Egyptian TV News Uses Video Game Footage As Proof Of Russian Precision Strikes Against ISIL

from the game-theory dept

Attention news agencies of Planet Earth. This is an all points bulletin for your benefit: stop passing off video game footage as real-life-happenings. Yes, what seems like a thing that shouldn't be able to happen has actually happened several times in the past, from video game footage passed off as a terrorist attack to state news agencies passing off video game footage as a potential threat to a nation's enemies. Some nations appear to even be trying to take advantage of it all, such as when Russia tried to sucker world news groups into thinking that it had found proof that America is arming Ukrainians with video game footage of a weapons cache. And, yet, it keeps happening.

The latest case is an Egyptian news agency bizarrely using footage from a Russian-made video game, Apache: Air Assault, published by Activision and featuring english-speaking characters, to proclaim Russian dominance against ISIS in Syria.


Now, I realize there are cultural and linguistic barriers here, but it shouldn't be terribly hard to understand that the voices in that footage are speaking English. And, though video games are becoming more realistic by the day, the footage and audio here is still video-game-ish enough that it's fairly easy to identify it as such with just a few minutes' watching. And yet, anchor Ahmed Moussa had this to say before airing the footage.

"Yes, this is Russia; this is the Russian army. This is Putin," he said. "This is the Russian federation. Are they confronting terrorism? Yes, they are. The Americans were too soft on ISIL. The US has been there for a year and a half, and we have seen not one bullet from them, nor have we seen anyone getting killed by them."
I'll give Moussa points for originality. After all, it's not every day you hear lamentations from the Middle East that Americans just aren't killing enough people.

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Filed Under: egypt, footage, isis, news, russia, syria, video games


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  • icon
    Agonistes (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 3:54am

    Does this mean the DirectX API will now be classified as a trade-restricted US munition?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2015 @ 4:09am

    Oh, look, you just sold me a game.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Capt ICE Enforcer, 20 Oct 2015 @ 4:59am

    Transparency

    Please realize with the government's attempt for increased transparency all video footage from government officials are now a black screen with only a couple pixels being unredacted. News agencies have no choice but to use video game footage as big Hollywood corporations and game corporations are the only ones authorized access to such TOP Secret information.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    beech, 20 Oct 2015 @ 5:27am

    the US

    They haven't seen any shooting from the U.S. ? They must not have been monitoring Battlefield 3 very well...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2015 @ 6:17am

      Re: the US

      And Halo 5 is just around the corner. The guy is going to have a heart attack when he sees that.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Mason Wheeler (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 7:07am

        Re: Re: the US

        Oy. I seriously don't get how Halo ever became a thing. I mean, the first was maybe worth playing, simply because it was pretty much the only thing even worth playing at all on the original XBox, and so if you bought one expecting a bunch of awesome content this was the one thing that could justify the purchase, but it was nothing new or groundbreaking or innovative, and 2 and 3 were pretty much bog-standard FPSs. (I didn't even bother with anything after 3...)

        So what's the deal with Halo?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          minijedimaster (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 7:56am

          Re: Re: Re: the US

          So you questioned whether or not the first one was even worth it and you still went on to play 2 AND 3. Sounds like you were part of the problem encouraging game makers to continue releasing mediocre games/sequels since you kept buying them.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            Mason Wheeler (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 8:30am

            Re: Re: Re: Re: the US

            Actually, it was my job, not by choice. (No, seriously. I spent some time as a video game tester. Got to play some really fun games before they ever came out... and a bunch of not so fun ones too.) I never actually owned an XBox, any generation.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          nasch (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 8:18am

          Re: Re: Re: the US

          News flash: not everyone finds the same things fun. Many people have fun playing Halo games. You are perhaps not one of them, and that's OK. Many people have fun playing Call of Duty. I'm not one of them, and that's OK too. Perhaps I don't enjoy whatever video game you like. The great thing is, there are so many games that everyone can find something they like, and we can all have fun.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            PRMan, 20 Oct 2015 @ 10:10am

            Re: Re: Re: Re: the US

            I love playing the Lego games, especially the movie adaptations.

            "Real" gamers tell me that I shouldn't like them.

            Hey, I like mindless G-rated violence and collecting little coiny studs, OK?

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              PaulT (profile), 21 Oct 2015 @ 12:45am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: the US

              I have a soft spot for those as well. Sometimes, I want a heavy, plot-driven adventure or an epic battle. Sometimes I just want to smash Lego blocks for 20 mins.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2015 @ 8:39am

          Re: Re: Re: the US

          Really? You just can't imagine why something became popular? Not even a guess? Do still ponder how Apple ever got big?

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2015 @ 8:04am

      Re: the US

      I remember when Doom first came out ...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    That One Guy (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 5:32am

    Amateurs...

    They should get some tips from the North Korean government on the proper use of video-games and photoshop. Now those guys know how to put forth a well crafting piece of hilariously bad propaganda.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2015 @ 5:37am

    I wonder if they'll get DMCA'd and a copyright notice.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Agonistes (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 5:52am

    If the US military sold premium subscriptions and hosted engagements on Twitch it would make our defense budget way more manageable.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2015 @ 7:14am

    now we know why Adam Sandler is their national hero

    After all, he's busy saving them in Pixels

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Richard (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 7:27am

    Graphics Gap

    footage from a Russian-made video game

    Ah - you misunderstand the propaganda. This is not Russian propaganda about Russian militiary success - rather it is Russian propaganda that they have now closed the so called "Graphics Gap"*

    * When Reagan's SDI (often known as star wars) was being promoted many people noted that the promotional videos demonstrated US superiority in Computer Graphics - if not in actual military hardware.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2015 @ 7:59am

    This can't be an Activision game because the video has not been taken down via the DMCA.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    nasch (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 8:22am

    I didn't think it was that obvious. In black and white and fairly poor quality, I think that could pass for the real thing to a lay audience. The English dialog gives it away to anyone who speaks Russian or English, but I don't know how different they sound to an Arabic speaker.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      jupiterkansas (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 8:36am

      Re:

      You should go into journalism then.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      PRMan, 20 Oct 2015 @ 10:12am

      Re:

      I speak English, but I'm pretty sure I could tell the difference between Arabic and Hindi.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        nasch (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 10:28am

        Re: Re:

        I speak English, but I'm pretty sure I could tell the difference between Arabic and Hindi.

        Unless you assume that the relationship between English, Arabic, and Hindi is the same as the relationship between Arabic, English, and Russian, I don't see how that's relevant. And that sounds like a tenuous assumption at best. The problem is the only really clear evidence would be from someone who speaks Arabic but not English (or Russian) and we're not likely to get that around here!

        To be clear, this is shoddy journalism either way and should be called out. I'm just not convinced it's as brain dead as Tim is making out.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Niall (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 12:17pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          There's also the fact that quite a lot of the world speak at least a few words of English, so may be familiar enough with it to spot it at least...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            nasch (profile), 20 Oct 2015 @ 1:07pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            There's also the fact that quite a lot of the world speak at least a few words of English, so may be familiar enough with it to spot it at least...

            Very true, and I'd guess the people watching a news show would be the ones more likely to know some English.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 21 Oct 2015 @ 12:32am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              The reporters are even more likely to know some English, just so they can keep up with what the US is up to.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • icon
                nasch (profile), 21 Oct 2015 @ 7:44am

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                The reporters are even more likely to know some English, just so they can keep up with what the US is up to.

                Yes, there's no excuse for them.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2015 @ 8:47am

    ...to proclaim Russian dominance against ISIS in Syria...

    Are you sure this isn't a psyop? Maybe the Russians aren't doing so well. How would we know?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2015 @ 9:45am

    If mainstream media lie, manipulate, or are as stupid as this, WHAT ELSE do they lie, manipulate, or are as stupid, in

    Yes, i heard it

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Harbin, 8 Jun 2016 @ 11:59pm

    Good

    I feel the the TV Channels should be careful about what they are telecasting. So this type of issues won't arise again. Like Hindi TV Channels in Netherlands are also doing some type of mistakes in Indian TV Channel history.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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