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Pokémon in the Arab world: Difference between revisions
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Before the earliest Pokémon games, Nintendo's products did not have much presence in any Arab country, as most countries faced various political and economical challenges that made them unattractive markets at the time. Throughout the 1980s, most demographics considered [[wikipedia:Home computer|8-bit home computer]] products a preferable choice for gaming before their gradual decline. However, by the early 1990s, as particular economies in the [[wikipedia:Gulf Cooperation Council|GCC]] countries thrived, various independent distributors based in those countries pushed to introduce gaming consoles after becoming hot and competitive commodities in Western markets, including Nintendo's products. Albeit the video game market grew in the GCC countries, for many years there was little effort for standardization among distributors and retailers, causing a discrepancy as both PAL and NTSC hardware and software were sold off the same shelves. Consequently, by the time {{g|Red and Blue}} launched the first time in 1998, units available were imported from both Europe and North America. To this day, Nintendo-published products, including Pokémon video games, remain the only gaming products to be imported from both regions into the GCC, despite other publishers focused on importing units solely from Europe. | Before the earliest Pokémon games, Nintendo's products did not have much presence in any Arab country, as most countries faced various political and economical challenges that made them unattractive markets at the time. Throughout the 1980s, most demographics considered [[wikipedia:Home computer|8-bit home computer]] products a preferable choice for gaming before their gradual decline. However, by the early 1990s, as particular economies in the [[wikipedia:Gulf Cooperation Council|GCC]] countries thrived, various independent distributors based in those countries pushed to introduce gaming consoles after becoming hot and competitive commodities in Western markets, including Nintendo's products. Albeit the video game market grew in the GCC countries, for many years there was little effort for standardization among distributors and retailers, causing a discrepancy as both PAL and NTSC hardware and software were sold off the same shelves. Consequently, by the time {{g|Red and Blue}} launched the first time in 1998, units available were imported from both Europe and North America. To this day, Nintendo-published products, including Pokémon video games, remain the only gaming products to be imported from both regions into the GCC, despite other publishers focused on importing units solely from Europe. | ||
Nintendo have long considered the GCC markets as part of the greater Asia, thus officially opting to localise NSTC-U North American (NA) products for these markets ''de jure'' by the late 1990s, albeit both PAL and NTSC<ref>Technically, today both PAL and NTSC signals are no longer used in most countries after being effectively superseded by newer DVB-T and ATSC signals respectively. However, the terms "PAL" and "NSTC" continues to be used for legacy reasons in reference to regional origins of specific game units since various older platforms are region-locked, and despite Nintendo eventually opting for fully region-free hardware starting in 2017.</ref> Nintendo products ''de facto'' continued to co-exist. [[wikipedia:Itochu|Itochu Corporation]]'s [[wikipedia:Dubai|Dubai]] branch was originally assigned to officially distribute Nintendo's NA products within the GCC markets,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19980205072054/http://www.nintendo.com/corp/companies/middleeast.html International Distributors: Middle East - NOA official website (1998 archive); Wayback Machine]</ref> before ending its collaboration in 2000. Active Boeki, distributor for [[Pokémon in Singapore|Southeast Asian]] countries, gradually took over NA distribution duties. Working alongside the local resellers, in 2010 Active Boeki founded Dubai-based affiliate Active Gulf to represent them alongside Nintendo and The Pokémon Company within the GCC markets. Albeit the NA [[Wii]] and [[Nintendo DS]] hardware did have localized packaging made for the U.A.E., the NA [[Nintendo 3DS]] became the first Nintendo console officially released under Active Gulf, and it launched in all GCC countries on the same day as the United States in March 2011. However, it was not until the NA launch of {{g|Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire}} became the first Pokémon games | Nintendo have long considered the GCC markets as part of the greater Asia, thus officially opting to localise NSTC-U North American (NA) products for these markets ''de jure'' by the late 1990s, albeit both PAL and NTSC<ref>Technically, today both PAL and NTSC signals are no longer used in most countries after being effectively superseded by newer DVB-T and ATSC signals respectively. However, the terms "PAL" and "NSTC" continues to be used for legacy reasons in reference to regional origins of specific game units since various older platforms are region-locked, and despite Nintendo eventually opting for fully region-free hardware starting in 2017.</ref> Nintendo products ''de facto'' continued to co-exist. [[wikipedia:Itochu|Itochu Corporation]]'s [[wikipedia:Dubai|Dubai]] branch was originally assigned to officially distribute Nintendo's NA products within the GCC markets,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19980205072054/http://www.nintendo.com/corp/companies/middleeast.html International Distributors: Middle East - NOA official website (1998 archive); Wayback Machine]</ref> before ending its collaboration in 2000. By the early 2000s, Active Boeki, distributor for [[Pokémon in Singapore|Southeast Asian]] countries, gradually took over NA distribution duties, albeit it took a while to release Pokémon games due to the controversy against the franchise after the 2001 ''fatwā'' was issued against it. No official bans against the games were made however in any country. Working alongside the local resellers, in 2010 Active Boeki founded Dubai-based affiliate Active Gulf to represent them alongside Nintendo and The Pokémon Company within the GCC markets. Albeit the NA [[Wii]] and [[Nintendo DS]] hardware did have localized packaging made for the U.A.E., the NA [[Nintendo 3DS]] became the first Nintendo console officially released under Active Gulf, and it launched in all GCC countries on the same day as the United States in March 2011. However, it was not until the NA launch of {{g|Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire}} became the first Pokémon games authorized by The Pokémon Company to be distributed specifically by Active Boeki for the GCC and Southeast Asian markets. | ||
In August 2016, the [[wikipedia:General Commission for Audiovisual Media|GCAM]] introduced the official video game age rating system for Saudi Arabia; {{g|Sun and Moon}} were the first Pokémon games released under Saudi Arabia's official age rating. In January 2018, the [[wikipedia:National Media Council (United Arab Emirates)|NMC]] introduced the official video game age rating system for the United Arab Emirates; {{g|Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!}} were the first Pokémon games released under the U.A.E.'s official age rating. | In August 2016, the [[wikipedia:General Commission for Audiovisual Media|GCAM]] introduced the official video game age rating system for Saudi Arabia; {{g|Sun and Moon}} were the first Pokémon games released under Saudi Arabia's official age rating. In January 2018, the [[wikipedia:National Media Council (United Arab Emirates)|NMC]] introduced the official video game age rating system for the United Arab Emirates; {{g|Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!}} were the first Pokémon games released under the U.A.E.'s official age rating. | ||