SOCOM 3 will take place in Morocco, Poland, and Bangladesh.

[allrounder]

SOCOM 3 will have Chiittagong as a mission.

[TigerFan]

what is SOCOM3 and why is it taking place in Bangladesh? What do u mean by taking Chittagong as a mission?

Edited on, April 11, 2005, 5:12 AM GMT, by TigerFan.

[desi_pride]

it's a game

[bdlocal]

It's a military game like rainbow 6. It's US special forces in raid like environment.
By having bangladesh they are implying that Bangladesh is a terrorist state. Please boycott this product.

[Akib]

So you are also stating Poland and Monacco are also terrorist states...

On Gamespot it says this but i dont see the point of adding these countires.

If i ever would play this game i would not want to be set in Bangladesh. Considering it is an anti-terrorist game, why is BD there. There is no serious terrorist threat in BD that makes the US NAVY SEALS come....



Edited on, April 13, 2005, 11:01 PM GMT, by aka.

[desi_pride]

what's so wrong if bangladesh is there ?
i mean it's just a game !
and also our country will be known more... you know what i mean !

[Ahmed_B]

allrounder: You’ve raised a good point to be noticed.
But please provide some details of topic so the others, especially who doesn’t have first-hand knowledge about it, can get the idea more clearly.

I will try to provide some here:

SOCOM-3 is among the currently popular PC Games. And in the Demo Version of it’s Release-3, Bangladesh has been added as one of the options where the player may choose to carry his/her mission. The game is about American Defense Force’s anti-terrorism missions and the game now puts Bangladesh among the topmost terrorist countries.

PC Games, like many other entertainment media, are first-hand medium of forming the younger generation’s imagination/information world and this game will only teach them to see Bangladesh and Bangladeshi’s as terrorists.

The Interesting part is that, when the game was being developed, a team from SOCOM-3 visited Bangladesh and stayed in Chittagong & the Hill-tracts for about 1 month and took numerous pictures in digital camera and recorded live sounds... which they later used to make the BD part of the game.

Bangladeshis, who are seeing the game have started to raise strong voices against it, but unfortunately the Govt. itself has made no reaction about it yet. It seems they were completely in dark about the Game Team’s visit to Bangladesh also.

Some strong protests, both from the government and individual/groups of Bangladeshis need to be sent as reaction before the Demo Version of SOCOM-3 is converted to the final version and released.

(Information Source: NTV’s Program- ‘Right-Click’)

[nasifkhan]

Originally posted by desi_pride
what's so wrong if bangladesh is there ?
i mean it's just a game !
and also our country will be known more... you know what i mean !

U r exactly right my bro....we knew what u meant....

Why only Chittagong ..why not Dhaka, Rajshahi, Comilla, Pabna...and other 60 Districts.....Why not the whole Bangladesh... ???

Come on its a game.....lets have fun killing our own ppl and destroying buildings .......its entertainment right?????

Edited on, April 15, 2005, 5:53 AM GMT, by nasifkhan.

[mb444]

It may only be a game and to those who know bangladesh already it will be just that.

However, majority of the gamers does not know anything about BD and will be left with the impression that BD is a terrorist state.

This action by SONY should not be ignored and BD's everywhere should object to this.

[mb444]

[/quote]

Come on its a game.....lets have fun killing our own ppl and destroying buildings .......its entertainment right?????

Edited on, April 15, 2005, 5:53 AM GMT, by nasifkhan. [/quote]

umm..........words fail me........

[Arnab]

any screenshots of the bangladeshi section of the game?

[reverse_swing]

DHAKA: A new computer game brought out by Japanese firm Sony that portrays Bangladesh as a terrorist state has led to widespread resentment in the country with the government planning legal action, reports Xinhua .

The game brought out by Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc has sparked off resentment both within the government and outside, The New Age daily said on Tuesday.

The game is scheduled for release in the US in August.

The newspaper quoted a source in the ministry of science as saying that the government was planning to file a lawsuit with the international court in this regard.

The mission of the war and strategy game, developed by Zipper Interactive, is to "protect America from enemy forces in urban and rural warfare throughout the world."

The main locales for the game are said to be Morocco, Poland and Bangladesh.

The source said before taking recourse to legal means, the foreign affairs ministry would ask Sony to drop Bangladesh's name from the game. If Sony's response was not satisfactory, the government would file the lawsuit, he added.

Terming Sony's move as tech-terrorism, President of the Internet Service Providers's Association of Bangladesh Akteruzzaman Manju said the firm should apologise.

-TimesofIndia

Edited on, April 19, 2005, 10:42 PM GMT, by reverse_swing.

[Akib]

I doubt Sony will drop BD from the game, unless a major lawsuit is filed as the game is already in production and a lot of it has been made already.

[Akib]

Sony has decided to remove any references to BD from this game.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/04...s_6122773.html

[Arnab]

Awesome. I am glad you have been proven wrong, aka.

[Zobair]

wow! Sony actually took BangladeshiGovernment's protests seriously?! wow! I am wondering, how big is Sony Entertainment's market in Bangladesh? Any growth trends in gaming in Bangladesh that anyone is aware of?

[Akib]

I dont know about growth trends but Sony has done this before.

For the game Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain, French Canadians (Quebecois) and the TTC (Toronto Transit ) filed a complaint because one of the levels depicted a french canadian terrorist group hijacking a TTC subway station.

If this game was not a anti terrorist game i would like the fact of it in BD. Gives us some international attention. I think it would be cool to walk down the streets of Dhaka or Chittagong.

[oracle]

I think there was a lawsuit involving some east european country-maybe slovenia? not sure. Chances would have been good that Sony would have lost the case, so it's not about market after all.

[bdlocal]

This is such a good news for Bangladesh.

Edited on, April 23, 2005, 2:23 PM GMT, by bdlocal.

[Ahmed_B]

Great news!

[Banglatiger84]

Just wondering what the reaction was in Morocco and Poland.

However, I am really glad they removed Bangladesh's name. Even if it is just a game, that will the be the only time a third of American kids ever hear about us. Better for them never to hear our name than to know it as a battleground for terrorists.

[al]

http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/v...27&hidType=INE


news from bangladesh: Information Exchange


American Bangladesh Public Affairs Council -Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.(SCEA) has decided to remove any reference to Bangladesh


Tuesday April 26 2005 16:34:07 PM BDT




ABPAC PRESS RELEASE-American Bangladesh Public Affairs Council



For Immediate Release Contac: Elias Ullah 571-330-7976

Washington DC , USA – (04/25/2005) - The American-Bangladesh Public Affairs Council (ABPAC) is pleased to announce that the Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.(SCEA) has decided to remove any reference to Bangladesh from the final version of SOCOM 3.

ABPAC is an America's Pro-Bangladeshi Lobby group. Its mission is to raise awareness, promote interests of American Bangladeshi and help strengthen the U.S-Bangladesh relationship. To read ABPAC's Mission and Vision Statement, go to: http://www.abpac.org.

"SOCOM 3: US Navy Seal" is an action packed/military strategy game for Sony's popular gaming console Playstation 2. It is being produced by Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc (SCEA) and developed by Zipper Interactive. The strategy of the game is to "protect America from enemy forces in urban and rural warfare throughout the world". SOCOM 3 demo version is available online and it is expected to be released during this fall season. Bangladesh was unfortunate enough to be selected as one of their new "Areas of Operation" along with, Morocco, and Poland. In these three countries U.S Navy Seals will fight against enemy forces to eliminate terrorists and threats to US.

In a letter to SCEA, ABPAC President wrote: "Sony does not have the permission of the Bangladeshi government nor
does it have the right to profit while dishonoring Bangladesh in the process. This game, which is targeted at young and impressionable teenagers, will naturally bring negative backlash against our community and our children . ...
requested to drop Bangladesh from SOCOM 3 game"
.

SCEA response, "The SOCOM franchise has never depicted any government or country as a terrorist operation, and any depiction of independent terrorist groups is purely from a fictional standpoint.
Within the story-line of SOCOM 3, there has never been any reference to Bangladesh supporting, or harboring terrorists and/or other criminal activities.
However, given the sensitivities that have been raised to our attention, and being a part of a global company, SCEA recognizes the importance of corporate and social responsibility. We realize that our actions and business decisions impact many constituencies around the world. Therefore, we have decided to remove any reference to
Bangladesh from the final version of SOCOM 3".





Please contact Sony and thank them for taking our concerns seriously and for their decisive decision.
webmaster@playstation.sony.com

Below is a copy of SCEA email to ABPAC President.




Hello Elias,

Thank you for writing us.

We value your feedback and appreciate you bringing your concerns to our attention.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) is in the process of developing a PlayStation(R)2 game entitled SOCOM 3. This game, which is the next installment in the SOCOM franchise, is still early on in its development cycle and is scheduled for a release in Fall, 2005.

Part of the product development cycle includes testing and troubleshooting many prototype versions prior to consumer release.

In a recent prototype, it has come to our attention that one of the game's missions may have offended some communities due to its setting in Bangladesh


The SOCOM franchise has never depicted any government or country as a terrorist operation, and any depiction of independent terrorist groups is purely from a fictional standpoint.

Within the story-line of SOCOM 3, there has never been any reference to Bangladesh
supporting, or harboring terrorists and/or other criminal activities. However, given the sensitivities that have been raised to our attention, and being a part of a global company, SCEA recognizes the importance of corporate and social responsibility.

We realize that our actions and business decisions impact many constituencies around the world.

Therefore, we have decided to remove any reference to
Bangladesh from the final version of SOCOM 3.


If you have further questions regarding this message, please refer to your email case number: 2572508.


Stacey
Multimedia Supervisor
Sony Computer Entertainment America
Consumer Services Department