Russian Media Link Moscow Bombing With Modern Warfare 2 Scene 91
An anonymous reader tips news that following the airport bombing in Moscow earlier this week, the Russia media is linking the attack to a scene from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in which a number of civilians were gunned down inside an airport.
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become a shocking reality ... with so many people seemingly downloading, playing or watching this game, you have to consider whether or not anybody actually thought this game could so closely resemble reality,' said a Russia Today news presenter in the report. It also included comments from US terrorism expert Walid Phares, who said it was possible that computer games might influence the strategies employed by terrorists. Phares, who is director of Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said: 'The issue is we need to know if terrorists or extremists are using these videos or DVDs or games to basically apply the model.' 'I think those who have been radicalized already – that is supposed in this case jihadists, Al-Qaeda or other kind – they look at the games and say these games will serve them to train.'"
As we discussed when the game came out, Activision edited out the controversial scene from the Russian version. Violent video games have been taking a similar beating in the US after the shooting in Arizona earlier this month.
Blame the video games (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Must surely be correct (Score:3, Funny)
At the very least, it's tied with the whole MS Flight Sim and 9/11 "controversy"
Not even close. Comparing the realism between flight sim games and MW2 is ludicrous - with some additional hardware you could start approximating the experience of flying a plane. Hardly compares to holding down 'W', waving your mouse around and clicking bullets into unarmed civilians.
Additionally, there is no bomb in the "No Russian" mission of MW2, while it's entirely possible to fly jets into the World Trade Center in pre-9/11 flight sims. I once did it with a Cessna in Flight Simulator 95, which resulted in "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down" moments after the crash.
Re:Highly connected. (Score:1, Funny)
Obviously they made the level too difficult, so the terrorists decided not to try this in RL and went for something simpler instead.
If only Activision had had the sense to make it only possible to complete the level by giving out free hugs, this tragedy could have been averted!
Re:Training sim? (Score:5, Funny)
If I was engaged in fighting a war, or a counter-insurgency operation, then I know one thing. There is nothing I would love more than for my enemy to be using the Call of Duty games as training sims. Just think of all the fantastic lessons they could learn from them:
- Don't worry about taking a few bullets. As long as you can duck behind cover, you'll be perfectly fine in 5 seconds or so.
- Charging through an artillery barrage, mine-field or other incredibly dangerous intensely dangerous situation is absolutely fine, provided you can work out the precise sequence of steps that the developers wanted you to take. There'll be convenient cover every 10 paces or so.
- Enemy soldiers will employ a combination of two cunning tactics. Some of them will run straight towards you, firing sporadically. Others will hide behind a piece of cover, which they will stick their heads above at predictable 3 second intervals. Don't worry too much about numbers; you should be able to take down a dozen or so at a time.
- If all else fails, hole up on a hill against overwhelming waves of enemies. It might get sticky for a while, but after 5 minutes or so, stirring music will play and reinforcements will arrive to save you.