A UAE national said he was one of the people who was shocked to discover that the game was distributed in commercial areas, including the Central Souq, Al Rolla and sports shops in Nuammiya. "I knew that it was banned, but many of my friends were able to buy pirated copies from Dh5 to Dh10. I was shocked to see how much it contradicted Islamic values," said Khalid Bin Deemas, adding that it was dangerous as the video game was popular among children.

All concerned government departments are instructed to prohibit the sale of God of War and games like it, confiscating copies when they are found.

It's interesting to see how games are received in other countries. In the United States, the killing of ancient Greek gods is hardly a reason to try and get a game, though I am surprised the topless women and sex scenes didn't have people picketing in droves.

It's also refreshing to see that the mainstream media is the same no matter what beat they cover, as evidenced by the way the article was closed.

Have you noticed increased bad behaviour in a child that could be attributed to violent video games? Tell us about it. Are there enough regulations to check the sale of video games to minors?

Crackdown against banned videogame [Gulfnews]

Yes, it did! And days later, we're covering it. Lovely! Kotakuite SirHamsterz lets us know that "estimates are around that one store sold 3500 out of 5000 shipped to them (I beleieve these are figures of people who pre-ordered them from said store)." The good people of the UAE just *heart* the PLAYSTATION 3. Guess that puts them up with the Czech Republic and, well, the Czech Republic of places were the launch was a smashing success. Brian Ashcraft

PS3 Big Hit In UAE [Gulf News]