I´m agree this is not a surprising subject. But when they start to make their own games, even the more violent will have more support than the occidental games.

I have lived in Canada my whole life and never had an issue with free speech and I rarely see any Canadian politicians trying super hard to sensor our media (unless you call an overhaul of primarily Canadian content, censorship. It really is kind of close.) or take large corporations to court for the content they are producing. I think, as a Canadian, our government does a good job supporting our entertainment industry and not spending large amounts of time and effort trying to censor or come down on any fraudulent aspects of it.

and people with all my respict
dont use streo type on a whole nation.
bin-laden is simply a shameless mark on our history
and anyone who agree with him.
i know its unrealted but 4 real the damge that has been taken by both the east and west is already too sever.
hatred wont solve anything.

But you play in a New York like setting why is it banned???

[...] wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThe United Arab Emirates has banned Grand Theft Auto IV, according to a report in The National. Some gamers, however, have found a way around the loophole by purchasing the game from the duty-free shop at Dubai Airport. The Abu Dhabi airport, however was not stocking the game. The ban is not surprising, given that past GTA games have been banned in the UAE. And, as GamePolitics recently reported, Sony’s popular God of War has been banned as well. [...]

The prostitutes aren't wearing Burka's!? Ban!

I really dont see how this could surprise anyone, we're talking about a part of the world where free speech is a laughable idea. Sortah like Canada now...

@Brian

I'm with you!The day I listen to these f*ckers about morality will be a sad day indeed.But there are some actually decent Muslims out there,believe it or not,it would be stereotypically AND hypocritical for me to assume there aren't any.

Terry:

Well, that is not so far away from reality, but if you are talking about Canada,ok, maybe you are right.

BEWARE GTA IS THE DEVIL!

@ ManiacA4,

after reading your post I was : wtf is he talking about !? But I realized you were right, we have freedom of speech but when we say something which sound "offensive", the word RACIST is yelled. Just last year in Québec there was a investigation comity about racism and immigrants. Total waste of time and money.

this is funny since i bought my copy of Postal 2 from the UAE when i was there back in '04.
so postal 2... a game that allows you to pore gas on people set them aflame then piss all over them is okay, but GTA4 is bad?

hmmm

But GTA IV is fashionable to hate, voters haven't heard of Postal ;)

I believe a blogger by the name of ND explained that these games are banned because it is a sin within Muslim culture to create images of living things, because it mimics god's power of creation or something.

On the back of my copy of GTA3 PS3(purchased from a small stall in Dubai)
,it says:

"For sale in the Middle East only"

None of the content is cut out though, and the ban doesn't seem to be very effective.

@Cheater87

dude low blow...

I live in Canada, and no I'm far from a ignorant bigot let me explain myself. Much like no one in the mid east can speak up against say there politicians/Sheikhs/ Religion here in Canada because of the way we've become a cultural mosaic if I speak up about anything revolving a person of another skin colour and I'm against him I'm a racist red neck..go figure.

I disagree with any form of racism, and abuse. I also disagree with ANY form of censorship, but with the r word thrown at every single person who doesn't agree with you speaking up about what you believe just doesn't seem possible.

On topic, again I disagree with the UAE's decision but what can we do about it? Oppression isn't a fun game and that whole regions playing it.

Don't judge book by it's cover.

Now people need to learn:

Don't judge a game by it's case.

The ignorance displayed by some people here is laughable. Don't even try to comment on an entire culture you don't understand.

SO why is the United Arab Emirates banning this game?
In completely unrelated news airplanes weren't included in this version of GTA...

On a more serious note, them banning the game has little to do with their religion. They are simply trying to put up an 'iron curtain' of sorts to try to protect their culture from an ever encroaching and wildly popular west. While it may be wrong, this is done by every restrictive society that is trying to stop the spread of foreign ideas in their lands... Seriously their way of doing it is much nicer then the way everyone else has done it... and yes the west has also done this...

I've heard that "Iron Curtain" idea before, the Soviet Union used it and look how far it got them.

@FLETCH

You'd think then that Rockstar could get away with releasing a version with the hookers or strip clubs. I reckon it would still get looked at severely due to the fact that conservatives in every other country have all called it very naughty and dangerous.

:facepalm:
:headdesk:
:headcracksopen:

Medic.....

@Altair

DESK! APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD!

Bastards dont deserve to play our games.

@rosetear

Ignore what he has to say. Those of us who don't jump to conclusions sincerely appreciate your input on the subject. Especially considering a lot of us have never actually been in the UAE.

Thanks for taking the time out of your day to address the issue.

I duno y gta 4 is banned in uae. it only has shooting and maybe a little bad content :P i think gta is only banned in uae. its a great game! i got it although i live in uae. its banned everywhere here accept one place i got it from. its such a good game. i dnt understand y its banned in uae. if people want to get it, its their choice cuz its one of the best games ever!

lol, GTA IV might be banned here, but it is easier to find it in the stores here than in most other countries where the game is sold out right now. I walked into 5 different game-shops, and they all had GTA IV in stock - both US and EU version!

And wow, I'm surprised by the ignorance of many people here... Read up on UAE, or take out a map and learn the difference between Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. They might be in the same region, but so is USA and Cuba... And i read that Cuba just legalized computers... That must mean they're still illegal in the US?

@ negative comments about UAE & Middle East. Seriously - The above negative posts, really show how educated you are about 1) UAE and 2) the region "Middle East".
Get educated before posting non-sense comments - keep in mind the News or media as a whole is not a good source. If that were the case then I would have to believe that the US would 'have' be the unsafest place on earth considering all the murders and psycho's running about - but clearly in reality it's not as bad as the news/media portrays it.

Also keep in mind that every country has it's own traditions/culture, etc, one may disagree with certain aspects - but critisizing and calling names just shows the lack of respect and understanding. Now no matter how hypocritical or illogical a country's political agenda may be - and yes every country has - including the so-called 'free' countries. The authorities here in the UAE have their reasons for banning the game - although currently still unclear to me why have they have done so - and yes to me it is illogical.

They also banned GTA III here, needless to say that both GTA III/IV are still widely available and on display in Abu Dhabi, the capital.

hi , i live in shehab world andi heard about uae alot in the internet and on tv and itsvery nice country and its not like other middle east countries ,

UAE IS FILLED WITH TERRIORISTS ANS SUICIDE BOMBERS

I AGREE TO LOL!! HAHHAHAHA

Yes, we're all terrorists and suicide bombers, and we're going to get you :P

lol

I totally agree with my Canadian friend above, who's done a wise thing by moving over here!

We're living a great life, yes we have to respect some censorship for the normal, polite and organised Muslim population, who don't believe in terrorism or acts of extremism. Muslim religion teaches peace and friendship.

As for most of the comments above which I am sure are from Citizens of the US! believe me, we live in a far more pleasant world than you do right now. We have freedom to earn tax free, we get to socialise with cultures and people from all over the world with really interesting varied backgrounds and oppinions, we don't have a Warmonger for a President, and we're part of a country which is building up to something great. You guys are all hanging in there thinking you've got the best lives, well believe me you don't! I've spent many months in the U.S and I love the place! But it isn't the only place on earth. Get those maps out, figure out where the UAE is, and then do some research into all the great things going on here. It'll make you feel quite depressed with your normal lives and rising unemployment alongside your economic slump! But heh, I guess more unemployment means more time to play GTA IV!! So you'll all be happy anyway.

Why not try understanding the world instead of just talking trash about things you are ignorant to?

well... if people in the UAE cant buy it from the stores.they can from the Net like amazon.com
and btw GTAIV is the best game i have ever played.God of war too

A little off the topic. But odd that no one is complaining about the 'Gears of War' ban in Germany (among many other games which have been banned in Germany and rest of Europe for that matter)

Ahh I see, only coz it's a 'non-muslim' country, let's 'not' go a-wall on it...

i hate jews....srry couldnt hold my self...freaks!!

fuck fuck i hate you i hate youuu fuck fuck fuck !! lalaaaaaaaaaaa laaaaaaaa laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa bumdum be bum bum bum be dumdum i hate every 1 ill bomb usa illl bomb uae ill bomb all the countries in the world except china cuz im from chinaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa sambooosa  !! hay hay theres a elephant in my pocket hahaha jajaja mercyt bakooo !! im a kid and a boy/girl/woman/man im crayzy crayzyyyyyyy craazuuu me alll racist i hate black/ppl white 2 .. i only luv chinese skin i am united in usa but ill bomb all the countries in the woorld except the indiaaa !!!!!!because im from indiaaaaaaaaaa hyahahahahhahaaahahaaa i luv london hahahaha thx gta 4 for banning tha world !!!! i am unoted woohooo go play sims 2 and do wohoo its coool i am crazyyuuuu i will kill my parents now bye byee !! hahahahahahahahahah re4 rocks wohoo woogy woogy wooo mr. and miss wohoooooooooooooooooooooooooo jumby jumboo joooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!lick meeeee hahahaha!!