Foreign bootleg computer games undermine market of domestic production: Iranian official

TEHRAN,April 17(MNA) -- The managing director of Iran’s National Foundation of Computer Games (NFCG) said that foreign bootleg computer games have seriously imperiled the economy of similar Iranian products. The foreign bootleg computer games are offered at lower prices than the Iranian games, Behruz Minaii said in a press release on Monday. Thus, Iranian users prefer foreign products, he added. “We have entered into the production of the computer games about four years ago, while the Western countries have a 50-year-old background in this field,” he stated. In addition, he said that lack of investment is an obstacle to progress in the production of computer games in Iran. According to Minaii, only about $3.3 million has been allocated to the NFCG to produce computer games since 2008, when the foundation was established by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. He said that about $1.2 million has been spent by the private sector during the same period. The NFCG has recently established an institute to train students to produce computer games. The NFCG has previously made “Garshasp Gorz-e-Serit”, based on “Garshaspnama” (c. 1064-66 AD) which was composed by Abu Mansur Ali ibn Ahmad Asadi Tusi, and “Mir Mahna”, about an Iranian national hero who defeated Dutch colonialism in southern Iranian cities during the eighteenth century. The foundation announced last December that it planned to produce “Attack on Tel Aviv” in response to “Battlefield 3”, a game produced by the U.S. company Electronic Arts. “Battlefield 3” shows U.S. forces attacking Iran in search of missing nuclear warheads.