https://restofworld.org/2024/divinity-altered-reality-muslim-gaming/
In the video game Muslim 3D, users can adopt three-dimensional avatars and move around in virtual reproductions of holy Islamic sites: the Grand Mosque of Mecca, the Jamarat Bridge, the Plain of Arafat, and others. They can pray, read, interact with each other, take part in quests, go back in time to relive crucial historic moments in Islamic history, or embark on a virtual Hajj pilgrimage.
The game was developed by Bigitec Studio, a Germany-based Islamic digital media startup. Bilal Chbib, managing director of the studio, told Rest of World that the aim was for the game to create an "interactive environment where users could explore and learn about Islamic rituals, history, and lifestyle in a positive and compelling way."
Chbib, who grew up playing immersive role-playing video games, said he had dreamed of building something similar that explored Islamic history.
Chbib, who grew up playing immersive role-playing video games, said he had dreamed of building something similar that explored Islamic history.
"When you encounter Muslims in video games or movies, there is a high chance that they are depicted as terrorists or people who are backward," he said. "I believe Islamophobia and prejudice have one root: ignorance and lack of knowledge." Initiatives like Muslim 3D, he said, can help fight anti-Muslim prejudice. In the video game Muslims Game Islam: Eid Mubarak, for instance, players can be part of a virtual Muslim family, cook food for suhur (the predawn meal eaten during Ramadan), and go shopping for an iftar party. Muslim Tales, also created by Bigitec, offers interactive stories based on the Quran; in Muslim Sadiq 3D, players explore simulations of Mecca and other Islamic holy sites.
Muslim 3D is inspired by role-playing games like Skyrim and Assassin's Creed, which allow players to recreate historical locations like ancient Egypt. A demo version is available on Apple's App Store for free; Windows users can purchase an early access version of the game on video game distribution platform Steam. Users can buy "executive nameplate" NFTs and have their names "listed perpetually in the Hall of Dua" in the game, Chbib said. He hopes to bring Muslim 3D to virtual reality headsets next and said he is currently working on raising funds for the game's official release. The game is currently more of a statement piece, but Chbib hopes it will have a large active player base once he releases the full version.
Chbib said the video game industry, now a multibillion-dollar powerhouse globally, was the ideal medium to spread Islam's message. "It appeals to people across all ages and genders, proving that video games are not just a means to waste time but a valuable medium for education and engagement," he said.
D'Youville University in Buffalo, New York, has included Muslim 3D in its Gaming and Religion course. Clips from the game have drawn millions of views on YouTube; some commenters criticize the show for depicting "haram" (forbidden by Islamic law) practices. On Steam, Can Sungur, a well-known Turkish g*mer known for his Twitch streams and YouTube reviews of video games, called the game an "unprecedented opportunity to discover the wonders and knowledge of the Islamic world and mythology" but warned that non-player characters walking around users while they're praying at the virtual Kaaba is "unacceptable" and "totally haram." Another user praised the game for making "people of other religions … learn new things about Muslims, which can reduce misunderstanding and hate speech both in real life and online."
I bet they rushed it out in order to beat this groundbreaking masterpiece of gaming to the market:
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lmao how nitpicky and insufferable
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Why do Muslims suck at marketing themselves?
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Room temperature IQs due to centuries of cousin-fricking.
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:marseymuslimmerchant:
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Muslims put as much effort into convincing non-muslims they're a religion of peace as Israelis put into lobbying the US govt for gibs.
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And look at how much more successful gods chosen people are in every way. If I were undecided on religion, I would chose the religion that is almost universally successful and not the ones living in caves or bitching about how successful another religion was in comparison. It's so obvious which religion god loves, which ones he hates and which he just sorta feels "meh" about
Putting the in
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No. They put in more but are much less successful.
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Someone make a mod that depicts Muhammad in the game please
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Where's the fun part? Not interested unless there's a mechanic where you can trick teenagers and twentysomethings into blowing themselves up near people who annoy you.
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Just spent 10 minutes imagining Sandcraft: a game where you click on the mosque to spawn suicide bombers and it goes "durka durka!" every time, then you send them across the map to a synagogue and they yell "allahu ackbar" instead of "orders received, my lord" or whatever.
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That's just Command and Conquer Generals
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A line of games too based to be allowed to continue.
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It has ARG mechanics, where you use the in-game chat to groom real young men into terrorist sleeper agents.
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Some of them fail and set themselves on fire, accomplishing nothing
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4X games need more terrorism layers
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Should go the Star Citizen route and have $200 flying horses.
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Why can't I also blow myself up? This game is unrealistic
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This is some mind bending brain coincidence shit, because for the past week I've been imagining creating an Islamist FPS/action game that would just barely cross the line, be pretty al Jazeera support level of terrorism - but be really positive and propagandist, and mention later how much I hate Islam and it was just a griller artistic venture.
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I would comment something edgy in response to this, but the feds read everything that I post.
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Where are the zoroastrian holy sahirs that commebd jinn using the words of solomon?
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I love the adulterer stoning mini game.
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I ironically feel like the greatest barrier to westoids understanding or at the very least 'learning' about islam isn't the media but the fact Mohammed wanted everyone to learn Arabic and said it's sacrilege to not use arabic words when refering to islamic shit. So now muslims have to constantly wrestle with the fact that whereas every other religion's terms and words get localized, they're the ones that have to explain that 'wudu' just means 'washing your butt' whenever they want to export their goatherding religion
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Snapshots:
https://restofworld.org/2024/divinity-altered-reality-muslim-gaming/:
ghostarchive.org
archive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
Muslim 3D:
ghostarchive.org
archive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
executive nameplate:
ghostarchive.org
archive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
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Call of duty but your the bad guys lol
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The mini game where it turns into an on-rails shooter blasting random people at a Kibbutz from the back of a UNRWA landcruiser was an odd choice though
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Islam is basically an irl video game anyways
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