the sound guy didn’t even know what the sound he was using meant. He used it because it sounded Arabian, exotic and tribal, not because he decided to try and incorporate Islam into an awesome Nintendo Wii game."
since you put it that way... guess it's offensive and it was good that the CAIR pointed it out -good also that capcom made the change
*sings some alladin songs with joy*
aaaaa whoooooole neeeeeeeeeewww woooooooooooooorlllllld...... :P
You gotta admit though, the Zelda OoT Fire Temple song sounded amazing. Got it on mah ipod.
As a Christian its sort of difficult to unstand a religous phrase being used out of context as being offensive. "Amen" gets used alot when people are just trying to show they agree with waht someone has said.
That being said, thank-you for explaining why this could be seen as offensive. While I may not completely understand it myself I appriatate that it may upset a Islamic person so I'm glad Capcom showed some sensetivity.
@Freedom and those thinking like him
You have to learn that there is a diffrence between a Muslim and Muslim extremists. Are there oppressive governments in the world were the government is Islamic yes. But to generalize Muslims in that manner is just wrong. The fact is that must Muslims are just like the rest of us, just trying to get by in this world. To base your impressions of Musilms on the actions of the extremeists would be like basing your views of Christianity on the actions of the KKK.
CAIR? Reasonable?
"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran . . . should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth." - Omar Ahmad, CAIR chairman
Oh, and to Destructoid and the "forced" headline: spin much? They make CAIR sound as radical as the crazy groups that so often grace the news networks.
I didn't say they were reasonable ALL the time, just that they were being reasonable in handling this instance.
That being said, don't most religions feel the same way about themselves and their holy books?
Thank you for your input. I can see where your coming from, and yes, upholding tradition is important.
And yes, CAIR is a wonderful organization.
It's so honest several of its members have been convicted of terrorism (Bassem Khafagi and Randall "Ismail" Royer, just to name a couple).
It's so tolerant it's cofounder Omar Ahmad has allegedly been quoted as saying "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran ... should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth."
Lastly, it's so accurate in guessing the number of Muslims in the U.S. that their results conflict with, I don't know, virtually all other estimates using more scientific methodology.
While I have nothing against Islam, I have to disagree with you about CAIR, regardless of how well they handled THIS controversy.
The Muslim special interest groups are much more outspoken about protecting their interests, and a lot more unified in these interests, than are most other faiths. So, if, say, the Catholics got their frocks in a bunch (as happened with the recent Gears of War flap), it's usually only one parish, or one synod, and not... A group representing tens of thousands, or more.
They're not "special," just organized.
Seriously, I can see where you're coming from, but I have faith that common sense will prevail.
See all comments directed at "Freedom", and try again.
@Conejo
They're not special, who said they were? If groups representing other religions tried the same thing, I'm sure they would get much the same result.
Ok, as an athiest, I was having a hard time understanding this one, but Darkesword cleared it up quite nicely. Thanks man.
Also, props to CAIR for handling their concerns appropriately. It's nice to see a counter-point "calm, reasonable muslim" to the "rioting, looting, and killing people over a Danish comic" we see on television quite often these days. Too bad they'll never get the same amount of press.
but what makes muslims so damned special that all of their holy words don't get reduced to some silly soundbite like all the other religions, and ethnicities of the world?
I have nothing to add to what others have said in response to you, they pretty much sum it up. It has nothing to do with Capcom, CAIR, or the tenets of Islam as a religion, therefore you should take it somewhere else.
Oh, and the implied personal insults? You're gonna have to do a lot better than that to get me riled up, buddy. :)
Thanks for your thoughts. That makes a lot of sense (and was pretty much my guess as a non-Muslim as to the reasoning behind CAIR's action), but I just wish they had offered that kind of rationale in the press release, or if they did, that GamePolitics had reported it.
If America wishes to deal with this pervasive image that Islam is the kind of religion that stones people to death to death 'for the smallest of crimes', it really needs to clarify that Islam 'when practised by fundamentalists' can be like that, in fact, ANY religion, when used as a tool to create fear and obedience towards something other than God can be a terrible and unsettling thing.
@Darkesword,
Thank you for your comments, I had a feeling it was along those lines, as I said earlier. As for how it got there, I think the chances are that someone heard a nice 'ethnic' sounding chant and didn't research its source, I don't think any harm was done and Capcom were perfectly willing to understand and deal with those concerns.
Sometimes, it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.
Or, come to Gamepolitics, as it were.
People, things like this happen now and then- A few years back, the Sikh made a big stink about their inclusion in Hitman 2. They got all their people together (and for a group I'd never heard of before, they got an impressive number of people...), started banging on doors at Eidos. Metaphoricaly speaking, of course. Eidos apparently tried to play the issue off at first, but eventually conceded, apologised, and removed the content from the game. I think all they did was just remove the names involved.
Even that minor thing was still much, much more signifigant than... This apparent shitstorm, where I see some of the most flagrantly racist and intolerant commentary...
For the love of [insert diety here], it's just a game, people.
It's just a fucking game. Take this time to eat some dinner and kiss your family good night, instead of making a flame war here.
Thanks for the explanation. I figured it was something like that, I just wasn't all that sure because I can't see the video. :(
I'm sure now that Capcom did the right thing. It's not at all far-fetched to think that sacred Islamic prayers and related things could be reduced in value by their inclusion in video games and the like: look at what Japanese RPGs like the "Tales of..." series and the like have done to Christian and old Norse imagery. Angels, sacred beings in monotheistic myth, are so common in fantasy games today it's absurd. So it's not crazy to think that the same overuse could happen to Islamic imagery and sacred text.
Guess the object to being a tribal like group or something. Not really sure to be honest.
It's in the backgroun, about 20 seconds in. I only heard it the second time through, it's really hard to notice
where did i put that little mustache?
Bah, never mind, I don't have the right hair for it anyways.
The issue is that mulsim goups who have fled their daughter raping, hand chopping lands and experienced the freedom of America now want to use that freedom to impose their views on you and keep you from freely expressing yourself and enjoying a videogame without making a big stink about it.
Pathetic.
Uh... Wow. I actually physically don't know how to respond to that, simply because it's so amazingly racist, inflammatory, and flat out freaking wrong. It's your right to think that way, if you want, but... Please, just keep it in and don't make the rest of us look that bad.
That, and I don't think it's really that big an issue. It's a single phrase that apparently they didn't want in the game. Capcom didn't have to pull it out, but did because it's a decent courtesy, especially if it's not at the heart of the game, and is just sort of in there. That's not really oppressing freedom of speech, it sounds like they requested it be taken out, not caused a huge public stink about it. Imo, well taken care of and not really that big a deal.
As to your racism... Again, wow man. Just wow.
That said, if it's considered somehow offensive to 'call to prayer' when there is no prayer taking place, then maybe that is the problem?
yeah i was gonna say if they said "praise god" in american the church would be patting them on the back. this makes no sense what so ever
I am just as confused as you are. Maybe if the phrase was being used in vain or in a blasphemous way or in a stereo typical way, I could see it as offensive. But using it in context, no I don't see the offense here.