Saudi Arabia Bans Bravely Default Because It Promotes "Pedophilia"

It is not a strange occurrence for videogames to be banned in Saudi Arabia, just as it is not strange at all finding these banned games very easily in most videogame stores (albeit sold under the counter). Saudi routinely bans games for sexual content, violence, religious references, and for being David Cage games. However, Bravely Default is the first and only game that has been banned for the reasons mentioned above. Banning a game for its sexual content (nudity, sex scenes) is "to preserve public morals". Yet, the same reason is not applied to BD, but a more serious one indeed.

[Geobros]

why why why?? Its a pity for them to not play a game like this.....

[MegaRay]

"They" still can play the game digitally... nah, i doubt square put any of their games in estore.

[DC777]

Ridiculous but I would expect nothing less.

[mezati99]

COME ON...

[wheresmymonkey]

There's no sex outside of Marriage in Saudi Arabia, but there's no minimum age to wed. Child brides are common. So yeah this makes nosense considering the main characters are all 17+ anyway.

[The Great Melon]

Heck they could have just changed the age of the characters by a year. Seems like the simplest thing to do to me.

[Mainman]

@ Wheresmymonkey I have written this reply to someone else in this news topic, but I felt the need to copy/paste it here as well, because I think it is worth it for me to share it with you as well. This is about the minimum age to wed thing. (sorry about the long post)

That's not true though. She wasn't that young when they married. There are a lot of discussions regarding this topic, so I suggest you guys do some research on this.

There is a Hadith (scriptures) that suggest they married when she was 9 years old, but there are other Hadith that refute this claim. Hadith by the way are scriptures written by people, that claim to have witnessed events. So a Hadith isn't necessarily the truth. There are some Hadith that are considered to be true by most people and some are considered to be questionable, flawed or false by most people. The Qur'an however is considered the word of Allah (God), which is considered truth and irrefutable.

Usually scholars check on if a particular Hadith goes against anything written in the Qur'an. And if it does, than that particular Hadith is considered false or flawed.

The Qur'an for instance writes about inheritance for an orphaned child. And writes that they need to wait until the child reaches the age to be able to marry before giving him/her the inherited goods. The reason behind this is, so the child is wise enough to handle his/her inheritance, instead of wasting it. Now the question arises, when is one wise enough to be able to make wise decisions like this? Well, certainly not at the age of 9, right?

What I wrote is just one example of the discussions. There are also other sources that refute this claim with other Hadith. Like I said, there are a lot of discussions regarding this topic and it's worth it to investigate. But it seems like many people on the internet just make this claim just to try to make Islam look bad, which is disappointing to see to be honest.

[wheresmymonkey]

I'm not talking about Scripture here, I'm talking about the actual laws of the country. Which are that you are allowed to have sex outside of Marriage but there is no minimum age to married.

I'm not saying that ever last coulple that get married in the region ar emade up of letcherous old pedants and frightened girls. But it does happen.

[CLOUD1983]

Did u say 17+ ? how about go read this -> http://www.escapistmagazine... ROFL :P Chars on BD is actually 15 no matter what you read in the western version that's censorship not based on "original" content from the Japanese version of the game :)

[exnoob]

Maybe you should read the Quran before you go on a ignorant rant! And to be honest I would prefer if you could keep out anytype of hateful religion discussions out of a gaming website....

The people that are disagreeing and reporting this offensive/ignorant/hateful person, are the same people that make me think that maybe their is hope for humanity and maybe we can all live together in much forward and peaceful society.

[vikingland1]

Flamebait article.

[Hicken]

Seems like it. I wasn't expecting all that up above to happen. Ignorance of other cultures and all that.

[vikingland1]

Thats what I thought too.

[DCfan]

People who play on nintendo consoles are VERY few here.
Regarding the game, i've heard mixed reactions.

[SteamPowered]

I've put about 20 hours into BD. the story and characters are pretty terrible, but the combat and classes are great! It's a mixed bag for sure.

[savaroth]

It is no Persona , that's for sure ;)

Bravely Default is a very good title on its own though. Characters are not great that much is true.
However the graphics are stunning. ( yes even on a 3DS XL screen , but graphics are more than just resolution ) . The combat system is great too.
It kept me occupied for allmost 100 hours.

I'd give this game a 9.

[DCfan]

Not even near it or any of the SMT games.

[SteamPowered]

Oh my god, that AR Card Intro to the game was the coolest thing I have ever seen in a game! The graphics are definitely a high point in the game.

[Inception]

Mixed reactions? I think you heard it wrong mate. It fairly do well in sales and reviews
http://www.metacritic.com/g...

I still not yet finished the game but i reccomend it to you if you really love JRPG. It will remind you the awesomeness of classic FF.

[tiffac008]

Then add me to your Friends list, so I can Ablink your character and use your awesome attacks xD

[Dengo]

-_- what is this ? what did I just buy few weeks ago from Jarir "an official gaming distributor in Saudi arabia" so I can call this nothing, but a rumor

PS : I played the game and I totally loved it !

[JohnathanACE]

I find it funny that people here in the comments are so quick to defend Saudi Arabia a country that GROSSLY mistreats women.

[Salooh]

Your comment isn't clear about the issue of woman because you are including all the people in saudia arabia. Most of them are being hold because of the law so they can't evolve/Be the real muslim picture. And that's not only in woman issue.

If you mean the government and the slaves that worship them then i agree , they are hypocrite too when it comes to other people then them. But the rest of people respect woman more then you could ever imagine. Don't judge all. Don't judge the religion because government actions are not related to religion.

Why people here only focus on saudi arabia and never look at Omani or Bahraini people ? People just look at the bad/wrong side to mislead or to prove that they are right instead of the truth with it's bad and good.

This comment for all of people here not only you so some of it is not a replay to you . Just to say my point on one comment :P .

[JohnathanACE]

I know not all Muslims are bad but a lot of Islamic countries accept a lot of bad things and the people seem to be OK with it and most of these horrible crimes are swept under the rug by many western countries that either know nothing or ignore what goes on in Islamic parts of the world. Yes I know the government represses them and stops them from speaking out against such laws but some many seem to welcome these extremist governments with open arms. Also I find it hard to believe that they respect women when men have multiple wives and force women to bend to their will. Women are treated like second class citizens and there is NO excuse for that.

[Salooh]

It's good that you acknowledge that people are being forced to do what the laws bring ( which means it's not their fault ) They don't accept it but a huge reaction needs time , small reactions lead to more injustice without immediate results but it shows that there are people who's willing to act against it and it courage people to do it too which will lead to the huge reaction.

As for a man marrying multiple womans , womans accepted it when they became muslims. So it's not a reason to complain about ^^ . There are many benefits for that in our point of view , more then the bad points . Imagine war happened , many men die therefore a lot of woman will be a lone which is not what they want them selfs. It's for islam , for all people including womans.

[Eamon]

Nobody is defending Saudi Arabia, mate.

Some people are making slanderous accusations towards the religion of Islam and of course many members of that faith would find it offensive.

[AsimLeonheart]

Nobody is defending Saudi Arabia; people are defending Islam from false accusations. Saudi Arabia is in no way an exemplary and truly Muslim country. Infact, there isnt a single truly Muslim country with all Islamic laws in place. All Muslim countries are Muslim in name only with partial or no implementation of Islam. The government system, banking system, criminal laws etc. are not according to Islam. Any injustices being committed over there are not condoned by Islam in any way.

@JonathanAce

I disagree. Most of the Muslim countries have adopted western laws. For example, I live in Pakistan and it has modified English criminal law from the pre-independence days. Saudi Arabia has partially tried to implement Shariah law but even us Muslim raise an eyebrow when we hear about the punishments that are handed over there. You can PM me if you want to learn about Islam.

[JohnathanACE]

But many Muslim countries basically have the same or similar laws that Saudi Arabia have. Yes I know they are more extreme than many other Muslim countries but Saudi Arabia being worse is not an excuse to the repressive laws that another Muslim country has.

[-Gespenst-]

There IS some pretty questionable child sexuality in the game. Like, little girl characters obviously designed to pander to the male gaze. It's pretty weird.

Gravity Rush had a similar problem, was that banned in Saudi-Arabia?

In any case I think banning it was probably wrong, but Square Enix should have the sense and decency to not put "sexy kids" in their games in the first place. Buncha creepy middle aged men. That whole moe culture in anime is totally poisonous.

[SonyKong64]

true story, when I was 11 I started masturbating, by 12 I was having sex, allot of sex lol

today, more then ever, kids just before and after puberty become very sexually curious. sex is everywhere.. every song, every artist, sex, sex, sex.

when I was 13 I was having sex with a 20 yr old, ignorant to the fact that they would be jailed.

throughout the years, the same sex addicted media has been trying to convince me that i was molested and that I should have psychological issues because of this, yet looking back, this was the best sexual experience of my life :D

I'm 34 now, healthy, intelligent and regretting only not having more sex at the height of my sexual peak.

They try to say your sexual peak happens during your early 20s, though this is just more propaganda to negate the reality that your sexual peak actually happens just as puberty encroach's..

my 2 cents. don't believe everything you've been told. even if it's rammed down your throat every second of everyday via corporate media, movies and books.

[hkgamer]

its understandable.

but all they had to do was change to ages. isnt that what they do with most games coming out of japan?

i think doa series have the girls ages up a few years

[kingPoS]

Japan's age of consent? Cultural clashes - OR- What's ok in some places is definitely NOT ok in others. If you need anymore proof just look at how many romantic anime take place in school. Quote: Japan is weird.

I Don't want to get burned by that hot potato! [Here catch!]

'Huh' [looks down at red hot hands]
...
...
...Ahh! it burns!!

Gateway MT6706 2008