Screeshot of future game (sorry about the low res)

The Iranian gaming industry made its debut appearance at a Western games show yesterday, with representatives from the Iran National Foundation of Computer Games manning a dedicated stand at Gamescom.

According to bbc news, games on offer included a tank-based shooter set at the start of the Iran-Iraq war, a platform adventure set in Persia (they didn’t confirm whether it involved princes), an adventure game where you play a young student caught up in the early stages of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, and a role-playing game based on Iranian mythology.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Any attempt to get Western retailers to stock Iranian products is likely to be politically charged, and even a good game could be engulfed in shitstorm of controversy, especially in the US.

The Iranian delegation did describe the event as a success however, and said they’ll be back next year. In an entirely unsuprising turn of events, they won’t be making a big deal of the LA-held E3 2010 however.

It’s not the first time Iran’s gaming industry has attracted global media attention. When Special Operation 85: Hostage Rescue was released in 2007, it was decried as nothing more than a piece of pro-Iranian propaganda, an entirely fair critique considering it was funded by the Association of Islamic Unions of Students. That being said, is it really any worse than America’s Army?