The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says Capcom has removed an Islamic phrase from its upcoming game Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. The term "Allahu akbar," which means "God is Great" or "God is Greater," can be first heard at the 0:20 mark in the video after the break. The term, according to CAIR, is a "frequently repeated religious statement made by Muslims and is used often in daily Islamic prayers." From the video it's hard to tell the context the developers had in mind using the term.
Capcom says the phrase has been removed from the game and will no longer be heard in future videos released to the public. According to Gamasutra, in 2003 Microsoft Game Studios removed audio clips of the Koran being heard read in the background of the Xbox fighter Kakuto Chojin. CAIR says they were happy with Capcom's quick response to "address Muslim concerns."
Umm......its not spelled "koran", its spelled Qur'an.. (koran sounds like an enemy in a jrpg >.>)
Anywho, whats wrong with saying Allah hu akbar? Although, i guess they didnt want Religious references in videogames. If THATS the case then i understand, but if its for another reason then you can oficially called be PO'ed
Aren't all of those spellings (Qur'an, Koran, Muslim, and Moslem) accepted?
As for the reason for the complaint, I think it was the combination of the island-native stereotype people with the Islamic phrase that was potentially offensive.
As much as i agree with the guys above about removing religion from out money and school, i also agree with the fact that this really shouldn't be offensive to anyone. Religion is a fact of everyday life, and if we keep these things out of games because of being WAY over sensitive, it's just another step towards totalitarianism style censorship.
i could see removing it if it seemed defamitory to anyone, but it's simply in the background music, no one character is specifically saying it.
In conclusion, remove religion from state, not from the mass media.
Ironically, as a Christian in full time ministry, I wouldn't mind that happening. One of the biggest reasons our country is "fighting" a war on terrorism right now is because the Islamic countries see all the moral depravity coming out of the USA and assume Christianity is the cause. They then take it upon themselves to cleanse the world of such an immoral religious practice by trying to kill us all. Unfortunately this is all due to the misconception that the USA is a religiously run government much like most Arab countries. Of course the reality is that the US government is doing just about everything it can to push God out of the system completely. While I, as a Christian, don't think that's going to benefit our country, I don't think being hypocritical two faced politics is exactly helping Christianity's case (humans do a fine job of being hypocritical without the government's help, thank you very much)...
Yeah, and "under God" should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance too. Actually, get rid of the Pledge of Allegiance. It makes it seem like we're being "brainwashed" to love this country. I'm not saying I don't (I'm not a terrorist! Really!), but I've been reciting that every day in school, originally not knowing what it meant, and now that I do know, I don't like reciting it. The point is that...hmm...um...I don't like the Pledge of Allegiance, I guess. Partly because of it's Christian overtones (I'm an agnostic), and partly because if it's "love your country or die" type motif.
People have tried to remove Under God, In God we Trust, and opening prayers for all Congressional sessions. This reminds me of Nintendo changing the somewhat Muslim chanting in the Fire Temple in Ocarina of Time.
I'm with you. Regardless of how you may personally feel, the freedom to choose your own religion is different than freedom FROM religion. You have the right to be Christian, Muslim, Agnostic, whatever. You DO NOT have the right to impose your will on others. So if Capcom releases a game with a phrase it in, you can boycott it. People can get offended from anything. Maybe I'm weird because I fail to see how "God is Great" will lead to the downfall of mankind..
I don't see how Christianity has anything to do with it; there are plenty of other largely Christian nations and even large Christian populations in the "Muslim world".
Well it's said everytime you turn the huge knob things... no idea why. I don't have a problem with it personally.
In the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time I felt like I was hearing Arabic in the Fire Temple, I think I was just imagining it though. Someone tell me I was.
Depends. Earlier versions of Ocarina of Time DID have chanting in the Fire Temple. But it was removed from later releases on N64 (and GameCube and VC versions feature all the censorship, too).
Other changes made in OoT include: -Ganondorf's blood from red to green -The symbol on switches, Mirror Shield, etc. from a star and moon to some mask-looking symbol
I'm a Muslim (moderate, Non-Denominational) and I'm not offended, but it should be taken out simply cause it doesn't make sense. The setting looks like it takes place in the Amazon with "savages" (I'm not saying that the amazon actually has savages)...not Dubai or Saudi-Arabia with petroleum engineers. Like if the setting was a desert, then it would make more sense.
Isn't it kind of small-minded of you to consider that only people from a desert, Dubai, or Saudi Arabia can be considered "stereotypical" Muslims? For all you know there's a small group of Amazonian savages worshiping Allah. It doesn't make perfect sense, but it's not completely out of place. It's a religion and it's pervasive, whether you like it or not.
See this is a case where it makes perfect sense to take out a phrase.
I can see someone of the Islamic faith being offended by this. Especially if it isn't used in the right context. People take religion very seriously (duh) and some people might think its wrong for some random videogame character to use a phrase that has significant meaning in a game meant for fun.
Zelda 64 did include Muslim prayer chants in the Fire Temple. Nintendo redid the music in that level for later versions of the cartridge. The GameCube and VC releases also do not have it.
Zelda 64 also included symbols that implied Ganon was a Muslim, namely, the moon & crescent. He is from a 'desert tribe of thieves.'
Yeah, i always wondered why the N64 versions of Zelda that i borrowed (at different times from my friend and my cousin) had that star and sickle moon, then the GC version with Master Quest had that very generic seal
Once i figured it, it was really a "D'oh!" moment, which is odd, i mean Nintendo used the Cross for the original Zelda, right?
There was a bit of discussion about the Christian/Crusader undertones in Zelda on the Joystiq DS board a month or two ago. For instance, Link originally had a cross on his shield, the tri-force parallels the Trinity, the Master Sword parallels the story of the Sword Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake, and there are plenty of Shrines and Temples that look like Christian churches and cathedrals in the games.
I'm also a Muslim and I can understand why they chose to remove that from the game. I personally am not offended by it, but I can see other Muslims feeling uneasy when they go "Allahu Akbar" for no apparent reason. It sounds way too much like our call to prayer also.
Hey, it was a company choice. If they wanted, they could have left it in there and risked negative public opinion. No one forced them to change the game.
The people that started bitching about this in the first place fail. You'll notice that they aren't all on here spamming OMFG! They took it out for us!
Because, you know, Wii's are so big in the Muslim world... You know, I am seriously sick of this shit. If you are offended, DON'T FUCKING BUY IT. Not that hard of a concept. EVERYTHING will offend someone. What makes them so fucking special? I'm offended by the existance of the Wii. I don't see Nintendo rushing to pull it off of store shelves... Not that it's on store shelves, but you get my point. Although I am all for changing it to Admiral Ackbar, but then Lucas would be offended...
First dude, what if there was a game, and in the game there was a scene, where someone was literally $h!tting on your face... You might find it offensive, others will find it funny as hell... But it's ok to keep that scene, because if you are offended, than don't buy the game...
This is bull. I am not saying this because they took it out. Okay it might have offended someone. But I am pissed cause of the principal of things. Why should they take out something that was probably only going to be in the game for probably 2 minutes (it is a game compiled of mini games). It defenitly wouldn't have hurt sales. Cause it defenitly wouldn't have hurt sales. I mean theirs only around 4 million muslims that live in America, and I bet almost less than 5% of those own a freakin Wii or even are involved in video games. If it would've been something concerning Christanity I or any other religion I bet no one would have taken much notice. Why? because they probably don't care about what other people think about their religion. And I am the same way. Really thoose really hypersensitive muslims need to get with the times and stop taking every comment about their religion so personally.
Is that why the Catholic Church recently threatened to sue Sony for just showing a Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man? Don't generalize; there's going to be oversensitive people in every denomination.
