Banned Anti-Pakistan Games Get Over 75,000 Sales In 2 Years

Back in 2013, shop owners filed a complaint against a couple of famous game titles for portraying Pakistan as a terrorist nation. The games were later banned and removed from stores. The games that got banned were “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” and “Medal of Honor: Warfighter”.

The aforementioned war themed games display Pakistan and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency as supporters of terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda. The All Pakistan CD, DVD, Audio Cassette Traders and Manufacturers Association (APCDACTM) boycotted and were reported to have removed the games from the stores at the time.

The games were banned because they showed Pakistan and ISI as supporters of terrorism

It seems as though the games remained available in stores despite the ban and the gamers continued to buy these games for their consoles and PCs. An unverified independent estimate puts 76,000 copies of both the games being sold during the past two and a half years for both PCs and consoles. These numbers are for the official copies of the games and do not include the pirated copies available for PCs that are easily available on discs and the internet.

It is indeed a very disappointing display of patriotism and pride by gamers and retailers. Retailers made both the legal copies and the pirated ones available through their outlets while the games’ fans disregarded the ban and the humiliation that these games have brought to Pakistan.

Both the gamers and the retailers put their own interests over their nation’s dignity. And it wasn’t anything major, as boycotting a couple of games would not have made even a minor dent on a retailer’s income. Had the fans and shop owners properly boycotted these games, it would have sent a message to the developers to avoid such controversial material in their future titles.

Despite the ban, the games were available in stores and people kept buying them

Shop owners are claiming that they were unaware of the ban. A renowned entertainment media retailer in Islamabad claimed that both the games were “hot sellers” and that “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” sold more than 5,000 while “Medal of Honor: Warfighter” sold about a 1,000 copies and the they were unaware of such a ban.

It is indeed possible that not all gaming customers were aware of the ban even though the ban was reported by local and international media outlets, social media and even the APCDACTM was aware of the ban. Therefore, retailers claiming that they were unaware of such a ban is nothing more than saving their faces. The games are still available at stores and the security forces are unaware of the matter to take a step against these retailers.

Nations where people put themselves ahead of their country end up in ruin and that is possibly where Pakistan is headed since the people just want the politicians to give highest priority to the country but when it comes to the themselves, they cannot even avoid a couple of games.

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Sign Up For Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 Beta On PS4, Xbox One, PC, Here’s How

The release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is one that is eagerly anticipated by fans of the genre worldwide, and with a new beta release of the game set to arrive some time in August, people are keen to get their chance of trying the game out before it officially goes on sale.

Getting hold of a beta key for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is a relatively simple affair, and simply involves pre-ordering the game and then registering the resulting code with Activision. Here’s a step-by-step guide on what that entails, so good luck and enjoy.

Step 1: Pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 from one of the following retailers: Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Target and Walmart. Alternatively, you can pre-order via Steam, PSN or Xbox LIVE if the feeling should so take you. If you order online then you will probably be emailed a beta code, but if you order in-store, then the code may be on your receipt. Check before putting it in the bin or filing it somewhere you will probably forget about. You’re going to need it to pick the full game up on release day anyway.

Step 2: Head on over to the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 webpage here, and then click on ‘Redeem Code.’

Step 3: You’re now required to sign in either using your Activision account or you can do so by using your Facebook profile as well. The account is free to create so go ahead and make one if you haven’t already by click on ‘Create an Account.’

Step 4: Once the logging in process is out of the way, now you need to associate the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 beta with your console. Sign into Xbox LIVE, PSN or your Steam account. Click on ‘Complete’ once done.

Step 5: You’ll now see an on-screen prompt asking you to input the 13-digit beta code. Once you’ve entered it, click on ‘Redeem.’

Step 6: You’ll now be given an option asking you on which console you want to utilize the beta on. You can either select PSN, Xbox LIVE or Steam. Also select the region when prompted. Click on ‘Redeem’ to confirm.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 beta will be exclusive to the PlayStation 4 initially and will go live on August 19th. Xbox One and PC users can expect the beta at a later date, though not confirmed as yet. The final launch of the title will take place on November 6.

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Review: Game of Thrones - The many-faced game

 

Spoiler alert!
Game of Thrones has always been a show that elicits extreme reactions from its fans, and as the seasons have progressed, it has only increased in its divisiveness. On the one hand, there is the epic scope of its storytelling, the nuanced insight into deplorable characters and the fascinating way it explores themes of morality, war and power. And on the other hand is the over-the-top violence and nudity, which in recent seasons has combined into gratuitous and unnecessary instances of sexual violence. The show’s fifth season, which recently concluded, amplifies both these aspects.

If there was an overarching theme to this season, it was how difficult it is to retain power once you have it. In their disparate storylines, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) all struggle with the power they have suddenly acquired: Cersei finally rules at King’s Landing, with her young son merely a puppet whose strings she can easily pull, Jon Snow is unexpectedly pushed into a leadership position at the Night’s Watch, where he has to contend with the growing threat of the White Walkers, and Daenerys struggles to maintain some semblance of order in Meereen in the aftermath of her abolition of slavery. All three character arcs go in wildly different directions but all three are hugely satisfying to watch. Both Daenerys and Jon learn, over the course of the season, that having good intentions and idealistic notions doesn’t always translate into mass popularity or effective governance, while Cersei finds out how alliances to maintain power can sometimes backfire horrifically.

This season also has one of the most highly-anticipated character interactions in the history of the show — Daenerys finally meets Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) as he travels across the Narrow Sea to see her. The meeting is everything a fan of the show hoped for — her no-nonsense idealism and his sardonic witticisms clash perfectly as both bond over politics and personal issues. The season also boasts its most breath-taking and thrilling battles to date, with all the necessary twists and turns finally bringing to a head the White Walker storyline.

In contrast to these positives was this season’s infuriating treatment of women and the blasé way in which it meted out sexual violence, including to fan favourite Sansa Stark. In a storyline the showrunners changed from the books (written by George RR Martin) specifically for her character, Sansa is married to the sadistic Ramsay Bolton, who rapes her on their wedding night and continues to assault her throughout the season. The storyline caused great controversy amongst the online community and for good reason — it’s not only the violence that has become too much to stomach, it’s the fact that the storyline was doubly redundant. In the past seasons, the show has already established (in gruesome detail) the depths of Ramsay’s depravity, and Sansa has already been in a position where she was subjected to abuse (lest anyone forgets Joffrey), so the storyline served no purpose other than to incite outrage.

The season was also a disappointment in some other storylines which had a great deal of potential but were a huge let-down. The biggest was the Dorne arc in which Jamie goes to Dorne to rescue his daughter-slash-niece. The arc was supposed to highlight the Sand Snakes, a group of female warriors, but it depicted them as unintelligent women bent on revenge. The Stannis storyline was also clumsily executed, with a focus on shocking twists instead of nuanced character development. Both are examples of producers taking great liberties with the source material. With the finale ending at the same place the latest book in the series ends, the next season will plausibly include more improvisation on the  producers’ part.

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