Russian media links airport bombing, Modern Warfare 2
State-sponsored Russia Today channel says Call of Duty game "mirrors" Monday's suicide bombing outside Moscow.
Quote:
On Monday, tragedy struck outside Moscow when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Domodedovo airport, killing 35 people and injuring 180. In the wake of the massacre, no parties have come forward to claim responsibility, although Chechen separatists, which have mounted similar attacks in the past, are likely to be blamed.
Russian state media is speculating that Modern Warfare 2 may have inspired a real-life attack.
Sadly, though, it appears the Russian media has found something else to blame--video games. As spotted by the New York Times, state-sponsored satellite network Russia Today broadcast a report that juxtaposed security camera footage of the actual attack with clips of the infamous "No Russian" level of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In that mission, players must join in a Mumbai-style attack in a fictional Russian airport, gunning down civilians en masse.
"The bloody scenes of the Moscow attack are reminiscent of what can be seen in a computer game that controversially involves a character who is urged to attack civilians in an imaginary airport," says the anchorwoman, before cutting to a montage of the No Russian level and disturbing images of the real-life attack. Later, the correspondent says that the level "mirrors" the real-life suicide bombing.
The report goes on to quote Fox News terrorism analyst Walid Phares as saying he is concerned that terrorists could be using games as training tools. "I think those who have been radicalized already, let's suppose in this case jihadists [or] Al Qaeda or [some] other kind, they look at the games and say these games will serve them to train."
As of press time, Activision reps had not commented on the Russia Today report.
