Japan’s giant game manufacturer, Nintendo, is investigating whether the popular Pokemon game has elements that may be deemed objectionable to some Islamic cultures, reported the Gulf Times newspaper.
"The purpose and foundations of the Pokemon -collecting, nurturing, trading, friendship and goodwill -are consistently positive, and have been universally embraced by both children and their parents around the world,” a company spokesman told the paper.
Saudi Arabia's mufti banned Pokemon last Sunday.
In a fatwa, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh urged "all Muslims to beware of this game and prevent their children from playing it so as to protect their religion and manners."
Sheikh Abdul Aziz charged that the worldwide phenomenon of Pokemon, launched in Japan in 1996, was a bad influence.
He said it resembled a game of gambling because of the competition, and protested that the concept of the characters in the game appeared to be based on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, which is rejected by Islam.
But the spokesman said that the characters and their names are fanciful in nature, adding that “nothing in Pokemon's design is intended to be disrespectful of religion or to promote gambling or any political agenda."
The spokesman said Pokemon is a shorter version of the name of the product in Japan -Pocket Monsters.
Pokemon’s success has spread to trading cards, comic books, a television series, film and toys, with sales running into billions of dollars – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
